Devil May Cry 5 — media reaction and sales forecast
On March 8, Devil May Cry 5 from developer and publisher Capcom was released. We tell you how the project was met by the players and the press, evaluate its possible sales.
About the game
Devil May Cry 5 is a new part of the Japanese slasher series, famous for stylish fighting techniques and spectacular combos. The game was released on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
The franchise has six games, along with a relaunch (DmC Devil May Cry from Ninja Theory), which came out after the fourth part. In contrast, Devil May Cry 5 continues the original storyline.
In Devil May Cry 5, three main characters are presented at once for the first time. One of them is completely new to the series. In many places, you can choose which of them to play for. Everyone has their own sub-plot and their own combat mechanics.
You will have to deal with opponents and bosses within the framework of linear missions. The variety of combat mechanics makes battles very memorable, full of drive, which is very good for a slasher.
The cost of the game for PS4 and Xbox One in Russia is 3499 rubles. The price of the PC version on Steam is 1999 rubles.
Media ratings
On Devil May Cry 5, the press leaves mostly positive reviews. Although there are a number of aspects in the game that journalists evaluate in completely different ways.
For example, the fact that the game has not gone far from the previous parts in terms of gameplay, some publications give out for following traditions, others for unnecessary self—repetitions.
“Veterans of the series will see a lot of familiar things in Devil May Cry 5. The game is similar to the previous parts with its corridor levels and closed arenas, where most of the fights take place. And this time there are practically no entertaining puzzles in the game: the main focus is on combat.”— GameWatcher
The reviewers did not ignore the fact that there are now three protagonists.
Because of so many main characters, the plot seemed fragmented to some reviewers. According to them, if you remove the same Vi from the game, little will change. Other publications object.
“Devil May Cry 5 copes much better (compared to the previous parts) with its three playable characters: each of them, in turn, is the center of attention, but sometimes you can choose which of them to pass a certain piece of the plot.”— Digitally Downloaded
But the combat system in Devil May Cry 5 almost did not cause any complaints.
“The number of combat options is absolutely serious. When creating most games, developers usually cut out a lot of ideas and leave only the best ones, but DMC5 simply cannot say no to itself when it comes to choosing weapons or abilities. He takes the time to give a strong embodiment to each of these ideas.”— Easy Allies
The controls, as usual, are smooth and responsive, and the camera is almost no problem.”— PC Invansion
On Metacritic, the console versions of Devil May Cry 5 are rated at 87 points.
The PC version has an even higher score – 90 points.
Player Reviews
Many on Metacritic call the game a good and worthy series. Some are even the best part of Devil May Cry among all. Both the hurricane action and the new, more realistic design (including the protagonists) were praised.
However, there are enough of those who were disappointed by the game. Some fans noted that the storyline did not meet their expectations. They point out that there is not enough content in the game — it is short — but there are too many annoying loading screens.
Many Steam players singled out a boring plot as the main disadvantage, which, according to them, only fans will like (and even then not everyone). Capcom also didn’t please them with boring locations, corridor missions and unoriginal bosses at their end. Thanks to the combat system, the game is praised as a slasher, but as a continuation of Devil May Cry, it is not rated very highly.
In addition, the Russian community has already fired all the guns for the domestic localization of the game. Subtitles do not reflect the essence of the dialogues, and in some places they also distort the meaning.
Forecast
Devil May Cry 5 is not the first Japanese hack’n’slash released this year (God Eater 3 was recently released). You need to understand that games like them usually sell well.
The previous parts of Devil May Cry for consoles sold 2-3 million copies. On PC, sales were not very high, with the exception of the same restart, followed directly by Devil May Cry 5. The PC version of DmC: Devil May Cry from Ninja Theory surpassed the sales of the desktop third and fourth parts combined.
Taking into account Capcom’s desire to increase sales in the PC market, good console sales of previous parts, as well as the popularity of the genre itself, Devil May Cry 5 can sell 3 million copies.