A devilishly good time on Switch 2
Devil May Cry 5 on Switch 2 continues Capcom’s impressive output on the system, bringing one of the best character action games of the last decade to Nintendo’s latest console. This game is an absolute blast, and I can happily report that this version is rock solid both docked and handheld. And while it may not match the performance of the Special Edition release for the Series series/PS5, players will barely have time to notice as DMC 5 hits the ground running and doesn’t let up for its 11-16 hour run time.
This game returns us to the DMC universe proper, picking up a year or two after the events of DMC 4 and ignoring the well-made but poorly received reboot DmC: Devil May Cry from Ninja Theory. We start in the role of Nero; former knight of the Order of the Sword not devil hunter running his own Devil May Cry branch with his weapons maker Nico. That trademark DMC personality is on display right from jump as we get some fun dialogue between Nero and Nico, super fun combat, and an intro cut scene reminiscent of the opening to the first Deadpool movie. (which is absolutely a compliment)
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Switch 2
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
The story plows ahead at a relatively breakneck speed as we follow Nero and the Mysterious V as they try to find out who/what ripped off Nero’s arm, why his arm turned into the Yamato sword, why there is a demon tree called the Qliphoth growing in Red Grave City, and why exactly that tree is feeding on human blood. Nero gets his answers at the top of the tree as Dante and his crew, Lady and Trish, get their asses handed to them by Urizen, an impressively large, very cool looking monster. From there the story jumps around to various points in time leading up to that moment from various points of view.
Playstyle changes frequently during these first 10 missions or so as we are given the chance to control Nero, V, and Dante, each with their own spin on the stylized DMC action. Nero features the expected gun and sword gameplay, the Red Queen and Blue Rose from DMC 4, but adds in Devil Breaker arms to the combat. These different arms, and there are quite a few of them, each function slightly different from each other with some focusing on up close combat while others, like Mega Man’s Mega Buster, offer long range attacks. Each arm can be detonated at will to help escape group attacks. V on the other hand is a complete 180, forcing players to maintain a distance from the action while his familiars handle the fighting. Griffon is a foul-mouthed demon hawk, Shadow is a jaguar who can morph his body into various attacks like spinning blades, and Nightmare is a giant liquid golem with spikes for hands.
As the familiars attack V hangs back out of trouble, until it is time to warp in a deal the banishing blow with his cane. Dante is well… Dante, with all of the style and panache that entails. He features 6 different ranged weapons, 6 swords/blunt objects (including a freaking motorcycle), and 4 styles to choose from. Combos as always remain the focus of the combat with the familiar ranking system in full effect. Each character has upgradable skills and attacks and by the end of the game, the sheer amount of cool stuff happening on screen during fights is just breathtaking. Always a series to prioritize cool over sense, DMC 5 delivers in spades.
DMC 5: Devil Hunter Edition also includes a ton of previously released DLC like Devil Breaker arms for Nero, alternate outfit colors, Battle Tracks from previous titles, and more. Unfortunately, Capcom was not able to include the Legendary Dark Knight mode, which features a frankly absurd amount of characters on screen at a time, or the 1.2 Turbo game speed mode for this port. Thankfully the most significant DLC, Vergil as a playable character with his own view on the story, is included which adds about 5 hours or so to the base game.
The Switch 2 is never going to be as powerful as a PS5 or XBOX Series, but games like DMC 5 show it doesn’t need to be. Aside from a slight… crispiness to the character models hair, similar to other RE Engine titles I’ve played on Switch 2, this game looks great. The default brightness is too high which washes out some of the visuals, but this is easily corrected in the options menu. (it took me way too long to realize what was happening…) The soundtrack is killer. The story is satisfying. The writing is exactly what you’d want from this series. Overall, this is an outstanding experience for first timers and veterans alike and is absolutely worth the cost of entry.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.