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Proof that I am indeed wrapping up Devil May Cry 4, as well as the 'Future of Devil May Cry'.
This is going to be a HUGE review, probably 2x the size of DMC3 for reasons obvious to those who have played DMC4.
Right now I'm writing pretty straight-laced, and I'll go back and insert my grievances later. For now, here's the Story and Gameplay section:
Part 5 - Devil May Cry 4 (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
Story
Devil May Cry 4 starts off with (what I believed was) a very melodic and beautiful opera scene sung by a young lady named Kyrie. As she sings to what appears to be a congregation, the white-haired and brash hero, Nero, races to the cathedral, fending off ragdoll-like puppet-demons with his arm securely wrapped in a sling. The scene is a mini-actionfest that, when coupled with the opera music, is surprisingly fitting and fresh. As Nero defeats the demons and races closer to the cathedral, a lone man with white hair and wearing a long, red jacket stands on the roof watching.
As Kyrie ends her song, she notices Nero sitting in the once-vacant seat. She approaches Nero, who ignores her advance by adjusting his headphones. Kyrie looks distraught until she glances at the small gift resting beside, and the two exchange discreet smiles as Sanctus, the High Priest of their order, begins to address the congregation. Bored with Sanctus’s preaching of their savior, the Dark Knight, Sparda, Nero turns to leave.
The arm he has cradled in a sling and wrapped heavily in bandages begins to glow, and the glass roof shatters. The mysterious, white-haired and red-clad intruder lands on the stone podium infront of the preacher and, drawing a pistol, shoots him dead. As the holy knights rush to subdue him, the mysterious assailant makes short work of them. Nero and Kyrie attempt to flee, but Kyrie breaks free from Nero to retrieve the gift he had given her. She is knocked to the floor in the panic, and the dark assailant approaches her. Nero attacks the man in red and calls for Kyrie’s brother, Credo, to take her to safety while he buys time for reinforcements to arrive.
The two faceoff in an over-the-top display of swordsmanship and gunslinging; however, the man in red is toying with Nero more than actually fighting him. The assassin escapes from Nero, taunting him as he disappears. Credo charges Nero with finding the assassin and bringing him to justice, which he anxiously accepts. However, in the battle, Nero’s arm has been exposed, and he hides it ashamedly from the eyes of Credo, Kyrie and the others. Meanwhile, Kyrie retrieves her gift: a golden necklace with a large crystal embedded within.
Nero pursues the assassin, and meets up with a saucy, sensuous femme fatale in white who, after dispatching a horde of the doll-demons with extreme ease, fluidity and eroticism, introduces herself as Gloria, a new addition to Nero’s covenant. Uncomfortable with Gloria’s less-than obvious advances, Nero continues his mission. Meanwhile, the High Priest, Sanctus, has been brought back to life, and his less-than holy motives are made clear. Nero’s ‘demonic attributes’ (aka: his arm) are brought to light and the order deems Nero as a liability. Along his journey, Nero encounters the assassin, Dante, who drops a few lines now and again that makes Nero question the true motives of his order.
Of all the Devil May Cry games, Devil May Cry 4 has the SECOND-BEST storyline. Though it is better developed and the characters more flushed-out than Devil May Cry 1, it is only slightly edged out of first place by the drama and plot of Devil May Cry 3. It does not hold a candle to the absurdly unfocused plots of the Devil May Cry anime, and it is a tough call with Devil May Cry 2, whose Disk 2 storyline involving Lucia is a contender for best story. Yes, I said it before: if I can commend Devil May Cry 2 for anything, it is the second play through with Lucia that makes it worthwhile, however so few gamers actually bother (sadly).
The overall theme of Devil May Cry 4 is the romance between Nero and Kyrie, and more so the lengths of which Nero will go to protect Kyrie out of his love for her. Yeah, the whole thing sounds like the same “Save the Princess” bullshit that has existed in storytelling since the beginning of time; however, the fact that Nero (apparently) sold his soul in order to protect Kyrie is pretty powerful no matter how you cut it. To make the story deeper yet, you have Credo, Kyrie’s brother and the head of the holy knights, who must choose between his friend (I use the term ‘friend’ loosely) and his sister’s happiness, and his devotion to the holy order and the will of the High Priest he serves.
On the downside, the plot itself is so damned predictable. A half-second after Dante blows the head off of Sanctus, almost everybody who is remotely familiar with the Devil May Cry games or anime already knows that there is something awry with the Sparda religion, and that Nero and Kyrie are going to be pawns in the middle of it all. Another major strike against the plot is the fact that Nero’s glowing arm is not clearly explained. Nero gets a flashback on the brink of death where you hear Kyrie scream and Nero making a speech about how he wanted more power to keep Kyrie safe forever. I mean, what the hell happened exactly? Was Kyrie attacked by killer rag dolls? Was she being mauled by a bear? Did she fall down a well, or did her car break down on the side of the road? A scream is not proper storytelling! The last downside of the game is the character Agnus, the holy order’s lead research scientist in their religion (Scientology??). I can’t explain exactly why I hate this character any more than I did above, but he just seems so mismatched and horribly out of place from the rest of the characters. Agnus is kind of like Hans from Valkyria Chronicles, though his somewhat comedic and absurd presence is supposedly less intentional than that fucking horrible flying pig.
I am going to end the Story segment on a high-note: Trish and Lady make their glorious, albeit short and somewhat pointless, reappearance. But for some reason I was more excited by their re-emerging in Devil May Cry 4 than in the anime, and that is likely because it felt more ‘cannon’ and legitimate than in the anime. However, Lady does little but inform Dante and Trish of the Sparda worshipping cult, and Trish… well, let’s not spoil everything.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Devil May Cry 4 shines above its predecessors and its competition, though only for the most part. The mechanics of Devil May Cry 3 are properly in place, though there have been improvements in the item and skill system. Most noticeably is the fact that red orbs no longer purchase both items and special abilities, and now only purchase items. To purchase skills, you cash in on separate Style Points that you earn through the Style System. By no longer being forced between powering up your character or buying expensive items to stay alive, the game feels a great deal less stressful, if not significantly easier.
The Style System is identical to Devil May Cry 3: You have a combo meter that slowly fills the more diverse and lengthy your attacks against your enemies. The higher the rating, the more Red Orbs and Style Points you earn. The meter slowly drains during pauses in your attacks, is exceedingly harder to fill if attacks are not diverse enough, and your score will drop a full grade or two if you are hit by an enemy. At the end of a level, an overall grade is given based on items used, Red Orbs gathered, time taken, and the amount of Style Points accumulated. The rating system is as follows:
D = Deadly
C = Carnage
B = Brutal
A = Atomic
S = Smokin’
SS = Smokin’ Style (same thing as ‘S’? Style rank of Smokin’ = Smokin Style??)
SSS = Smokin’ Sick Style (meh, fuck it… not worth arguing over)
Nero’s gameplay is unique from previous Devil May Cry games. First off is his ability to ‘charge’ his sword, the Red Queen. Think of it like this: You have a sword with a throttle on the handle and even what looks like the handbrake of a bicycle. You rev it up like you would a motorcycle, and exhaust comes out of the base of the sword. Sound effects are included. This is likely the most ridiculous ‘evolution’ of a sword I have ever seen outside of a Final Fantasy game (ie: Squall’s gunblade); however, its application is somewhat valuable. You have a throttle meter that fills sort of like an RPM gauge in a car, except that when you red-line it, you get one of the three possible bars filled. The more bars you fill, the stronger your attacks. However, if you get hit, the gauge falls back to zero.
Nero’s primary ability is the introduction of his Devil Arm: With the Devil Arm, you can reach out and grab objects and enemies, slam enemies to the ground, and pull off action sequences against major boss characters for added damage and eyecandy. A prime example would be against the Fire Lord, Berial: If you weaken him enough, he will falter and stumble, and it will give you a window of opportunity to use your Devil Arm, where you proceed to slam Berial’s head into the earth. Use your Devil Arm a second time, and you throw the massive beast into the air and punch him across the level like you were serving a volleyball. These animations NEVER get old.
However, Nero is far from being King of Extreme Action Characters. Gameplay with Nero is far from as diverse as Dante from Devil May Cry 3. Even with the Demon Arm and the ability to charge the Red Queen sword, Nero’s character suffers from not being able to gain new weapons throughout the whole game. Though new attacks can be purchased and the Devil Arm can be upgraded, Nero is permanently equipped with his sword and his single-shot pistol, the Blue Rose.
The Blue Rose itself is extremely weak and slow in comparison to Dante’s twin pistols, Ivory and Ebony, and you will find that juggling enemies with Nero is nearly on par with the crippled gunplay of Devil May Cry 2.
Nero’s Devil Trigger is fairly different from the Devil Triggers in previous games. Of course Nero is faster, stronger, and can regenerate health while in Devil Trigger mode, but the full strength of Nero’s Devil Trigger lies in combining it with the Devil Arm against bosses. Not only do the Devil Arm special attacks deal more damage, but they include additional animation ranging from an extra series of ground slams, or something as spectacular as an excessive barrage of cuts and slashes that compares to Cloud’s Omni-Slash in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. There is HUGE replay value against boss enemies just because of these extra animations. However, the only downside to the Devil Trigger is that you don’t get to reach its full potential until after Nero’s battle against Agnus (quarter-way through the game), meaning that to view some of the more spectacular sequences, you would have to opt to replay earlier levels and refight bosses. But trust me, fights against enemies like Berial are fully worth the extra work.
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"Humor is reason gone mad" - Groucho Marx
 
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Devil May Cry: Animated Series Review
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