5 Years Later, Devil May Cry 5 Still Quenches My Hack-And-Slash Thirst Like No Other

I’ll be honest with you, I’m really picky when it comes to games belonging to the glorious hack-and-slash genre. There are titles that get a lot of praise for what they bring to the table, including the Ninja Gaiden series, Code Vein, the all-time icon God Hand, and then there are games that nearly don’t get enough praise as they should, with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance being one of them. 

God knows why it hasn’t received a sequel or a remake yet though. 

Anyhow, so when I first heard the news that a new Devil May Cry game is finally coming, I expected an obvious improvement over its predecessor, but never did I — not even in a million years — anticipate what was truly coming.

Fast-forward 5 years later, all I can reiterate is that Devil May Cry 5 stands tall in 2024 as a thoroughly unrivaled, adrenaline-fueled action game that you should not let go unnoticed.

For those wondering why, read ahead for the full disclosure. 

Impeccable Combat – No Limit To Getting Creative

Being a follower of the franchise from all the way back to the first game which was launched in 2001, it’s a no-brainer that any subsequent Devil May Cry title (not you DmC) is going to feature cutthroat combat. Devil May Cry 5, on the other hand, takes things to another level, with swag dripping from all corners as it executes its relentlessly fun combat mechanics. 

Just take a look at the following video and grasp how good you can get in-game with a mix-up of all the weapons and skills made available at your disposal. Incredible. 

To give you a brief rundown, Devil May Cry 5 is the first game in the series to feature three main playable characters, spanning Dante — the OG devil hunter — Nero, and V, who is a surprise entry in the title. Three different figures, three different combat styles to conquer, with in-depth systems and moves that are certain to take you some while to get used to if you aspire to adopt god-like combo execution. 

FYI: There’s also the Vergil DLC for the action-adventure that you can purchase separately, and experience the Dark Slayer’s own narrative in a unique fashion. 

Then add a diversity of various difficulty modes that welcome both newcomers to the franchise and series’ veterans, and you’ve got insane replayability value popping right off. Bear in mind that there is no multiplayer or co-op mode in Devil May Cry 5. It’s a solo-focused venture by Capcom, although with distinct game modes, such as the Bloody Palace.

Oh, that arena brings back memories, and not all of them are fond ones, considering the grind involved. 

Stellar Visuals That Look Fantastic In 2024

Taking full advantage of the RE Engine, Capcom apparently went all out with DMC 5. I mean, just look at how spectacularly good-looking this thing is. I remember back in the day when I tried to fire it up on my base model PlayStation 4, the console hung up during the cinematic cutscenes. 

I deliberately had to move a few things around in the storage, free up some space, do a couple of extra chores, and only then I could get it running smoothly. The RE Engine and this game’s visual optimization is no joke, I’ll tell you. Did it before it was cool as an action-adventure. 

Can we just appreciate DMC5’s graphics for a sec?
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Just so you know, Devil May Cry 5 was released on March 8, 2019, for last-gen platforms and PC. It received a Special Edition upgrade in 2021 for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, which bumped up the game’s already brilliant photorealistic graphics for more sharpness and clarity, all the while optimizing it for the PS5’s DualSense as well.

Tasty Mod Availability

Ah yes, no PC game is realized to the full without some silly as hell mods coming into the equation. Fortunately for you, Devil May Cry 5 is right up the alley of an average PC gamer, meaning that you can deck it out with bizarre character skins for in-game characters belonging to poles-apart franchises, such as Deadpool, Doom, Star Wars, and even the aforementioned Metal Gears Rising: Revengeance.

And there aren’t just aesthetic-focused mods to shed light on here—a fair share of tools that alter the functioning of the game’s systems come with the pack as well, with this hilarious Michael Jackson Rank Announcer mod being one of them, followed by the utterly capable Coop Trainer that lets you tweak the game’s settings on an advanced level. 

Just to put it out here, here is eXputer’s curated collection of the best Devil May Cry 5 mods taken straight from NexusMods that you can have a go at.  

The Perfect Time To Pick It Up Is Right Now

Luckily enough, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition is on sale for $15.99 on the Xbox Store right now, which, to jog your memory a bit, also happens to be Series X|S optimized. It’s priced at $29.99 on Steam, though, but has the same discounted offer available on the PlayStation Store as well.

In my experience, most of my colleagues and fellow players skipped the Vergil DLC on their initial playthrough of the game. If you fall in one of those cases, the Vergil expansion of Devil May Cry 5 is the perfect revisit for both beginner and expert players. Plus, it’s included with the Special Edition, along with all of the following virtual goodness: 

• Legendary Dark Knight Mode
• Turbo Mode
• Ray Tracing Support
• High Frame Rate Mode