68.8 hours played
Written 30 days ago
Devil May Cry HD Collection
The first three DMC games are good, fast-action games, with creative maps and difficult boss encounters, but the games are hampered with bad camera angles and a few frustrating battles that are really difficult to pass without specific tips and a bit of luck. DMC1 and 3 were very challenging, yet DMC2 seemed a bit more forgiving. Each game is half enjoyable, yet the other half of each is a trudging trial of your perseverance.
DMC 1 The game is very difficult in spots, and gameplay a bit dated, and more fatiguing than fun. It has enough of a unique coolness factor and combination of gameplay that I recommend trying to get through it for a deep sale price of nine bucks for all 3 games. It definitely uses the same feel of an early Resident Evil mansion where you find various keys, items, and a weird labyrinth of interconnecting portals. What differentiates it from Resident Evil is that the gameplay is quick combat without worrying about conserving ammo, and you can jump, hack and slash, and use special moves and consumables to take out the enemies. Most of it works well, although the rooms can be tight, and the changing camera angles can be jarring. There is plenty of strategy to fighting, but I was surprised how often I needed to just try pummeling the enemy and outlast their attacks. The final missions never seemed to end and the challenge was some of the most fatiguing marathons I have experienced in awhile.
DMC 2 is not that bad. My playthrough had slowness problems which I thought was the game itself, but my GPU somehow was throttling down for the whole game, but guns and dodge were still responsive so I played the whole game mostly with guns only. The enemies seemed easier than in the first game, and I rarely died, except for the final boss. The streets and buildings are incredibly drab and look more like an unfinished demo. The camera angles are even worse than the first game, since there are much bigger areas which also have more vertical platforms. They did a poor job with the doors, as you cannot tell which doors are background. Despite having unfinished and ugly ascetics, this game was better than I thought and has a few cool ideas, like your ability to run up the wall and your dodge move, and the general game feels like a decent DMC game and not too difficult.
DMC 3 has quick paced action and really good moments, but it can be very difficult and a bit confusing. Its pacing never subsides with plenty of surprises of mini-boss rooms, and main bosses. After each mission, it entertains you with its over the top, campy story segments. Dante talks tough as an invincible demon-man, but you still often get your ass kicked. The interconnected map is well designed but a few times it is confusing to know what you need to proceed or if you need to use your freedom to backtrack across the map or grind for powers.
The fighting is exciting but there are so many move sets that lead to more struggles than the other DMC 1 and 2 games. The camera can be extra difficult to keep your perspective because the enemies feel faster than the other games, and the Lock-on mechanism can flip around way too much and lead to failed dodges and unintentional attacks. For some moves, you get stuck in prolonged fight sequences, like multi-stabbing or twirling your blade, that leave you a sitting duck for enemies to unload on you.
While most of the bosses present a challenge that rewards a careful strategy such as the amazing chess board boss, a couple of the bosses had some frustrating button mashing that seemed like luck, such as getting a stun to work on the double boss, Agni and Rudra. Also the Arkham boss is an unfun, unfair challenge I tried 100 times and I would never have passed without reading the online community for some tips.
The final boss did have a strategy to beat, but it seemed so chaotic and punishing that I relied heavily on consumables (healing and devil trigger) to get the final edge over him.
FINAL TIP
For all three games, try to have a lot of consumable items for the end of the game, or grind for orbs to stock up; at least 7 Devil Trigger fillers, and 5 health, 3 Holy Waters.
Each game has really hard end boss/ boss sequences that feel tough to do much damage. You need to fight well, but eventually for every final boss you have to unleash a final barrage of Consumables (Devil Triggers, Health, and maybe a few Holy Waters) to get the remaining death blows onto the enemy.