Button Gymnastics--Devil May Cry 5

I've spent a decent chunk of time enjoying some light hack n' slash in Devil May Cry 5.  The series was completely new to me and in the end I'm glad that I bought it (*on sale...I'm glad that I bought it on sale.  I would be hesitant to pay full price.).  I'm at the point now where I feel I can coherently give my review, so here goes.

If you're wondering what exactly the series is about, let me try to sum it up.  It's about being a hot, demon slaying, demon hunter who is also a demon (confused yet?).  Essentially you play as one of three different characters who have supernatural abilities and who wield an arsenal of slick looking guns and giant swords.  Other demons are trying to attack earth and you are trying to get rid of those demons.  Honestly, it's one of those games where you don't care much about the story because the gameplay takes center stage.  Shoot, slash, and punch your way past an army of baddies with a diverse set of stylish moves.  That is the game in a nutshell.

Pros:
+ It looks great and the main characters all look very slick and stylish.  Each has their own signature look which includes some very nice looking, beautifully waving hair.  Video game hair has become so important.  The environments in the game vary between hellish, demon infested zones in the Qlipoth (a giant, treelike demonic structure) and varying ruined city landscapes.

V and his demonic companion Griffon.

+ Story alternates between three different main characters.  Each character has their own fighting style and weapon sets.  Part of what makes the gameplay so enjoyable is learning the unique abilities of each character.  Nero has the ability to pull enemies toward him with a spectral whip which makes it easy to keep the action rolling; V offers an odd, but highly enjoyable style of play where he doesn't directly attack enemies but instead can deploy three demonic companions who can perform ranged and melee attacks; and Dante who offers a challenging array of moves and styles and an extremely powerful attack mode. 

+ Style ratings offer up additional challenge.  Each time you enter combat you are awarded a style ranking that seems to be based on multiple factors--how many different attack combos you can pull off, how well you avoid taking damage, and how well you can keep the action rolling.  The better you are able to do those things, the higher your rating will be and the more bonus orbs (currency) you are rewarded.  The ratings range from D for "dismal" up to the coveted SSS for "smokin' sick style."  At the end of each level all your combat ratings are added together for a final level rating.

+ Tons of combos and special attacks to master.  Throughout the game you find (and are rewarded) red orbs which serve as the currency.  Using those orbs you can purchase new combos and abilities for each character.  Each ability requires learning a new control sequence.

+ Devil triggers offer extremely powerful, special attacks.  Each character has their own devil triggers which allow you to perform ultra-moves.  The devil trigger gauge builds as you slay regular enemies and find special white orbs.  Part of the challenge of gameplay is figuring out how and when to utilize your devil triggers.

+ While not open world, there is an aspect of exploration.  There are hidden nooks and crannies sprinkled throughout each level which can potentially contain secret missions (challenge levels) or special blue orbs (which increase your vitality when you find four) or purple orbs (which increase your Devil Trigger gauge).  It is worthwhile to stray from the main path to find these hidden objects.

+ Practice mode.  There is a special practice mode called "the void" where you can test out new abilities and practice your combos.  It's nice because there are a ton of abilities to learn.  You can also alter the settings to include specific types of enemies or whether or not the enemies should attack you (which is good for practicing dodge moves).

+ Challenge mode.  After you complete the main storyline a new wave-based challenge mode called the "Bloody Palace" becomes available.  You can choose from the three main characters and the goal is to survive for as long as you can.  Each wave summons up a new grouping of enemies and every tenth wave includes a boss (or boss-like) enemy that you must defeat.  You receive a style ranking on each wave and are rewarded for completing the waves quickly.  The mode is timed and it is important to build up as much additional time as you can so that you can have enough time for the more difficult boss levels.  Bloody Palace is also a good place to earn red orbs.

+ Replayability.  Even though the main storyline is short, there is a huge replayability aspect to the game.  There are tons of abilities to purchase (and, for three different characters) so farming orbs to unlock abilities could be your goal.  You might want to increase your style rankings on certain levels.  There are secret missions and items to find.  One particularly handy feature is the ability to select which mission you want to replay.  There are also many difficulty levels and it's worthwhile to up the difficulty as you unlock more special abilities.

+Secret missions provide extra challenge for special rewards.  There are 10 secret challenges hidden throughout the game.  They provide character-based challenges (like using Nero's spectral whip ability to avoid touching the ground) and are both frustrating and satisfying (I had to do mission 5 about 987 times until I finally got it).

+ Performance is great.  I had no problems and it ran like a charm.

Cons:
- Main storyline is fairly short-- ~9-10 hours of play.  If you're the type of person who plays things once and then shelves it...it's probably not worth it at full price.

+- Challenging to master.  Trying to remember all the combos and buttons is difficult.  This is definitely a game that requires repetition and practice to truly "git gud" at.  Depending on how you feel about that, the difficulty of mastering the combo system could be a turn off for some players.  I've played it for close to 20 hours and I've gotten some decent stylish ratings (which isn't too hard with V), but I can't consistently pull off the highest ratings with all the characters.  It's hard.

- The void is nice for practice, but I wish it was more like the practice mode in Bayonetta--I really liked the fact that it would tell you when you were correctly performing a move.  It's sometimes difficult to tell if you're correctly performing a combo.

- Dodging feels weird.  I think Bayonetta has forever ruined the way I feel about dodging.  It's so rewarding in Bayonetta and requires some good timing.  In DMC5 that timing window is much tighter and sometimes it is frustratingly difficult to dodge (especially on larger bosses).  I don't know that I've come even remotely close to figuring out dodging.

Final verdict:
DMC5 is a fast, furious, and very stylish hack n' slash that is a ton of fun.  It's difficult to master, but learning new moves feels very good.  Due to the short length of its storyline I would recommend picking it up on sale if you're only intending to play around with it a little bit (you can get it for $19 on Steam.  It seems to go on sale fairly frequently.).