Devil May Cry series - thoughts?

[cheesesteak]

So, I'm thinking of getting into the DMC series. Any fans of the series here? How would you compare it to other 3D hacknslash action-adventure games like Bayonetta or Nier or the OG God of War games? In terms of both gameplay and writing/acting? Anything I should be aware of, like bad QOL features, gamebreaking bugs on PC versions, something community-related, etc?

Thanks for any and all input!

[Wolf Kanno]

It's a good if wonky series.

I don't quite feel like the first two entries have aged as well as they could. 3 was considered one of the best entries until recently and is my personal favorite entry, 4 actually has great gameplay just suffers from poor level design and feeling a bit half finished. 5 is apparently a return to form from the third entry, and DmC is either a solid entry or an utter blasphemy to the franchise depending on who you ask.

Personally, I find the series really epitomizes what I want in an action game with great challenge, speed, and creative freedom with the combat system to really pull off impressive feats. Of the entries you mentioned, I imagine Bayonetta is the closest comparison seeing how its creator also made the first DMC game. I've never particularly cared for GoW since I find the combat too slow and there are too many ''canned finishers'' for my taste. Nier feels a bit too brain dead for my taste with dodging and combat not really having any finesse.

I would honestly recommend the series but the quality does vary from entry to entry.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I have only played the first one, when it was new.

I liked it, but I imagine it hasn't aged very well.

[Wolf Kanno]

The first entry isn't bad, just feels antiquated compared to other action games. I also hate the control layout and the game's poor options to customize them.

It also has a similar problem to DMC4 where you can tell the team had less money to work with so they re-use a a lot of things, including the bosses whom you have to face all but one of them three times each.

[krissy]

dmc rocks

the only one that's not great is dmc2

DmC is just fine and i enjoyed it

dmc3 is clearly great

looking forward to play 4 and 5 one day

[richardlmulhern]

DMC is a really great game and I am following this series closely.

[cheesesteak]

Personally, I find the series really epitomizes what I want in an action game with great challenge, speed, and creative freedom with the combat system to really pull off impressive feats.

Yes, the combat is what I hear praised the most. I dipped in and out of a DMC5 stream the other day and nothing looked too chaotic, but it could've been I just didn't catch many high-action moments. But regardless, it is the combat system and trying to score high on combos that I hear a lot of praise for. And that's sort of something I'd like to try for once, since...

Nier feels a bit too brain dead for my taste with dodging and combat not really having any finesse.

See it's funny, b/c I love "mash and dash" (or dodge) combat lol. And I heard only DmC has a dodge button (although some/all DMC games do have some elements of dodging w/ multiple button inputs, a counter/parry type shield, etc?), which, oddly enough maybe, was one of those features of debate among fans. But yeah, I guess I love the braindead combat of just mashing attack buttons, then pressing my "escape card" button when necessary. I've heard DMC is challenging and I'm presuming b/c the combat is a bit more meticulous.

DmC is just fine and i enjoyed it

dmc3 is clearly great

It is funny, I hear more praise about DmC from more "neutral" fans (players who maybe didn't play the first few, or who are were doing a first-time series playthrough for a retrospective, etc), which I think was sort of the intent of DmC anyway. And from what I understand, I'd probably actually like DmC, too. But I also really enjoy longform storytelling and rich video game universes. Something that is really appealing about the DMC proper games. But it's good to hear series vets liking it, too. And yeah, from what I've looked into so far, DMC3 seems to be the GOAT status of the series.

I'll probably end up buying all 6. Definitely at least the main 5. Thanks for everyone's input. The main concern is just when/where would they fit into my backlog. I have a nice plan and list for what to play in what order, but I keep thinking of these other/older games/franchises that I never really played and now want to lol (particularly the DMC series, the Castlevania series, and Dragon's Dogma).

[Wolf Kanno]

Nier feels a bit too brain dead for my taste with dodging and combat not really having any finesse.

See it's funny, b/c I love "mash and dash" (or dodge) combat lol. And I heard only DmC has a dodge button (although some/all DMC games do have some elements of dodging w/ multiple button inputs, a counter/parry type shield, etc?), which, oddly enough maybe, was one of those features of debate among fans. But yeah, I guess I love the braindead combat of just mashing attack buttons, then pressing my "escape card" button when necessary. I've heard DMC is challenging and I'm presuming b/c the combat is a bit more meticulous.

Yeah the combat is a bit more demanding when you get to the more difficult enemies. Yet it's a bit more rewarding as well if you have the patience to put up with it. I think it's why I like it more because too many action style games (mainly Action-RPGs) tend to make you feel awesome without any effort whereas DMC expects you to put the effort in.

You do get a lot of defensive options in the series but combat is really more about maintaining momentum. You should only really pause because you killed everything. It's certainly keeping that frenetic Mega Man feel to the combat.

DmC is just fine and i enjoyed it

dmc3 is clearly great

It is funny, I hear more praise about DmC from more "neutral" fans (players who maybe didn't play the first few, or who are were doing a first-time series playthrough for a retrospective, etc), which I think was sort of the intent of DmC anyway. And from what I understand, I'd probably actually like DmC, too. But I also really enjoy longform storytelling and rich video game universes. Something that is really appealing about the DMC proper games. But it's good to hear series vets liking it, too. And yeah, from what I've looked into so far, DMC3 seems to be the GOAT status of the series.

I'll probably end up buying all 6. Definitely at least the main 5. Thanks for everyone's input. The main concern is just when/where would they fit into my backlog. I have a nice plan and list for what to play in what order, but I keep thinking of these other/older games/franchises that I never really played and now want to lol (particularly the DMC series, the Castlevania series, and Dragon's Dogma).

DmC was meant to be more accessible because by the time of DMC4, the franchise was becoming too impenetrable for new players. It did have a lot of issues for veteran fans when initially released, but I've heard the recent remaster fixes a lot of those problems.

Course the bigger issues was less the combat and more of the reboot nature of the story and the controversies that came around that in the PR phase.

[Del Murder]

I never played DMC. Would the series feel dated if I played it now?