Devil May Cry 5 is a 10 to 16-hour exploration of the hundreds of ways a half-demon man might kill a demon. The goal of DMC5 is for you to have fun with the most incredible combo mechanics of video games and despite appearances, this frenetic, over-the-top action game about sexy demon hunters isn’t just another power fantasy. Instead, you can feel the progression of your strength more and more, defeating hordes and more hordes of fierce demons, and of course always with style. Devil May Cry 5 has the confidence to give you tools, show you your foes, and say: if you think you can do this, then step up and prove it kiddo, make me proud.

The game has a LOT of Devil May Cry 1 and 3, while continuing the story of Devil May Cry 4 without having to lean on any of them. If you played them all, great, this is a game for you. If not, no problem, this adventure will seamlessly introduce you to the Devil May Cry universe and make you want to play the other ones. Devil May Cry 5 excels in variety. Over a little more twenty missions you have three characters with very different styles of game - each of which also has a huge menu of skills and abilities to use.

Nero continues as the main character of the plot (just like Devil May Cry 4) and brings a more balanced gameplay, reconciling the sword blows and classic pistol shots of the series (and the genre, as we see so well in Bayonetta, for example) with the novelty of the Devil Breakers , mechanical arms endowed with special powers that break as they are used. Here again it calls attention to the enormous selection and versatility of the Devil Breakers: there are projectile-throwing arms, to dodge attacks, to attack large groups of enemies, to enhance their sword skills, to stop time, and so on. Personally, I was a little annoyed at first to realize that the arms were easily disposable, as they break with enemy attacks and to change the Devil Breaker it is necessary to discard what is in use, but there are so many others that appear in the scenario that I realized that the whole situation is more an incentive to experimentation than a limitation.

The original main character of the series, Dante, appears only halfway through the game and perfects what was seen in Devil May Cry 3. The legendary demon hunter can switch between four different fighting styles at the simple touch of a button and has a varied arsenal of fire like a haunted motorbike that he can split into two and hit devils as well as he can run over them. Finally, there’s V which is a great surprise and an exciting way to innovate the genre. The rookie gives orders to a bird and a panther that attack through him, at a distance. When filling part of the special bar it is possible to summon a huge monster, with strong and slow attacks. There is a detail: to finish the enemies it is necessary to take the whole bar of life attacking with the creatures and finalize with a blow of the own V, a scheme that gives a very different dynamic, exciting and strategic to the phases and battles against bosses with the new character.
These three different styles find perfect scenery to grow and shine thanks to the classic Devil May Cry combat system, which encourages variety, precision and SSStyle to gain more points and thus unlock even more powers for the characters - and believe me, DMC5 reserves some very crazy stops along the way. Reading enemy movements or trapping them in unending combos is of paramount importance, with defensive options relatively strict in their timing; you can’t get by just wildly hammering attacks and trusting your reactions.

But I also need to tell you that the game has a way to introduce new players to this craziness combat, so if you are a newbie and you'd rather kick back admire the combat there's an 'auto' mode that executes some advanced combos for you—accessible by clicking in the right stick at any point in a level. Between that and the 'human' difficulty level, this is the most accessible Devil May Cry game yet for new players. In a series that proudly offers a high level of challenge, it's good to see players of all skill levels considered.

The rest of the game is pure delirium: the phenomenal soundtrack punctuates the fighting intensely, especially when the themes of the characters begin to play full, with vocals and everything - a lot of people still have to have the exciting Devil Trigger music that was showed in the trailers on their heads and I guarantee this will continue while playing. The devil is in the details and so the protagonists have their own musical styles and the songs grow in battle as their combos improve, the larger the variety, the more stylish the ranks go from D to SSS. From the S, your room will become a rave (or a death metal show). Without surprising twists and turns, the story is well told and brings thrilling and exciting moments, as well as tinkering with the mythology of the franchise.

Besides the fight and the story, DMC5 has a somewhat incomplete cooperative. There is a multiplayer feature where fights from other players happen in the background, which is cool but inconsequential, you cannot’ invite people to join your game and most of the time it seems like you're just watching another player playing his part along your part. But the core of the game - style, storytelling and combat - is rock-solid.

Devil May Cry 5 is a lot like Dante himself: older, grizzled, more experienced, yet still unapologetically juvenile in the best possible way. It’s bloody, spectacular and irresistible, all cheesy one-liners, guns, swords and explosions while guitars scream in the background, and it plays like a dream. Director Hideaki Itsuno and his team delivered what the fans wanted after 11 years of waiting, a Devil May Cry to be remembered as one of the best if not the best of the series, an experience that will teach you that demons may cry in happiness with a job well done and nostalgic. This was 2019 GOTY for me.