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[Fbh]

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Starting this year my 2 most anticipated games were probably Sekiro and DMC5. Due to financial reasons and with both of them releasing so close to each other I had to choose one and I went with Sekiro, which was amazing and is still easily my game of the year.
Due to a variety of reasons I ended up pushing back DMC5 through the year but I saw a good deal for it during Black Friday so I finally picked it up. Having just finished it though I have to say that while I definitely had fun with it and I totally plan to play through it again... I can't help but be rather disappointed.

Combat is still really fun and responsive with some good depth if you want to get into combos and max out the rankings, even V ,who feels rather gimmicky and was the least enjoyable part, was fun enough and ok as a way to change up the pace and add some variety. I also really liked all the new weapons, both the arms from Nero and the new Dante weapons were fun to play with and incorporate into combat. But everything else about the game felt like a big step back.

The art style is rather ugly, this new Capcom engine is definitely well optimizes as this was running at basically locked 60fps (during gameplay...cutscenes were all over the place) on mostly high settings at 1080p on my laptop with a 1050ti. But the character models have a strong uncanny valley vibe to them. They look pretty realistic when they are still but in motion they look off, not to mention that IMO a more realistic art style doesn't fit the japanese/anime style of what's happening on screen. After years of the franchise having stylized visuals it's rather hard to see this:

As Dante.... and not some dude doing DMC cosplay. ( And don't get me started on Trish)

But even beyond that the world is just boring. DMC4 had flaws and made you visit every place twice but at least there was some variety to the level design and locations. Here you spend the first half of the game in mostly ruined streets, ruined subway stations or abandoned parking lots, and then halfway through it's like they completely gave up and the rest of the game is almost literally just a bunch of hallways with the same 2-3 "underworld" textures repeated over and over. The level design was also basic as hell, gone are the slight puzzle and exploration elements of previous games, here it's mostly a linear path from one combat arena to the next.


And finally, the golden orb thingies are OP as hell and you get WAY too many of them. And yeah I know I don't have to use them but even if you ignore them they sort of take the tension out of it.


As I said, I still had fun with it and definitely want to play through the new difficulty and NG+ to play around with the stuff you get towards the end and don't get to use a lot before it ends. But overall it was rather disappointing to see the franchise take several steps back in its first proper sequel in more than 10 years.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

I agree about the level design, especially the second half feeling repetitive, and that the puzzle/exploration elements of the previous games gone away in favor of a linear path to the next battle.

Visuals were ok to me.

I miss the inertia from Nero's DMC4 air attack, forgot what it was called...

I feel like the good things were pretty good though, I liked Nero's agility and Devil Breakers, Nico, the general feel of the controls, etc.

Hopefully a sequel addresses the complaints.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

when it first came out I was like “this is awesome!” But after about 6 hours I kinda was over it. Lost a lot of luster. I finished it but haven’t gone back for more additional playthroughs

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

when it first came out I was like “this is awesome!” But after about 6 hours I kinda was over it. Lost a lot of luster. I finished it but haven’t gone back for more additional playthroughs

You put it in words. I did replay a bit of the beginning chapters as Nero, but compared to previous mainline DMCs, this is easily my least replayed so far.

 

[Fbh]

I feel like the good things were pretty good though, I liked Nero's agility and Devil Breakers, Nico, the general feel of the controls, etc.
Hopefully a sequel addresses the complaints.

Yeah I'd still like to see a sequel, hopefully it sold well enough for Capcom to make one.
Also, while I don't like the visual style I hope they keep it (and the same engine) for a sequel so they can worry a bit less about the technical stuff and focus on things like level design, environment design and enemy variety

when it first came out I was like “this is awesome!” But after about 6 hours I kinda was over it. Lost a lot of luster. I finished it but haven’t gone back for more additional playthroughs

Yeah it definitely looses steam.
I think on top of the lack of visual variety towards the ends it's also lacking a bit in enemy variety. I played through Astral Chain earlier this year and not only was it twice as long as DMC5 but it was constantly introducing new enemies and/or bosses even during the final missions and it helped a lot in keeping the game feeling fresh and exciting all the way through

 

[Danjin44]

I definitely agree with the complain about entire art direction, hyper realistic visuals just doesn’t fit with over the top action game like DMC series.

 

[Fbh]

I definitely agree with the complain about entire art direction, hyper realistic visuals just doesn’t fit with over the top action game like DMC series.

Yep.

I mean it's not even the over the top part. Things like God of War are also pretty over the top and work well with more realistic visuals.
It's the "japanese over the top" style that doesn't fit. The characters, costumes, dialog and even action feel like they'd fit right into some anime or manga... so they look weird when you put a realistic looking character model in there.

It's the life action anime adaptation effect:

It just looks bad

 

[decisions]

I thought the game was great, but definitely think both DMC3 and (perhaps controversially) DMC4 are better overall games.

The art style was definitely a little weird, though I think the game looked great overall. However, unlike Nero and Vergil, Dante was just not translated into this new style properly. He looks strange; I always thought his eyes were set weirdly far back in his head so that there are shadows on them or something, I can't quite put my finger on it...

Also his design is decidedly tame and somewhat boring compared to the past games.

One other thing I want to mention is how disappointed I was in the cutscenes. DMC3 and 4 have awesome cutscenes that I replay all the time. DMC5’s action scenes frankly feel super lame in comparison.

Hoping SE helps clear things up.

 

[RSB]

I definitely agree with the complain about entire art direction, hyper realistic visuals just doesn’t fit with over the top action game like DMC series.

Yeah, I much prefer the more stylized character designs Capcom used last gen. This obsession they have now (since RE7) with photorrealism is awful.

 

[TUROK]

Devil Hunter mode was disappointingly easy, which is curious cause that same mode kicked my ass in DMC4.

Can't say I agree about the art style, though. I loved how the game looked, especially all the boss characters..

 

[Maybe It's Medicine?]

The new DMC is great and so are it's visuals. Level design is fine but the environments I was not a fan of. Outside of the city areas, all of the slimy demonic walls and floors start to look very samey very quickly. The photorealism on the characters themselves though and the the enemies looks fucking perfect. It's like both this and RE7 share the same problem in that they look good until capcom starts phoning it in ala the mines. Still an amazing action game though.

 

[dsk1210]

If only they had more blood tunnels.

 

[Azurro]

You guys are just upset the anime look of DMC4 is out, which is weird, since that's the only game in the series that strives for a more anime look. The rest of the DMC games have definitely fell in the more realistic side.

 

[Gamerasi]

Startable selectable difficulty levels were very easy. Like Diablo 3. I hate that. Why don't you give us the hard choice?
I played at Gamepass. I would never buy it.
Ah ah, Ninja Gaiden.

 

[GymWolf]

Dmc1 and 3 are still the best overall.

 

[Fbh]

And yeah, I agree that the starting difficulty options were too easy. Combined with Astral chain it's the second game of this type this year that does that, and both DO have a harder mode but decide to lock it away for NG+ for some reason.

You guys are just upset the anime look of DMC4 is out, which is weird, since that's the only game in the series that strives for a more anime look. The rest of the DMC games have definitely fell in the more realistic side.

To be fair the Ps2 games also had a more stylized art style, though it was probably more related to technical limitations:

Or Vergil

Spoiler

Who was like Ps2: Anime bad guy with Dragonball hair, Ps3: Anime bad guy with Dragonball hair, Ps4: Dude in a cosplay

 

[Punished Miku]

I called it as soon as it was announced. DMC is an old series based on old lock on combat. Dragons Dogma is better and Itsuno should have worked on that or another IP.

Move on from this series. Everyone yelled at me and said I was wrong but I'm not. This series felt old when Ninja Gaiden 2 came out over a decade ago.

 

[h3ad0rZ]

I didn't like character designs at all. Nero would always remind of that "Ninja" streamer and take me out of the game every time . Dante was probably the one I liked most, but it was more for what he was doing was cool and fun. But I don't know what they did to his face, its just hard to look at, like its hard to make out his features. Nico was an okay new addition, but the rest... not my cup of tea to say lightly.

Overall the game was fun to beat once, but even so much critiqued DMC4, I remember, I would launch for another playthrough right away, watching vids of amazing players doing some absolutely nuts shit that I didn't even thought was possible. Not this one tho.

 

[Fbh]

I called it as soon as it was announced. DMC is an old series based on old lock on combat. Dragons Dogma is better and Itsuno should have worked on that or another IP.

Move on from this series. Everyone yelled at me and said I was wrong but I'm not. This series felt old when Ninja Gaiden 2 came out over a decade ago.

At least personally my problem isn't that it feels old. I love the old "lock on" combat and I prefer this franchise over Dragons Dogma (though I really like DD too)
It's that the previous games where doing more. They had more interesting worlds with better level designs and some light puzzle/exploration elements.

You'd expect the next gen entry after 10 years to feel like a step up or evolution, but it ended up having a conceptually and visually boring setting, and level design that has been reduce to little more than straight paths connecting one combat arena with the next

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

I loved it, much MUCH better than DMC 4, needed a lot more weapon varity and V wasn't very fun to play on higher diffculties though his style was a nice change of pace, loved the music and art style, locations needed a lot more variet, here's hoping for a return to a more gothic style like DMC1 and maybe let Dante take a break and make the next game protagonist Nero or somebody else.
A great return to form IMO and 1 of 2019's best games.

 

[bilderberg]

I really hate how this series has just devolved into getting highscores and ranks at the expense of any good game design or sensible challenge. If you've played a video game before you're basically required to beat the opening novelty boss and unlock the next difficulty if you want any semblance of a challenge. Also, the game just has way too many cutscenes.

 

[Sub_Level]

Great game but desperately needs a PS5 version with faster loading. Levels take forever to load on PS4.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

I really hate how this series has just devolved into getting highscores and ranks at the expense of any good game design or sensible challenge. If you've played a video game before you're basically required to beat the opening novelty boss and unlock the next difficulty if you want any semblance of a challenge. Also, the game just has way too many cutscenes.

Can't miss a chance to shit talk a series you don't get do you?
Was this thread you made hating on the game not an enough of an ass whooping?

DMC5 is boring.

So i just finished the V stage and I think i'm about to call it quits. Who thought rolling your thumb back and forth across X and Y made for good combat? But it's not like the Nero stages have been much better. The hardest difficultly available at the start is Devil Hunter and it's just too god...

www.neogaf.com

It's Ok not to enjoy a series or get it's appeal, me i don't get the appeal of Destiny and it's ilk of Shooter/MMO but you won't see me in every thread positive or negative spewing my hate for it.
Just Move on dude.
P. S don't try Bayonetta if you don't want to brother with the style meter.
Ciao

 

[bilderberg]

Can't miss a chance to shit talk a series you don't get do you?
Was this thread you made hating on the game not an enough of an ass whooping?

DMC5 is boring.

So i just finished the V stage and I think i'm about to call it quits. Who thought rolling your thumb back and forth across X and Y made for good combat? But it's not like the Nero stages have been much better. The hardest difficultly available at the start is Devil Hunter and it's just too god...

www.neogaf.com

It's Ok not to enjoy a series or get it's appeal, me i don't get the appeal of Destiny and it's ilk of Shooter/MMO but you won't see me in every thread positive or negative spewing my hate for it.
Just Move on dude.
P. S don't try Bayonetta if you don't want to brother with the style meter.
Ciao

dude, the title of the thread is "DMC5...that was rather disappointing." If you didn't want to read criticism then don't click on the thread. And i like Bayonetta.

 

[JTCx]

Top notch amazing game. Level design take quite a hit after the 2nd half but everything else is spectacular. Only thing thats missing is turbo mode. Best dmc.

 

[PerfectWarrior]

Loved it and absolutely a 100% devil may cry experience, even tho it has some flaws. To me DMC3>1>5>4>2>>>>>>DmC

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

dude, the title of the thread is "DMC5...that was rather disappointing." If you didn't want to read criticism then don't click on the thread. And i like Bayonetta.

The criticism in this thread isn't about the game's fundmentals or it's core gameplay since it's most beloved and significant entry (DMC 3), it's about the art style and level design.
Yours is about not wanting to be bothered to play the game stylishly and deal with each enemy as such as it was designed and wanting to be Ninja Gaiden or Sekiro.
Huge difference.

 

[bilderberg]

The criticism in this thread isn't about the games fundmentals or it's core gameplay since it's most beloved and significant (DMC 3), it's about the art style and level design.
Yours is about not wanting to be bothered to play the game stylishly and deal with each enemy as such as it was designed and wanting to be Ninja Gaiden or Sekiro.
Huge difference.

i'm allowed to give my thoughts on whatever particular aspect i want though. It's a DMC thread..i'm not allowed to talk about the combat or difficulty? wtf? I'm not trying to take away your enjoyment of the game. Keep praising the game all you want, doesn't change my opinion of it. You could have just ignored my post and let it go, but now you're arguing against the merit of my criticism and de-railing the thread about what was "supposed to be about the level and art design."

 

[plushyp]

Loved it and absolutely a 100% devil may cry experience, even tho it has some flaws. To me DMC3>1>5>4>2>>>>>>DmC

DMC2 over DmC??? Take off your nostalgia goggles because DMC 2 was beyond horrendous. DmC may not have been a good DMC but it was a decent hack and slash something which DMC2 failed at... come to think of it, it didn't do a single thing well. Poor hitboxes, drab environments, terrible enemy AI, crap music etc etc the list is endless.

 

[Jigsaah]

Played on Gamepass for like 30 minutes...did not go back.

 

[Quezacolt]

One f my favorite games of the year. My only complain is the lack of visual variety on the later levels, and some of the faces, i loved everything else and hopefully DMC6 will improve the areas i had problems with.

 

[Pejo]

I agree with a lot of your points, OP. I had fun with the game but the art style just sucked. They should have kept the more anime look for the characters. I hate this new face scan future we're headed towards.

 

[PerfectWarrior]

DMC2 over DmC??? Take off your nostalgia goggles because DMC 2 was beyond horrendous. DmC may not have been a good DMC but it was a decent hack and slash something which DMC2 failed at... come to think of it, it didn't do a single thing well. Poor hitboxes, drab environments, terrible enemy AI, crap music etc etc the list is endless.

And you are absolutely right. DmC us a great game with a fantastic level design, but to me its not a DMC, not to mention that i hate the overall design and the 30fps impacted me so negatively that i cant stand it. I admit that dmc2 is a terrible game, but i enjoyed back in days because...you know , i was young and the hype but dont take my opinion as something neutral.
But i hate Donte.

 

[plushyp]

And you are absolutely right. DmC us a great game with a fantastic level design, but to me its not a DMC, not to mention that i hate the overall design and the 30fps impacted me so negatively that i cant stand it. I admit that dmc2 is a terrible game, but i enjoyed back in days because...you know , i was young and the hype but dont take my opinion as something neutral.
But i hate Donte.

Ohhh, you played DmC on console. I played on PC so got an uncapped framerate which helped! Btw, if you have some time then watch this:



I had actually forgotten about the Infected Helicopter boss lol

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

i'm allowed to give my thoughts on whatever particular aspect i want though. It's a DMC thread..i'm not allowed to talk about the combat or difficulty? wtf? I'm not trying to take away your enjoyment of the game. Keep praising the game all you want, doesn't change my opinion of it. You could have just ignored my post and let it go, but now you're arguing against the merit of my criticism and de-railing the thread about what was "supposed to be about the level and art design."

It's your right to criticize and it's mine to respond to it (after all this is a gaming fourm to discuss and critique videogames) and point out the flaws in your criticism.
I don't disagree with the OP, i like the art style, i didn't like the lack of variety in the levels visually though i didn't let it affect my enjoyment of the game as much as he did.
I hate to repeat myself but you critique is flawed because it seems you have an out right disdain for the game core mechanics of killing demons with style, which if you played the game as it was designed would've been fun for you, because in forcing you to pay attention to the style meter and reawrding you with the full theme song of the character you're playing and with more orbs to buy more moves, the game is teaching you how to play it as it was intended and not beating you on the head with constant tutorials.
You want to beat the game in the most mundane way possible is like playing a game like Rage 2 where you're given a lot of abilities and movement options and instead chose to sit back and play the game like CoD with Ads from a distance, or like someone hating on Resident Evil Remake because it doesn't give them enough ammo to blast their way through every Zombie and monster they face instead of avoiding some of them.

 

[Life]

when it first came out I was like “this is awesome!” But after about 6 hours I kinda was over it. Lost a lot of luster. I finished it but haven’t gone back for more additional playthroughs

Felt that way too but only after 2/3 hours into it.

 

[JTCx]

Says golden orbs are OP. Your mission rank says hi.

 

[Virex]

Nico was worth a fap or 2 at least.

 

[Virex]

Double post by accident.

 

[Graciaus]

Not being able to pick Dante for the entire game made me not replay it. I started and then just quit. I enjoyed the game but not like I did 1/3.

Also hate what they did to the character art.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The art style is definitely a big part of what turned me off. Gravity-defying anime stylish action should not feature such realistic-looking characters. It totally looks like people doing cosplay. Doesn't matter how attractive the models are, anime cosplay always looks goofy.

I also didn't much like the idea of having to play multiple protagonists with wildly varying gameplay styles. I'll probably pick it up eventually, though, when it can be had for $15 or less or if it comes to Game Pass.

 

[bilderberg]

It's your right to criticize and it's mine to respond to it (after all this is a gaming fourm to discuss and critique videogames) and point out the flaws in your criticism.
I don't disagree with the OP, i like the art style, i didn't like the lack of variety in the levels visually though i didn't let it affect my enjoyment of the game as much as he did.
I hate to repeat myself but you critique is flawed because it seems you have an out right disdain for the game core mechanics of killing demons with style, which if you played the game as it was designed would've been fun for you, because in forcing you to pay attention to the style meter and reawrding you with the full theme song of the character you're playing and with more orbs to buy more moves, the game is teaching you how to play it as it was intended and not beating you on the head with constant tutorials.
You want to beat the game in the most mundane way possible is like playing a game like Rage 2 where you're given a lot of abilities and movement options and instead chose to sit back and play the game like CoD with Ads from a distance, or like someone hating on Resident Evil Remake because it doesn't give them enough ammo to blast their way through every Zombie and monster they face instead of avoiding some of them.

The mechanics are great, the combat in a vacuum is good..my issue is the game design. "Being stylish" is supposed to be a side effect of overcoming the challenge the game gives you. It's not supposed to be the sole challenge and purpose of the game. If i can get through the game by just 'y,y,y'ing' the whole time that's a problem with the game, not me. I enjoyed DMC1 and 3 because they were tough action game's first, and then combo high score simulators second. You naturally looked stylish having to over come the difficult challenge in those games, it wasn't something you had to go out of your way to do. Since DMC 4 there's been too much revisionist history that this series has been about nothing but getting S ranks and that's just not true. Your RE Remake example is an argument I should be making. The game actively punishes you for killing everything by spawning crimson's which are much harder. If the game wants me to play a certain way, it needs to encourage me to do so. My self gratification for "looking cool" isn't a good enough reason. It's a video game. I'm not sharing my scores with people and i don't care about if i look cool or not. How cool can i actually be sitting in my room alone playing some ADHD action game?

 

[Azurro]

And yeah, I agree that the starting difficulty options were too easy. Combined with Astral chain it's the second game of this type this year that does that, and both DO have a harder mode but decide to lock it away for NG+ for some reason.





To be fair the Ps2 games also had a more stylized art style, though it was probably more related to technical limitations:

I wouldn't blame Vergil on art style, he just looks wrong. I mean, PS2 technical limitations had a lot to do with it, you look at the initial DMC and it definitely has a "Resident Evil but with action" visual vibe. RE itself pursues more of a realistic look, just stylised. DMC3 went slightly more cartoony in DMC3, definitely very anime in DMC4 and pulled back to more realism in DMC5.

All of them are stylised realism, I think some people just complain a lot because the hardcore anime fandom is a....very special one, let's say. I just wish they got a better actor to model Vergil after, because Jesus Christ.

 

[Keihart]

Talking about the visuals....i think Dante looks way better than in 4, it's a way better translation of classic Dante going old and Nero it's finally it's own thing instead of being NotDante like in 4. The game in general also has this very dark yet colorful style to it, like how Dantes eyes are almost always covered in shadows or hair giving him a creepy look, it reminds me a lot of Silent Hill characters to be honest.

 

[Arsic]

Surprised no one ever made an OT for this one unless I’m missing it?

I wanted to ask:

I played and beat this at launch on PC. Is there any reason to play the PS5 version or is there an updated pc version I need to go play it again?

I am planning to beat Ninja Gaiden sigma 3 razors edge then go to this before stellar blade hits.