Intro

My first introduction to the hack and slash genre would probably be with Devil May Cry series. I barely remember my time with DmC 3: Dante's Awakening, but one of my favorite games was probably the Devil May Cry 4. One of the things that shocked me on those days, except how cool Dante was and his strange-looking arm, was the combat. I still remember how amazing was the experience to see your character being able to slash his enemies up above the air. It was definitely not like the games I used to play, and in addition to its amazing quality, Devil May Cry 4 is still has a unique place in my heart because it was one of the first games that I actually buy a physical copy of. But years have passed and young Yiğit spent most of his time playing open-world games like Assassin's Creed and forgot how beautiful was to slay your enemies on a linear path without having to worry about exploring huge (but boring) game worlds. I was so done with the open-world games, yet I still continued to play them -even to this day. But I knew, somewhere in my heart, I desperately in a need of concentrated and action-packed, non-open-world, game. And here I am, finally having to chance to play the 2013 installment of the game series that I once loved in my childhood. Did I finally get what I wanted? Does DmC make me happy when it made me in 2008? HELL YEAH!

DmC: Devil May Cry Trailer

Usability/Playability

One of the strongest aspects of Devil May Cry games was always on their gameplays, and DmC: Devil May Cry is no exception. As the story progress, Dante gains new abilities to spice up his already-amazing move-sets and gains new weapons to reveal different ways to smash his enemies. Underlying combat mechanics might seem simple at first glance, however as the game progress and once you get used to combining different moves/attacks together, you start to get the "real DmC feeling". I think this combo system is very important when it comes to gameplay because the game does not implicitly tell you that you "have to" make cool moves or making your enemies floating on air, for like, minutes. If you want, you can play the game slowly and finish the whole game by only using 1 or 2 combos. But I would inform you, with this gameplay, you are not playing a Devil May Cry game. Even this combo system is crucial for the game's DNA itself, DmC does not punish players or dictating its intended way of playing. Instead of doing those, DmC encourages its player by introducing a "Score System" within each level. As you make cooler combos and take risks, the game will generously reward you. Your damage got increased, you can refill your Devil Trigger faster, and you can feel more "badass" -which is waaay more important than other rewards. In terms of story, as I mentioned before, as the story progresses the game introduces various tools to keep the tempo of the story and keep the players' interest over time. I think the number of variations in gameplay served beautifully too -otherwise boring- the game's story.

Narrative/Story

I do not remember much, but as far as I remembered, DmC games were not really highly credited for their story. After all, its story is all about Devils and Angels and all of that good stuff, which -as humankind- we have been listening to for centuries. Each game has its own quirks in telling its story, but at the end of the day, we can say that the baseline of the whole DmC story is somewhat cliche. And surprisingly, this does not mean a bad thing for the games. Even though the story is not the most interesting part of each game in the series, they all have their own ways of narrating. DmC is also similar when compared to other games in the series. The game's story is about the origin story of the main protagonist in the DmC series -Dante. We have a bad guy which comes from hell, he detests humankind and slowly enslaves everyone on Earth. As a player, you control Dante -half devil/half-angel Nephilim- and stop this evil demon. It is as simple, here's the whole goal of the story. Cliche, right? But the way that the game tells this story is just exceptional. The visual style, music, environments, sound effects, ..., all of them executed so perfectly that you did not realize how bland the story is. Also with amazing gameplay, even though I am not a huge fan of its story, I absolutely loved its style and narrative.

Fun/Enjoyment

You are a charismatic devil hunter who can slay his enemies in the air, what do you want more? I could go on forever to explain how amazing and fun it feels to being able to execute different combos and moves, and seeing your enemies just crushing under those cool tricks, but I need to stop somewhere ;) As you can see, the gameplay is just perfect, the combat is definitely the biggest source of enjoyment. But if I have to mention an additional thing, that would be probably the levels. What I love about those linear, concentrated games is the fact that they can create original and amazing levels. Because they do not have to create those huge open worlds, the developers have the chance to make the gameplay shine through its levels. Each level has introduced a few different variations on gameplay and I loved every second of it. From its bosses to the design of the levels, DmC made me happy through its 9 hours long gameplay time.