Devil May Cry 4

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Devil May Cry 4 review
Zkylon

Review

Time to thrash more demons

Doing it with style


Devil May Cry 4 handles much like its immediate forerunner. The game is divided into levels which present room after room of lesser enemies, spicing it up with the occasional puzzle in between and every level or two, a boss fight. Average enemies are nothing short of spectacular with absurdly marvelous designs. Whoever thought that strapping a scythe onto a demon’s back is a good idea deserves a raise! Enemies are diverse, from seemingly punching bags to more aggressive enemies that teleport to try and catch you off guard. There are parasites that try to ‘meld’ with stronger foes in order to become a bigger threat. Some enemies, though, are downright annoying. Case in point: Mephistos. Mephistos are demons that hide behind shielding cloaks and fly around you until they see fit to poke you really hard with one of their fingers. To beat these guys you need to break those cloaks, a task that demands the use of ranged attacks to keep your distance and avoid those nasty fingerings.

As Devil May Cry is a series that relies heavily on hand to hand combat, this becomes a rather bothersome chore. To top it up, Mephistos enjoy going through walls and staying out of your reach so it takes patience to deal with them. Considering that’s not a quality Nero, Dante or myself share, we often fall into the “I’ll just swing my blade around and see what happens” behavior. While it may seem like an enemy that just requires a different strategy, it is an unnecessary and frustrating enemy. There are a couple more of examples not really worth mentioning but as a highlight, Mephistos and their greater editions, the Fausts, are probably the biggest annoyance the game throws at you.

Engaging bosses entails the proven method of dodging and finding out each attack’s ‘tells’ and how to counter them and then striking at their weak point. Bosses in Devil May Cry4 are about as massive and tough as ever. If you are defeated you can continue from before the battle without any cost other than a penalty on your score. This allows you to try again and again until you get it right, yet still rewards those that succeed on their first attempt. It requires skill to beat the bosses, as both you and the boss regain their health after you revive so devotees shouldn’t be afraid that their game became easy all of a sudden.

Demon slayer catalogue


Nero’s Devil Bringer adds a new flavor to the gameplay mix, mostly due to the Devil Bringer’s snatching skill. Snatching allows Nero to pull enemies towards him and execute a fatal blow without the need to run after his enemies first. Half way through the game you get to play as Dante as well. Filling his shoes, the player can switch between different combat styles (from Devil May Cry 3’s styles Gunslinger, Swordmaster, Royalguard and Trickster) on the go. He is capable of quickly switching weapons but his arsenal is not nearly as varied or numerous as in previous games. He only gets an additional firearm besides his pistols and shotgun and Gilgamesh is basically Devil May Cry 3’s Beowulf in disguise. Dante’s sword Rebellion, combined with the Swordmaster style, is so powerful that you will forgo using any other melee weapon.

8.0

fun score

No Pros and Cons at this time