At this point, what can I say about Devil May Cry 5 that you don’t already know? The DMC saga is one of the most iconic of its kind hack n ‘slash, and through its multiple deliveries (including to restart) He gave us some authentic moments that even remain in the retinas of most fans. Capcom has one of its biggest stars with it, and after a slightly lower than average delivery, the truth is that with Devil May Cry 5 it has rediscovered the path to success.
This latest opus has brought us many new features, including one that stands out among all: 3 playable characters with 3 very different game features. Of course, we will continue to control the central character of the saga, who is none other than one of the sons of Sparda: Dante. In addition, we also had a return, in particular the protagonist of the 4th installment of the saga, Nero. To both was added the great novelty of this game: V, a character with a set of abilities very different from the other two.
Today we come to tell you about the special edition of this DMC 5 and how it performs in a new Xbox Series X. The title is essentially a vitamin version of the original title, so we will be skipping a lot of gameplay details or the technical section of this analysis. If you want to know what the original title looked like to us, we recommend that you read its review, where we rate the game as outstanding. Without further ado, let’s see how this new edition of the hack n ‘slash from Capcom.
Technical section
The original Devil May Cry 5 is already a title with a fairly elaborate graphic section, offering one of the hack n ‘ slash the most spectacular in recent years. This version arrives on the new generation of consoles, and as with other intergenerational games like DIRT 5 for example, it has a graphical mode selector so that we can customize our experience “on demand”. Everything seems to indicate that at least the first few months of the generation will follow this trend, and the truth is that in my opinion it is a success.
This special edition incorporates technology that promises to dramatically change the visual appearance of video games. We are of course talking about Laser tracing, although unfortunately We will only find it if we play on an Xbox Series X (something quite surprising, that says it all). The 4 graphic configurations that we will have available in the X Series are as follows:
- 4K and 30 fps with Ray Tracing
- 1080p and 60 fps with Ray Tracing
- 4K and 60 fps sinusoidal ray tracing
- Dynamic 4K and 120 fps without ray tracing
We are all very familiar with the virtues of Ray Tracing, and that is that it makes games that use it much more impressive. The problem lies with the kind of game Devil May Cry 5 is, a frantic action video game where the difference between 30 and 60 fps is an abyss. After trying a few levels at 4K and 30 fps I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. The game looks great, but the playable experience suffers so much that it will seem like we are playing another game. On the totally opposite side we have 120 fps mode, which despite not reaching 4K and not having Ray Tracing makes the game a fairly fluid and almost hypnotic show (Although we do need a compatible display to use it).
The other novelty in its technical part will be found in the new Turbo mode, What increases game speed by 20%. It may seem like 20% is very little, but when it comes to putting them in charge, I can assure you it’s a real joy. This mode is also not compatible with Ray Tracing, and for the moment it seems that in order to apply this technology, games have to make a technical sacrifice.
Gameplay
In a playable way, Devil May Cry 5 is all there is to be hack n ‘slash. As I said at the start of this review, the inclusion of all 3 playable characters has been successful, giving us perhaps the most varied and fun DMC in the entire saga. In this sense, the gameplay retains all this essence and all these possibilities, adding two elements that are mainly the two novelties that this special edition brings us.
On the one hand, and perhaps the one that can most attract the attention of lovers of the saga, is The arrival of Vergil as a fully playable character. As you probably already know, Vergil is Dante’s twin brother and is almost always his main antagonist. Capcom did a great job of designing and building its handling, being a lot of fun at the controls. His arsenal is made up of his traditional Yamato katana, Beowulf gauntlets and a kind of spectral sword, not to mention that you can summon a demonic being with his Devil Trigger.
All that good work when it comes to designing Vergil’s movements and attacks is somewhat obscured when we look at the overall experience his campaign offers. I say this because we can say that it is introduced ‘with a shoehorn’, with a very limited narrative which is reduced to two cutscenes, one at the beginning and one at the end. After finishing it, the truth is that the playable sensations are very good and it is a lot of fun, although to put a little ‘but’ I find it a little more boring because this gameplay does not alternate with that of the others characters, as if it happened in the traditional countryside.
On the other hand, the other big playable news can be found in its new difficulty mode. This mode is called the legendary dark knight and will take the experience of this special edition to another level. If I had to explain what this mode is all about, I would compare it directly to an entirely different saga like Dinasty Warrior, and that is that we will have an overwhelming number of enemies on screen. Before facing him, I was a little reluctant about the result, but the game managed to shut my mouth very quickly. This new mode seems to me the funniest novelty of this edition, and I recommend anyone who is familiar with the game to use it first (provided they have experience in games of this type, of course).
Duration
As we already told you in its review, Devil May Cry 5 is quite a long game compared to others in the same genre. Finishing your traditional experience can lead us into the 10-12 hours of play. However, with this we would only scratch the surface of all that it offers us, so surely when we finish it we will have the desire to give it another turn on another difficulty.
All the secrets of the game along with the new difficulty mode, the arrival of the Vergil campaign and the inclusion of the Bloody Palace as standard (it arrived much later in the original Devil May Cry 5) make the game much more long, and if we are in love with the saga, we can have fun for hours for several weeks, even months.
conclusion
It’s very difficult (and I would even dare say impossible) that when a game is great we get a special edition that’s bad later on. Of course, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition is no exception here, coming to us as a definitive edition of one of the best hack n ‘slash in recent years. Its main problem is that it might not have enough news to attract all the players who bought the original title and made the most of it.
This problem is further compounded when you consider that its most visible novelty, which is the Vergil campaign, will arrive as DLC in the coming weeks for owners of the regular edition. Is this new edition of DMC 5 worth it? In my opinion yes, although with nuances. The arrival of its new difficulty coupled with the 120 fps mode makes the game play a change that I admit I thought was quite unlikely. As a fan of the saga and one who finished the game in its day, the truth is that I enjoyed it like it was a new game.
However, the Vergil campaign left me with a bit of a bittersweet taste in my mouth, and it’s mainly because of its poor narrative that it tarnishes the great work Capcom has done to design its gameplay (which is excellent. , at the level of the rest of the characters). In conclusion, this special edition is a remarkable game that should be a must for all lovers of the genre who did not appreciate the original title, and for fans of the saga who want the definitive version of DMC 5.
* Thanks to Koch Media and Capcom for providing us with the material for the review.
