REVIEW -- Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the twenty-first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet also contributing to the screenplay. Brie Larson stars as Danvers, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law. Set in 1995, the story follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel after the Earth is caught in the center of a galactic conflict between two alien worlds.

Cast:

Brie Larson as Vers / Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Ben Mendelsohn as Talos / Keller
Djimon Hounsou as Korath
Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser
Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau
Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva
Annette Bening as the Supreme Intelligence and Mar-Vell / Dr. Wendy Lawson
Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
Jude Law as Yon-Rogg

Additionally, Algenis Pérez Soto and Rune Temte portray Att-Lass and Bron-Char, respectively, both members of Starforce; Att-Lass is the marksman of the team, while Bron-Char is the "bigger, stronger guy who fights with his fists". Robert Kazinsky appears as a biker nicknamed "The Don". Vik Sahay plays a Torfan. Chuku Modu potrays Soh-Larr. Colin Ford appears as Danver's brother, Steve, while Kenneth Mitchell plays their father. Maria's daughter, Monica Rambeau appears, played by Akira Akbar as an eleven-year-old, while Azari Akbar portrays her as a five-year-old. Danvers' comic book cat Chewie (named for the Star Wars character Chewbacca) appears in the film, renamed Goose for the Top Gun (1986) character Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, and is portrayed by four different cats, Reggie, Archie, Rizzo and Gonzo. Each cat was chosen based on their actions and personalities.

Real life air force pilots Matthew "Spider" Kimmel and Stephen "Cajun" Del Bagno appear as themselves. Del Bagno died months prior to the film's release. Captain Marvel comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick has a cameo in the film, and Stan Lee, co-creator of the first Captain Marvel, appears posthumously as himself as a train passenger memorizing the lines for his Mallrats cameo.

Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle appear as Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner and James Rhodes in the mid-credits scene.

Plot:

In 1995, on the Kree Empire's capital planet of Hala, Starforce member Vers suffers from recurring nightmares involving an older woman. Yon-Rogg, her mentor and commander, trains her to control her abilities while the Supreme Intelligence, an organic artificial intelligence who acts as the ruler of the Kree, urges her to keep her emotions in check.

During a mission to rescue an undercover Kree operative infiltrating a group of Skrulls, alien shapeshifters with whom the Kree have been fighting for centuries, Vers is captured by Skrull commander Talos and forcibly subjected to a memory probe. She manages to escape and inadvertently pilots a pod to Earth, crashing in Los Angeles. Her presence attracts the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, whose investigation is interrupted by a Skrull attack. In the ensuing chase, Vers recovers a crystal containing her extracted memories and Fury kills a Skrull impersonating Coulson. Talos, disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Keller, convinces Fury to meet and work with Vers.

Using Fury's security clearance, Vers discovers she was a U.S. Air Force pilot who was presumed dead after testing an experimental engine designed by Dr. Wendy Lawson, whom she recognizes as the older woman from her nightmares and a friend of former pilot Maria Rambeau. The two escape from Talos in a cargo jet, with Lawson's cat Goose stowing away, and fly to New Orleans, Louisiana to meet Rambeau.

A pursuing Talos arrives at the Rambeau house just as Vers learns her real name is Carol Danvers. He reveals the Skrulls are refugees searching for a new home after the Kree instigated war, and Lawson was a Kree renegade helping them. He plays the recovered black box from Lawson's plane, prompting Danvers' memories of the crash: Lawson told Danvers to destroy the engine's energy-core before being killed by Yon-Rogg, and Danvers absorbed the energy from the ensuing explosion at the cost of losing all her memories. Talos and Carol (after she deciphers the numbers as space coordinates) then lead the group to a cloaked lab ship orbiting Earth, where several Skrulls are hiding and protecting the Tesseract, the source of the energy-core.

That's one way to crash a party...

Starforce captures Danvers and forces her into the virtual reality where the Supreme Intelligence resides. During their conversation, Danvers removes her Kree implant, gaining access to all of her abilities. In the ensuing battle, Fury retrieves the Tesseract, which is then consumed by Goose, who is revealed to be not a cat but an alien whose insides are a pocket dimension. Danvers singlehandedly destroys multiple ballistic missiles fired by Kree official Ronan the Accuser, forcing him and his forces to retreat. She then overpowers Yon-Rogg on Earth and sends him back to Hala with a warning to the Supreme Intelligence.

Danvers departs to help the Skrulls find a new homeworld, giving Fury a modified pager with which to contact her in an emergency. After losing sight in his left eye from a scratch by Goose, Fury drafts a proposal for an initiative, which he callsigns "Avenger" after examining a photo of Danvers.

In the mid-credits scene set in the present day, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes are monitoring the pager, which Fury activated prior to his death, when Danvers appears and asks for Fury's whereabouts. In the post-credits scene, Goose is on Fury's desk in his office, and Goose regurgitates the Tesseract.

The Verdict:

Right off the bat, I tip my hat to Marvel Studios for the new Marvel Studios logo fanfare to tribute to the life and contributions of the recently deceased Stan Lee. #ThankYouStan

I'm not going to bring up the controversies surrounding this film as I honestly didn't keep up with a lot of it, especially with Brie Larson's statements in interviews and press releases in relation to the marketing of this film. The only thing that I was aware of is that there was this stigma that Larson was "scaring white men away from the film" and then there was another end of the spectrum afraid that this film was going to be presented with a "heavy feminist" political opinion.

The latter didn't surprise me much as much like Wonder Woman (both the film and the character itself), Captain Marvel is known in modern times for its feminist political stance in her comics over the past decade or more. As for Larson's statements in interviews, I honestly distanced myself from any and all marketing for this film like I usually do for these new solo character film debuts from either Marvel or DC as I don't want my personal opinion of the said medium tainted by whatever the actor/actress is plugging to hype the film. Double goes for avoiding their stance(s) on politics and what not on social media.

We're just lucky that Chris Evans is a patriot on and off screen in his case. He's truly the real Captain America that America needs right now...

Casting

I loved Brie Larson so much in this role. If Captain Marvel is going to take the lead at the forefront of the MCU following Avengers: Endgame then I'm all for it. She did a stellar job with the role here. I still can't get over that was Envy Adams from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Then again, Chris Evans was in that same film and look where he wind up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after all of these years. Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg don't disappoint either here, but we knew what to expect from them going into this. It was pretty funny to see a not so uptight and serious version of both Nick Fury and Phil Coulson in this film. Too bad they couldn't find a way to squeeze Ming-Na Wen's Melinda May in this for we could have seen when Phil and May first met. 

Jude Law was the right choice for Yon-Rogg even though in the initial trailers I was convinced that he was going to Mar-Vell, but I'm happy to support Marvel Studios' decision to cast that character as female in this iteration with Annette Bennig portraying the character. That way you remove the forced romance stigma from this character (and boy does Carol has a lot of it in her comic book history) and truly establish her in this story of female empowerment.

So what happened to him over the years that caused him to get those funky looking cybernetic implants after this film and use guns instead of swords?

Djimon Hounsou reprises the role as Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy along with Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser from that same film. I had to do a double take as both of their costumes here didn't look the same as they did in Guardians.

I think that Ben Mendelsohn as Talos was a sleeper hit here. Mendelsohn is known as a method actor, so that worked to an excellent degree in the Skrulls' camouflage techniques. After the reveal later in the film, the Skrulls, especially Talos, added a lot to the charm and humorous moments of this film.

Lashana Lynch portrays the mother of Monica Rambeau who is known as the second Captain Marvel in comics continuity, Maria Rambeau. In the film, Maria is Carol's best friend and fellow pilot before she lost her memories and became a member of the Kree Empire's Starforce. It took me a few scenes, but I quickly warmed up to her performance as this character. Akira Akbar portraying a young Monica Rambeau stole the show though with her adorable scenes with Brie Larson's Carol Danvers.

High fives all around.

That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing both of them pop up in a sequel or more scattered appearances in the MCU. I hope whoever they cast to play the adult Monica Rambeau has much charm and allure as Lynch and Akbar here.

Narrative

The whole idea of Yon-Rogg telling Vers (Carol Danvers before she regains her human memories) that she must keep her powers in check and not act impulsively reminded me of the handicap that Samus Aran did to please her former superior officer and mentor/father figure, Adam Malkovich, in the controversial Nintendo video game, Metroid: The Other M. I saw that comparison at the beginning of the film and immediately feared the worst in terms of the narrative here that Marvel Studios was going to present. As how Carol put it towards the film's climax, she's been fighting with one hand tied behind her back and summoned the strength within to cut loose from the chains that she was restrained with (physically and mentally) to unleash her full potential. The major difference between Samus Aran in that video game and Carol Danvers in this film, is that Carol doesn't come across as insecure and unsure of herself (outside of her lost memories) from start to finish. In that game, Samus Aran (a heroine known in gaming for her bad-assery) is reduced to following the orders of her former superior officer in a lame duck vie for his affections in a sad attempt to retread through the familiar territory like their past together when she served underneath him - before becoming a veteran bounty hunter. She goes as far as deactivating and disabling all of her suit's powers and weaponry until Malkovich authorizes it's use. There's a stark contrast here in terms of the comparison here as Carol is constantly going against what she's being told to do by the men around her and in her life. She's told not to play sports or drive fast cars; she falls, but she still gets back up. She's told that women can't fly fighter planes to help in the war that the military was caught up into at the time; she falls and stumbles time and time again in her basic training and flight tests, but she keeps getting up for more. Even without her memories, Carol is fighter down to her sharp wit and sassy banter with everyone she encounters. Whatever challenge is laid in front of her, she's not afraid to fall down, get back up and keep fighting. 

Upper-left: Maria Rambeau (comics), Bottom-left: Maria Rambeau portrayed by Lashana Lynch, Right: Monica Rambeau (comics)

I was so happy to see Monica Rambeau represented in this film as her legacy was already being paved for the future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we were introduced to the character here as child while her mother and best friend to Carol Danvers, Lashana Lynch's Maria Rambeau (under the codename/moniker "Photon"), got her moment to shine in this film as well. For all of this talk about there's a lack of African-American/black superhero characters back when Black Panther released last year, I still don't see people talk about Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel and her tenure as one of leaders of the Avengers in the past. Here's the beauty of introducing Maria Monica in this film - they necessarily don't even have to introduce Monica in her costumed counterpart in another film/sequel yet. They could have her show up as a field agent in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD or something else to that effect. Ava Starr/Ghost in Ant-Man & The Wasp had ties to being a SHIELD agent as well. I wouldn't mind seeing her in that TV series as a throwback. Don't forget that Disney has that streaming service on the way (Disney+) and it would be pretty cool if they explored lesser known characters in that like Monica Rambeau in their planned TV series. 

I know that it's going to be a touchy subject for hardcore fans, but I thought the twist of the roles of how the Skrulls and Kree Empire both play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a nice touch. It explains why we haven't seen both alien races at play since these events - Carol "scared off" the Kree Empire from attempting to eradicate Earth for the time being while escorting the Skrulls refugees find a new home elsewhere.

One starred in a live-action anime adaptation that many regard as a stain to the Dragonball franchise to this day; the other starred in a film that was blacklisted by narrow-minded people assuming some "agenda" to this film and now are backpedalling their opinions. 

As for the Piccolo from Dragonball: Evolution comparisons to the Skrulls, I couldn't unsee that since the initial trailers, but I did my best to put that thought in the back of my mind while watching this film. That thought was pretty far from my thoughts when the Skrulls put their signature shape-shifting powers to use, especially when I thought it looked like their skin was vomiting during the process. That was simultaneously cool yet disgusting at the same time. The Skrulls being refugees opens the door on some interesting stories down the road as the MCU doesn't have to necessarily do a by the book adaptation of the Secret Invasion event from the comics, but rather put their own unique spin on it, much like Age of Ultron (even though I wasn't too crazy about that TBH) and currently with the Infinity War. For those wondering, the events of Season Two of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was heavily influenced by the Secret Invasion in the comics with some notable revisions to fit their narrative. From the way how the Kree have been positioned in the MCU thus far, I feel that they are in a stronger position of power in terms of villainy anyway. Think about it - the Kree Empire has been aligned with Thanos himself (namely Ronan the Accuser and his followers) as established in Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD revealed that the Inhumans were tied directly to the Kree, along with the "miracle drug" that brought Coulson and Daisy Johnson back to life. With their superior and advanced alien technology, it's not hard to imagine them as a bigger threat to the universe than the Skrulls. At the same time, we don't have to rule out that the Skrulls don't take up a hostile role in the future following the events of Captain Marvel. Talos suffered near-fatal wounds at the cost of the Kree Empire towards the end of the film, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to see Talos' off-spring be motivated to get some sort of revenge for what was done to their kind by the Kree Empire in present-day.

The biggest surprise, or rather big twist, of the film was Carol's revised origins in this continuity. Mar-Vell was revealed to be Carol's mentor and colleague, Dr. Wendy Lawson, who was a Kree scientist who was working  an experimental engine for the Skrulls. When Yon-Rogg got wind of her plans, he intervened and shot her craft down. Carol was the one piloting the aircraft with Lawson and escaped the wreckage unscathed. When Carol went to help Lawson/Mar-Vell out of the wreckage, Yon-Rogg kills her. Before Yon-Rogg could do the same to Carol and claim the experimental engine, Carol destroys it herself, causing herself to be bombarded by it's radical energies that was created in part of using one of the Infinity Stones, namely the Tesseract, to power the device.

Let's be honest here - Carol's origins in the comics continuity have been best described as a clusterfuck and/or spotty at best, even in her current iteration of her comics. This was a great move here on Marvel's behalf. Carol has the freedom of creating her own destiny from a sheer freak accident and not from some piss poor accident as a result of her on/off romance with Mar-Vell (male version). Carol did what she thought was the right thing to do by destroying the engine and supporting her mentor's decision. Her powers aren't a freak accident of Kree science and biology here. Instead, they are a result of the same aura and mystique that surrounds the Infinity Stones. They left her with something worth exploring in future films and/or appearances, much like with Starlord and his ties to Ego, the Living Planet as the offspring of an Celestial.

They definitely got Carol's scale of power right here.

That ties into the film's climax where she taps into full potential of her powers, even taking on her signature "Binary" state. This is when Carol discovers that she can use her powers to fly and survive in outer space while unleashing powerful photon blasts. Granted that this was as much as an eye rolling moment as the finale of Wonder Woman or Superman's first flight in Man of Steel, I can't say that I walked out of the theater saying to myself, "Boy that was fucking stupid..." like I did during Wonder Woman's piss poor ending. Marvel Studios has been marketing Captain Marvel as the most powerful hero that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen to date and she rightfully deserves that position. This film did it's job of displaying that once she realized her full potential, there was nothing Yon-Rogg and his fellow members of Starforce and the Kree Empire's forces could do to stop her. You can't cage or restrain an animal and not be surprised that once the chains are broken that it's not going to fight back. That's exactly what the Kree had on their hands here once Carol broke free of the Supreme Intelligence's control. She destroyed most of Ronan's armada like it was child's play and forced him to make a hasty retreat. Two decades have passed since Carol's last time on Earth since the events of this film and we haven't heard anything else about the Kree Empire even considering to mess with Earth again. That had to be one hell of a scare for them keep far away from Earth and Captain Marvel.

Another thing I'm glad that Marvel Studios did do in this film is that they didn't fall into the trap of yet another superhero origin story where the titular hero has to face their evil doppelganger in a sense. We have been seeing that as far back as almost every Marvel Cinematic Universe film in Phase One to Ant-Man (Ant-Man vs. Yellowjacket) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Captain America vs. Winter Soldier) in Phase Two then Black Panther (T'Challa vs. Killmonger), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Ego vs. Quill with Celestial powers), and Dr. Strange (Stephen Strange vs. Kaecilius) in Phase Three. Not to mention, they've done it in their Netflix Television series to death too - Jessica Jones Season Two, Daredevil Season Two & Three, The Punisher Season One & Two, and Luke Cage Season One. It's getting pretty damn redundant at this point. Yon-Rogg is of the Kree race and unlike his comics counterpart, he has no ties nor equivalent to the power that she wields. He may have trained her in the Kree Empire's methods of combat, but she doesn't have to play by his rules anymore. I thought it was a hilariously nice move to have her promptly defeat him in the end. I saw that moment as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's equivalent of Indiana Jones shooting that guy with the swords that I still bust out laughing at to this day.

(Laughs) Much like Indiana Jones here, Carol didn't have time for your bullshit, Yon-Rogg.

I know Carol said not to use the pager/beeper only for emergencies to reach her, but for Christ's sake, where did he put that thing when Loki got the Tesseract the first time or global invasion that he brought in during the first Avengers film? That seemed like an appropriate emergency that justified getting in contact with her. I guess he didn't want to face her after failing to keep the Tesseract out of the hands of evil, but still, Fury's been completely dropping the ball here on these opportunities to call her in to help the Avengers. On the other hand, I guess that's how much confidence he had in the Avengers to pull together and get the job done since the original Avengers film. Plus, let's remember that everything that the Avengers have dealt with has been on a singular planetary scale in terms of threats. The threat of Thanos and the "snap" after he possessed all six of the Infinity Stones was an universal dilemma. We have to keep in mind the sense of scale here.

Plus think about this... What if Fury did page her and she was caught up in something else at the time just as big or greater as a threat to the universe as a whole? Like the adventures with the Guardians and Thor have proven, there's more threats out there than those threatening Earth.


On a side note, I'm sad we didn't get a version of this for the film...

Where Do We Go From Here?

Yeah, I'm just making excuses to use this stuff from Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite with Carol in it since I thought she looked so bad-ass in that game.

From what we've seen in the mid-credits teaser, it seems like Steve, Natasha, Bruce, and Rhodes got a hold of Fury's pager that Carol gave him (after modifying it) that he was seen rushing to get a message out on before being reduced to dust. I think the trailer and footage that Marvel Studios have shown for Avengers: Endgame thus far are later into the film, while Carol's appearance here is towards the beginning, along with Ant-Man's arrival to Avengers HQ. It seems like a lot of time has passed by following the "snap" too. We only see Carol for a second at the end of the mid-credits teaser, but I immediately took note that her costume is SLIGHTLY different. There's more gold trim in the design and across the shoulder pads.

I only started thinking about this over the last few days, but I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel is planning a big villain ensemble film down the road. Baron Mordo is still out there at the end of Dr. Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 left the door open for Ayesha and the rest of her Sovereign race to return in some capacity (they already hinted at the creation of Adam), and this film established Yon-Rogg along with the rest of the Kree Empire as a threat. There's also Ava Starr/Ghost still out there too, but she's been "reformed" in a sense after being "cured" by Janet Van Dyne at the end of Ant-Man & The Wasp. Given the aftermath of the Snap, she won't be able to get her regular treatment and revert back to her villainous tendencies. Don't forget that chick was mentally unstable/unhinged to begin with if she didn't have Bill Foster talking some sense into her.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Sure, why not? It's one of the pit stops on the road towards Avengers: Endgame, so you might as well check out to see this character's backstory before she joins the rest of the Avengers in Endgame.

Captain Marvel isn't anything revolutionary by any means, but I personally left the theater feeling that it never put itself out there claiming that it's supposed be received as such. While many people feel that this film feels like something out of Phase One of the MCU, I feel that's not necessarily a bad thing. If the original Avengers (actors and characters) are stepping down after Endgame, then we have to have these simple films to set the stage and lay the ground work for the future. Much like Ant-Man and The Wasp before it, I saw this film as merely a pit stop towards something greater with Endgame right around the corner. 

REVIEW -- Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fifth installment of the mainline Devil May Cry series, and was released on 8 March 2019.

Several years after the Order of the Sword incident...An unusual phenomenon suddenly appears in Red Grave City. A gigantic tree pierces through the surface in the middle of town, attacking with roots that drain the poor citizens of their blood.

Young Devil Hunter Nero races into Red Grave aboard the mobile Devil May Cry vehicle with his partner Nico, a self-styled "artisan of arms" who provides Nero with his new weapons.

Nero seeks to recover many things in Red Grave: Lost pride...stolen power...and a man left behind.

The Plot: 

The story takes place five years after the events of Devil May Cry 4, Nero having set up his own demon hunting agency based out of a van adorned with a neon "Devil May Cry" sign Dante gave him with support from Kyrie and his engineer, Nico. But on April 30, Nero encounters a dying demon who rips off his Devil Bringer arm and uses the Devil Arm Yamato to open a portal to escape in. A few days later, a man known as "V" comes to the Devil May Cry office to hire Dante, Lady, and Trish to kill a certain returning demon. The group arrive in Red Grave City on May 16, crossing paths with Nero as they share the same target: A demon named Urizen who has planted a demonic tree called Qliphoth in the city, which is killing people for their blood. The assembled group attempt to attack Urizen together, but the demon overpowers them all with Dante having V take Nero to safety. With his sword Rebellion broken by Urizen, Dante is forced to use the Devil Sword Sparda but is ultimately defeated and ejected from the Qliphoth. Urizen then captures Lady and Trish, turning them into cores for the demons Artemis and Cavaliere Angelo.

A month later on June 15, Nero returns to Red Grave after being outfitted with the "Devil Breaker" prosthetic arm Nico made for him. Nero meets up with V after besting the demon Goliath, who is seeking Qliphoth for its fruit - born of condensed human blood - which makes whomever consumes it the king of the Underworld. As the pair destroy the Qliphoth's roots while searching for Dante, Nero defeats Artemis to rescue Lady while V slays the demon-parasite Nidhogg, accidentally releasing the root construct Gilgamesh which then goes after Nero. V rejoins Nero after learning another demon named Malphas is also after the Qliphoth's fruit while seeking the Sparda in fear of its namesake's descendants acquiring it. V splits off to find the Sparda first and discovers it along with a hibernating Dante, whose presence was being hidden by the sword. However, V nearly stabs Dante and says that if he never existed, but he misses and told Dante that it was the only way to wake him.

After Dante learns what occurred during his month-long nap, he fights his way to Urizen and frees Trish from Cavaliere Angelo along the way. V then reveals to Trish that Urizen is actually the demon-side of Dante's brother Vergil, who used Yamato's power to separate his demon and human halves - the latter of which manifested as V himself with his body now at its limit. Dante, having heard the full story when first meeting V, deduces Rebellion's power is the opposite with the ability to unite halves, as he travels the remnant of his childhood home. Realizing why his father gave him Rebellion, Dante stabs himself with the broken sword's hilt to absorb the Sparda into himself, acquiring his Sin Devil Trigger form along with his own Devil Sword Dante. Nero attempts to confront Urizen again but is overpowered once more, with Dante arriving just in time to save him. Dante gains the upper hand with his new powers until Urizen takes his leave once the Qliphoth begins to bear fruit. While Dante is conflicted on having Nero join them, an ailing V insists on it and the three split up to find their own way to Urizen. Dante arrives first and defeats King Cerberus before facing Urizen, having now eaten Qliphoth's fruit. Meanwhile, after saving V from Malphas, Nero learns of Dante's history with Vergil. He and V reach Dante just as he defeats Urizen, but a dying V intervenes and merges with Urizen before Dante can finish him, reviving Vergil once more.

Dante attacks the newly-revived Vergil, who overpowers him quickly before opening a portal to the top of the Qliphoth tree, telling Dante to recover to his full strength before they spar again. Nero insists on going after Vergil himself to seek answers for losing his arm. But Dante, having known that he was the young demon hunter's uncle since they first met on Fortuna, finally reveals to Nero that he is Vergil's son and sends him away to keep his hands clean from killing his own father. Nero, Nico, Lady, and Trish escape the slowly-expanding Qliphoth but, despite the group urging him not to confront his father, an angry and confused Nero goes back to chase after Vergil.

Dante fights his way through V's now-independent familiars before reaching Vergil and the sons of Sparda engage in yet another duel with each other, during which Dante tells Vergil that Nero is his son. Following a call with Kyrie, Nero expresses his conflicted emotions at having found his family and not having the strength to save Kyrie's brother Credo years ago. Kyrie convinces Nero to stick to his instincts, and the young demon hunter resolves to save both his father and uncle from killing each other.

One of the most badass moments of the entire game right here.

Nero arrives just in time to stop Dante and Vergil as their fight reaches its climax, fully awakening his Devil Trigger while regenerating his right arm. Vergil mocks his son's resolve of a peaceful solution as he decides to fight him instead, but finds himself pushed back until he begrudgingly concedes. Giving Nero V's book to remember him by, Vergil joins Dante in a one-way trip to the Underworld to cut the Qliphoth down and seal the portal before it rips the Earth apart.

As the Qliphoth falls, Nero leaves Red Grave City alongside Nico while taking out any straggling demons along the way. Weeks later, Trish and Lady are hired for a new job by Morrison, who Dante left in charge of his office before the events at Red Grave City. In the Underworld, Dante and Vergil duel each-other endlessly - due to being equally matched and the constant interference from demons out to kill them - though their rivalry appears to be on more friendly terms.

The Verdict:

*** WARNING: SPOILERS DISCUSSION AHEAD ***

Overall Gameplay

Right off the bat, let's address the micro-transaction controversy with the game that was a major concern with players prior to the game's release. Throughout my entire time with the game, there were times where I was running low on funds from spending them immediately on all of the cool special moves and upgrades that I wanted, but I never felt like the game was being stingy with how much you garnered from completing missions and defeating enemies. To be honest, I thought the game was more than generous in that aspect. If you don't have enough Red Orbs for a purchase though, a disclaimer does pop up to ask you if you would like to purchase more from the PlayStation (or Xbox if you're on that console or Steam if you're on PC) Store if you so desired to do so. In that aspect, I never felt like I was being forced to resort to that method to unlock everything. That made me happy as Devil May Cry 4 and it's Special Edition (despite the wealth of Orbs you get for purchasing the add-ons to that game), made acquiring all of the skills such a chore in that aspect to say that the game itself was already not that good to play repeatedly. That turned me off more than anything to DMC4. This game I felt the complete opposite. I wanted to keep playing to keep unlocking more moves and open the floodgates even further to what the three playable characters could do.

The gameplay is still what veterans of the series have come to know as the norm for this genre of "over the top" action games, with each playable character having both long range and close melee attacks, coupled with a third option/modifier that opens the door to separate each character in terms individuality with their unique gameplay. Nero has his specialized Devil Breakers that enhance his combat with various effects. V can't attack on his own; instead, he relies on his demonic "pets" to deal damage for him until he can land a finishing blow to execute his enemies. Dante is the jack of all trades of the three, who has four distinct fighting styles to draw from (Gunslinger to enhance his firearms, Trickster for more evasive dodging and stylish movement for positioning, Royal Guard for blocking and countering opponents' but requires an excessive amount of enemy attack knowledge to properly master, and Swordmaster that unlocks even more melee attacks for Dante's various swords and Devil Arms that he obtains over the course of the game). Each character has the ability to enter a Devil Trigger state that powers up their attacks even more while recovering a bit of health over time.

The Void serves as a training room akin to fighting games to practice each of the playable characters' moves before you purchase them in Nico's shop or to merely test out and/or practice your combo execution. Veteran DMC players have been asking for something like this for years now and it's cool to see something like this finally implemented into the series. I vaguely remember DmC: Devil May Cry having something similar, but it's even more welcome in this return to the classic Devil May Cry  (main canonical) series.

This entry has the best amount of enemy variety that this series has seen to date. Enemies from the original Devil May Cry return here, including but not limited to: variations of Nelo Angelo as mini-bosses, Nobodies, Sin Scissors (going by a new name), a variant of the Blades/Assaults (Devil May Cry 4 version of Blades), some variations on the classic Beelzebub enemies. On top of that, there's LOTS of new enemy archetypes to truly test your skills and mastery over all three protagonists.

Combat always feels fresh and exciting. That feeling of awe and wonder as you perform combos and learn how to link special moves and rack up style points and keep the pure insanity of these attacks going continuously is part of the charm and allure of this series. It never fails to disappoint that the game always adds a new enemy type or gives you a new tool to spice things up even further. By the end of the game, you have so many options that it feels a little overwhelming while simultaneously exciting that you have so many options to approach the game's combat as how you see fit.

My biggest gripe with the original release of DMC4 was that the majority of the game with Nero felt bland as hell (at least until you unlocked Max-Act for the Exceed ability), but when you got Dante for the short portion of the game that he was playable that his gameplay blew everything out of the water that by the time you got back to playing Nero for the remainder of the game, you were left feeling underwhelmed that all of that freedom and extra combat options were taken away. Here, that problem is non-existent. For majority of the game, Capcom gives you the choice of which of the playable protagonists that you want to play as for majority of the story - save for the mandatory missions from a certain character(s)'s perspective on those events. I'm sure that Capcom's going to either provide the option to play as a single character throughout the entire game down the road (more likely with a Special/Definitive Edition release) as a feature via an update when they add the Blood Palace as free add-on downloadable content in April or possibly charge for it as purchasable addition to the game.

Maybe it's just me, but if I could complain about anything in this game - trust me, I have VERY few complaints about this game as a whole - it's that the targeting in terms of cycling through enemies isn't perfect. It's nowhere as bad as the lack of that option in the original release of DmC: Devil May Cry, but it's noticeable enough to irk me during gameplay and screw up combos since I couldn't focus my attention onto the incoming threat in time. It's not as a problem for V as it is for Dante and Nero as you're always re-positioning anyway in terms of his gameplay, but if Capcom were to tweak this one minor issue, I think the gameplay would be just as good - if not better than Devil May Cry 3's (both versions) gameplay as whole.

There's a ton of replay value here as players will be grinding to earn over 12 million Red Orbs to buy out all of the special moves and upgrades for all three protagonists. There are 12 Secret Missions to find and complete for Blue Orb fragments. They are available for replay on the main menu after clearing, which is a welcome new addition. Then don't forget the Purple and Blue Orb fragments scattered throughout the 20 Missions for increasing the characters' max health and Devil Trigger gauges.

I've heard a lot of other veteran players of the series say this too, but I thought Devil Hunter mode (Normal difficulty in this one) was tad easier and much more forgiving than previous outings of Devil May Cry

Three Playable Characters

Nero

It's no secret that I flat out thought he was piss poor addition to the cast of characters in the Devil May Cry franchise in DMC4 and even worse as a "replacement" for Dante in majority of that game's narrative.

Players can unlock the ability to both use the original Devil Bringer and Devil Trigger after clearing the game once. This grants Nero the ability to use his classic "Buster" grapple technique, along with all of his disposable Devil Breakers made by Nico in combat to add even more depth to his style of combat.

The new Devil Breakers add a lot of variety to Nero's gameplay. They made me think about enemy encounters in a manner I haven't thought of them prior to this game. You actually have to plan your loadouts for what you expect to run into and how to counter what you plan to go up against.

Devil Breakers

Overture

Like the description says, it's a jack of all trades Breaker. This Breaker is excellent crowd control, deal massive damage to just about anything unfortunate enough to get hit by it, and you can pretty much add it as a combo ender if you don't know what else to do during juggle combos/aerial raves or standing ground combos. This is that Breaker I make sure to have at least two of on every mission and especially for boss fights. 

Gerbera

During my time playing the demo, I absolutely HATED this Breaker. Now with the retail release, I actually come to respect this Breaker for it's mobility options and ability to cancel combos/special attacks that you couldn't do otherwise. It opens up a wealth of combo options that Nero normally doesn't have access to like Dante in terms of jump/standing cancels. Not to mention, it's really good at crowd control and re-positioning. 

Punch Line 

My personal favorite Breaker just from the sheer amount of utility for this thing in combos. You fire it off and it focuses on a single enemy, dealing continuous damage until it returns after a few seconds. As an added bonus, Nero can ride on it during the recall and perform stunts using button combinations on the controller and use this as an added method of mobility in combat. The arm can be detonated in this state for even more insane damage. Only downside is that if you're hit during ANY point of the animation, it breaks and has little effect on crowd control. 

Buster Arm

This is essentially a revamp of Nero's Devil Bringer from Devil May Cry 4. Sadly, if you're hit during the Buster animation(s), the arm breaks so use sparingly. I like to keep this one in my load outs (prior to beating the game) for boss and mini-boss encounters just to experiment on what Buster grapples I can get off during one-on-one encounters to deal massive damage with minimal effort. 

Ragtime

To make a long story short, this Breaker is essentially the Quicksilver style from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, which was inspired by similar powers given to Dante in the original Devil May Cry from the Bangle of Time special item. For Nero, it freezes a foe in place for a few seconds, allowing for repositioning and more unique opportunities to retaliate. This can prove to be very helpful towards the end of the game where the game throws multiple troublesome foes along with their underlings at you all at once. This Breaker proves to be helpful in those encounters to isolate the hordes and deal with foes as you see fit. 

Tomboy

I slept on this Breaker for the early portion of the game, but was blown away by it when I picked up one off on a whim during one of Nero's missions. It powers up both the Red Queen and Blue Rose to what seems like an equivalent of the Exceed and Charge Shot boosts/power-ups. The Blue Rose can deal massive damage while stationary in this mode (You just need REALLY good aim) while this Breaker is active. That may sound suicidal on higher difficulties, but there's definitely some use to be made out of this weapon. 

Helter Skelter

I only experimented with this weapon briefly when the Hell Scissors enemy was introduced and not much after that. It's decent for breaking the defenses of enemies holding shields or love to block/guard, but Nero has much better options for breaking through defenses than relying on this Breaker. It's not horrible, but I personally wouldn't waste a load out slot on this on a regular basis. 

Rawhide

The only Breaker that I didn't spend any time using. The idea of merely extending the range of the Wire Snatch (I had the max upgrade for that anyway) and ability to pick up heavier foes with it didn't appeal to me much if I'm perfectly honest.

Personal Impressions: Nero

I didn't think Nero doesn't shine the most in this game on his own until his Devil Trigger state is awakened during the game's climax in Mission 20. Don't get me wrong. I loved what the Devil Breakers brought to the table in terms of catering to each players' individual playstyle and preferences in terms of approaching the game's combat, but he finally feels like his own entity instead of a carbon copy of trying so hard to be like Dante and Vergil that he finally stood out on his own here. The combination of having the Breakers and his signature Devil Bringer back - complete with the Buster ability to grab enemies or even bosses in truly amazing counters was icing on the cake in what Capcom started to do with him back in Devil May Cry 4.

I kid you not... There's nothing more satisfying against the final boss where you CATCH him out of his ultimate special move with a well-timed Buster and slam him into oblivion.

V

V plays like he was pulled straight out of Chaos Legion with his pets - three familiar adversaries for anyone who has played the original Devil May Cry. Each one of the face buttons perform their attacks and special moves while they each all have an use of the Devil Trigger gauge to power up their attacks. 

V's pets can be "downed" for a short duration after sustaining too much damage, but this process can be sped up from V being in close vicinity to them.

Unlike Seig in Chaos Legion, V himself is a sitting duck while his pets do his bidding as he can't attack himself outside of the finishing moves that he performs to finish off his enemies, so combat comes down to methodical positioning and meter management as reading from his book builds Devil Trigger gauge that will be a precious resource while playing this character.

He moves so much slower than Nero and Dante, but his pets that are at play definitely fit in this game's crazy gameplay to leave his own unique flair on the combat in DMC5.

Too bad he looks just like Adam Driver from the current batch of Star Wars films... I doubt anyone's going to be surprised at his "true identity" either. 

Much like DMC4, the game recycles the same boss fights from both Dante and Nero for a "boss rush" of sorts for V to face against towards the end of the game. Fortunately, these bosses are slightly weaker than their initial appearances against the Devil Hunters.

Personal Impressions: V

Much like I mentioned above, V reminds me completely of the gameplay from Chaos Legion, a lesser known PlayStation 2 title from Capcom. I'm surprised that they haven't attempted to tie that game canon to Devil May Cry's lore in some fashion. At least V's stages and gameplay wasn't as frustratingly hard as that game was.

A minor issue I ran into where I had to HOLD the button down to make V read from his book to build Devil Trigger meter instead of pressing it once. Could have been an oversight on my behalf, but I could have sworn the tutorial said just tap it. Just thought I should mention that as well.

Dante

Out of the three playable characters, Dante easily has the most combat options at his disposal. It's easy to recognize why he's regarded as the Legendary Devil Hunter from a gameplay and narrative perspective in this game.

New Weapons:

Devil Sword Dante

After Rebellion is broken as part of the game's story, Dante stabs it's remaining hilt through his chest and absorbs his father's Sparda weapon into his body, thus creating this new weapon with his own namesake. This weapon has the range of Sparda (and same moveset as Rebellion) while allowing Dante to conjure up spectral swords to assist him in attacks. These swords can be powered up to help Dante offensively and defensively, much like Vergil's Spirit Swords in previous games. As an additional treat, Dante gains the ability to charge up his Devil Trigger even further with the Sin Devil Trigger meter above his normal DT gauge. Unleashing this form allows Dante to deal massive amounts of damage and completely invulnerable in this state, but at the cost of his health not recovering at all.

King Cerberus

This is a spin on the Cerberus weapon from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening of the same demon archetype. The added twist is that this weapon has multiple different modes that invoke lightning and fire damage as the weapon morphs into three different forms.

Cavaliere

A motorcycle that can be split down the middle into two chainsaw-like blades. This weapon is VERY slow, but the trade-off is that the weapon is excellent at staggering opponents. After the initial charm wore off, I honestly didn't use this weapon much, but when I did, Swordmaster style makes it a lot of fun to use.

Dr. Faust

An unique new firearm that is powered by the amount of Red Orbs you use to power up it's attacks. It can also garner a lot of Red Orbs as a result as well.

Admittedly, I didn't use this weapon much with my time with the game, but I couldn't help but laugh at Dante's antics while using it. The late Michael Jackson would be proud.

There's already an exploit to farm the max amount of Red Orbs to obtain everything in the game - roughly 14 million Orbs, using this weapon.

Kalina Ann II

Merely a return for Lady's classic weapon that she loaned out to Dante in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, with the same bag of tricks that are amplified in Dante's Gunslinger style. It still does a considerable amount of damage to bosses too. I honestly stopped using Ebony & Ivory and Coyote-A altogether after getting this. I was the same way in DMC3.

There's actually a hidden means to allow Dante to dual-wield TWO of these in the game. That's something I wasn't aware of until I read about it online after taking back my Redbox rental.

Balrog

I haven't had this much fun with the gauntlet-style weapons in a DMC game since DMC3's Beowolf. This weapon is what I jokingly called "the Street Fighter mode" after the Street Fighter series character of the same name. You can bob and weave to evade attacks stylishly (Sway Mode I think it's called that looks like Dudley's evades from Street Fighter IV) and retaliate with punches and kicks that flare up like Ken's V-Trigger state in Street Fighter V. That's ironic since Dante's voice actor voices Ken in Street Fighter V as well. I swear the Flip Kick/Flash Kick-style special interrupts and/or counters just about anything coming in from air at point blank range. I got so many counters that resulted in instant Stylish ranking in combos for that alone. That move is so damn good. I would personally invest an entire additional playthrough of the game exploring the combo options for this weapon to be quite honest, just from how much I enjoyed it over all of the other new weapons. 

Personal Impressions: Dante

This version of Dante is up there as one (if not the best) of my favorite iterations of Dante in almost any video game to date. And here I thought it was going to be hard to top DMC4's Dante with all of the styles from DMC3 for usage on the fly. Boy, DMC5's Dante has everything that made DMC4's version awesome and then some. Dante loses Rebellion after one mission after coming into play but you gain Sparda (another throwback to DMC1) as an excellent replacement as Dante's primary weapon of choice. 

The new "Shin Devil Trigger" you obtain about halfway into the game's narrative is pretty damn sick and a welcome upgrade to the tried and true Devil Trigger mechanic. Another playthrough of the game would definitely make me invest in buying out the rest of the upgrades for that and the new weapons that Dante picks up during his missions. 

The last half of the game in terms of his missions and adversaries faced are a ton of welcome throwbacks and references to the series' humble beginnings, notably from the original Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. 

Dante faces King Cerberus, which he comments about facing a "pup similar to him back when he was younger" as a direct reference to the boss fight against Cerberus in DMC3. 

Dante faces all of V's pets as a last line of defense prior to facing the revived Vergil. All of V's pets are former bosses/enemies from the original Devil May Cry, causing Dante to comment that he feels like he's back on Mallet Island all over again. I thought it was a nice touch that they even had their old music for that boss fight. The story explains V's pets as remnants of Vergil's fractured mind from back when he was Nelo Angelo back in the original Devil May Cry so it makes sense they would take the forms of stuff from when he was under Mundus' control. 

The Sons of Sparda stand off against each other once again...

Last but not least, we get the rematch between the Sons of Sparda as the revived Vergil is back as the final boss of sorts for both Dante (Mission 19) and Nero (Mission 20). It was pretty sick that even some of the combo methods still work on him from 3. Bravo, Capcom, on that small detail there. I was just sad that Vergil didn't say "Now I'm motivated..." or "You're going DOWN!!" when he went into his Devil Trigger state. So much nostalgia and history in that fight it's not even funny. I enjoyed 

the hell out of the last half of the game. If you don't feel like going through that headache, I have the secret ending linked below

Extras

Bonuses for purchasing the Deluxe Edition of the game.

The bonuses aren't anything game changing to the gameplay in terms of the Devil Breakers available by default. They are more cosmetic than anything else.

There's a special gallery that unlocks after clearing the game that has Nico add screenshots of Nero finishing off that particular enemy type in that enemy's file in her database, along with her own snarky captions attached to them. This is worth a look for all of her comments on every enemy type in the game alone.

There's a special ending that is unlocked by defeating Urizen during the Prologue mission with Nero. After he goes down, the events of the game don't happen and the game immediately goes into a text based ending without a cutscene. The game just merely applauds your efforts and unlocks Dante Must Die difficulty right off the bat and unlocking an achievement/trophy for this monumental task.  Unfortunately, this is no easy task, even on Human difficulty as Urizen's attacks deal massive damage and he has such a huge pool of health to diminish before he's defeated. I gave it a few tries after clearing the game once, but I still don't have all of Nero's abilities and upgrades bought out. An alternative is merely not attempting this task until you unlock Heaven or Hell difficulty (where both players and enemies die in one hit). Your choice on that one as unlocking that difficulty requires a full clear of the game on Dante Must Die difficulty and that definitely won't be easy.

Sound

I've raved enough about the main theme of the game, "Devil Trigger", back during my first impressions of the game after playing the demo and my thoughts remain the same here. There's a great variety of tunes to jam out to throughout the game and especially throughout it's crazy, hectic, and yet stylish combat. There's some great choices in terms of nostalgia too as the game brings back a few noteworthy themes from the series' past to highlight these reflections to past events in the franchise.

If I have any issue with the micro-transactions in this game, it's with the damn Jukebox. A lot of "legacy" fighting games are dirty for this too, but 90% of the music library is locked due to purchases on PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. I think this is an absolute ripoff, especially when there's not even the full soundtracks for the series here, just scattered miscellaneous tracks that they pulled from the series up to this point.

Narrative/Story

For newcomers of the series, there's a welcome "History of DMC" video in the main menu for those who want a Cliff Notes version of the series' events thus far. I was surprised to see that Devil May Cry 2 was referenced in this as Capcom - along with fans - considered that game a stain on the franchise's history and didn't bring it up again. Devil May Cry 4 went out of it's way to establish that those events don't take place in the current timeline as DMC2  is far off into the future. The producers of this game at Capcom have officially changed the timeline so that DMC2 is prior to DMC4 in terms of the events of the series' timeline thus far.

At the start of the game, I was dreading that this entry was repeating the same pattern as Devil May Cry 4 with someone stealing Devil Arm(s) - figuratively and literally in this game's case - and using them to open the gates to the Demon World and unleash Hell on Earth once again with this Urizen character. Nero got his arm stolen by a man in a hood that I instantly recognized as Vergil's initial appearance at the start of his content in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. Even without seeing the retail release trailer beforehand, I would have recognized Vergil's swordsmanship with Yamato without question. The whole first half of the game I was dreading the confrontation with Urizen since I was thinking that he was going to be revealed to be yet another corrupted/delusional human that thinks they can wield demonic power to disastrous results. By the time the credits rolled around, I completely satisfied with this plot was merely a clever device to bring Vergil properly back into the series after his defeat as Nelo Angelo while being manipulated as one of Mundus' pawns in the original Devil May Cry, even though the plot seems to take a few nods from Inuyasha in terms of what both Vergil and Dante's swords are capable of and their links to their father's lineage and legacy.

With Nero's ties and origins revealed to be linked to the Sons of Sparda, DMC5 confirms what many regarded as a fan-fiction writers' deepest fantasy with Nero being a descendant of their family. I can't speak for anyone else but I always chucked Nero's ability to be able to use the Devil Bringer and use Yamato in his own means as merely a fluke just because he came into position of that demonic limb. I saw him being able to use Yamato as the Devil Arm respecting it's wielder with it's power - much like how Dante are able to obtain and use Devil Arms. It wasn't confirmed until Capcom released the official artbook for Devil May Cry 4 was when and where they painted the picture clearly that Nero and Vergil were related. In that regard, I felt that this game did a better job of explaining that flat out to Nero. My only question is who was his mother if Vergil is Nero's father since Dante and Vergil can't do anything remotely close to what the Devil Bringer brings to the table.

I loved Dante's jab at Vergil about it too though, "Hey, we were all young once!"

In terms of jabs and jokes though, Nico really took the cake in that aspect. She's a newcomer to the series but she has ties to the series' lore as her gunsmith mother made the trademark Ebony and Ivory handguns that Dante uses to this day, along with the bulk of his non-demonic weaponry. If you didn't get it from the hints in-game or on her biography, she's related to Agnus from Devil May Cry 4. She resents him for the part he played in the events of that game and disgracing her family.

Every time in the DMC series where Dante gets stabbed in the chest. Y'know I think it's his thing...

I didn't notice this until I was watching a Gaming Sins video on Devil May Cry 4 (which I agree with about 90% of the points brought up to the table) but there's a major plot hole that's not really explained very well in the narrative in relation to this game's plot. Dante mentions that he's never been stabbed with Rebellion prior to his acquisitions of his Sin Devil Trigger state and Devil Sword Dante weapon, but that's completely false. Vergil stabs him in the chest after defeating him in DMC3 during their first encounter in that game to "unlock" his Devil Trigger for the first time. Canonically, following the series' timeline, Dante's been stabbed through the heart by something in every game of the series to date, including Nero stabbing him with Rebellion again after their second battle during the halfway point of Devil May Cry 4, so what was so special about returning to their childhood home and stabbing himself there like Vergil? There's a lot of people debating this topic on GameFAQs to interesting results, but my understanding of that scene was that maybe it didn't trigger this transformation until now in his adolescence because Dante didn't possess both Sparda back then and hasn't grown this much in demonic power yet to obtain that form. If Capcom are going the Inuyasha route with explaining Sparda's sons' signature weapons/family heirlooms, each of the fathers' respective offspring in those stories had to gain a considerable amount of power on their own before their mastery of those weapons that their fathers left behind. In Inuyasha, the Great Dog Demon left his sons, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, both the Tetsaiga and Tenseiga respectively with the purpose of both protecting and aiding his sons in surpassing him in demonic power. In the Devil May Cry series, the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda left his twin sons, Dante and Vergil, both Rebellion and Yamato respectively, but this is the first game in the series where they actually explain what the swords are meant to do.

If I had any gripes with the game's narrative, it's that Trish and Lady got the shaft big time in terms of involvement here. I thought it was cool that Urizen had corrupted them and made them into bosses (sadly they weren't themselves) but damn, I thought we would have gotten to see something of whatever they were up to while hanging out with Nico the whole time. I guess whatever "new job" Morrison has in mind will be DLC for those two to keep things interesting until Dante and Vergil find the means to escape the Demon World.

Speaking of Morrison, holy fuck at all of the references and call backs to older stuff in this franchise - from both the anime and previous video games, outside of DmC: Devil May Cry. I haven't heard that name since the game manual for the original DMC. Bravo for Capcom actually paying attention to and knowing their own lore for once. Too bad the Street Fighter series couldn't get that much attention to detail on their narrative as of late.

Vergil's been my favorite Devil May Cry character since his "proper" introduction in DMC3, so of course, I marked out for seeing his return in this sequel. 

Vergil being still obsessed about surpassing/defeating his twin brother and obtaining more power was a great play though into how damaged his psyche was after the events of the original Devil May Cry from his time as Nelo Angelo. He was trailing back to his obsession back in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. I bet that even though Mundus was defeated, it took him quite some time to recover enough to seek out Yamato as I'm sure he was still trapped in the Demon World until the events of Devil May Cry 4. He sought Nero out and got his weapon back before pulling something that I haven't seen since Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy where a character forces out their human nature to become a more corrupt being than ever possible otherwise. By the time Dante defeats Urizen and V reaches towards the end of his tether of existence, I honestly felt like Vergil's journey as a character finally came full circle. He rebounded from being Mundus' pawn and found his own means to acquire the power that he desperately craved since his youth.

I know there's going to be a lot of critics that may say that Capcom relied on too much nostalgia or callbacks to the past over doing anything new here in terms of both the narrative and gameplay, but this is one of the rare times I'm completely fine with that. Capcom tried a lot of new for DMC4. Let's be honest here - it wasn't very good, despite a few cool moments sprinkled here and there. Ultimately, Capcom had to give up the ghost and go back to what people loved the most about these games - the over the top gameplay and accompanying characters to boot.

Look at it this way. There's two ways to do games like this - you can either go really over the top in terms of gameplay and overall presentation and not take yourself and more importantly your narrative serious at all, much to the detriment of said game. In that vein, both Bayonetta and Clover Studios' Godhand immediately come to mind, where the story is so out there that it makes fun of itself so much that by the time the credits roll around, the player(s) aren't going to feel any weight to it either. Alternatively, you can go with how Devil May Cry 5 presented things here. You can do a lot of over the top stuff in terms of gameplay and presentation, but know how to reel it in for players can feel something when the narrative demands for it.

Buy It or Don't Bother?

JACKPOT... This game is an instant classic. 

For Devil May Cry fans old and new, definitely give this entry a shot, even if you weren't too thrilled with Devil May Cry 4. Even though I breezed throughout the game in weekend from a mere 3-day Redbox rental, I plan on buying the game down the road and replaying it on higher difficulties and seeking out to unlocking everything. The only reason I didn't purchase the game at launch is that I knew I would finish it in a weekend sitting. Plus, I can't ignore the fact that Capcom habitually re-releases their games, especially this series, with Definitive/Special Editions with all of the post-launch DLC and fixes, so that's why I didn't bother.

If you're looking for something with a ton of great gameplay - by far a return to the greatness that was DMC3's gameplay - along with pretty cool story to boot, you can't go wrong here.