Devil May Cry 4

A while ago Capcom handed over this beloved franchise to Ninja Theory in hopes of bringing a more western feel to the demon slaying action and revitalize the series. While it certainly had a more western feel it certainly did more damage to the franchise rather than revitalize it. It was as if Ninja Theory was deliberately trying to get less and less people to buy their product with each passing interview insulting the fan base at almost every opportunity. They even added a scene where a white wig falls on Dante’s head and he tosses it off saying “Not in a million years.” Wow, what is wrong with you Ninja Theory?

The game all in all wasn’t that bad, but it did have to odd design choices and with the horrible PR the game failed to sell well and did nothing of what Capcom was hoping for. Right when DmC Definitive Edition was announce Capcom had also announced Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition. Fans were becoming hopeful again as the face of the old school Vergil was on the screen. Many fans started speculating what role he might play in the story and what his new playstyle might be like, many fans were already sold and were hopeful that Capcom might forget DmC and continue the series as if the reboot never happened. While the future of the series is still in question, DMC4:SE is a love letter/apology to the old school fans of the series.

               
The Special Edition features a graphical upgrade, the inclusion of the Legendary Dark Knight mode which was originally exclusively on the PC, as well as 3 additional playable characters making for a grand total of 5, probably the most that this genre has ever seen. The new characters are all old school favorites. There is also an option to increase the game speed by 20 percent.

Okay lets check out Legendary Dark Kn.....HOLY MOTHER OF MOSES THAT'S ALOT OF DEMONS!!!!!!!!

Vergil makes his third playable appearance but ditches his stances that were in DmC’s Vergils Downfall and picks up his Beowulf and Force Edge which he used in DMC3 but he isn’t an exact copy and paste as he brings with him new moves and a Concentration Meter, the better you perform the higher the meter gets and with it certain moves become stronger and you gain access to Judgement Cut End which cleans rooms quicker than a high powered vacuum. Lady for the first time makes a playable appearance and she plays drastically different from the other 4 characters, while characters like Dante certainly have long range options, Lady has almost nothing but long range options and the best ones at that, she simply blows everything up, she isn’t as deep as the other characters but she is certainly fun and effective. The last playable addition is Trish who is playable for the second time in the series, At first she seems like a mix between Dante and Vergil, her moves with the Sparda sword is very reminiscent of Dante’s Rebellion, and her bare knuckles are similar to Vergil’s Beowulf and she even takes a few elements from Dante’s Pandora, however each move is slightly different from it’s original source and combined with the other elements her combo’s remain unique unto her and she still has a few new tricks up her sleeve, like when she throws Sparda she ends her bare knuckle combo with a spinning kick that would make Chun Li jealous. Dante and Nero remain exactly the same and while Capcom says they tweaked the balance and there is a code that will unlock the old mechanics, I personally did not see any difference. All and all each character feels drastically different and you’ll want to play around with all their unique moves before putting this game down.

There is sadly no real additions to the story despite having new characters to play as. Besides Dante and Nero’s campaign, the others only get an intro which is just an action intro, and an ending which doesn’t amount to much. Apparently Vergil had been to Fortuna before the events of even DMC3 but it really doesn’t mean much, he just went there to check out the Order of the Sword and literally nothing else happens besides him killing some demons. Meanwhile Lady and Trish’s campaign really only gets extended scenes of scenes we’ve seen before. It just feels like Capcom wasted an opportunity here, many fans speculate that there is a connection between Nero and Vergil and this seemed like a perfect time to show what that connection is but we are still left to our own imaginations of what that might be.

               
Perhaps Devil May Cry 4’s biggest critique in 2008 was the backtracking. Normally you’d get to the halfway point in the game and then do the same levels in reverse order. When playing as Vergil this is more evident. Before you at least switched characters so it still felt fresh because you had new moves and new strategies, however during Vergil’s campaign you play as him the WHOLE TIME! It’s almost like half way through he suddenly realized he forgot his car keys and had to turn around.

If you love Devil May Cry 4 than you owe it to yourself to pick this up. It’s only 25 bucks so think of it as picking up DLC that showed up 7 year late. The new characters alone are worth the money. If you never played it than now is the chance to see one of the finest games in the genre. If you didn’t like Devil May Cry 4 well the Special Edition won’t change your mind but I will ask……what is wrong with you? Hopefully this will sell well and Capcom will see that continuing this series is the way to go.