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Devil May Cry 5 is good. I wrote a review of it last week (have a read) and didn’t have enough time to sum it all up. It can often be difficult to get into all the little details that make games good, short of doing an exhaustive list of them. In fact, that’s a good idea; let’s do just that. Here is an exhaustive list – the top 40 things that makes DMC 5 a really good video game.
1. The name of the game being said out loud by the woman at the start: It’s a Capcom staple, and the first sign that this game was going to be brilliant.
2. Nero’s hair: short, spikey, and platinum-coloured, it’s an absolute treat – does he dye it?
3. Nero’s moth-eaten jumper: It’s actually a bit nasty. What I admire is his attitude, really. He seems to think it’s ok to head out into battle with a jumper full of holes.
4. Nero’s gun: It’s a revolver with two barrels – that’s double.
5. Nero’s motorbike sword: It’s a sword that can be revved like a motorbike – cheers.
6. Dante’s sword motorbike: The opposite is also brilliant. Dante has a motorbike that is also a pair of swords.
7. Nico’s welders jacket: Nico has a jacket that folds down into a protective welding jacket. Functional.
8. Nico’s freckles: the RE Engine is really good, as highlighted by Nico’s delightful freckles.
9. Dante’s designer stubble: Again, impressive rendering! Not actually a great look, though.
10. Nero: He is good isn’t he – he whines a bit, but he’s alright
11. The Mega Man arm (which is only in the deluxe one): Nothing beats the drama of a cut scene undermined by Nero sporting a chunky Mega Man arm.
12. Griffon: He’s a cheeky, lovable, fast-talking bird demon, and he makes it easy to get S rank.
13. Shadow: Less of a talker, but he is a panther.
14. Dante: He’s old school; he’s half demon; he’s still got it; he still likes pizza.
15. Pizza: It’s back, and it’s more rendered than ever.
16. Lady: She’s good, and has always been good, actually
17. Lady’s Rocket Launcher: Lady negates the weakness of the Rocket launcher – the fact that it isn’t good at close range – by sticking a blade on it.
18. V’s Sandals: V has the unbelievable cojones to bring sandals to a brawl; I respect that more than the sandals themselves, which are, by their very nature, s***.
19. V’s hair: Long, black, and glossy – it looks effortless, but I bet it isn’t.
20. V’s Cane: It’s not even a sword cane; it’s just a cane, but it doesn’t stop him from whomping demons.
21. V: He’s good – he makes lots of things, like sandals and canes, cool, and actually deadly!
22. Morrison’s fedora: There’s a lot of hipster apparel in DMC 5, but Morrison makes the fedora work – it helps that it pairs well with his waistcoat.
23. Morrison’s waistcoat: A floral print affair that goes very nicely with Morrison’s neckerchief.
24. Morrison’s neckerchief: A black, silk affair that goes nicely with the rest of Morrison’s outfit, all of which makes him pretty cool.
25. Morrison: He’s not in the game much, but when he is, he’s got a very cool outfit.
26. Red Grave: Cobbled streets don’t feature enough in video games as a whole.
27. The Pasta Breaker (which is only in the deluxe one): One of Nero’s Devil Breaker prosthetics is a fork that twizzles round – the better to eat pasta, obviously. But it does actually change the order of your Devil Breaker loadout, so it’s even more functional than it first appears.
28. Dante’s blue henley: I like to think of Dante’s blue henley as an homage to Nathan Drake, who sports one in Uncharted 4.
29. V’s tattoos: I like to think V’s tattoos are an homage to Fred Durst, of Limp Bizkit.
30. Dante’s white hair: Still classic, still floppy, still white, but it somehow works.
31. Nero’s white van: Fair enough it’s more of an RV, but it isn’t not a van, and there aren’t many game heroes to drive a white van.
32. The Qliphoth: It’s an evil tree – and possibly a comment on environmental issues.
33. Trish: She’s great isn’t she, and has been, ever since Devil May Cry 1 – she is a doppelganger for Dante’s mum, which, if her and Dante are an item, is certainly weird.
34. Triple nunchucks: Similar to Nero’s gun, these add an extra element, with three things to hit people with.
35. Ebony & Ivory: These have always lived together in perfect harmony.
36. V’s flappy coat: I didn’t like it.
37. V’s pronunciation of Qliphoth being ‘Klyfod’: Inexplicable and thoroughly irritating.
38. Red phone boxes to bring in Nico’s van: It’s great that there are red phone boxes, given that it’s sort of London, but the idea that they instantly summon the van to wherever you are is brilliant.
39. Book of poetry: V reads from a book of poems while his demons fight for him, he makes being lazy stylish and, dare I say, sexy.
40. The confusing logo of the game that has V in it: It’s like they can’t decide if they want a number or a Roman numeral, but also it’s like V, the character.
