Most of the experience I've had with Devil May Cry came from years of playing the first game over and over again. I sampled DMC2 long enough to determine I wanted nothing more to do with it and just went right back to DMC1 for more replays. I'd later branch out to Mega Man Zero, which is as close to 2D Devil May Cry as you're going to get. It even has the elemental triangle of Fire, Ice, and Electricity! Nevertheless, I'd heard about 3's improvements throughout the years, but it wasn't until Capcom ported it to the Switch that I'd decided to finally give it a shot. I'm so glad I did, because it led to me trying out DMC4 and DMCV after all these years and damn, man. I did not know what I was missing out on.

DMCV is absolutely insane for how much it brings to the gameplay of the series. I was skeptical of the camera no longer having fixed angles as it meant I'd now need to keep track of that on top of enemies I was fighting, I think it worked out pretty well here. I adore the fact Nero gets to be fleshed out more while we still get to enjoy what was fun about him in 4, and Dante, my god what a glow up! Sin Devil Trigger is not only the most incredible looking design of the whole series, what that form is capable of... I've only scratched the surface of its full depth and I need more! They even fleshed out a weapon from DMC3 that I thought was lacking originally and gave it enough depth to compare with the rest of the tools on offer! Too cool!

The attention to detail is top notch, too. One of the breaker arms Nero gets back his Devil Bringer's grabs and for it being only one of many arms for our boy, it has so many interactions for opponents and is routinely the coolest thing ever. You know you've got a satisfying tool for combat on offer when it overshadows the addition of the Mega Buster, which made my Mega Man fanatic side instantly nerd out. That said, the jump (jump!), the slide (slide!), the death animation, even the warping-in effect for level intros and the sound effects that accompany it! Oh my god, it's all so cool and good!

Quite possibly one of the best things about this game is the way music is handled during combat. I dunno who it was who decided that the better you do in a fight, the more layers of the music are applied, but you deserve a raise for that! Genius work!

I do need more time with V to determine how I feel about his combat, but I have to say, getting to have two bosses and a famous enemy from DMC1 come back as familiars is sick as hell. Shadows used to thrash the hell out of me in the past (sometimes still do!) and Nightmare, I mean wow, that boss caused many a game over across the years. Thank goodness for Ifrit being my favorite weapon in that game as it does so much more damage against Nightmare than Alastor even will. Elemental Weaknesses! They are important! Anyways, if there is one thing I'm shocked by, it's that I now have a fist weapon that tops Ifrit from DMC1 as my all time favorite now. Balrog, I mean what do you even say? Two different move lists I can swap between on the fly, even in the air? You know how to win me over! More options for more complexity is always welcome!

I could go on and on singing this game's praises for another couple of paragraphs, but I'd risk doing you, the reader, a disservice by spoiling some fantastic stuff. Long story short, game hit me emotionally even more than 3's ending did and manages to provide such a satisfying experience that I'd be crazy not to recommend it. Look, play this game already! If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to Mission 11 so I can fight the Voltaic Black Knight, Cavalier Angelo, another 4... 5? 45? Yeah, 45 more times! I'm going to go Royal Guard them to death a bunch! They're so damn fun to fight, holy moly!

Game so good even i may cry

the devil did cry... and i enjoyed it
10/10