Review: Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition- A wild, exhilarating ride

Review | Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition – Since the third installment on the PlayStation 2, it has become kind of a tradition to release a Special Edition of every Devil May Cry. This is again the case with the fifth part, in which Vergil is completely central as the primary addition to the game. Although such a Special Edition manages to bring relatively little to the table in terms of content, with this edition it is worthwhile to spend a review on it. This is because the PS5 version brings exclusive content versus the PS4 version. A somewhat more ambitious Special Edition, which also suits Dante’s mean twin brother. Note, if you are not familiar with this part, there are some spoilers in this article.

‘I need more power!’

As mentioned earlier, a Special Edition of a Devil May Cry game is nothing more than a re-release, in which you have the option to play with Vergil. But who is this actually? The main character in the franchise is Dante and since the fourth part, Nero, another well-known one, has also been given the necessary spotlights. Vergil is Dante’s twin brother and he always has his own agenda to gain as much power and strength as possible. This never happens in a gentle way and neither is it in the fifth part. Now in Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition you can play all levels with Vergil from start to finish, which is a party in itself.

Don’t worry, you’re not just tied to Vergil in this game. You also have the full game with the original story. We also recommend that you play it first if this is your first time working with Devil May Cry 5. You learn the ins and outs of the game, but the game also lets you experience the story in the correct way. The cut scenes are limited or sometimes omitted when you play with Vergil, because otherwise it becomes an illogical mess. The bottom line is that you now have just a little more content with regard to the main story, which is a big plus.

‘Foolishness!’

A big difference with the PS4 version is that you have the option to turn on ray tracing in the game. Within this there are two options: Quality and Performance. The game in Quality runs at a 4K resolution and the frame rate fluctuates below 60 fps, while the Performance mode uses a 1080p resolution with a frame rate of 60 fps (or higher if your TV supports this). We are not very impressed with these additions. In Quality mode, the frame rate is just not right for the game, you should simply play Devil May Cry 5 at a locked 60 fps because of the fast and extremely deep gameplay. In the Performance mode, the 1080p is also not nice to see, because the game actually really excels in 4K. The graphics are very beautiful and the graphics deserve to be seen in all its glory.

In the normal technical state of the game, everything looks fine (4K and 60 fps). We also have to say that the game doesn’t really need ray tracing. In the first level you mainly have some puddles of water that show the ray tracing technique well, but with so much action and chaos on the screen, it is a bit redundant. Although it has 120 fps support (again, your TV must support this otherwise you will hardly notice it), it seems that Capcom has incorporated the options to be able to tick off a kind of ‘next-gen’ checklist for the marketing. In that sense it feels more like a must than that it actually makes a lot of difference.

What makes you go to the store motivated

Legendary Dark Knight mode is something new for Devil May Cry on consoles. In this mode you will face hordes of enemies. But then also real hurdles, because your screen is filled to the brim with enemies, making the game almost resemble a musou. It is therefore advisable to have the most moves unlocked for each of the characters, because you will really have to pull out all the stops to get through this. Truly a great addition to this edition, because you can really get the most out of gameplay here.

The Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition also offers a Turbo mode. You can turn this on in the game’s settings and this will make the gameplay about twenty percent faster to respond. So if you find the original a bit too slow, this is now a nice addition. We should also add that both in the Legendary Dark Knight mode and in the Turbo mode the ray tracing options (quality and performance) must be turned off to maintain the performance. Anyway, as a last nice addition you have the console exclusive feature that comes with the DualSense. When playing with Nero you are dealing with a mechanism called ‘Exceed’, which means charging your sword, as it were, but this requires precise timing. The adaptive triggers feel heavy when you get it wrong, but don’t resist if you have the correct timing. Something small, but very nice while playing.

‘I am the storm that is approooaching !!!’

The gameplay flows very well with the different characters in Devil May Cry 5 and that also applies when you play with Vergil. Compared to Dante, Vergil is more limited in movesets, so he is more in line with Nero in terms of possibilities, but what he does is accompanied by extreme flair and finesse. Vergil’s weapons are Yamato, Mirage Edge and Beowulf, and he uses the Mirage Blade as a long-range weapon. Although it sounds like little on paper, the move sets in combination with the extensive Devil Trigger options give you enough hands to enjoy the gameplay. It’s also nice that Mirror’s Edge has the basic gameplay of Dante, so you have the familiar flow of him to fall back on, especially if this is your first time playing with Vergil.

Vergil’s own style is also reflected in the soundtrack. Casey Edwards composed a new song especially for Vergil called ‘Bury the Light’ and it is truly phenomenal. It very well describes the persona of Vergil with various references to the franchise. But when the roof comes off is when you get an S-rank through stylish fighting in the game. The chorus then hits hard, which simply causes goosebumps combined with the satisfaction of shaking up magnificent combos. The song ‘Devil Trigger’ also does this very well when you play with Nero, but ‘Bury the Light’ surpasses it.