Hack n' Slash With Some Hotties

The holiday season is not only a time to celebrate with friends and family, but a great time for hot gaming deals.  The Steam autumn sale (just call it what it is Steam!  It's Black Friday!) offered an opportunity to grab a couple of my wishlisted titles at a nice discount.  I decided to grab two very different games--Devil May Cry 5 and Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney Trilogy.  I completed one story playthrough in DMC5 and have been puttering around with Phoenix Wright.

V, Nero, and Dante ready to kick some demon ass.

I am new to the Devil May Cry franchise, but I had read many good things about the newest game.  After checking out Bayonetta several years ago, I've discovered a soft spot for goofy, but challenging, hack n' slash games.  Devil May Cry 5 takes a more serious tone than Bayonetta, but still manages to remain a mostly light, yet very satisfactorily slashy, romp through a hellish landscape and story.  One of the more interesting aspects of the game is the fact that you often switch between protagonists and each has their own set of abilities and powerful "devil triggers."  There's Nero, the broody, angry youngster of the group who seems to be focused on proving himself; then there's V, the tattooed, poetry-reading (again, with the poetry-reading--this is like the gaming default way to indicate that a character has a softer, gentler side) weakling who lets his demonic pets do the fighting; and Dante, the ultra-powerful, OG demon slayer who cockily takes on the role of leader.  One thing that's worth mentioning is that the graphics in DMC5 are great and the three protagonists look like the lineup for a sexy boy band.

The gameplay in DMC5 is highly enjoyable and very challenging.  Each character has his own set of abilities that take time to master (there's no way I'm even close to mastering them).  There are tons of attack variations and combos and I am hoping to get more efficient at utilizing those abilities and not just blindly mashing buttons.  One fun part of the gameplay is receiving a rating for each conflict--the lowest rating is a D (for dismal) and the highest is the coveted SSS (I got an SS maybe once...it's hard).  The combat rating is based on the number of different attacks and combos that you use and keeping the fighting rolling.

I decided to start off on the lowest difficulty level due to my lack of knowledge about the series (which is something that I rarely do--I usually opt to start off on normal) and I was glad that I did.  On the easiest setting there's a chance to learn the basic mechanics of utilizing different attacks without worrying too much about dying.  As a newbie, it was a good place to start and I would recommend it to others who are new to the series.

One part of the game that I have really struggled with is dodging.  I am very used to the timing mechanic in Bayonetta and the fact that you are rewarded for your well-timed attacks.  The dodging in DMC5 is much less fluid and requires a tighter timing window which is going to take more practice for me.

There's tons to enjoy in DMC5 and I am looking forward to starting another playthrough on the next highest difficulty setting.  There are lots of orbs to collect to keep unlocking special abilities for the three protagonists, not to mention all the secret missions that I didn't find (these missions are comparable to the Alfheim portals in Bayonetta).  If you're looking for a fun, yet challenging hack n' slash give DMC5 a whirl.