First of all, before starting this analysis in concrete terms, let’s try to put the dots on the i’s: your journalist here being a (great) lover of the saga, the latter having motivated him to immerse body and soul in the Tenth Art being a toddler until making it his job, you can find the ultra-complete, detailed and tongue-in-cheek test of the original version of Devil May Cry 5 at this address. An epic awaited like the messiah but nevertheless imperfect: it would seem useful, if you do not know the franchise or this episode, to take a look at it to better understand one of the most caring babies of the Osaka firm. De facto, in this article, we will review in a simplified way the original facets of the game, so as to better focus on the crisp new features of this Special Edition. There you have been warned.
The Special Edition of Devil May Cry, it’s a bit of a tradition since its initiation with the third opus, released in 2005. This one added Vergil, Dante’s twin brother and one of the main antagonists of the whole series, as a playable character as well as a Turbo mode, boosting game speed by 20%. For Devil May Cry 4, which occurred in 2008, Capcom will have largely taken its time since its Special Edition will not have landed until 2015, granting the same bonuses as mentioned above with, however, some new features like playable Lady and Trish, in addition of the new Dark Knight Legendary difficulty setting. For Devil May Cry 5, director Hideaki Itsuno and his team will have used the same formula, with less elements (Lady and Trish disappear from circulation) and others in addition (like ray-tracing). An effective recipe but also a little lazy.
A STORM IS APPROACHING
Because the least we can say is that the developers haven’t really taken any risks. The biggest asset of this reissue is the person of Vergil, again playable, most of the movements of which flow directly from the previous games. We then find his style based on teleportation, his katana Yamato, the Beowulf gauntlets and the Mirage Edge (formerly Force Edge, here in spectral form for script reasons). Refusing to use firearms, Vergil then uses Mirages Blades to attack from a distance, something that does not require animation and which he can use in full combo. It is especially on the side of the Devil Trigger, the transformation into a demon, that things have changed a little since by pressing the dedicated key, our son of Sparda will momentarily split (the Doppleganger) instead of fully adopting his appearance. demonic. No, for that, it will be necessary to go through the bar of Sin Devil Trigger, which can be filled by transferring its energy serving, at the base, to the Doppleganger. If these last words are Chinese for you, know that this system is similar to that of Dante in the original version and that it brings even more depth to an already sensational gameplay.
If we add Vergil to the very different styles of Dante, Nero and V, no doubt: Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition offers some of the most solid and intelligent gameplay in all video games.
No need to mince our words, once again, Vergil stands out as a character with extravagant gameplay. And yes, it hits the mark terribly. However, we can complain about not having additional weapons, the vast majority of attacks and combos being taken directly from the old games (or from his fight as a boss in Devil May Cry 5): it’s up to the both a strength, since we will quickly find its marks, and an obvious weakness since it does not benefit from the same freshness as Dante or Nero in the base game. However, we will note some very interesting new moves – the possibility of doubling in V, in particular – which form a wonderfully relevant whole: Vergil is an absolute monster of power whose pleasure of play is sincerely formidable. Once again, Capcom shows that it knows how to take guts in terms of action and offer gameplay as enjoyable as it is deep. If we thus add Vergil to the very different styles of Dante, Nero and V (the latter showing an astonishing originality, we recall), no doubt: Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition offers one of the gameplay the most more solid and intelligent of all the video game. And it does not depend only on the combos or on this system of notes, but on a lot of other elements such as a large bestiary with patterns to memorize, or on this ability to adapt in an ultra-precise way to such type of situation. More than ever, therefore, this opus shows who is the boss in terms of gameplay of action and raw sensations. And that’s him, no doubt.
However, all is not perfect and the faults of the original game are still there: the artistic direction is a real roller-coaster (repeating itself more terribly), the writing has big weaknesses and the story still does not solve some. problems: besides, the two new cutscenes of Vergil, included in this Special Edition, bring absolutely nothing whereas they could have brought more material to the story, which is precisely what was expected. Because yes, take it for granted, but playing the game with Vergil means redoing the basic adventure, and therefore also risking weariness: where there were three characters to build the campaign, there are none. will therefore be more than one, and where there were more than two hours of cutscenes, there will be almost none at all here. We are very far from the extension dreamed by fans (one thing, in the end, that only Ninja Theory had done for his DmC Devil May Cry), and no co-op mode is therefore no longer to be declared. So if you are launching Devil May Cry for the first time, please start the story with Nero so as not to spoil any fun.
JUDGMENT CUT
Always on the side of additional content, this Special Edition likes to add the Legendary Dark Knight mode, introduced with Devil May Cry 4. Here, we are talking about levels with a tenfold number of enemies, almost transforming the game into a move: c ‘ is still so delusional, brutal and totally enjoyable. We also lose a little the finesse of the gameplay and visibility takes a hit, but we must especially take this mode as a bonus, even as a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, that’s a little all that we can put in our mouths in terms of additions (except technical ones, which we will discuss shortly after). And this is clearly where the shoe pinches: for example, Capcom has in no way erased one of the faults of Devil May Cry 5, namely the lack of rewards. The title relies heavily on scoring and is sometimes very demanding, there is something to cry about when we see that no costume is to be declared, where all the previous games had delighted us and gave us at least a little something once the adventure is over in a specific difficulty setting. But here, apart from color variants (and again, nothing new on the horizon) and Super Costumes (giving access to the unlimited Devil Trigger), nothing, nada, not a chewy little outfit or an additional weapon. It’s still a damn shame, especially when you consider the pleasure the developers had in providing a large amount of fan-service and referrals to old DMCs. Yellow card, Capcom.
Finally, this Special Edition only released on PS5 and Xbox Series X, it was an opportunity for the beat them all to take advantage of it and take advantage of these new resources. This therefore results in the arrival of ray tracing in 4K, a very fashionable graphic option for this new generation which allows, as we recall, the management of light in real time with in particular realistic reflections. For Devil May Cry 5, we were not particularly flabbergasted by this technological feature: we actually gain a little credibility but we lose in number of frames per second. And above all, the game being, from the outset, particularly beautiful thanks to a very good use of the RE Engine (the Capcom engine that appeared with Resident Evil 7), the differences are ultimately not very obvious. Fortunately, even lowered, the framerate is still solid: we can still opt for ray-tracing with a 1080p display – ideal for people without a 4K screen – a 4K / 60FPS combo without ray-tracing (which will do very, very well) or another 120FPS without ray-tracing (be careful, you have to have the appropriate TV). We can’t repeat it enough but Devil May Cry 5 is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful games of the now old generation: a year and a half later, it is still sublime and therefore embellished on next-gen consoles.
We would have liked it more, but we don’t really have any complaints either. Note the (moderate) use of the DualSense, the famous controller of the PS5: the haptic feedback is satisfactory but not impressive, while the adaptive triggers are ultimately discreet. For once, Capcom does not really have much to do with it since R2 and L2 are mainly used to change weapons, which does not require precise resistance. However, the use of the Exceed gauge for Nero, serving to ignite his sword by turning its handle like a motorcycle grip, makes the controller particularly well in hand. It’s always taken. Finally, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition installs unprecedented ergonomics for the game: by this we mean that there is almost no loading time … and you can not imagine the happiness that it is, especially when the PS4 version was stuffed with everything and anything to the point of making the experience sometimes indigestible. Here, we twirl from one mission or menu to another in a few seconds and it is a diabolical comfort. We totally approve.
