Devil May Cry V: A Retrospective
If you don’t have the patience to sit through the whole review, let me sum it up for you here:
In short, Devil May Cry V is one of the best games I’ve ever played.
The action is, of course, incredible. The visuals are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The controls are fluid and responsive. The set pieces are breathtaking. The story is emotional, pulse-pounding, and damn near perfect. Go play this game.
...still around? Alright, let’s do this the longer way.
My Journey:
My own journey through this series is rather unconventional. I discovered this series through PlayStation All-Stars (through the reboot Dante) and Marvel vs Capcom (with the original Dante). It took me a while to realize this was actually the same character and the same series, but one was a Gothic PlayStation-exclusive made by Capcom, and the other was a surrealist social commentary made by Ninja Theory. I never had any real interest in it.
However, Marvel vs Capcom 3 got my older brother hooked on the series. After he played through the first 4 games, he would rave about them to me. Eventually, his opinions persuaded me to try them out.
While I admit the first two games really threw me for a loop due to their age and mechanics, I eventually grew to like them, but I especially loved 3 and 4. It's strange to think about now, but for many years, DMC4 was the latest Devil May Cry game, and it left me with an intense hunger.
I wanted to know what happened to Nero and Kyrie; what Nero’s connection was to Vergil and Dante; what it meant when they said that he was a “descendant of Sparda”; and I wanted to know if he and Dante, would, in fact, ever meet again.
We got into these games in the mid-to-late-2010s. This was a little before Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition proved that the series was still in Capcom’s mind, and so the most recent content that we (and other fans) had to work with was the reboot. I can make another essay about that another time, but suffice to say, it didn’t scratch the specific itch that I now had for Devil May Cry content simply because it was so different in presentation, characters and ideas. 4 felt like the start of a new era, but at the same time, it came out in 2008, and so much time had passed that it was hard for me to imagine the series ever continuing those threads.
I, like many others, lost hope that this series would ever continue. Even when Special Edition came back, the game’s hesitancy to progress the series’ narrative in any way--only repeating the same game again with three new characters--made me believe that Capcom would never make a true sequel.
Then, E3 2018 happened.
The moment when Nero revved Red Queen, I knew that the King of Hack and Slash gameplay had returned. While writing this essay, no shit, I’m literally getting goosebumps just thinking about that reveal trailer.
Needless to say, I went into DMC5 with high hopes. As I mentioned earlier, I got into this series through Marvel vs Capcom, and so I’ve always known Capcom because of their fighting games. After putting up with Street Fighter V’s lack of single-player at launch, and Marvel vs Capcom Infinite’s many controversies, I was terrified that the game would be bare-bones in content; loaded with microtransactions; opr repeat levels again and again, as its predecessor had done.
Yet, against all odds, DMC5 came out. My worries were for naught.
The game was incredible.
...But you all know that. The game has been reviewed to Hell and back.
After all, at the time of writing this, the Vergil DLC has just come out and the game is a year old. So rather than talk about the intricacies of this game’s story, the beauty of its characters, and its return to the things that made the franchise so great; I want to approach how it fits into the meta-narrative of Devil May Cry.
Specifically, I’m going to argue that DMC5 is not just the best sequel in the series, but a perfect game sequel, period, as well as a fitting end to the Sons of Sparda Saga.
Defining the Framework of a “Perfect Sequel”
In order to understand how Devil May Cry 5 is a perfect sequel, we need to first define what a perfect sequel even is, and understand how it would look in a video game context.
For this, I’m going to rely a bit on Trope Talks’ interpretation of a sequel. It's a fantastic video, and I recommend you check it out. I want to look at their ideas and expand on them a bit. Some of the basic criteria I use when evaluating a sequel is:
Progression. We want to feel like the characters are actively moving forward, and by extension, the series is overall moving in a specific direction.
Resolution. We want this sequel to wrap up events that were first introduced in the previous game. This ties into progression as well: we not only want a specific direction, but a specific destination.
As Trope Talks explain, some of the best sequels can affect one’s perception of the franchise as a whole, retroactively making a previously self-contained story feel like just one part of a larger whole. I totally stand by that statement. For example, it’s nearly impossible for me to think of the original Star Wars as its own movie, because Empire and Jedi did such a good job of expanding the world and story, that I only see them as three parts of one whole, even if the original Star Wars does work as a self-contained story. While it's not required, it is still very nice to see retroactive continuity like that.
Originality. This can apply to many things: antagonists, story structure, and being that we’re talking about a game here, I would also add gameplay. I don’t just want the same threat over and over, nor do we want the story or game mechanics to have the exact same beats. A sequel should obviously retain the DNA of the predecessor, but add it’s own twist. This can often translate to a unique visual style as well, especially considering we are dealing with a visual medium.
So, does DMC5 meet this criteria?
Absolutely.
Part 1: Progression:
The game’s sense of progression is unmatched, and perhaps my favorite part of the game. I mentioned that 4 was something like Nero’s origin story, but 5 is him really coming into his own.
The specific direction of these characters is clear from the opening hours of the game. Dante is still the wise-cracking devil hunter we know and love, but he’s a bit humbled by having to, well, actually try for the first time in years. Considering where 5 falls in the story, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this is probably the first job Dante’s had since the first game where he’s in genuine danger. The creators even said that Urizen was the toughest foe in the saga thus far.
Meanwhile, Nero’s direction is clear. He wants to defeat Urizen, take back his arm, and assert himself as Dante’s equal. Even though we love Dante, we also empathize with Nero, and we are meant to feel connected to him as he falls behind. It was a clear progression from Devil May Cry 4, where Dante is vastly superior to Nero not only in gameplay, but cutscenes as well. 5 made the right call by showing that, after all these years, that dynamic hasn’t changed.
When Nero finally awakens his own Devil Trigger in Mission 20, it feels earned. His DT in 4 was more of a pseudo-Trigger, summoning an astral doppelganger through Vergil’s sword. But in 5, the new Devil Trigger is earned and certified authentic 100% Nero.
I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined we would get a canon fight between Nero and Vergi (confirmed father and son), all while both are throwing out their strongest Devil Trigger forms. It’s a dream come true, and even though I love DMC4, this game just blows it out of the water in regards to story and characters. The progression is there, and then some.
Part 2: Resolution:
As I said earlier, Devil May Cry 4 was a game that left me hungry for more content. A large part of that had to do with the overwhelming number of unsolved mysteries.
By the end of the game, we still had no idea who Nero was, what his connection to Dante was, or what his connection to Vergil was. In fact, we weren’t even sure what happened to Vergil.
5 solves all of that. Every lingering question that we’ve had is answered.
Is Nero Vergil’s dad? Yep. Check.
Will Nero get a DT? Check.
Will Dante and Vergil ever fight again? Check.
Is Vergil even alive, and if so, what happened post-DMC1? Check.
stuff that a lot of the fandom took for granted or didn’t really think about was elaborated on; for example, Dante and Vergil’s bantering confirms that Sparda was around during their childhood, and that they were a genuinely happy family for many years.
It creates such an overwhelming sense of closure. The three major protagonists of the series have completed character arcs:
Dante has, after so many years of being alone, found and rebuilt his family.
Vergil has abandoned his quest for power to help humanity, his brother, and his son.
And after two mainline entries of feeling inferior, Nero finally gains enough power and proves his worth. And unlike his father, he uses this power to protect, not destroy.
Devil May Cry V permanently colors how I think of the past entries, as any good sequel should. With Vergil’s reappearance, this means that the majority of mainline Devil May Cry games feature him as an antagonist, with two of the five games featuring him as the main villain. He’s arguably both the central villain of the saga, and the tritagonist behind Dante and the protagonist and Nero as the deuteragonist. Considering that these first five games are now being referred to as the “Sons of Sparda Saga,” it seems Capcom is even aware of this, and have chosen to market the franchise thus far as being almost exclusively about Dante and Vergil’s relationship.
Part 3: Originality:
It would be one thing if all of this progression and resolution occurred shortly after DMC4, as the team originally wanted. Instead, we waited 11 years for Devil May Cry 5. In that time, the Seventh Generation of Consoles was completed, the Eight Generation was almost entirely completed, and a reboot made by an entirely different team with a new vision was created. The original Devil May Cry team, including longtime director Hideaki Itsuno, worked on other projects for over a decade before returning to the franchise.
As a result of the time spent away from the franchise, the advanced technology, and a desire to show that the Hack-and-Slash genre had a place in the modern day; Devil May Cry 5 adopted a very different, very distinct identity from its predecessors.
When I say it has a “distinct identity,” I’m referring to a few different things:
Setting. Gone are the huge, Gothic castles; narrow hallways; and fixed, Resident Evil-inspired camera angles. Redgrave City, the main location of the game, is the most detailed environment in the series, and you can see it all with a flexible camera. (I can’t fucking emphasize how huge this is guys, I’m losing my shit, you can control the FUCKING CAMERA.) Seemingly inspired by the streets of London, it looks like an actual city that was once lived in but now is completely destroyed.
Main Characters. The main characters all have unique twists on older ideas that we haven’t seen in a while. While Dante was merely out-of-focus in 4, here, he’s outright incapacitated for a good chunk of the story. While Vergil begrudgingly worked with Dante in the past, here, he’s separated himself into an entirely new persona that actively seeks out Dante’s help. V is the standout of the game, and he brings a breath of fresh air to the franchise. I didn’t know I wanted an Adam Driver-ass looking Pokemon Master who quotes Edgar Allen Poe, and I didn’t necessarily ask for those things, but I’m so, so glad he’s here.
How the story is told. Most of the other DMC games have had very cut-and-dry stories. You go to a castle, learn some shit about Sparda, maybe fight Vergil, kill some epic bosses, go home. Not 5. Devil May Cry 5 is an experience. The story is epic and wide-sweeping, but also told out of chronological order, jumping back and forth between the past and present to explain individual character motivations.
Gameplay. This game is a masterpiece of the Hack-and-Slash genre. Dante continues to be boatloads of fun with his Style switching mid-combo. The Devil Breakers add diversity to Nero’s gameplay, forcing you to make choices on how to use such a powerful, varied resource. (And, for good measure, they add a sci-fi element to this otherwise terrific urban fantasy story.) And V’s entire existence is unlike anything else in the genre.
All in all, despite building on everything that came before, DMC5 is unmistakably original. But, that’s not where I’m ending this video.
The Ultimate Catharsis of Nero and Dante vs Vergil:
I’ve already mentioned this moment a few times already, but it really needs its own section. The final two missions of Devil May Cry 5 are some of the most fun I’ve had in any video game, ever. Even though it's in the same place and against the same person, the character you are controlling (Dante in Mission 19, and Nero in Mission 20) completely changes the context of the fight, and therefore, the emotion it elicits from the audience.
Dante vs Vergil in Mission 19 is a love letter to fans of Devil May Cry 3, but it's also a little sad. Dante and Vergil display no animosity towards one-another, and in fact, they display a weird sense of brotherly love. They seem resigned to their fate, completely content with the idea of killing one-another. Even Vergil smiles at the thought, reminiscing about their childhood as he prepares to strike down Dante. It goes to show that, over the many years, they’ve lost the ability to communicate and talk as brothers. The only way that they can settle their differences is bloodshed. It’s beautiful, but tragic.
If Mission 19 is a nostalgic tragedy, Mission 20 is a triumph. Nero verbally tears the brothers apart, before literally tearing apart his father. Nero won’t repeat the past, and he uses every ounce of power to defeat Vergil. It doesn’t feel tragic anymore, it feels awesome and victorious. The music, “Silver Bullet,” reflects this. It starts off with melancholic orchestral and piano music, reflecting the general atmosphere of the previous fight...but the second Nero transforms, it turns epic and inspiring.
Dante and Vergil fighting each other to a stalemate is a window to the past, but Nero unlocking his DT and defeating Vergil is a reminder of the future, a sign that there are more things to come.
To further this sentiment, I think the game ends in the best way possible. Nero has truly earned the title of Earth’s guardian. Lady and Trish will continue to work in Dante’s absence. I know a lot of people dislike the ending because they feel it means that Dante and Vergil are trapped in the Underworld forever, but I disagree. Considering how nonchalant they are, and considering Yamato’s teleportation abilities, I believe the two are fully capable of leaving whenever they want.
Besides, it feels like a nice little close to Dante’s story. The last time he and Vergil fought, he left his brother in the underworld for ten years, and we all know what happened after that. Dante tagging along puts a smile on my face. He learned from his mistakes, and he’s not letting his twin brother get hurt again.
The Closing Moments:
I honestly could not have asked for a better sequel to Devil May Cry 4. Again, over a year after it came out, I’m still floored that 5 exists. It’s not some half-baked sequel, a non canon sidequest, an irrelevant spin-off or prequel, or anything else.
It’s a truly original, truly conclusive installment that moves the series forward. Honestly, I don’t even care if there’s another Devil May Cry, because 5 wrapped up all of the plot threads in the most loving way possible.
I know I’m putting myself in the minority here with this next sentence, but as much as I love the gameplay, that’s really why I play games: for the story. Yes, excellent gameplay will always bring me back again and again, but the story of a game is what I generally think about when I remember my favorite games.
I have always been fascinated by the story of the scarlet-clad devil hunter named Dante. And as far as I’m concerned, his story ended in the perfect way.
My name is Jonathan, and thank you for reading this.
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