DMC4's switch between Nero whom you control for the campaign's first half and Dante, DMC's traditional lead, is one of the game's best ideas: introducing a new character that feels familiar but with a fresh style and weaponset, allowing the player to get comfortable, and then blowing us away with the ultimate realisation of classic Dante.
Tiny changes can be enormous for a fighting system, and among DMC4's most important is that Dante's various fighting styles are selectable from the d-pad in realtime. These styles were introduced in DMC3: Dante's Awakening and each basically adds a new ability or series of moves that flow into and out of Dante's core skills. Some like Sword Master are self-explanatory, adding new offensive capabilities and damage, while some like Trickster build huge scores from evasion and taunting, while the noble Royal Guard is based around gathering power from perfectly-timed parries — and unleashing it all in a boss-killing wave of energy.
Dante's moveset is already a flexible beast, both agile and crushingly powerful, but each of these avenues add something more. In DMC3 you mastered the styles one-by-one, with switching only possible between levels and at upgrade statues.
In DMC4 everything Dante can do is at your fingertips, and the difference is everything. The nature of styles suits them to different situations, and in DMC4's crazier battles the make-up of what you're facing changes constantly.
This Dante is not just a supremely capable fighter, but perhaps the ultimate realisation of what DMC is about. This Dante can fillet anything in heaven or hell with precision, and make every hit along the way look fabulous. This Dante can skirt crowds with Trickmaster dodges, slam into them with a Sword Master's strikes, and flip back the scattered retaliation with some imperious Royal Guard.
Not many individual characters are designed and re-designed by Capcom's finest over decades, but this Dante's fluid perfection is what you get when that happens. DMC4: SE's greatest addition to the original game comes in the form of three new characters to play as. For a game like DMC4 this is a far more substantial thing than it may sound: thirdperson fighting games are built around the capabilities of the player's avatar, so a new character means a whole new way of playing.
Dante's brother Vergil returns from DMC3, and once more almost outshines his sibling. Vergil's moveset is built around three switchable weapons but everything pivots on the Yamato katana, a quicksilver blade that can slash crowds to ribbons and smash individuals with the force of a truck. A brilliant twist is the addition of a 'concentration' mechanic whereby minimising your actions increases Vergil's focus, so briefly standing still allows him to increase the power of certain moves and unlock others.
Such a principle is the opposite of your usual DMC instincts amidst a crowd, but deliciously tempting and a fundamental inversion of Dante's style. Trish and Lady are the other new characters and, while somewhat gimmicky, both showcase new ideas for fighting styles. Trish has access to all of her moves without weapon-switching, so she's a simpler character than the three mains, but makes up for this with a crowd-controlling sword fling that switches up her hand-to-hand moves, and the ability to trap airborne enemies in temporary lightning trails from her boots.
Trish shares with Lady a few more OTT pieces of hardware, but Lady is almost entirely an armament-focused character. She packs bazookes, berettas, grenades, harpoon guns, bayonets, and is basically about maintaining range and making everything blow up.
This is certainly a new way to play DMC and with appropriate opposition it's not an easy one either. I doubt either will be replacing Dante in my heart, but the SE has to be praised for focusing on extras that feed into and show off new aspects of the original's system.
Sadly not everything is so rosy, and both the SE itself and the original game's design have low points. DMC4's non-combat sections have aged terribly, and weren't very good in the first place. The camera's too-frequent switches between free- and fixed-perspective is another big problem. This was perhaps intended as homage to the series' origins with fixed camera angles, but the effect is a disaster for players old and new, confusing navigation and adding real frustration to certain puzzle and platforming sections.
A good rule of thumb for DMC4's campaign is that if you're not fighting something, you're probably not having a very good time. It's that simple. This updated version brings the p graphics and frames-per-second gameplay to consoles for the first time, alongside a trio of new playable characters. The sharper look and snappier feel is a satisfying upgrade for this old-school Dante adventure. Trish is fast, fluid fighter that straight up demolishes her opponents with a mix of close and mid-range attacks options.
Her quick, graceful style is a great counterbalance to Lady, a much slower character whose rocket launcher, shotgun, pistol, and melee attack combinations pack quite a wallop. Sure, I could swing my samurai sword willy-nilly and find some success.
But, by carefully measuring my opponents, dodging, and counterattacking, I could tap into his true potential and really wreck the enemy with beefed-up attacks. What a save! These cutscenes used to be the best reward in the original game, but without them, DMC4: Special Edition is like playing a remix of your favorite album only to discover some of the best song lyrics somehow went missing. Devil May Cry 4. Old-School Throw Down.
By Jose Otero Posted: 23 Jun pm. More Reviews. Rocket League Brandin Tyrrel. Jotun Review Sep 30, - A journey larger than life. Jotun Brandin Tyrrel. Well, DMC fans, take heart: Devil May Cry 4 , the latest chapter in the series and the first true sequel in the Devil May Cry chronology maintains all of these trademarks while showcasing the power of the PS3 fairly well.
That is, for the most part. See, Dante fans may find themselves a bit disappointed in their favorite character's new role within the series: instead of taking over the spotlight as he has in the previous three games, the anti-hero takes on a secondary position to franchise newcomer Nero. DMC4 is really more of his story and his coming of age within the Sparda-influenced universe than a tale that picks up after the events of DMC1.
Is this a bad turn of events? No, not really, although some of the hardcore might wonder if the game could've had a different title with a Dante cameo instead of a Devil May Cry chapter. The story of Devil May Cry 4 is set in and around the coastal town of Fortuna, which has an interesting tale by itself: it's governed by a militant theocracy known as The Order of the Sword, and protected by a group of Holy Knights.
The people of the town worship the demon knight Sparda as a god and savior. During a ceremony in honor of their deity, Nero, a young knight, sees Dante crash through a window and slaughter the leader of the Order, as well as many of his friends.
While he doesn't know who Dante is or why he's attacking them, Nero wants revenge for Dante's actions. What follows over the course of 20 missions is a quest of revenge and betrayal, as well as salvation and sacrifice, as Nero hunts Dante down across the land.
Apathetic and dismissive of authority, Nero is a younger, more angst-filled character than Dante's older, wiser and more sarcastic outlook on the world. However, he's just as skilled as the Son of Sparda, with a wide range of abilities to support him in combat. The first, and perhaps most obvious element, is the Devil Bringer, his demonically-enhanced right arm that allows him to project an energy arm ahead of him.
This allows Nero to grasp distant objects, which he'll use to reach new areas or scale heights, as well as grab, throw and punch opponents. While this can be used to start or extend obvious combos, perhaps one of the most intriguing elements is that the arm responds differently when used against each opponent in the game.
For example, players will grip and throw some creatures by their tails, while others may be pulled apart or even used as weapons against their allies. This can be factored into players' plans when using Nero's primary attacks in battle. Nero has access to both projectile and melee strikes thanks to his unique weaponry, the Blue Rose and the Red Queen. The Blue Rose is a double-barreled pistol that allows Nero to fire powerful blasts at distant opponents.
While slow to fire, the power of these blasts is quite strong, and can eventually be charged-up to provide even more punch. His more devastating attacks come in the form of the Red Queen, a motorcycle throttled, gas-infused sword that can be revved-up to add additional strength behind each combo or blow inflicted on an enemy.
This boosting of the sword is known as the Exceed system, and allows Nero to charge the sword up three times, turning the blade red hot with energy and lashing out with fiery blows. The Exceed system is one that can take a little getting used to. Continually pulling the trigger to rev the sword doesn't work nearly as well as slow, consistent pulls, which boosts the gears of the blade more.
It also drops Nero to a slow walk as he reaches behind him and revs the motor of the Red Queen, which can be tricky to pull off consistently in the midst of battle, particularly because it leaves you open to attacks. While you can work on your timing after an attack to instantly charge up the blade, you won't always nail it, so the difficulty of this move is rather high. However, there's another, more pressing issue with the Exceed system, which is that you don't need to use it at all to quickly and efficiently eliminate the monsters within the game.
Thanks to the strength and power of Nero's various combat skills and combos, you're better off eliminating your opponents with standard attacks than spending the time to charge up your blade.
What's more, Nero will eventually gain access to a Devil Trigger, which allows him to project the demonic entity that inhabits his arm behind him. Not only will you regenerate lost health, you'll significantly strengthen sword strikes and gunshots. While the duration of the devil trigger is limited by the amount of magic power that you have available, the attacks that you can make are much stronger than anything that the Exceed system can provide, which makes the optional battle tactic somewhat useless by comparison.
This is exacerbated when you realize that you can purchase additional magic power and decrease the speed of the magic drain by purchasing enhancements. Just like other DMC titles, you'll be evaluated at the end of every single mission on how quickly you complete the stage, the number of red orbs that you collect, and how stylishly you eliminated demons in the game.
Style, of course, is the most important of the three, since you'll continually be evaluated in battle on the variety of your attacks.
This ranges from D for Deadly to SSS for Smokin' Sick Style , and are only mildly degraded if you rely upon the same strike or are hit in the course of battle. These three classifications provide you with a final grade for that mission, which translates into proud souls.
These can be redeemed for new abilities and skills, just as red orbs can be redeemed for new items at Divinity Statues. There are two cool aspects to this system. The first is that while you can quit a mission at any time, you'll still receive a certain amount of orbs and proud souls for your progress.
Like previous DMC titles, orb farming is a key facet of the game, and you'll wind up constantly trying to amass as much as possible to help you along your way. This could be either through playing secret missions, or playing a stage over and over to just collect what you can. The second feature is that you can always return any skill or ability that you don't use, receiving a return on your investment towards something that you will want to use.
Obviously, this encourages a significant amount of replay of missions and levels to collect as many abilities and items as possible, especially to make the game easier to fight through with either Nero or Dante.
Yep, Dante eventually does make an appearance within the title as much more than a plot device. He does take over as a playable character, and brings with him some of his considerable talents from DMC3.
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