➤ Evil tears 🎮

We remember well when DmC Devil May Cry was announced: it was September 2010 and we were in Tokyo, intent on scrounging delicacies and alcohol into a place that Capcom had rented for a special event. A great event, moreover, in the perspective of a Japanese fair that at that time still had a concrete weight, and which hopefully will return this year to attract the interest of the top players given the record number of adhesions and the intention to use the entire Makuhari Messe facility.

But let's go back to the much discussed reboot, which was presented with a trailer and the presence on stage of the key components of Ninja Theory, to seal a pact that, in the intentions of the contractors, should have led the Osaka house to win back the Western public with a Dante all new. The operation was successful, despite the initial controversy and skepticism, but did it really meet the publisher's expectations? Or Is a return to the classic Devil May Cry in the air, the series that culminated in 2008 with the fourth, excellent chapter? It may be that the Special Edition that we are about to review represents in some ways a survey aimed at fans, but we will have to wait a while to know the results. So let's focus on what this new remaster offers, which beyond the cosmetic improvements (1080p and the same sixty frames per second of the original version, but in the face of the remaking of many assets) also presents some gameplay filings, the now appreciated Turbo mode, an extra difficulty level and the ability to play the campaign not only as Nero and Dante, but also under the command of Vergil or the duo of Lady and Trish.

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition is a good way to try your hand at the latest classic episode of the series

A refresher is needed

The first minutes spent with Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition literally take you back in time, to a typically Japanese narrative while Nero, with hoods around his neck and a demonic arm hidden by a fictitious bandage, runs towards the cathedral where he can attend the mass sung by the beautiful Kyrie (surrounded by the Assassins! Ah, no, we were wrong).

Just during the ceremony, however, something unexpected happens: Dante drops from the ceiling and shoots the priest, unleashing a furious fight with the guards and with Nero himself, who launches an attack on the (unknown to him) killer. The events then take a particular turn while remaining in the groove traced by Capcom for the series, between hidden truths and terrible demons to be defeated; but clearly the plot is not the strong point of the game, but rather the excellent combat system, which in the pre-Bayonetta period represented the absolute excellence for the genre third-person action games. Well, playing at the normal difficulty level you remain a bit confused: softened by years of much more permissive approaches and challenges not received, the game over in Devil May Cry 4 arises as a concrete and frequent eventuality, especially during clashes. with the bosses; at least until you become familiar with certain mechanisms and with the dodging system, which is far from infallible and therefore heralds an additional layer of complexity. Purchased the first upgrades and including the alternation between weapons, fortunately things begin to turn, even if the edges of an exploration remain studded with a sometimes boring backtracking and environmental puzzles that are not always clear.

The newness

As always happens for the remastered editions, the value of Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition changes according to the user: those who have not played in 2008 with the original version will find themselves in front of a solid, fascinating, demanding and even fairly rich product. of contents; while those who already know the game will have to limit themselves to reliving situations already seen, both in the standard campaign and using the new characters.

Beyond different animated introductions and endings, in fact, the sequence of events remains practically the same, whether you play with Nero and Dante or choose to opt for the couple of damsels, Lady and Trish, or for the powerful Vergil. A solution not beautiful to see, which leads to the cutting of many short cutscenes as an expedient to justify the different protagonist, but which acquires meaning when you go to deepen your knowledge with the "new entries". We are talking about very different approaches to gameplay: Lady has three freely selectable firearms (pair of pistols, shotgun or a devastating missile launcher complete with bayonet), which allow her to inflict damage even and above all from distance, while Trish uses in battle the lethal Sparda, with lightning-fast and lethal movements. As for Vergil, he can not only recall spiritual blades for attacks from afar, but also and above all use three distinct fighting styles, each with its own power-ups and combos, wielding the legendary Yamato sword, two Force Edge blades and the Beowulf combat set, with reinforced gloves and boots that allow you to deliver devastating blows.

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

Processor: AMD FX 8320
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Jetstream
Memory: 8 GB of RAM
Operating system: Windows 8.1

Minimum requirements

Processor: 2 GHz Intel Core 2,4 Duo, 2 GHz AMD Athlon X2,8
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, AMD Radeon HD 38540
Memory: 2 GB of RAM
Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8.1

Recommended Requirements

Processor: 3 GHz Intel Core i3, 4100 GHz AMD FX 3,6
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, AMD Radeon HD 7790
Memory: 2 GB of RAM
Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8.1

At the end of the fair

Pinned to sixty frames per second at 1080p, with all effects maxed out and loads that seem to be much faster on PC than the console versions, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition boasts a fair amount of "remastering", particularly as regards the characters, the effects (several things have been added under that profile) and the textures.

Unfortunately, the latter have not always been given the necessary attention, and so we end up witnessing sequences in which decidedly undefined plots are framed in the foreground. There is also, particularly in the cutscenes, a clear break between the improved polygonal models and the background. Wanting to deepen the discourse of performance in the Windows environment, the feeling is to be in front of a not very well optimized product, in the sense that the original Devil May Cry 4 achieved higher frame rates on low-mid-range configurations, a plus that the Special Edition frankly seems unable to offer. The strength of this edition therefore lies in a still very strong charm, in the solid gameplay (which can be made more peppery thanks to the Turbo mode) and in the extra contents, which guarantee at least two other completions of the campaign and real alternatives on the front. of the approach to fighting. Thinking in terms of work, assets and opportunities, however, the final price of this remaster appears slightly high (and we spread a merciful veil on the purchasable packs to get the super version characters).

Comment

Tested version PC Windows Digital Delivery Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store Price 24,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.6

Readers (24)

8.1

Your vote

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition focuses on cosmetic improvements, on a couple of interesting extras and on the introduction of new characters to offer an even richer and more fun experience than the 2008 version. The final result, net of some edges , appears convincing both for old guard gamers and novices: the former will be able to relive the original campaign with some twist and the ability to control characters with a different style, the latter to discover a challenging and stylish action game that still today he can have his say, even though it is dated in some respects.