Since receiving a PlayStation 5 review unit, I've had the pleasure of enjoying games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Astro's Playroom, The Pathless, Bugsnax, and a few others that I can't speak to yet. and they all looked extremely beautiful visually. But Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is the only PS5 game to date that has really had me gasping audibly every few minutes entirely because of its style.
For those who don't know, Devil May Cry 5 was released in March 2019 for PC, PS4, Xbox One. The Special Edition releasing this week on next-gen consoles augments the visuals with a host of options, adds Vergil as a playable character with new story elements, and includes various other bonus modes and difficulty options.
This is the best version of the game to play and, arguably, the best overall Devil May Cry game made to date.
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition Review – Slicker Than Ever
Vergil was introduced as a playable character in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition and was later added in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. Notice a trend here?
If you're like me and aren't a die-hard Devil May Cry fan, luckily there's a short series of subtitled animations that explain all of the events from the previous games leading up to Devil May Cry 5. It's only a few minutes long but does a great job of depicting who Dante, Nero and Virgil are in the grand scheme of things, so you don't necessarily need to have played any of the previous games to blow your mind. the first here.
Honestly, every game should have something like this, especially if it's a sequel launching on a new platform like DMC 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X | S.
Along with the visual and performance improvements, which I'll cover later a bit later, there are three main additions: Turbo mode, challenging Legendry Dark Knight, and the inclusion of Vergil, Dante's twin brother, as a character. playable.
Similar to the special edition version of Devil May Cry 4, Turbo Mode increases the intensity by making the entire game 20% faster. Alternatively, the Legendary Dark Knight mode absolutely floods the screen with enemies almost all the time. It's a great way to practice for the thumb and it really tests your reflexes.
Let's talk about Vergil in particular, though. One of the biggest issues with the base game was that you were forced to bounce between Dante, Nero, and V throughout the campaign whether or not you wanted to switch characters. It was a bummer, for me, because I'm not a big fan of how clunky Nero feels, especially at first. With DMC 5 Special Edition, you can play every mission as Vergil – and it's gorgeous.
What I love about his moveset is how fast and deadly he is. It's all about his katana, and he's so fierce in combat that he gets my blood pumping every time he starts slashing. I especially like how he can move and teleport between enemies almost instantly to fill gaps and continue combos.
Virgil is almost like a combination of the other three characters into a super powerful demon slayer. I really, really hope he gets his own full game soon.
Style and substance
Even though it's technically just an extended port, DMC 5 SE shows that Capcom has gone the extra mile to really deliver on the fidelity side. You can use ray tracing in 1080P at 60 fps or 4K at 30 fps. And if you have a sufficiently capable TV, you can even boost the DMC 5 SE up to 120 fps with its "high frame rate mode". Unfortunately, my TV only goes up to 60 fps, so I couldn't test this feature.
However, the game seems to detect whether or not your TV can reach that mark regardless of your console settings.
I spent most of my time using the lower fidelity mode or even turning off ray tracing altogether because as nice as this game was I felt like I had to pause and get in in photo mode to really appreciate the improvements.
The reflective puddles and amazing lighting effects are great, but when you're busy fighting hordes of relentless demons, you usually have to focus on the combat more than the water reflections. That's why getting a faster framerate was the priority for me.
The video below does a great job of demonstrating how much of a difference the added graphics options can make if you're into that sort of thing.
Another big advantage of the DMC 5 SE over the PS5 - and it can't be overemphasized - are the super-fast loading times. When you queue for a mission in the main menu, you're inside the game, slicing through the demons, in seconds. You barely have time to reposition yourself, let alone have enough time to check Twitter or take a bathroom break, before you're ready to go. For a game as fast as DMC, the less you have to wait, the better.
That being said, the output format of this edition seems odd. If you paid $60 (or more for the Deluxe Edition) just a year ago, Capcom is asking an additional $40 for what is, essentially, the same game.
Not to mention that DMC 5 Special Edition, with all its improvements and new features, is not available on PC at all, nor is this version updated to include the new features. It's inexplicable why Capcom would delineate content in this way, especially PC gamers who most likely have equal or better game setups than the PS5 and XSX.
Luckily, Capcom will be releasing Vergil as DLC on December 15 for both last-gen and PC versions of the game for just $5. However, this does not include any of the other new modes or technical improvements.
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition Review - The Bottom Line
Advantages:
- Visually stunning and makes excellent use of next-gen hardware
- Excellent gameplay – Vergil is fun to play and easily my favorite character
- Plenty of options to tweak visuals and performance settings
- New game modes offer a tough challenge for experienced fans
The inconvenients:
- Bizarre pricing and a new content platform release strategy, excluding PC gamers altogether
- Vergil's campaign is still basically the same experience
- Little reason to buy if you've played DMC 5 before
Evaluating a re-release of an already great game is tough when it doesn't add a ton – or has a weird pricing and release strategy. For one thing, there's not much new here other than a new playable character with a handful of new cutscenes from his perspective. The new game modes are great for replayability, but it's still about remixing the game and not offering much really new.
But on the other hand, it's such an awesome game that it's hard to complain. If you haven't played DMC 5, you should definitely pick it up, no questions asked. If you've played DMC 5, it might not be worth it. However, Vergil is the most fun character to play and makes the game even more intense and badass with his excellent move set.
Fingers crossed he gets an entire game ASAP.
Devil May Cry 5 may not have a lot of truly new things to offer, but what it adds and changes manages to elevate an already excellent action game into the upper echelon of the entire genre.
(Note: Capcom provided a digital download code for Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition on PS5 for this review.)
