Having never played the original DMC 4 for PS3 / Xbox 360, the Special Edition feels like a treat, and definitely the perfect time to hop on the DMC hype train leading to the upcoming DMC 5.

And what a blast of a hack 'n slash game this is. It oozes style and cheekiness, which Dante has accustomed us for in the previous DMC games (not you, DMC 2).

It's just a shame that the second half of the game is literally just backtracking the whole thing with a different character, including killing the exact same bosses and all, with no variation in attack patterns whatsoever.

Still, the combat in this game is just so freaking tasteful that it doesn't feel the slog it sounds. Sure, it would be more interesting if the game had put us in different environments, or at the very least gave us new bosses or something. But DMC's trademark combat formula is just so tight, precise and gratifying, that any excuse to keep playing and slashing monsters is welcomed. And with this Special Edition, you can crank those combat styles to 11 because there are 3 new unique playable characters exclusive to this edition, each with their own fighting style: Vergil, Trish, and Lady.

On a final note, I'd just like to point out how the game's graphics aged gracefully. I remember playing a demo of DMC 4 back in the PS3 days, but damn, the game sure still looks sharp and modern in 2019. Sure, you can't compare character models to Horizon Zero Dawn or anything like that, and DMC 5 is here to show us what a truly next-gen DMC looks like. Still, DMC 4's fast-paced, action-packed adventure, along with its constant 60 fps, still give it a mesmerizing look.

Had the second half of the game been more properly realized, this would be an easy 5-star game.

Graphically, the game looks great, especially after the first three games in the series. The HD era really impresses you. From a technical point of view, the game really feels next-gen, but the lighting system is ruining the entire experience; the shadows are too dark. I have the Steam version, and I don't know if it's an SE problem or if it's just terribly done lighting.

The first levels in the city were my favorites because they gave me such a warm, cozy feeling; Mirror's Edge gives me similar impressions. The rest of the game levels are not interesting for me at all. The jungles in particular, because of the similarities in level layouts and bad lightning. But at the same time, Jungles is really something new to the series because all the other levels in DMC4 are just remakes from past games. Secret missions are similar, with a few exceptions.

As Nero:

I've beaten the game only once on normal, and I do realize that the game is quite deep in its mechanics and combo varieties, but I'm just not motivated to become better at this one. The game gives you powerful tools without any intention of introducing you to them.

For newcomers, DMC4 is the ideal entry-level for the series. Gameplay has become much easier when compared to DMC3. The bosses are just OK; they're quite easy, and I beat them all on the first or second try, whereas in DMC3 most of the bosses required dozens of tries from me. In terms of mechanics and patterns, the bosses are simply monotonous and uninteresting, and you remember their movesets literally after one or two tries, and to complete the game, you need to beat them almost three times, the same fights/bosses three times…

AS Dante:

Backtracking is horrible, you literally go through the same not very interesting locations. It feels like endless secret missions. The only good thing in all this madness is Dante itself and Dante's suit from SE, which fits him and the game tone just great. If not for this, I wouldn't make it.

Story…Who exactly is Nero?

The plot is absolutely pointless, uninteresting, and simply not there. Not that I'm looking for any depth of plot from a slasher, but even compared to DMC3, the plot in DMC4 lacks a lot. Who is Nero? Who is Kyrie? We are trying to save the girl, who has three lines of dialogue in the whole game, and Nero, who is a young Dante but not really. Lady and Trish are generally in the story for providing fan service by showing cool booby physics. Agnus... is not the type of character you want to fight three or four times.

DMC4 made me realize how good DMC3 is, shockingly good considering how old it is. DMC4 feels like a spiritual successor to DMC2, but with an attempt to copy DMC3 while not fully understanding what makes it so great.

The music is cool, no changes here.

I hope the CGI artists were well compensated. In-game cinematics/cutscenes are just superb. Entry one and Dante's (especially in SE costume) theater scene with Agnus are the best ones.

Devil May Cry 4 is the first game in the series to feel distinctly "modern" for me. I started it up excited to see what kind of awesome eye candy they could pull off with some fancier graphics compared to DMC3. While it delivered in that respect-- the cutscenes are well-choreographed and wildly fun-- I was let down by underwhelming enemy design, a mostly limp lineup of bosses, and an awful awful plot when my expectations for story were already low.

I'll start by saying I actually think Nero is alright. I get the sense there was some distaste for him back when the game came out but I think his moveset shakes up the series's gameplay in a really good way. Grabs on enemies with the buster arm are satisfying and I loved his ability to pull off aerial combos. He is fairly meh from a writing standpoint though. He comes off as a watered down DMC3 Dante who hasn't quite found his footing yet and lacks charisma.

I generally enjoyed Dante's gameplay here a bit more, but it suffered from the fact that the game basically forced me to replay most of the levels and bosses from Nero's section again. There's very little to make use of Dante's playstyle and as a result I pretty much only used the Sword Master moveset for its air combos whenever I played as him.

Enemies in this entry tend to either be total pushovers you can freely wail on until they die or constantly playing defensive until they get staggered, allowing you to damage them-- there's not much in-between and it sucks. In fact, for most of the game there are like 3 or 4 main enemy types with some sub-variants which is not nearly enough variety to keep things interesting through an entire playthrough. Bosses also suffer from a lack of variety, with many of them needing to be fought a total of three times each without any substantial changes to their movesets.

There is a fight around the midpoint of the game where you play as Nero vs Dante that is pretty great. It's one of the few that felt legitimately challenging and Dante switching styles mid-fight is a great bit of fanservice for those who played the previous game. It also sort of works as a soft teaser for the upcoming levels where you play as him, which is very cool in its own right.

I feel like the hack n' slash genre has a fairly low bar as far as plot goes. I mostly just expect a fun excuse to kick some ass. Devil May Cry 4 still somehow failed to clear that bar. Nero and Kyrie are given virtually no background and they have just as much romantic chemistry, so I didn't really care about them at all. The villain's motivations also never really get explained in any satisfying capacity so it doesn't even really work as a "stop the bad guy from doing bad stuff" story because I have zero idea what his goals are.

And finally, I have some beef with the design of the unlock system. I made a status about it a while back but I'll reiterate here. This is the only game in the series as far as I know to create an entirely separate currency only used for ability unlocks. This means red orbs can only be used on consumables and health/devil trigger upgrades. I think this was done so you aren't forced to choose between items and abilities which is fine in concept but the execution means that once you have all the health and devil trigger upgrades red orbs become essentially useless. This is compounded by the fact that the game, like other entries in the series, actively discourages consumable use by lowering your mission clear score for using them, which in turn means less proud souls, which are what you use to unlock abilities. I didn't use items for this reason, so by the end I had nothing to spend any further red orbs on, which was lame.

All this comes together to form what is probably my least favorite Devil May Cry game... or it would if Devil May Cry 2 didn't exist. I'd be impressed if they ever failed to clear the bar set by that game though.