Heni Games: Fight demons in style in Devil May Cry 5 for PlayStation 4

The demon invasion can't withstand the wrath of Dante and Nero.

Devil May Cry picks up a new entry in the series with the release of the 5th mainline game. Dante is still slaying demons as awesomely as he always has, and Nero picks up a new friend who you'll get to play as! Everything else you need to know, below.

What is Devil May Cry 5?

At E3 2018, Capcom announced the continuance of the Devil May Cry series. Devil May Cry 5 picks up where the fourth main game left off.

This series is known for high-octane, fast-paced action combat, with the player being graded after every mission for actual style points. It's all about pulling off flashy combos and stringing together tons of kills, and the better you can do it, the better your grade is.

That's not to mention an ongoing story that keeps fans at the edge of their seats. The series has seen several playable characters over the years, but none more common than Dante, a demon hunter who has made a business out of kicking butt and looking good doing it.

What's the story so far? WARNING: Spoilers Ahead

We're not exactly sure about everything that's going on in Devil May Cry 5 just yet. What we do know is that a supposed "Prince of Darkness" will serve as the game's main antagonist and that the events take place roughly five years after the conclusion of Devil May Cry 4.

In that game, you played as Nero, a teenager imbued with demonic powers who was on a mission to stop Dante on orders from a demon-worshipping church. Despite the affiliation, Nero never fully believed in their practices. Dante picks up on this and eventually convinces Nero to turn on the church after learning that they have hurt far more people than they helped.

Here's Capcom's quick synopsis of what's going down in the sequel:

The demonic invasion begins with the seeds of a "demon tree" taking root in Red Grave City. This hellish incursion attracts the attention of the young demon hunter, Nero, an ally of Dante who now finds himself without his demonic arm, the source of much of his power.

As Nero heads to Red Grave City in his motorhome named Devil May Cry with his partner Nico, he ruminates on how everything started. The loss of his demonic arm, the demonic invasion, and Dante's unknown whereabouts. Things must be settled once and for all.

There's not much to know about Nico so far, other than the fact that she's a weapons expert, and she's the one who provides Nero with all the cool weapons he uses. We also know that Nero's demonic arm is called the Devil Breaker and that there will be multiple arms he can draw power from throughout the game.

A character named V — short for Vergil — will join the two main characters. He's actually Dante's twin brother, if you don't know. Their parents: a human lady named Eva, and a demon by the name of Sparda.

The two used to be at odds as V wanted to go against the grain and use his muted demon powers selfishly. He's never wanted to be evil just for the sake of it, but it is an unfortunate byproduct of his undying desire to gain the demonic power his father had. Dante put an end to that, and it seems the two are on better terms for this reprisal.

Who do you play as?

There have been several playable characters in the Devil May Cry series over the years, chief among them being Nero and Dante. We know that you'll be able to play as both of those guys once more, with Nico — who lives with Nero and makes all his gear — being added into the mix.

Dante prefers his trusty guns, so you can expect to see more dual-wielding artistry on display from him. Nero is the most interesting character in the game so far, though, as he is the wielder of those Devil Breaker mechanical arms we mentioned before. There are as many as eight of them in the game, we hear, and they have their own unique abilities.

Each Devil Breaker arm has a standard ability that can be used quite often, as well as a "Break Age" ability that can really turn the tide in a fight. The downside to that is that they break (get it?) upon using the ability. You can carry up to four different Devil Breakers at a time, and more are found as you keep playing throughout the game.

As for V, he appears to have a pretty unique fighting style that matches his punk flair well. He's the third playable character in the game.

You won't get to pick and choose which characters you use in Devil May Cry 5, unfortunately. It works a lot like Grand Theft Auto 5 in that the game will change who you control depending on where you are in the story or which mission you're doing.

Gameplay

Devil May Cry is all about flash and style (and maybe a little bit of paranormal power). As is usual, you'll head into battles against demons big and small, few and large in numbers, and execute combos to bring them to their demise. The more consecutive hits you get in, the more damage you do and the more style points you get.

And just so you know, we're not talking about metaphorical style points. The game actually grades you on your combat excellence, so if you're the type to chase high scores and accolades then this provides a great source of replayability.

The game will feel a bit different depending on who you're using. Dante does crazy cool stuff that only he can do, like pulling motorcycles apart with his bare hands and using them as weapons. But when he just needs to knock down the simple demon or two, Ebony and Ivory — his favorite guns — are still there to do the job.

Nero's Devil Breaker arms lead way to more ability-based combat. He uses swords and guns like Dante, but can also activate some game-changing powers from those mechanical arms Nico made for him.

Combat with V will be a bit weirder. He fancies one of those cool walking canes that doubles as a pretty pointy polearm for his standard attacks. V doesn't have a whole lot of inherited demon strength like the other two, but he does seem to have a lot of knowledge about what's going on with this new sudden demon uprising, and he makes use of a few animal companions to lay the damage on thick in battle. Although clearly not as deadly from sword fighting and gunplay standpoints, V seems to be well in tune with his supernatural side and certainly seems capable of holding his own.

No matter who you're playing as the game uses music to really draw you into each fight. The beat gets more and more progressive as your style points rack up. It makes for a nice passive meter of success while you're focusing on the beatdown at hand.

It's all done on the excellent RE Engine, the very same one Capcom used to make Resident Evil 7 and the Resident Evil 2 remake. It's smooth, it looks great, and everything is highly detailed, all of which will prove to be valuable traits for a game as heavy and fast in action as Devil May Cry 5 is.

Pre-order Devil May Cry 5

You can pre-order Devil May Cry 5 right now to have it when it launches March 8. It'll run you $60 for the standard version. There's a deluxe version of the game that comes with a soundtrack and some cool live-action cutscenes, but it's not available as of this writing.

$60 at Amazon

Die-hard fans will be interested in the collector's edition. It's pretty costly at $150, but you do get the deluxe version of the game, a replica travel home, an art book, notes from Nico's Workbench, a premium pin, a bumper sticker, and an 11-inch by 17-inch cloth print featuring the game's cast.

$150 at Amazon