Parasite Eve: Mitochondrially Mighty.

I don't usually go back and do really OLD games for my reviews. I had my Silent Hill introspective over at hashtagnerd.com but that's because Silent Hill is still somewhat relevant and is very significant to me as a gamer. I went back and covered Muramasa and Valkyria Chronicles but those were still on current gen systems at the time. But during the last winter prior to my releases for the spring, I have been dusting off some of my old PS1 games.

One of them always kinda stood out to me. It was one that was really original in concept and at the time a big departure from Square's usual style of games. Before they really started cranking out CGI out the anus they really had a solid philosophy for their JRPGs that were producing some classic titles. Square was riding high on big releases such as Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy Tactics.  But in 1998, they released what ended up being one my first action-rpgs that I can remember playing.

PARASITE EVE:(PS1)

The story takes place with NYPD rookie Aya Brea (*swoon*) stepping out of a car at Carnegie Hall for a evening of opera on a Christmas eve date she really doesn't want to be on. Trying to make the best of it she takes her seat and the show begins. 

As the show proceeds, Aya meets the gaze of the lead singer Melissa Pearce, and suddenly the people in the audience begin to spontaneously combust. As people start to burst into flames and flee the burning building, only Aya and Melissa are unaffected. Aya charges the stage gun drawn, but Melissa only responds that Aya's mitochondria need time to awaken and flees. Aya pursues her down to the sewers where Melissa mutates into a horrible monster, and dubs herself reborn as Eve before she escapes.

The following day, Aya informs her superiors at the police station to try to explain what went down, and they are naturally at a loss. But as the day progresses they find out Eve is moving towards a crowd assembling at central park, and Aya moves in to hopefully stop another catastrophe.

So as we can clearly see, this game is a bit of a soft science nightmare. But interestingly enough, it is slightly based on a bit of truth. Mitochondria are a legitimate organism that lives within the human body, and they do generate heat energy much in the same fashion as the game describes, although not to the point of spontaneous combustion. I thought that was sort of interesting.

Although this game is technically the first in the series, its actually a sequel to the Japanese book/movie that came before it. While its been a while since I have actually watched the film and played this game, I believe there is a point in the game where the Japanese event is referenced within the story. So this is a cool little piece where all the elements related to it are all connected in one way or another.

So what is it about this specific game that I love? Well, in 1998 you can consider it to have a pretty progressive battle system for its time. Now, the loosely defined "Action-RPG" genre can be considered as far back as the early 80's for when it actually got its start. But I would definitely say that this specific title is one of the better examples of that sub-genre. If anything, it tends to blend 3rd person shooter, JRPG, Survival Horror, and action together fairly well.

As you move through location to location in NYC, you will have many JRPG text exposition segments helping you move the story along. Once completed with that, you move to the next location or stage of the game (I'd say more comparative to an action game as once you beat an area, you can come back even through you don't really need to). In each location you'll have some story line related goal in order to proceed with the story: Find this person, fight this boss, get this item, etc etc.

At least traveling from location to location is fast.

The combat though is definitely its biggest seller for me. As you wander through the maps you will have random encounters JRPG style where mitochondria monsters appear. There isn't a screen transition so you have to use the map you are on, which means the obstacles that are in place (chairs, tables, counters, etc). You have a freedom of movement and to a degree the battle is active. So you will want to try to keep your distance from the enemies at hand to avoid taking hits, although their range varies depending on monster.

When you go to attack, the combat freezes and a wire-frame dome appears around you. This represents the range of the gun you are using. As long as the dome reaches the enemy, its almost always going to be a hit, if they fall outside of the dome you can still hit, but there is a chance the shots will miss.

You usually have a varied weapons at your disposal like pistols, shot guns, machine guns, tonfas (batons), and at one point a rocket launcher. All of them have varied ranges and abilities, and different degrees of customization. To be 100% honest though, There really is no reason to use anything but the pistols. They have the best ability to customize, decent range, decent rate of fire, decent power. Once you collect enough junk (literally 300 pieces of it) to make a top tier weapon, you basically can customize the best pistol with the right status effects to basically rip enemies asunder.

But it wouldn't be a Squaresoft game if there wasn't some RPG in there. Because of Aya's resistant mitochondria, she also has some special abilities. Most of them play into idea that her mitochondria are self sustaining, so many of them are curative. Abilities to heal, remove poison or ill effects, speed her self up or slow enemies down. She does get one attack ability where you can fire an energy shot, but after a story segment and boss fight you get Liberate, which allows Aya to transform and do massive damage to everything. I actually kind of prefer the ability imbalance because it allows me to focus on boosting a specific weapon type.

The game has got a pretty decent soundtrack to it too. Its a blend of rock and techno to its more notable themes, which I think is an appropriate fit. The game has more of an action bent with horror elements, so I feel the rock complements that well. Yet we are knee deep in soft science, so the techno feels right at home in those moments. Both tend to get more slow and melodic for exposition moments. Aside from the main theme I don't think I could hum any of for you, but the whole thing just feels... I dunno, right?

This is also one of those games where CGI kinda blew me out of the water. While the models for the human felt a bit anime inspired, the monster transformations were pretty bad ass. I remember my jaw hitting the floor as that first rat mutated into a monster. By today's standards it may be a bit hokey, but for its time I can't think of another game that would have such detailed and grotesque mutations. I remember that this actually caused a bit of a stir because although the ESRB were already in place and rating games, few pushed the envelope in such a manner. I think in terms of gore Resident Evil 1 and 2 were the only ones really on par at the time.

Some of the transformations can be pretty gross. Even for 98.

Its also a bit of time sink as well. While I wouldn't say this game runs as long as most RPGs do, there is a EX-mode after you complete it. This allows you to replay the game with the last weapon and armor you had completed the game with, and everything you had previously stored in your police locker will be there now. The big addition to the EX-mode is the Chrysler building. A 77 floor randomly generating endurance test that will take you to the games hardest boss and the true ending of the game. I couldn't complete it without a guide that had all the possible floor combinations, but I hold it as one of the most impressive notches in my gaming belt.

Now that's not to say that the game is without fault. As you know, I don't think its possible to really make a "perfect" game, and there are certainly some issues to address here. Most notably, and this truly is the games biggest handicap, is that the movement speed is HORRENDOUSLY bad. The walk speed is about as fast as a slug super glued to the floor and there are no moments of stealth in the game, so why even bother with the ability to walk. Get rid of it, its a waste of time.

And the run is really not all that much better. While the animation clearly shows me she is running and putting in the effort, I'm fairly certainly an elderly woman with a walker and two bad hips can blow past Aya in the heat of battle. It makes me fuckin crazy.

The story is another issue here. I have played the game a couple of times, and the story is really the biggest part of it. While its the main driving factor in a Square game, it really is a complete mess at times and there are still aspects of the story that I still don't understand. It falls under what I refer to as "Tales of the Abyss Syndrome". When you have a lore or mythos that is incredibly convoluted and complex, you are going to find yourself with no real easy way to tell it. Abyss would try to go through these huge detailed explanations of everything taking place, and there was so much reading it would feel like homework.

The original playstation didn't have that much space to work with, making explaining Parasite Eve's limited exposition that much more important. To a degree, I feel that it has never really explained all that well. Something about a Japanese scientist losing his wife in a car accident, and trying to sustain her life by culturing the liver cells, but mitochondria within them take over and give birth to Eve. And then there is something about Aya losing her mother and sister in a car accident, and the surgery to keep her alive afterwards has something to do with it. Eve wants to get knocked up to make an "ultimate being" to create a new race, but there is only one of them and everyone else has to die or something. I don't know how it can propagate.

Also, this is around 98. So the 3D graphics weren't exactly there yet. They were a step up from Final Fantasy 7's super blocky character models, but given how far graphics have come along, this game hasn't aged all that well. A little too new to look good like a retro game, and a bit too old to hold up to anything that's come after it. To the graphics whores, this could be a major sticking point to anyone looking to try it. It's right on the cusp of time that has the FF7 fans screaming for a graphical update.

I think one of the most interesting things about Parasite Eve though actually reflects its series as a whole. Parasite Eve is the only franchise I can think of where every installment of the game fell under a different genre of game type. Parasite Eve is very clearly an action-rpg with survival horror elements. Parasite Eve II takes a much sharper Survival Horror bent right down to the Resident Evil style tank controls, with a sprinkling of rpg elements. Nearly a decade later, 3rd Birthday (essentially Parasite Eve 3) came out as a 3rd person shooter, and much of the JRPG has been squeezed out of it. I can't think of another series that's gone this off road.

I just really like this game. I recommend it to everyone. If you missed this one the first time around, its really easy to get ahold of. Its in the the PSN store in its digital classics, and you can get the disc version on ebay for like 2 bucks used. It was a really a unique piece and an interesting part of game history in my book. I think its one of these things SquareEnix should sit down with for a few hours when they are reflecting on why their game sales are down. Go back to your classics, Learn your lesson.

If Squeenix fans are begging for remake of some of their older games, then this is one I put at the front of the line. Parasite Eve rules.

If Aya makes a Kingdom Hearts appearance, I am sold.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: A score of high notes.

So since February, I had paid for and been planning for a trip to RTX in Austin Texas. I had a lot of things I would like to do and places I wanted to visit, but having been to multiple Ohayocons and a PAX East, I feel I was somewhat prepared for what to expect. So despite the fun I was expecting, I knew there would be waiting in lines, and I knew there would be waiting at airports.

I have been eyeing Bravely Default for a while, and wanted to play it greatly, but I didn't want to start it before my trip. So I had this new 3DS XL and needed something to play on it. And then I remembered that trip to PAX east, I tried out an unreleased game by Square Enix. It mixed two things I liked, and seemed to be a good fit. But would it hold over? We shall see. 

THEATRHYTHM: FINAL FANTASY(3DS)

So yeah, story. This is a rhythm game so there really isn't one per say.  It would akin it sort of to Final Fantasy Dissidia: The world is in balance because of the two gods Cosmos and Chaos, and between them is rhythm, a crystal essence that controls music. Chaos as dispersed its power so Cosmos assembles heroes from the various Final Fantasy universes to collect Rhythmia to restore the crystals power.

And that's it. That is literally the entire extent of the story. And I suppose for a rhythm game that is all I can really expect. Dance Dance Revolution isn't exactly known for its stirring narrative. Bust a Groove never weaved an epic tale within the lyrics of the songs. Guitar Hero had a handful of cutscenes that were forgotten after about as long as it took to view them. So really, from a story perspective I got about what I expected out of this.

Not the cute chibi versions. Couldn't find a decent picture to use. Sue me.

No, Theatrhythm is about the celebration that is the Final Fantasy (FF) music catalog. And honesty I can't think of a better selection of soundtracks to make a rhythm game. I have spent many a workday at the various libraries I've worked at listening to Final Fantasy radio stations, as there practically isn't a bad song. I was very eager to jump headfirst into this one.

So the game starts off with a brief little prologue basically explaining the story as I just have, then it takes you to a screen where you assemble your FF dream team from a selection of one hero from each FF game. So naturally My team leader was quickly locked in as Terra from Final Fantasy VI (because 6 is best and if you disagree you are wrong, fuck you). I balanced out the rest of the team with a combination of Cloud, Tidus, and ugh... Lightning, because it provided me the most solid balance of stats across the board. Felt this was the best way to go because I really didn't know what to expect.

There are a few different game modes, but talking about one of them will really give you the biggest gist of the game. When you fire the game up, you can go to Series mode and how this works is you scroll through the list of the Final Fantasy Anthology going from one to thirteen. In it, you will play a simple prelude and epilogue song. These are optional but if you tap along with the beat you earn Rhythmia which is used to unlock things. Once done with that, you take on the 3 game types for that FF in no particular order.

Now the play is the same for all three, its just how they are delivered is what changes. So lets say I play Final Fantasy IV. I might start off with a Field Music Stage (FMS) and play "Terra's Theme", which is usually the overworld song. There is a circle which indicates where I hit the notes, and note icon's can be tapped, held, or swiped based on the direction of the arrow. It is pretty straight forward, but in FMS mode when you are holding a note, you might need to drag the circle up and down the line to maintain the critical rating (perfect). Sometimes you might have to swipe a direction at the end of a hold, but generally it follows a singular path. Of the three play styles, I find this one easiest.

Then you might move into "The Decisive Battle" in the Battle Music Stage (BMS). These are are the most fun to play because its where you are going to find all the fast, upbeat, and fun battle music from the FF universe. In this game mode, the note lines are broken up between the 4 heroes you have selected. the notes each fly at the hero and you need to tap, hold and swipe as they arrive. Essentially the same thing as the FMS but your eyes need to jump around the screen a bit more to keep up. These are my favorite songs to play.

Then we have the Event Music Stage (EMS) where you will be treated to a cinematic of CG animation or moments from the game while you try to play "Celes' Theme". I find this one to be tricky because besides things moving around in the background, instead of having the single line, the timing circle actually moves around the the screen along a singular path and you need to tap, hold, and swipe as it crosses the notes, and not vice versa. I find this to be the trickiest of the 3 game types because I never, EVER, can get the timing of the swipes down correctly and it only seems to get harder as the game gets faster.

I botch the arrows every time.

Once completed, you are treated to the game's ending theme where you can tap along as you did at the start. once you complete all five you total rythmia is tallied and added to your running total. In between the 3 major stages of the game you earn experience like you would a traditional final fantasy game and your characters level up and get increased stats and abilities. But what for? I'm glad you asked.

For the most part, the XP system seems to be fairly set with the exception of the BMS stages. In this mode, defeating monsters by performing the song well get you a pretty substantial boost of experience at the end of the level. As your characters grow stronger, they gain more HP to allow you to mess up more times during the song. Your increased stats also allow you to hit harder, which allows you to dispatch more enemies, thus allowing more experience to be earned.

And as you level, you unlock more abilities. Some of these are passive and take place within certain game modes, such as during the FMSs. Others are active, and are only triggered when certain stipulations take place such as hitting 20 goods on the tap icons, or when the 2nd monster comes out, or when you encounter a boss type monster. As you level up you get more Battle Points to allow you to equip better version of the abilities or more of them which eventually allows you dispatch even more. So naturally you want to use them, right?

Not so fast. Unfortunately using these items or abilities come at a cost, and if you are playing a music game, you will inevitably be a stickler for perfection. If you refuse to equip any items or abilities and go in equipped with nothing, this gives you a special stoic bonus at the end of each stage of like 200,000 points. You NEED these points if you intend to get an SS or SSS rank at the end of any stage you play. It is impossible to get higher than an S with items equipped, so equip or unequip accordingly for what it is you are trying finish.

Once you go through a round of those modes, you can play the songs again individually in the games challenge mode. This is typically where you will grind and play your favorite songs. But there is also a mode called Chaos Shrine, where you will play "dark notes" of the songs in the game. These are usually 2 different types of stages and the notes in the songs are switched up. They are usually harder, and the bosses in these areas drop better rewards, such as crystal shards. By collecting these you can unlock new characters from the various games, (I'm gunning for you Rydia). There is also a multiplayer mode but as we established: I have no friends and thus, didn't play that mode.

There are also songs to unlock as you play through, such as the "Blinded by the Light" from FF13 or "Dancing Mad" from FF6. This gives me a reason to keep playing so I am happy about that. There is also a large myriad of DLC songs to download for a buck a piece, but I intend to hold off on that since an updated release of this game will be coming out in September in Curtain Call.

The entire game is presented in this kind of cutesy chibi style of itself where all of the characters sort of resemble doll versions of themselves, or perhaps like the Tarutaru from Final Fantasy 11. It is a cutesy design and obviously because of the whole tone and theme of the game not meant to be taken seriously so it fits well. And it was cool to see some of the more notable baddies from the various universes all get a cartoony appearance in the BMS stages.

There really isn't a whole lot more that I can say about this. Its a music game that is functional, fun, and effective. It throws in some interesting RPG nuances that hearken back to the genre it draws from, it borrows hits from the incredible score from this timeless set of games with soon to be much more in the coming months. It's really turned out to be pretty much everything in wanted for a game of this kind.

Rydia would whip your fucking ass, Cloud. She didn't pussy ache about her
village getting destroyed nearly as long as you did. 

If I had to come up with complaints for it, I can only think of a few. One, the menus are kind of clunky an annoying. The entire game is navigated from the touch screen and nowhere else. which I guess is fine for play control, but when I am navigating the menus there should be no reason I couldn't move things along with the D-pad and the A buttons, that has been effective since video games. So I don't know why every time someone designs a new controller they need to fuck with what already works. Knock it off.

In addition to that, and I am not sure if this is a problem with my 3DS or the system as a whole, but the touch screen doesn't appear to be a sensitive as my original DS Lite was. I have only recently noticed it but if I barely tap the screen it doesn't seem like it registers as much as if I give it a more pressured tap. Not sure on that one. It might just be my system or something I just noticed but it hasn't really played a big factor until just recently.

And as I vented, DLC is like a buck a song and there is WELL over 50 different DLC songs that have come out, and additional characters as well. It sucks for the people who purchased this game at launch, I am fortunate because the better version will be coming out in a few months, just about after I start to complete this one so that is a pretty limited complaint to me.

As I have said previously before, when it comes to a new system I try to come up with at least 7 games that I know I would like to play before I buy them. And if I get a long play through out of them, then so much the better. When I was considered getting myself a 3DS, this was one of the first games that came to mind as a must have, if not top 3.

I am very happy to say that the game delivered on pretty much every front that I'm asking for. It may not have had every song I was looking to play but I haven't unlocked everything and I know I have about 100 more songs upcoming in the Theatrhythm: Curtain Call is sure to re-spark my interest in the game. But really? It was hard for me hate anything about this. It's Final Fantasy, it's a rhythm game, its pick up and play, its got great song selection, and its fun. I am doing a great job of raging on these blogs. >:|

6, 10, 4, 7, 9, Tactics, 1, 5, 10-2, 13-3, 8, Tactics advance, Mystic quest, 12, 13-2, 13, 3, and 2.

(of the ones I played, In that order.)

DmC Devil May Cry: Two giant steps sideways.

I've had this one on the shelf for maybe close to a year. I wasn't sure if I just sort of fell out with spectacle fighters, or maybe I just got tired with this franchise. I'm not really sure.  But when this game came out I didn't have the pressing need to pick it up at launch. LONG after its release I bought it on a buy 2 get 1 used special, it sat on the shelf turned sideways to let me know I hadn't finished it (or even started) but that still didn't press me.

To this day I don't know why I put it off so long but in the span before Watch Dogs came out I took that opportunity to just breeze through the game on easy mode so I can at least say that I completed the story mode. If anything it would give me a taste for the game and see the story. First game I've played on easy in a long while.

DmC: DEVIL MAY CRY

Explaining the story of these games is always a headache but I am going to give it a shot. The game takes place in modern day setting in a demon controlled city called Limbo City. It appears to be functioning just like a regular town does, but it is completely controlled and manipulated by a demon called Mundus, who's power reaches to control even the president. Using a drug laden soda (that might be a Futurama reference) or through the constant prattling of a political pundit (who should have just been Bill O'Reily playing himself for as thinly veiled it is) the denizens of the city live their lives in a semi brainwashed state, completely under his control.

Outside the skirts of the city lives a young delinquent named Dante. He's arrogant, brash, and is constantly being hassled by demons who rip him into a parallel plane of limbo and try to kill him. So needless to say he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Dante is rudely awoken one morning by a young girl named Kat. She warns him of danger and pleads for him to come with her, to meet her boss. She works for a group called "The order" and their sole purpose is wrench humanity free from demon control. Aggravated by the hassle of demons, Dante begrudgingly follows along.

So yeah. He's got a little teen pop douche in him. But after a level or two?
I didn't even notice it anymore. New Dante is alright in my book.

So let's get this out of way so you can start flaming me. At first, I didn't much care for his look, but you know what? I like the new Dante. Yeah, he sort of has that shitty popular pretty boy look are you see in movies these days but its a small trade off from the "Oh yeah! Party time bro! DUUUUDE!" doofball Dante we have had for the past few games (3 was specifically the worst). Part of the reason I liked Devil May Cry 4 so much is because a majority of the time you play the game as Nero, and not Dante. Sorry people, but Dante has always been a bit of "Bro-ish" douchehole.

So now we have skinny androgen Twilight version of Dante, and things were not off on the right foot because quite literally the first scene you see him he's completely naked. Thankfully they don't show anything, but come the fuck on. But outside of that intro and his look (which after a while I didn't even notice) he feels like a very different character. There is definitely an edge of youthful angst to the character, and he does have a bit of young adult fiction character growth to him. Angsty but reluctant hero. A bit of dick through the game but as he gets to know Kat, becomes more of a supportive team player. After a few levels I found it really hard not to like the guy.

Kat is a bit different to most of the girls in the DMC series. She is smart and  resourceful,
 but isn't the over sexualized bad ass fighter girl. She has her tricks but is still vulnerable.

What I thought was interesting was the portrayal of Dante's brother Virgil through the game. If you have played through the series in any capacity you know that Virgil is the primary antagonist to Dante. Not in this game, as he is Kat's boss. So while you never play as Virgil he is very much alongside you for the game and it provided an interesting new dynamic to the character.

So this version of Devil May Cry I would say is broken up into two different styles of play: Classic DMC, and Platformy DMC. When you are running along the map, villains and baddies will eventually pop up and all you need to do is wail on them till they drop. I find Devil May Cry to be the standard for good spectacle fighter combat and this installment is no exception. Everything moves quickly and at a smooth pace without feeling overwhelming and too difficult to follow. Bayonetta had this problem where the combat would start to move faster than you could react adding unnecessary difficulty.

Air juggling with pistols is still as satisfying as ever.

Combos are relatively easy to pull off so it accommodates the masher and those who know when to pause in the combo to switch up the move set. They added a very nice gesture in this for this very purpose actually, after a certain move Dante will hold and ending pose. When he does there is a faint but noticeable glimmer on his weapon, this is your timer for the break in the combo. Once I realized that It was easy to keep my timing every time.

I would actually say that it is improved in comparison to previous Devil May Cry games because of how the weapon system works. You get your pistols and sword to start the game, but as you play through you start to allocate Angel and Demon weapons. Typically you will only use one of them but you do have a few options. As you fight, you will find enemies with certain guards or weaknesses, and if you use the back triggers, you can flip to your angel or demon weapon on the fly. Typically the Angel weapons are fast moving, high combo/low damage weapons, and the Demon weapons are slow but heavy damaging weapons used to punch through guards. Switching between them is relatively easy and fun to do.

I quickly fell in love with using the scythe.

What I didn't like about this is these also function as your grappling hooks. These can be used to rip away an enemy shield, pull them enemy closer to you, or pull yourself up to the enemy. In combat these work fine, not as seamless as they should have felt but functional. However, they are also used on these incredibly arbitrary platforming sections you will have to do on each level. It works for the most part, but this is kind of a double edged sword.

When Dante is pulled into limbo, the level design will alter around him ripping apart the floor, buildings, and warping all the surfaces around him to random floating platforms that you will have to navigate. To do this, you need to grapple yourself onto ledges so you can use the other grapple to yank things in place. There are also sections of maps in the level where you have to do this to cross great chasms so you have to do them in midair quickly.  For a while, this was actually a pretty cool visual effect.

But then I started to notice that I am doing sometimes 2 or 3 times in a single level, and then again during the boss fight. Now, Bayonetta did something similar because that had boss fights where they were roughly the size of a planet, so you needed to fly around the enemy to get to its respective weak points. In DmC it feels like you are really only doing it to dodge one specific attack. Maybe this plays more of a factor when you are playing it on a different difficulty, but for what I played all the platforming seemed incredibly arbitrary and unnecessary. I find the floating platform to be shorthand for sloppy level design.

Which is a shame because the the level design for a number of stages is very very cool. There is one specific example where you need to breach an enemy stronghold, but its not actually the tower, its the tower's reflection in the lake. So Dante jumps in and hits limbo skyrocketing upwards into a inverse world. It was a very cool effect. There are handful of stages where they get lazy sending you through corridors, but for the most part all of the non-platformy sections are very cool.

I just felt like I was always having to do this. Stop it. I play these games
to wail on monsters and keep them in the air with guns. 

But aside from thinking it's sloppy level design, it just feels boring to do. There are occasional stretches where you have to make multiple jumps and pulls before you actually hit the ground. They are tedious and annoying, they aren't fun, and they just waste your time. You could easily make me run along a path with a jump here and there for the same effect. But instead it adds pointless trial and error game play forcing me to backtrack when I mess up.

I have always liked the music in this series. Always had a very kinda hard rock/industrial kind of vibe to it. Although when the game started, in the intro credits it straight up said "Music by Combichrist". Now, this initially gave me a bit of a negative reaction because all I know of their music is when their drummer did a "DJ set" before a Rammstein concert I attended. It sucked, because it was basically shitty dance and dumbstep mixes of actually good Rammstein songs while he played with his Ipod, and then occasionally threw his hands up in the air. It was fucking retarded, and so are "DJ sets". (So you dumbstep fans can eat all the boners.)

Thankfully from what I've heard, Combichrist as an actual band falls in line with what I have accepted to be a traditional Devil May Cry ambiance if you will. That hard, aggressive industrial tone in the background as you are wailing on an enemy with an over sized sword. I don't know if any of their "hits" were actually in the soundtrack, but it certainly felt right at home, and has got me thinking I should probably give Combichrist proper an actual chance.

And hey! Boss fights! What an crazy novelty this game has created! I play through a level and fight some baddies, then I fight a really big boss at the end where I have to learn an attack pattern and then wail on the enemy when his weakness is exposed. Instead of just fighting wave after wave of the same fodder enemies I have been wailing on for the entirety of the game.  This was really neat, maybe other games might pick up with wild and crazy idea at some point? It certainly feels right at home here and I would love to see more of it. (Seriously game devs, what the fuck is your problem with boss fights? Thank you DmC.)

I like that I didn't feel forced to use certain weapons during boss fights

So here is the deal. Ultimately, this game is still just another Devil May Cry. The story is familiar but still manages to feel new to an extent. Even though it's not, the game can feel a bit like a prequel to the entire franchise as a whole. The new Dante is an interesting bent to the character and if you are willing to look past the new look (or happen to like it), the game feels like a reasonable installment to the series. I had my fun with it but it didn't knock my socks off, which really is status quo for the series. I'd place it in the middle of the pack. Didn't love it as much as Devil May Cry 1 or 4, but it is certainly better than 2 and 3 were.

It's just another fun romp with Devil May Cry.  I am very much glad I didn't pay the full 60 dollars for it because it would have left me with a lukewarm experience. But at the preowned price of less than 20 bucks it was absolute worth the amount of entertainment it gave me. Honestly this is probably a great place to stop with this property, because even with the new look this old dog is running out of new tricks.

Game is at the perfect price for it right now if you've never played it, but aside from a new look doesn't bring much else to the table. It's worth a play.