Devil May Cryis often considered to be the king of the action hack-and-slash genre, combiningtight and focused high-speed gameplaywith a compelling story about the demon slayer Dante and his constant run-ins with the monsters of the underworld. Despite being so popular, theDevil May Cryseries isn’t actually that accessible, with many of the games encouraging the player to figure out long and chaotic combos on their own, as opposed to holding their hand through the experience.
This is ultimately what makes the core gameplay of these games so rewarding, but it’s clear that some were designed to be just a little more brutal and unforgiving in their overall challenge than others. While everyDevil May Crygame is centered around the stylish combat, they each have their own mechanics and systems which make them unique, but these can also end up drastically ramping up the difficulty, which is either a good or a bad thing depending on perspective.
Devil May Cry 2is the black sheep of the series, often being mocked for itsclunky gameplay and dialogue, but while there are a few interesting story elements and character introductions, the difficulty is so ridiculously easy that it really harms the overall experience. For some reason, Dante’s handguns Ebony & Ivory are incredibly strong in this game, meaning that if the player ever somehow gets hit by the slow-moving demons, they can just hang back and fire away to finish the encounter for good.
The bosses are also laughably simple and straightforward, with the Infested Tank being the most infamous example, since it moves far too slowly to ever be truly intimidating or dangerous. Dante’s final boss, the flaming phoenix known as Argosax, does at least pose somewhat of a challenge, but the game is a cakewalk for the majority of its runtime.
Luckily, the fifth and latest entry in the series is much more difficult thanDevil May Cry 2, but it’s still not too hard of an experience, so long as players make full use of all the tools and abilities at their disposal.Nero’s Devil Breakerscan easily change the tide of an encounter, especially some of the more powerful ones like Tomboy and Ragtime, so while there can definitely be some tricky enemies, these can help make them far easier to handle.
Dante can be a little harder to get used to because of his four different Styles, but after getting to grips with it, he can run circles around enemy demons, and this goes double for Vergil who has some of the strongest attacks in the entire game.V is by far the hardest character to use, but this is more because his fighting style can feel a little awkward rather than the enemies being too tough. Overall,Devil May Cry 5provides a decent challenge that can be made much easier by choosing the right weapons ad equipment.
Ninja Theory’sDevil May CryRebootmight be pretty controversial in its story and characters, but a lot of fans agree that the gameplay itself is actually very enjoyable and quite layered in its mechanics. The most unique aspect of the combat system is that only some weapons can affect certain enemies, meaning Dante will need to keep switching them out on the fly to take out the demons he runs into.
This can be easy at first, but when multiple enemies with large health bars are appearing on the screen at once, it can be a little harder to manage. The game also features a colorful cast of bosses who range from fairly difficult to absolutely brutal in their challenge, with Bob Barbas being a particular stand out. The deeper mechanics and large enemy variety make theDMCreboot a pretty difficult game, even for veterans of the series.
The primary reasonDevil May Cry 4is considered so difficult is because the enemies are all designed with Nero in mind, with the newly introduced protagonist having a counter to every enemy archetype. This unfortunately means thatDante feels unusually weakin the game with only a handful of his moved being useful, and Trish and Lady don’t fare much better. This doesn’t mean the game is smooth sailing for Nero though, as players will still need to know when to make use of his Exceed mechanic which can be difficult to get the hang of.
The Bloody Palaceis also a lot more strict with its time limits, making it so much more difficult, and the enemies are overall a lot more aggressive and won’t hesitate to use spam attack tactics when they need to. The rushed development ofDMC 4can also show itself in the demons, many of which are far too powerful for their own good.Devil May Cry 4is still a great game with some truly amazing story moments, and while the combat is fluid and fun, it will still push the player to their absolute limit.
The very firstDevil May Cryis a game that forces the player to master the combat system if they want any chance of surviving until the very end. Red Orbs, the currency that Dante can use to upgrade his abilities and equipment, are very hard to find in this game, but enemies will drop far more if they are killed withan A or an S rank, which means players will need to get creative with their combos to get stronger.
At a time when action games were known for their QTEs and button-mash combos,Devil May Crycame along to shake up the entire formula with its unforgiving difficulty and aggressive AI enemies. The game’s age does also make it a little harder than it needs to be in some cases, especially the camera which can make boss battles with the likes of Nelo Angelo an absolute nightmare.
For anyone who hasn’t played ahack-and-slash action gamebefore, the first few hours ofDevil May Cry 3can seem ridiculously difficult, and even unfair, because of the sheer amount of demons that are thrown Dante’s way. While there’s a brief tutorial at the beginning, it’s extremely vague and only covers the basics of the Style system, so the gameplay can seem intimidating right from the get-go. The games challenge doesn’t let-up though as it only gets harder as it goes on, with bosses like Agni and Rudra being very difficult to take down, along with the Vergil fight being consideredone of the hardest boss battles in video game history. If players die enough times, the game unlocks an easier difficulty.
In between the intense battles are a few puzzles which can range from relatively easy, to downright infuriating, with the most infamous example being the giant ball riddle in Chapter 16 which can be a nightmare to figure out. In order to have any chance of making it to the next level, players will need to have a good grasp of each one of the Styles as they are all designed to deal with specific scenarios and enemies, so it can definitely take a lot of practice to fully master the game. That first playthrough ofDevil May Cry3 can be extremely unforgiving and even daunting at times, but it’s this insanely high challenge that makes the game so engaging and rewarding in the first place.
