Devil May Cry 5 Review

After chipping away at it in bits and pieces over the course of a month, my first serious foray into a character action game has come to an end. While Devil May Cry 5's campaign of demon-slaying action had its ups and downs, I largely enjoyed the ride. Since I wrote pretty in-depth impressions in my previous post, this review will primarily focus on my thoughts on the second half of the game. Since its natural for some chinks in the armor to emerge as any game goes on, these observations may come across as stacked toward the negative, but keep in my that most of the positive things I had to say in my impressions still hold true.

Anyway, without further adieu...

Characters:

• In the first few of DMC5's missions, you play as the gun-and-sword wielding Nero. In subsequent missions, two more characters become available, V and Dante. Most of the game's 20 missions require you to play as a particular character, but a few allow you to choose who you'll control at the start of the mission.
• Shortly after writing up my early impressions, I got to play as the game's new character, V the summoner. Conceptually, V is a really cool character; he himself if very frail, but can summon demonic pets (primarily a bird and a panther) to fight his enemies for him. However, since demons can't kill each other, his pets can only reduce foes to a sliver of health and V himself has to finish them off by whacking them with his cane. This creates an interesting situation where the player is controlling V with the analog stick to keep him a safe distance from harm, while using the face buttons to send in the bird and panther to attack on their own until its time to deliver the finisher. While this is a really novel concept, I found myself missing being more directly involved in the action. Once I got used to his mechanics, I realized that V had the least depth from a gameplay standpoint and playing as him became stale after a while. I continued to enjoy his presence in the story, however. The scrawny, soft-spoken, and mysterious V was a nice contrast to loud tough guys like Nero and Dante.
• Later in the game, the original DMC protagonist, Dante, becomes available. Initially, he plays extremely similarly to Nero, with his use of a sword and handguns. The thing is, Dante is the most expandable and customizable character in the game. Pretty much every Dante mission involves acquiring a new technique or weapon. Before long, he has an arsenal of four melee weapons, four guns, four different types of martial arts styles, and two types of demonic power-ups. It's a lot to get your head around in the second half of the game. Once I figured out which of his weapons and fighting styles worked for me, I pretty much stuck to those to avoid confusing myself. Playing a character as versatile as Dante made the other two characters, especially V, feel somewhat limiting.
• Due to their initial similarities, I'd get a little thrown off every time the game would have me switch between Nero and Dante. In time, I came to appreciate Nero's third weapon, that I neglected to mention in my impressions, his prosthetic arm. The arm's main use is as a grappling hook, but it also comes with a variety of attachments that each execute their own special moves. In a pinch, Nero can also remove an arm attachment and detonate it like a bomb to clear a room. I never really got proficient at tactically swapping attachments in a given situation, but they were fun to play around with none-the-less. 
• There are two female demon hunters that join Nero and Dante on their quest, Lady and Trish, but they never become playable characters. I thought that was a little disappointing. 

Difficulty:

• My biggest gripe about this game is its rigid difficulty selection. As I mentioned in my impressions, changing between "Human" (easy) or "Devil Hunter" (hard) requires restarting the campaign. I ultimately ended up doing this so that I could switch to Devil Hunter. Unfortunately, Human is so easy that I realized I could skip blocking or dodging enemy attacks altogether and still survive. This made the game feel kind of boring. Devil Hunter felt about right since it gave the combat stakes and required me to make effective use of my characters' skills. The game also throws enough healing and revive items at you that I never had to worry about getting stuck.
• While Devil Hunter made the gameplay much more exciting, it did cause some of the late-game boss battles to drag on a little longer than I would have liked. I found myself making liberal use of Gold Orbs (instant revives) during the last few boss battles just so that I didn't have to restart them if I got knocked out. The game reduces your score for doing this, but I was glad to have the option to keep moving forward. I'm sure that if I took the time to really learn the late-game bosses' patterns, I could have gotten through them without reviving, but I have too many other games I want to get to!
• Ultimately, I feel like DMC5's generosity with revival items makes the Human difficulty level irrelevant. I heavily abused Gold Orbs, which fully revive your character, during the game's last few bosses, and still had 19 left in my inventory as the credits rolled on my Devil Hunter playthrough... and this is without making any conscious effort to hoard them!
• Beating the game on Devil Hunter unlocks even harder difficulty levels, but I didn't have a chance to try them.

Level Design

• In my impressions, I mentioned that I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of level designs. It seems like the game designers may have used up most of their ideas early on, as many of the later stages eschew the platforming and puzzles for more kill rooms. This may play to the game's biggest strength, its combat, but it still would have been nice to see these other mechanics incorporated more evenly throughout.

Story

• At first, I found the lore and story to be intriguing. As the game went on, I found that the plot simplified to a fairly typical heroes-vs-the-big-bad affair (similar to a shonen anime). Also similar to a shonen anime, DMC5 would sometimes insert bizarre comedic gags, usually from Dante, that felt a little out of place.
• The game's characters kept me interested in watching this game's plethora of cut scenes. While most of these characters are pretty firmly rooted in their tropes, I found that they were just fun to watch.

As the credits, rolled on Devil May Cry 5, I was certainly ready for it to be over, but I also really enjoyed the ride. For me, a game of this style and length was just right to give me a story and some action in a streamlined way; a great break from all the lengthy RPGs I tend to play. I don't think character action games or the DMC series will ever rank too high for me among my favorite genres or franchises, but I can definitely appreciate them now. I'll be keeping an eye out for another game like this next time I feel the need for a change of pace (in fact I took a break while writing this to rewatch the trailer for Astral Chain 😅).

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Completion Time: About 14 hours, Devil Hunter (i.e. hard) difficulty

Note: I flip-flopped between a 3 and 4 for this game's score a couple of times as I played it, but ultimately decided to round up.

 

Devil May Cry 5 Impressions

When I picked up a new graphics card earlier this year, I was pretty excited to find that it came with vouchers for two free games from Capcom: Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2. While my experience with both of these series is pretty limited, it's hard not to be psyched to get two games from major series on launch day for free. I ended up setting aside Resident Evil 2 to play together with my wife (she loves horror games), and dove right into the fifth entry in Capcom's hack and slash franchise.

Some impressions after spending a few hours with the game:

• Even though Devil May Cry 5 is my first time ever playing a game in the series, I was able to drop right into the story thanks to a helpful YouTube recap video. The game also features its own story-so-far video, but I found the YouTube video to be much easier to follow.
• There's a reason why this game came with my graphics card; it looks fantastic and runs very smoothly with all the settings maxed out. Having both Resident Evil 2 and DMC 5, it's very clear that they run on the same engine.
• Being a game primarily about dispatching enemies in the flashiest manner possible, it's important to be able to chain together moves smoothly. I was pleased to find that despite being a newcomer to the genre, that not only could I pull this off,  but that executing sword and gun combo attacks just felt good. That being said, I doubt I'll ever be savvy enough to make use of the whole arsenal of moves or get high scores.
• While I was already familiar with the DMC series main characters Dante and Nero, this game introduces a fun new character, Nico. She injects some humor into situations filled with otherwise grim/dark anti-heroes like our series leads. Being another scantily clad female mechanic with a  southern accent, I can't help but compare Nico to Cindy from Final Fantasy 15 though.
• I like that, even though DMC is a linear level-based game, there's a benefit to exploring the levels in the form of gems that unlock character upgrades. The level designs feature some light platforming as well. These features help break up the succession of kill rooms that character action games and brawlers typically have; even the best combat systems can get monotonous if a game is entirely dependent on them.
• As a newbie to the series, I'm playing on the Human difficulty (i.e. the easier of the two difficulty choices). So far, I haven't come close to dying in the three missions I've played. Thus, I might try stepping it up. Unfortunately, changing the difficulty would mean having to restart from level 1 since the game only lets you decrease difficulty mid-campaign, not increase.
• With all the sprawling RPGs and open-world adventure games I tend to play, it's just nice to play a straight-forward linear game for a change.
• Unlike other character action games that I've tried and bounced off of before (like God of War or Bayonetta), DMC5 has a tone that appeals to me; it's got just the right balance of serious/edgy and ridiculous. 
• The game's main theme song and battle music, "Devil Trigger", is a really catchy tune!

From what I've played so far, Devil May Cry 5 has been a really pleasant surprise. I've never gotten into character action games before, but this one seems to have gotten its hooks into me.I'm really looking forward to digging further into it and trying out the new playable character, V the summoner!

 

 

 

Just Cause 4 Review

After having such a good time with Just Cause 2 a few years ago (review), I was pretty excited to check back into the series for its fourth installment and cause a little open-world mayhem. Similar to the previous games, in Just Cause 4, secret agent Rico Rodriguez is tasked with overthrowing an oppressive regime by causing chaos and inciting the citizens to rise up against their dictator.  While  there was plenty of satisfying havoc to wreak in the new game’s expansive world, I found myself wanting something more as the credits rolled. Here are my takeaways from my time with Just Cause 4:

Pros

• Being a game heavily inspired by corny action movies, there is one thing it absolutely had to get right: explosions. And, oh boy, does it deliver in that department. JC4’s upgraded physics engine allows for all kind of opportunities to blow up enemy compounds with vehicles, weapons, and chain reactions. One of my favorite techniques was turning propane tanks into missiles by shooting a hole in one side of them, causing them to rocket off in the opposite direction.
• Just Cause 4 continues the series’ penchant for excellent character locomotion. Equipped with a  grappling hook, parachute, and wingsuit, that he can swap between instantaneously, moving Rico around the environments of JC4 is a joy. One I got the hang of it, grappling to a tree or building to build speed and then abruptly switching to the parachute for lift followed by the wingsuit to fly through the air made Rico feel even more like a superhero (and I previously described him as “Spiderman with a gun”).
• In JC4, Rico’s grappling hook comes equipped with new gadgets that are a lot of fun to experiment with: a tether, a balloon, and rockets. The tether can be used for lashing enemies to objects (or each other), the balloon is great for those times when you just want to turn a tank into a blimp, and the rockets can turn pretty much anything into a missile. Several hours of my playtime probably consisted of trying out different combinations of these gadgets on various objects just to see what would happen.

Cons

• Much of the campaign consists of seizing territory from the dictator’s control. While I like this concept, there are only about three or four different types of missions to take territory and Rico has to conquer dozens of regions to complete the game. This begins to feel repetitive after a while.
• The territory control missions and smaller story missions build to a handful of major story moments and action set pieces. Unfortunately, on several occasions, these set pieces took the form of cut scenes instead of interactive sequences. I found this to be a let down; I wanted to fly through the tornado myself and go head-to-head with the Big Bad, not just watch it play out in a pre-rendered scene.
• The game world is quite large and full activities to unlock new weapons, vehicles, and upgrades. Most of these tasks were what I like to call "open world busy work" such as performing deliveries, driving NPCs around, and flying aircraft through rings. For the most part, these didn't hold my interest for very long.

 At its core, there's a solid action game here with very strong mechanics, but the game design doesn't give you as many interesting things to do with those mechanics as I would have liked. With a little more development time or resources, I think Just Cause 4 could have been made into a fantastic action-packed experience, but what we ended up getting is mostly just a sandbox in which to experiment with physics. That's fine, but I can't help but feel like there's lost potential here.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐
Completion Time: 25 hours (normal difficulty, all territories conquered)

Hatoful Boyfriend Review

 For this year’s #DatingSiMonth, I elected to go for an oddball title that I’ve heard come up several times over the past few years, Hatoful Boyfriend. After picking it up for a song during the Lunar New Year sale on Steam, my wife and I played through one path of the game in a single evening. It was a very bizarre experience indeed. Bear with me here as I attempt to explain this one…

Overview:

Hatoful Boyfriend is a visual novel dating sim that takes place in a school attended exclusively by sentient birds. The player character, as the first and only human student, must navigate their strange school life and build relationships with their classmates (I did my best not to think too much about how human-bird dating would work while playing this). Like most visual novels, the majority of the gameplay consists of reading through dialog and looking at still images while making the occasional decision that leads down different branches of the story. Playing through a single story path takes less than two hours.

Observations:

• While the game initially starts out very jokey,  it has some genuinely dramatic moments as it goes on, especially during the "best friend" character's plot arc (which is the route I completed during my playthrough).
•  The decision-making is very simplistic. Most of the time you're just picking where you'd like to spend your time which generally very directly correlates with whom you'll be spending time with. Want to get to know the librarian bo-... bird better? Spend more time in the library. I didn't have an issue with the directness of this, but it could have been interesting to see a little more depth to the choices.
• As the only human in the game, I like how the player character is frequently the target of "hunter-gather" stereotypes. It was also a nice touch that the player's strength stat is always maxed out (presumably because the stats are on a scale intended for birds).
• For a seemingly silly game, there appears to be some sort of dark subplot going on in the background. I'm kind of interested to play through a few other paths to see more of it, but I must admit that it's unlikely I'll end up getting around to it (unless I pick up the mobile version at some point).
• I appreciated the mixture of serious and completely off-the-wall characters (e.g. Okosan).

This ended up being a strange one, but not in the way I expected. It’s simultaneously a parody of dating sims while also occasionally being a very earnest one. I tend to be someone who only plays through a game once, so the extra depth that may be added by replaying is something I'll likely miss. As interesting as Hatoful Boyfriend was as a cheap game to play on a lark (see what I did there 😜), for the next Dating Sim Month or Visual Novel November, I think I'll go with something a little less gimmicky that can tell a richer story in a single playthrough.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Completion Time: 95 minutes (one story path)

Note: Events like #DatingSiMonth and #VNNovember are put together by ApricotSushi from the Chic-Pixel Blog. Be sure to check out her whole calendar of Community Game-Along events.

 

Impressions: Yoshi's Crafted World, Daemon X Machina, and Tetris99

Not only did last week's Nintendo Direct come with a bunch of announcements, but it also brought us two new game demos and a surprise free game! Here are my impressions of each:

Yoshi’s Crafted World Demo

Having had such a good time playing through Good Feel’s other craft-based platformers, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Yoshi’s Wooly World, we downloaded and played the Crafted World demo the moment it became available.

• The attention to detail put into the papercraft style of this game is pretty remarkable. I like that passing along the backsides of cardboard structures revealed labels, barcodes, and stamps from the boxes that were presumably used to build these things.

• This Yoshi game very prominently features Yoshi’s dog, Poochy. The only thing cuter than Mario’s pet is a pet of that pet. I approve!

• The level design is more three-dimensional than previous Yoshi games. While this has some interesting gameplay implications, I found that it did make it a little harder to aim eggs and determine which items were in the same plane as Yoshi versus the background or foreground.

• Like I’ve come to expect with the early parts of other Yoshi games, the challenge comes from finding secrets/collectibles in this level. Some of the later levels shown in the preview at the end of the demo, however, appear to offer more robust platforming challenges, however.

My wife and I ended up playing through the demo several times, so it’s a safe bet that we’ll be getting the full game. (I’m already on the lookout for pre-order bonuses.)

Daemon X Machina Demo

I was pretty excited to try this one since I’ve enjoyed other mecha games in the past. Unfortunately, this one did not demo well for me.

• I was surprised to find that the mech has nearly unlimited flight capabilities right off the bat (in most games, mechs can briefly boost into the air and full flight is unlocked later if at all). The transition between air and ground combat felt a little awkward to me, with the air movement feeling kind of sluggish. Thus, I preferred to keep my mech on the ground whenever possible. Even on land, the controls felt a little off.

• The simple geometric shapes and high-contrast colors are a good way of giving the game a distinct look while also working around the hardware limitations of the Switch. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like it.

• There is far more dialog (with voice acting) than I expected in this game. It seemed to be of reasonably good quality and could prove to be interesting in the full game, but for a demo, I have a hard time getting invested in story/characters and would prefer to get right to the action.

• Mechs can be customized with different parts and weapons. I think much of the appeal of the game will come from configuring your ideal robot. Yet within the demo, I found it difficult to discern what each weapon and upgrade did, so I ended up sticking to the default loadout.

• The levels in the demo are structured as central hubs, such as a small city, that must be cleared of existing enemies or defending from incoming enemies. I generally prefer mech games in which the mission structure involves making forward progress (i.e. fighting my way from Point A to Point B). I’m hoping the full game offers more varied level structure, because I could see what’s shown in the demo getting repetitive.

• The demo is quite long, I spent over an hour with it and still haven’t played the last mission that it offers.

Overall, I came away from Daemon X Machina with mixed feelings. I think there’s still potential for a compelling mecha action game here (something I’ve been wanting), but the demo just didn’t grab me. I’ll be keeping an eye on reviews and may end up playing through the demo a second time to see if my feelings change.

Tetris 99

Unlike the other two downloads that coincided with this Direct, Tetris99 is a full game that was released for free to subscribers of the Nintendo Online service. This game's release also marks Nintendo's entry into the trendy Battle Royale genre.

• The basic gameplay is classic Tetris, it looks and feels as sharp as ever but doesn't add much to the puzzle mechanics.

• Tetris99's twist is the aforementioned Battle Royale aspect. Each round features 99 players all trying to clear lines and launch garbage blocks at their rivals to clutter their boards.

• Apparently, there's a way to specifically target individual rival players with the garbage blocks, but I was struggling simply to stay alive, so I wasn't able to figure it out during my initial session.

• Since I'm not much of a competetive gamer, the defining feature of this game for me was the excellent techno cover of the Tetris theme that plays as you compete. The longer your survive, the more the music builds in intensity which really adds to the sense of tension.

Tetris99 was a really pleasant surprise! I don't think I'll be putting a lot of time into it, but it's a nice thing to have on the Switch for when I'm in the mood for a quick game.


Note: Images from Nintendo.co.uk

Nintendo Direct Highlights

While I always have several games queued up to play next, I still can’t help myself from keeping an eye on the upcoming release calendar, especially where Nintendo is concerned. Nintendo has a knack for making announcements fun to watch and last night’s Nintendo Direct was jam-packed with interesting-looking titles! Here’s some of my highlights from the presentation:

• Mario Maker 2 – Having loved the original Wii U game, I can only imagine that a Mario Maker title with more features and on a system with a larger install base would be even better. I was happy to see that this new game will include elements from Mario 2 and Mario 3D World. I’m already imagining new levels featuring Cat Mario and radish-throwing battles.
• Box Boy & Girl – I missed the original Box Boy series of puzzle platformers on 3DS but this new co-op focused entry for Switch looks like a great place to jump on for some husband/wife gaming sessions.
• Captain Toad Expansion – Speaking of husband/wife gaming, we had a great time with Captain Toad on the Wii U, so I’m glad to see that it’s getting some love on the Switch with an upcoming expansion. Unfortunately, the new content appears to be Switch-exclusive and I have no intention of buying the base game again just to play the expansion material. If the new content ends up getting a standalone release, I’m definitely on board.
• Blood Stained Ritual of the Night – Considering that last year’s Bloodstained Curse of the Moon was one of my favorite games of 2018, I was of course excited to see more of the upcoming game. While I’m partial to the 2D style of the previous game, as opposed to the cluttered polygonal look of this one, Ritual of the Night’s level design looks really interesting.
• Dragon Quest Builders 2 – I’ve been hesitant to get into these games since the building genre tends not to appeal to me. However, I’ve been hearing so many good things about Dragon Quest’s take on the genre that I may just have to give it a go, especially since the new game has a co-op mode.
• Dragon Quest 11 – I’m really glad I held off on getting the PC version of this game because the Switch version looks fantastic. It features the 2D mode from the 3DS version as well as the HD 3D visuals of the PC/console version, has orchestrated music, dual language voice acting, and will apparently feature some expanded content as well! This version of DQ11 looks like it will be well worth the wait.
• Rune Factory 4 and 5 – I’ve never played any of the Rune Factory games but it looks like the series will have strong Switch support with a remake of Rune Factory 4 and a new 5th entry as well. I’m not usually into farming games, but the inclusion of RPG elements could end up pulling me in (similar to Ever Oasis).
• Oninaki – A new game from Tokyo RPG Factory (of I Am Setsuna fame) was announced. It looks more stylized and original than the studio’s previous work, so I may give this one a look.
• Starlink Expansion – Starlink is getting an all-StarFox themed expansion campaign. I’ve been meaning to pick up the base game (I love me some aerial dogfighting) but have been waiting for the digital version to go on sale since I’m not really into toys-to-life stuff. The Arwing statue does look kind of cool though…
• Fire Emblem Three Houses - This was the flagship game of the Direct and it deserved it. The production values and world-building look elevated beyond anything we’ve seen the Fire Emblem series so far. The game seems to further emphasize the relationship-building elements of Awakening and Fates, however I’m a little concerned how this will be handled since the player character is a teacher and most of the other characters are students. That concern aside, it’s a brand-new Fire Emblem on Switch, so I likely will have pre-ordered it by the time anyone ends up reading this.
• Astral Chain – My wife and I both initially mistook this new action game from Platinum as a Xenoblade game. The cyberpunk setting reminded me a lot of the anime Psycho Pass. Bayonetta didn’t grab me and I missed the Nier games, but Astral Chain looks like it has the potential to finally get me into Platinum games.
• Link’s Awakening remake – The Gameboy Zelda games are not among my favorite entries in the series, but this chibi 3D remake looks incredible. If the remake upgrades the mechanics to the same level it does for the visuals, I may revisit Link’s surreal island adventure after all.

After the Direct, Nintendo released downloadable demos for Yoshi’s Crafted World and Daemon X Machina. They also dropped a surprise free game, Tetris 99! I’ll have impressions of each of these available in my next post.

Based on all these announcements, it sounds like my wallet will be getting much lighter in the coming months! I’m curious to know what other folks are excited about from this Direct, so be sure to let me know in the comments or on Twitter!

Mobile Game Roundup

While the Nintendo Switch may be the best portable game system on the market right now, sometimes when I'm on the road I want the simplicity of not having to pack a gaming-specific device, especially if I know my sessions are going to be short. That's where mobile games come in. Unfortunately, many popular mobile titles are so bloated with microtransactions, gatchpon mechanics, data-sucking content updates, and other games-as-a-service features, that they just don't make sense to pick up and play while traveling. On a few recent trips, I managed to put together a handful of fun mobile titles that were an exception to this rule. Here's some info and impressions on each:

RainBlocks (free, ad-supported)

We’ll start with the most simple of this set, Rain Blocks. This is a basic block-sliding puzzle that builds in complexity, introducing powerups and new types of blocks, as you play. This is no-frizzles puzzle game is my go-to mobile game for when I want to immediately jump into gameplay and engage my brain for a short session. However, in Tetris-like fashion, sometimes I get on a roll and end up turning these short sessions into longer ones! Rain Blocks also sports great music by former Mega Man composer, Manami Matsume.

Candies 'n' Curses ( free w/ ads, $4.99 ad-free version)

Going up in complexity level, we have Candies 'n' Curses. While I’ve heard some call it a platformer, to me it’s more reminiscent of arcade-style games like Joust, Elevator Action, or Woah Dave. Running around and bashing as many ghosts as possible is oddly satisfying and since it has some minor Rouge-like mechanics, each time I play my character is a little stronger and I can advance a little further into the haunted mansion. The game has a minimal story that reaches some sort of conclusion if you manage to make it far enough, but it will probably be quite some time before I get that far. This game also features some great sprite work and a catchy soundtrack.

Legend of the Skyfish (free demo w/ ads, $3.99 ad-free full version)

 It’s pretty clear from the get-go that this game is inspired by The Legend of Zelda. However, instead of a big sprawling world, Skyfish breaks Zelda-like gameplay down into bite-sized levels that play like small dungeons. Since the gameplay is just a succession of condensed dungeons, you'll be doing a lot cycles of switch flipping, sword slashing, and block sliding, which I found works well for short sessions but can feel repetitive if you're trying to kill more than thirty minutes or so. However, I'm only about a quarter of the way through the campaign, so there a possibility that more variety will be added later in the game. Also, I have to commend this game for managing to make maneuvers that are typically associated with a controller (sword swipes, firing a hookshot, etc) feel pretty smooth with a touch screen.

Dragon Quest ($2.99)

This RPG classic likely needs no introduction. Square Enix has put together a solid mobile remake of the original Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior). The touch screen controls took a little time to get used to, but once I had adjusted, it was like I was a kid again hunched over his Gameboy Color. Something that jumped out at me in this version is that Square elected to keep the "old-timey" dialect associated with the NES version of the game, which can be equally nostalgic and (possibly unintentionally) funny. This is a very grindy RPG with very minimal story, but I actually like that in a mobile game since I feel like I can quickly get into the game, make some progress, and then get back to what I was doing in the real world.

Note: All info on this page is based on the Android versions of these games, but the iOS experience should be similar. Prices are Google Play prices in US dollars.