Devil May Cry 5 – What We Know So Far

Devil May Cry 5 is the latest installment in the P2P Japanese third-person horror and slasher franchise from Capcom. Interestingly, the human models for the 3D character renderings were chosen from the US, while the clothing models were from London. The majority of the game production was done in Japan. It is slated for release on March 8, 2019 and from what we’ve seen so far it promises to be visually beautiful. 

The Premise

The events of Devil May Cry 5 take place several years after the second and fourth installments. A mysterious stranger calling himself ‘V’ appears in Dante’s ‘Devil May Cry’ office to hire him for a job, as he himself lacks fighting capabilities and strength for combat. The request seems simple: to assist him in preventing the resurrection of a powerful demon.

Shortly after their conversation, Nero, who has opened a mobile branch of ‘Devil May Cry’ is investigating sudden paranormal activity in Red Grave City with his partner Nico. There, they discover that a giant tree as burst out of the ground in the middle of the city and is piercing people with its roots and draining them of their blood. Nico has recently completed a new arm for Nero, so this is the perfect opportunity for him to test out his new Devil Breaker.

As the story unfolds, he discovers that the current events may be tied to the enigmatic cloaked figure who stole his real right arm that possessed his Devil Bringer ability. Eventually, he teams up with V and Dante and his crew to pursue this new threat and hopefully discover the answers to his past and the reason for the theft of his arm.

Gameplay

There are three playable characters in Devil May Cry 5, namely Dante, Nero and V, each of which are equipped with their own unlockable skills and weaponry. Players will switch between them as the plot unfolds.

As with other games, players will fight through hordes of monsters while making bad quips. They can switch between unlocked weapons mid-fight but will face restrictions with more powerful skills and weapons, as is the case with Nero’s arm that will break and need to be replaced when overused.

The dome version is currently available for the Xbox One, with most players reporting a smooth gameplay experience. Players can opt to player either on or offline, with the online option offering players the option for co-op play when multiple main characters are fighting together. If offline, the character/s that they are not playing as will be AI-controlled.

Characters

Aside from Nero, Dante and V, other side characters featuring in the game are promised to include Lady, Trish and Nico.

New Characters

Devil May Cry 5 introduces us to ‘V’ who, based on the trailers, appears to be a bit eccentric, which given the rest of the character ensemble, is hardly surprising. So far, all we know about him is that he claims to have low combat capabilities, although the gameplay previews indicate that he is pretty agile, despite his limp.

The other newcomer is Nico, who is the granddaughter of Nell Goldstein, the famous gunsmith who molded Dante’s Ebony and Ivory pieces. She now works with Nero in his mobile van. She is a supporting character whose function is primarily to develop and provide enhancements to the main characters’ various weapons.

Modes

Photo Mode

Players can pause at any time during the game to explore the gameplay from any perspective. The will then be able to save their screenshots for personal use and social media shares.

Gallery Mode

Players can view their weapons in their gallery to examine them from any angle.

Multiplayer Mode

Although this game is a solo game for the most part, it will be possible for up to three players to join forces in certain fights when all three main characters are fighting main bosses. Aside from that, the only other method of multiplayer engagement seems to be through the stylish point ranking system whereby players earn points for combo attacks and can potentially rank high on global leadership boards. These points will also provide players with bonus red orbs at the end of each arc in the game.

Bloody Palace

This DLC is scheduled for release in April 2019 and will likely feature at least 100 levels of monster for players to plough through. This is a challenge mode that exists outside of the main story-arc.

Void Mode

This is Devil May Cry 5’s practice mode that will allow newcomers to familiarize themselves with the gameplay and stylish point-system.

Weapons

Each character has their own set of weapons, allowing for diverse attack styles and gameplay. This list will only briefly touch on each of them:

Dante

He maintains his dual-weapon guns, Ebony and Ivory. But in this rendition, Ebony is more powerful, while Ivory has a higher firing rate. He also has an incredibly powerful Coyote Al shotgun and Kalina Ann 2 Rocket Launcher/Grappler gun, that is another of Nico’s inventions based on Lady’s Kalina Ann. As for bladed weapons, he can arm either the Rebellion sword or Sparda saw-like weapon. The Cerberus serves as a multi-function tri-pronged bludgeon weapon that can switch between ice-nun-chucks a fire staff, and a lighting-imbued chain staff. His main weapon is his motorbike, Cavaliere, that converts into massive dual-wieldable chainsaws. Dante’s main new weapon is his Balrog armor set, that allows for fire-enhanced close-combat. There is a secondary new weapon called the Faust hat that can be used as a boomerang, as well as various magical blasts and bombardment attacks. But the Faust requires Red Orbs for use.

Nero

His main weapon is the Devil Breaker arm that Nico forged for him to replace the Devil Bringer that was taken from him. While extremely powerful, it is also highly brittle and wears down during combat until he needs to scrounge around for a replacement. This arm allows him to freeze enemies, snatch and throw them from a distance with its Wire Snatch ability, and to administer heavy punches to them. His mid- and long-range weapon is his Blue Rose six-chamber, double-barrel revolver, while his blade weapon is his Red Queen anti-demon cleaver that is enhanced with a combustion engine.

V

He uses three familiars for combat, Shadow, Griffon and Nightmare. Shadow is a shapeshifter, capable of transforming into many different animals with various weapon-extensions for piercing its opponents. It can also help V to travel at greater speeds. Griffin is V’s constant familiar, often balancing on his shoulder and throwing out rhyming commentary. However, although his familiars are extremely powerful, it seems that they cannot finish off his opponents for some reason, and he needs to administer the fatal blow himself. This will likely be a bit tricky given his physical handicap. However, it seems that he is still capable of quick blows, likely with the help of his game and arcane arts. His most powerful familiar is Nightmare, a colossal, powerful creature, that we can assume has a limited summoning time, as it physically affects V by turning his hair grey and causing his tattoos to disappear. He also possesses a brown, leather book with a ‘V’ inscription on the cover. The trailer hints that there is some kind of connection between he and Dante.. In close-combat, he utilizes both his cane and book, with the book being used to recite incantations to unleash attacks against his enemies.

Orbs

Red Orbs

Red Orbs are drops of crystallized demon blood that acts as the gold drops of Devil May Cry 5. They can be used to purchase new skills and weapons.

Green Orbs

These orbs are drops of crystallized demon fluid that are also dropped when demons are slayed. They can be consumed to recharge a character’s vitality.

Gold Orbs

These are earned through various in-game ranking system, and allow players to regenerate immediately when they die, without losing any progress.

Deluxe Edition

Alternate weapon and character skins will be available with the deluxe edition and pre-orders, but Capcom has assured players that the game is still smooth and completable without the bonus content. Additional content also includes new music, 100,000 red orbs and additional cutscenes.