I mentioned in my "Devil May Cry 2" review that that game was one of the most unpopular games in this franchise, but I think that, with "DmC: Devil May Cry," we have reached what may as well have been the most controversial entry in the franchise. Capcom tasked Ninja Theory with reimagining the "Devil May Cry" franchise, and while the gameplay certainly looked the part of what a game in the franchise should have been, the tonal changes and the new version of Dante were wildly hated. This would even end up overshadowing the game and probably turned some players away from checking it out on those grounds alone. And it's a shame that the game was looked at in that way because, after playing it myself, it's actually a great time.
"DmC: Devil May Cry," even with its controversies, has quite a bit to offer. Despite its polarizing changes, the story essentially captures the essence of the series, and the voice acting is solid enough. The music is fantastic, much like with many games in this series, and I think the visuals are pretty well crafted (even if I have some issues with them that we'll get into later). The game also features more of the big, over-the-top action set pieces we love from the series, and I think that, from a purely gameplay-based perspective, this offered the best gameplay in the series up to that point. The combat is some of the smoothest, tightest stuff the series has done, and the new movement options are spectacular and add new layers to the gameplay. It's also nice to finally have a DmC game that isn't so reliant on backtracking, and I think the 60 FPS and modifiers in the "Definitive Edition" make an already smooth game even smoother.
I will admit, though, that there are some flaws that do persist throughout the game. While I think some of the controversy was a bit much, I will admit that I don’t like the new Dante. Even as someone that isn't deeply invested in the story, I think the character is just too annoying, and I can see why more hardcore fans would hate him. Also, the "edgy" aesthetic can be a bit too much at points. It sounds like a weird way to word it, but there's just too much red going on, and it doesn't always look flattering. It's very rare that a game can give me an eyesore, but this one did on a couple occasions.
Overall, controversies aside, "DmC: Devil May Cry" is a truly great game that, at its time, featured some of the best gameplay the series had accomplished. It won't be everyone's cup of tea for the franchise (largely because of the character and story changes), but it's still too damn fun of a game to pass up on. And with the great changes made to the "Definitive Edition," there's no better time than now to give the game a chance.
Final rating: 8 out of 10 "Great"