Devil May Cry 2

The Good
This might be a weird thing to point out as something deserving praise rather than an obvious requirement, but the discourse around Devil May Cry 2 is so broken and filled with mindless hate that it might need to be said: this game works. The controls are responsive, the hitboxes are precise, the combat plays out as intended by the developers, there are no major glitches or game-breaking bugs. And at the very core, this is still a Devil May Cry game, with the series' trademark combination of melee and ranged weapons, stylish acrobatic movements, varied enemy types to fight, and a dark visual style.

An element that may seem like a minor addition at first but turns out to be DMC 2's centerpiece as you go on is the ability to roll. The game still places a heavy emphasis on vertical movement, with Dante getting even more air time while firing guns than in DMC 1 and Lucia being even more acrobatic than him, but its motto could very well be the Limp Bizkit quote: "keep rollin', rollin', rollin'". Since DMC 2, as opposed to the first game, mostly takes place in open areas or really large rooms, and the character's (especially Dante's) attacks push enemies back quite a bit, the game requires you to be constantly on the move to keep your stylish combo going. There are also some enemies and bosses, such as the Abyss Goat or Bolverk, who will require you to dodge their attacks by - you guessed it - rolling. And by itself, this is a pretty good gimmick - designing the combat around quick reactions and fast movements adds even more intensity and excitement to the already fast-paced combat from the first game, providing a great core for the experience to build upon.

The Bad
Unfortunately, another change to the combat system made to improve the gameplay's flow and intensity was significantly worse. Devil May Cry 2 gets rid of separate fighting styles stemming from the first game's electric sword Alastor and fiery gauntlet Ifrit along with their distinct movesets, instead providing the player with a much more basic choice of a regular sword, a strong heavy sword, and a long lighter sword. Instead of spending your Red Orbs on specific moves that allow for more variety in your playstyle, you use them to simply level up your swords and guns, with no distinct perks and abilities. An attempt to provide some variety was made through the amulet system, which allows you to customize and adapt your Devil Trigger perks, but it's pretty barebones and nowhere as integral to the game as Alastor and Ifrit were before.

Another limitation in DMC 2's combat is its targeting system. Dante and Lucia always lock on to a specific enemy (not only when you press the lock on button), which makes quickly reacting to the situation on the battlefield more difficult. While some people might have found the more freeform movements in the first game somewhat inaccurate, they were undeniably better than an arbitrary lock on system that actively fights you.

Possibly the biggest disappointment of Devil May Cry 2 in relation to its predecessor is its approach to bosses. Even though they still have some interesting visual designs, the battles aren't anywhere as creative as in the first game, and - with some exceptions like the intense sword fight against Bolverk or the exciting return of the cute arachnid Phantom - they're often limited to shooting your guns at the enemy while avoiding its highly repetitive attacks. And while most boss encounters aren't as bad as the absolute slog of a fight against Trismagia, they are definitely the most underwhelming aspect of DMC 2.

A minor mistake that still takes away from the experience is that while rolling helps pacing and mobility during fights, Dante is still pretty slow when simply traversing the levels. It feels as if some areas, especially in the town streets, were designed for Lucia's speed and used for Dante's missions without adapting them to his movement at all. It's not a major problem, but it makes the game feel more awkward to play than it would have otherwise and could have easily been avoided with more playtesting.

The Bottom Line
Devil May Cry 2 is an uneven yet overall decent experience that can be really fun once it clicks, but never reaches its potential and becomes especially bland and underwhelming during most boss fights. 6/10

[based on the PC port in the HD Collection]