HD remasters are an easy target today, especially for those games that featured on the last gen systems quite recently and have now made their way on to the new gen. And rightly so in some cases, because they may not have been in full 1080p originally, but they were still HD none the less. Some games certainly look better than others and some not so, which initially caused me some doubts when the DmC: Definitive Edition was announced. For starters, the game that was criminally overlooked in my opinion by so many due to Dante’s new image and when I studied those early screenshots of this remaster, I could barely see any difference between the last gen and new gen versions.
Even when I looked at many gameplay videos, I still really struggled to see that difference between the 30fps and 60fps. None the less, being the Devil May Cry fan that I am, I was more than happy to give this new enhanced version a go, even though I had beat the game more than once on the Xbox 360. It was then when I fired up the Definitive Edition on my PS4, that I could actually now see the difference first hand. At quick glance, you will still struggle to see that difference visually, because the textures look almost identical to its last gen predecessor in my opinion. But that’s not really where this Definitive Edition shines; because it’s all about how smooth this game runs in 60fps and its smoother then a wet waxed bikini blue frog!
It’s actually very difficult to describe how much smoother this game now runs at its 1080p/60fps, but when you play it, you should be able to notice the enhancement. Just to see an example of what exactly I mean, checkout the comparison video a little below. One of the many new features added to this Definitive Edition is the inclusion of a modifier that speeds up the gameplay by 20% with the Turbo Mode, which may not sound like a lot, but it sure does make a difference. It’s down to you as to whether you keep the original game speed or not, but I personally prefer the more frantic pace, which suits DmC very well. Another addition that was missing from the original release was the ability to manually lock-on to the enemy. This was a feature that annoyed many gamers as it seemed an obvious inclusion for a Hack ‘n’ Slash game, so I’m sure it will please many. I did play the game using this feature, but to my surprise (thinking I missed it originally) I actually found that I prefer not to use the manual lock-on feature.
The Definitive Edition also comes with loads of extra additions and improvements, the most popular of which will likely be the three new difficulty modes and the Vergil Bloody Palace. The difficulty modes in question are the Hardcore, Must Style and the Gods Must Die modes. Hardcore is exactly what it says on the tin and Capcom describe it as the “classic Devil May Cry in terms of balance.” In this difficulty ranking up styles are harder to achieve and they deteriorate faster if you fail to keep the action flowing and demons slaying. While enemies will also have a higher tolerance of damage and attacks are more difficult to parry.
In Must Style mode you can only deal damage to enemies when you reach an S rank, so this mode should challenge even the most dedicated of DmC gamers playing through the whole campaign with this setting. Gods Must Die mode is said to be the most difficult of all modes in the DmC: Definitive Edition. Quite simply enemies will both inflict and take far more damage than ever before, when the Devil Trigger is activated, enemies will spawn, and to add insult to difficulty, you will not be able to use any items to aid you, which includes health drops. To be honest, I’ve not tried this mode yet, but if I feel like plucking my beard hairs, I might give this difficultly a go (and I use the word “might” very loosely). Though I’m sure there are plenty of hardcore DmC’ers mad enough to take on this mode head first.
Other extra additions worth noting in this Definitive Edition are the two Bloody Palace modes. The original Bloody Palace was added as free DLC sometime after the release of the initial game. This was DmC’s take on a wave based mode that see’s Dante taking on various levels, with increasing difficulty with hordes of demons to slay. Now Dante’s brother Vergil stars in his very own Bloody Palace, with 60 floors and 5 stages of difficulty, which was apparently the fans second most requested feature to Capcom. Speaking of Vergil, we also get Vergil’s Downfall campaign included in this DmC bundle of joy. His campaign takes place after the events of the main game itself, so I won’t speak of its plot for obvious spoiler reasons, but what I can say is that it’s a quality piece of DLC and a worthy addition to the rebooted DmC story.
This edition also includes all previously released DLC costumes and weapon skins, as well as two new outfits based on the original Dante from the PS2 Devil May Cry, and a Classic Vergil outfit. Now to be honest, as much as I liked many of the extra outfits, they didn’t show up during many of the cutscenes during the campaign and it bugged my OCD tendencies enough to not want to use them, thus forcing me to revert back to the original reboot outfit. Obviously it goes without saying that this won’t be an issue for many other gamers.
The Definitive Edition also includes an all new cutscene, which I’ll leave the details out for you to discover on your own. Speaking of cutscenes, there is one slight negative (if you can really call it that) however; as reported by Eurogamer, the cutscene in question is from one of the early scenes in the game, where it involves demon bad-guy Mundus, speaking to his mistress Lilith of his evil plans to rule the world. When Mundus says that he “will control the world through debt. I have absolute power.” Lilith replies with “The world is at last your bitch,” This is where the original dialogue in the Definitive Edition, however in the original cutscene from the initial reboot, Lilith continues on to say “as am I. Nothing left but to grab it by the hair, bend it over and …”
This seems like an odd thing to cut out of the game, considering the many sexual references it possess, not to mention that the game carries a PEGI 16 rating in Europe. Though Ninja Theory says the edit was not down to censorship, it was more down to the fact that they felt the scene went on a little longer then it needed and they pointed to the fact that there are far more suggestive scenes in the game, which is most certainly true. This is not much an issue in my book, but I felt it was worth nothing as were comparing the Definitive Edition to its original form.
Some may be wary about the influx of HD remakes and remasters, and you’d have good reason. But in my humble opinion, even though the original reboot of DmC released in 2013, I believe this Definitive Edition is a worthy addition to your collection, even if (like me) you have played the original release to death. While Capcom say the graphics and textures as a whole have been improved, I struggle to see much of a difference, but I can most certainly see how well it runs at 1080p/60fps. Then on top of that we’ve had loads of added modes, modifiers and DLC bundled in with this release, not to mention that if you shop about, you could pay as little as £20 for the DmC: Definitive Edition and its packed with tons of replay value.
Many Devil May Cry fans had overlooked the reboot, just on Dante’s new look alone and that’s a crying shame. Simply put, a great game just got a whole lot better, and if you missed out on DmC’s original release then take a chance on this Definitive Edition, because you might just find out what all the fuss is about.