You can almost hear the complains about this game from a mile away. Players complaining about the lack of feel of the original DMC games, and the distinct disappearance of Dante's sense of humour. So much so, you'll hear about the games' drawbacks much faster than you'll hear about the good.
Yes, for the hardcore players the game is eased out. The combat feels very simplistic and welcoming. The controls are very modern, and most importantly the characterizations have crossed the acceptable limits of tweaking, and have changed from the scratch.
Yet, the game deserves its own identity. Its own recognition in the series while at the same time carve out a niche of its own.
Lets start where it ticks the right boxes. This game has a story far far better than what any DMC fan can dream of witnessing in the span of one game. The take is modern , the players have emotions, a history, and the events justified. every cutscene means something and the emotions of the characters are felt. Dante is much younger here, along with his brother and his detachment from his family still new. The story takes you through his separations and discovery about himself, his family, his abilities and his responsibilities. The first mission is hardly a "first", but is a "last" in terms of the old DMC flavour. The renowned flashy style of narration and outlook towards the evils of the story is only present in the first level where you are introduced to Dante, the character as you thought you knew. Immediately from the next mission you meet his brother who unfolds a tale much more mature and deep, having humour only as sarcastic or dark, sometimes scoffed at by the enemies who are more "equal" to Dante now, in terms of exposure to the demonic realm. Their numbers are often many, types various, each to test a particular skill of Dante in combat. The weapons too have been re-made into the combat system, with the trusty old Rebellion being the only neutral melee weapon, and 4 more categorized into Angel and Devil weapons equally, each with its own pros and cons. The angel weapons are faster, do more area damage, and pull you closer to the enemy. Devil weapons do more damage, are slower and pull them towards you. These "pulls" are also used in many platforming stages throughout the levels, which never seem to get boring because of how rich the levels are designed and coloured, and how quickly you can traverse through them once you play through them once. The combos are redone too, with the player being given adequate time to play with each after unlocking (there is a training room too, in case you want to learn to execute them flawlessly each time), and as a result, the player gets a new level of control over the combat - no flashy move is now done accidentally, each time you have to execute a very easy to remember combination to do the assigned move. The useless puzzles are gone from the game (bar one at the very end) which dont consume time any more, and the stages are completed very quickly.
A major down are the boss battles, which do not get the facelift the rest of the game has got, and still depend on you to grind through them with known moves.
If you do give this game a chance, and look at it with a clean mindset, the additions and changes will prove to give the word "remake" a worthy example.
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