All heaven, no hell. That’s one vague way to describe Devil May Cry 5. There are so many more possible descriptions, each one ratcheting up the peculiarity and ridiculousness in step with the level of detail given. But pulling all the way back tells us all we need to know: Devil May Cry 5 is a character action game the likes of which no one else is really making right now.
It’s all so stupidly awesome. That’s by design. Swinging motorcycles around Dante before thwacking a demon upside the head. Breaking Nero’s prosthetic arm over and over after kicking too much ass. Summoning V’s Nightmare golem to stomp everything. It’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of fighting — just trying to make it all look as cool as possible — and forget how cool it already is.
Capcom has gone to great lengths to make sure you feel every bit as cool as it looks. It’s tough to play this game dully. Devil May Cry 5 awards a style rating called “Sick Skills.” That’s only second best. There’s another named “Smokin’ Sexy Style.” You want your style to be smokin’ and sexy. The trio of protagonists are already there aesthetically. Do their fighting justice.
There’s a certain purity about the way Devil May Cry 5 refuses to hold anything back. It leans into all the tropes you’d hope it’d lean into. It’s bigger, sillier, and more bombastic in all the right ways. It carries the character action banner proudly, and it’s the current gold standard for the genre. Devil May Cry 5 is nothing short of divine, even if it unleashed a whole lot of hell.
Source: Destructoid Destructoid’s award for Best Xbox One Game of 2019 goes to…