Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition – PS5

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition, as the name insinuates, is a special version of the vanilla game which debuted in 2019. Being announced alongside the Playstation 5 and promising to take full advantage of the new hardware essentially means that if you own a PS5 and haven’t yet played this fantastic character action game, the Playstation 4 version is inferior in every way. Though it may be a tad cheaper, I don’t believe that the opportunity cost is worth passing up some of the improvements which I’ll get to shortly.

When I played the original many moons ago, I was convinced that this was the best character action game out there. Some three-ish years later, that still holds true, and in my mind, the DMC series has yet to be surpassed when it comes to sword-swing, gun-tooting, stylish slaughter. But, what exactly here is new? Is it worth picking up if you’ve already played the original? Lets find out.

New To The DMC Series?

The story takes a back seat for the most-part, but if you were after a campy tale about overcoming a great power from the underworld and saving the world, you’re in luck, because that is exactly what you get. Long-time fans of the series are sure to get more out of this than newbies. This is helped of course by the decade-plus wait and poorly executed reboot we had to endure in the interim, but there are lots of neat callbacks and resolutions to fan theories that we have waited for clarification on for quite some time. If you care in any way about this story, chances are you have already played the heck out of this, so lets skip to the really good stuff.

For the uninitiated, the Devil May Cry series is all about slaying demons to some of the sickest music, whilst looking, and more importantly, feeling awesome whilst you do so. If you had asked me to design a game when I was ten years old, this is pretty much what would have come out – a wise-cracking badass with a robot hand and sword which can be set on fire when revved like a motorcycle. Yeah, it is pretty silly. That silliness though is what will keep you engaged in this world, despite the dark, drab colour pallet on show here, the whole affair is light-hearted and fun, exuding the punk rock energy fans have come to expect.

The Combat System

The combat system in Devil May Cry 5 is not so much a deep pool, but a vast waterpark. Sure, you can just go down each of the slides and casually drift along the lazy river all day, that is a fun and valid way to enjoy your day. If you want to though, you can dive right in, through the white-water rapids, into the wave pool, grabbing all manner of inflatable sea creatures and boogie boards along the way. Using a mixture of close-range melee attacks, gunfire from your trusty side arm and action from your trusty (other) robot arm you’ll be dispatching this swarm of insect-like monsters with ease. The combat does start quite limited, with only a handful of combos to play around with. This grows dramatically over the 10-ish hour campaign at a decent clip to be continuously rewarding, without being overwhelming. Buying these new moves is done through red orbs, which are attained as collectibles throughout the level, or as incentives for excellent performance in the many, many monster-closet encounters throughout the game.

This continuous ballet of slashing and shooting, with the occasional suplex thrown in for good measure will lead to your ‘style meter’ increasing. This is the crux of the entire system, the intoxicating allure of seeing that little meter tick up as you perform varied maneuvers without receiving a scratch in return. As the ticker moves from D to C, from B to A, you feel absolutely unstoppable. Every combat encounter is a fun tussle, not only with the onscreen baddies, but with yourself to get as high of a score as possible, a tussle which often comes to a crescendo of reaching ‘SSS’ rank. At this point, the game roars “smokin’ sexy style” at you as the music kicks up a notch, introducing the vocal track. It’s good stuff, really good stuff.

What I’ve described above is only considering the initial protagonist, Nero. There are four playable characters in DMCV:SE, four. If I was to go through the nuances of each of these, this review would take forever. Suffice it to say though, they all play dramatically differently, each with their own boons and drawbacks. This can be a blessing and a curse, particularly if you don’t jive with one of the playstyles on offer here, luckily this didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the game, but I can entertain the argument that some of these can drag down your experience.

The combat is clearly the focus of this title, so it is fitting then, that once the credits have rolled, there is plenty of replay value to be had within the Bloody Palace, a completely combat focused set of rooms of increasing difficulty. In here, you can really test your metal.

There are also bosses of colossal proportions, each of which is introduced menacingly enough, only to be put down and poked fun at by our plucky protagonist. It is par for the course for a Devil May Cry game, and Capcom have been doing this long before Marvel made quippy main characters and ubiquitous as pizza parties in low-morale workplaces.

If Looks Could Kill

Graphically, the game looks incredible. In screenshots, it looks great, but in motion it actually looks even better. The RE Engine once again proves its worth against the top-notch funding of something like Unreal Engine. It makes the spectacle being portrayed on screen look effortless. This is in stark contrast to other games which might struggle to hold 60 frames per second through some of this madness – DMCV:SE can go to 120 frames per second.

Facial expressions are particularly good here and the animation is impeccable. Each character is able to display their own personality here through their actions. Whether that is newcomer V reading his favourite poems on the battlefield or series staple Dante literally breakdancing on his enemies. One thing is for certain, DMCV is fun as heck to play, but even watching from the outside, it is still possible to have a good time.

As mentioned before, the palate is a like muted for my liking, but not every game can be as vibrant as say the newly release HiFi Rush. Another point I’d like to make is around the creature design, it’s alright, but I do miss the marionets which were served as fodder in the earlier titles. Call me old fashioned, but an ant just isn’t as cool as a puppeteered clown with a scythe for a leg.

But, I’ve Already Played DMCV, What’s In It For Me?

One thing to bear in mind if you have played the original – save files do not carry over. This was a big roadblock for me to start with, so just be prepared that you’re going to have to start again. Because of this, the first playthrough of Special Edition is going to feel like even more of a slog, as you rush to reclaim your blue orbs, purple orbs and favourite moves. It is particularly painful when playing as Nero, no spoilers, but after completing the game, his options in combat open up dramatically, and to be locked out of this is quite disheartening. Despite all this though, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is well worth pursuing.

Firstly, my favourite addition to Devil May Cry 5, as was the case with DMC4, is Legendary Dark Knight difficulty. Now this completely changes the game in my opinion and turns every encounter into complete chaos, with an enemy count that rivals even a Dynasty Warriors game. Although you might not be able to show off quite as much with this many enemies on screen, there is an immense satisfaction to tearing through a small army of minions. Feeding this is the dopamine hit of a style-rating which goes up so much faster with the ludicrous number of foes on screen at any one time. This alone is worth the price of admission for me.

This isn’t all that is on offer with the Special Edition however, there is also the inclusion of an extra playable character in Vergil. Spoilers, I guess, yeah Vergil is in the game. He plays similar to how he has in the past, utilizing his trusty katana, Yamato alongside his gauntlets and booties, Beowulf. He also has access to those spectral swords and his ‘concentration’ meter. If you want a new way to enjoy Devil May Cry 5, this is it. A whole new character to learn the ins and outs of, complete with a his own theme song, which, obviously, is a banger. There aren’t any new levels to accommodate Vergil however, which would have been a large ask, the campaign is the same with a few altered cutscenes. The final boss had to be changed to accommodate the fact you are now playing as Vergil, but that is about it. All in all, another character to master is pretty cool, and if you are anything like me, you are going to spend a long, long time doing so.

Other changes come on the technical side, worth noting that ray tracing is now available at a 4K resolution, albeit at the expense of dropping down to a limit of 30fps, which is absolutely and categorically not worth it. As previously mentioned, you are able to bump this framerate up to 120fps should you wish, in a game like this which revels in excess, it is actually quite fitting. Overall, the technical foundations here were already rock solid and more options like this is never a bad thing.

Final Verdict

If you have never played a Devil May Cry game, I don’t think you should go back to the very start. Jump in here and see if you like it. If you do, great, you can go back should you wish. If you don’t like it, well, this is the very best the genre has to offer so it might just be that character action titles aren’t for you. You know what, that is okay. This is an uncompromising title, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you’re a returning player, is this worth your hard-earned cash. Yes. If you can put up with a pretty dull first run through the campaign to reclaim your gear, there is still hours and hours of content here to sink your teeth into. I can’t foresee us getting a new entry in the series for quite some time, so just take your time and enjoy the ride.

In the words of Dante himself, “jackpot”.