All around great game and the most defining game for DMC. The addition of the Style System helped define Dante as a character, as well as his personality. Vergil is also a well done villain and perhaps one of the best rivals in video game history. What would normally be seen as cringeworthy (him using a katana, wearing a trenchcoat, being so antisocial) would normally be seen as cringeworthy if it were done anywhere else, but the style of the series as well as the fact that he genuinely is a badass and the game doesn't once try to make him look both as your superior, but also your equal. He's the archetypal hack n' slash rival, which others like Jetstream Sam, Henry Cooldown, Jeanne and the like take inspiration from. All around great game. The Arkham and Leviathan fights **** **** though.
I'm just going to be up front here when I say this; this game does nothing new. There is almost zero attempt at actually being better than the originals. Hell, even some content from Platinum is cut entirely when it would've benefitted the game heavily. The game is an absolute breeze to go through, even when up against endgame foes. This is because of two reasons: A) The EXP Share is constantly on, thus meaning with just one party you can easily level your Pokemon to the point where they could defeat any opponent. B) If you have save data from Sword and Shield, you can get a Jirachi (an actual Mythical Pokemon) around the first few towns. The same applies for Mew. Meanwhile, the games keep negative features from the originals. Cyrus isn't even referred to by his real name, he's called "Boss" like in Diamond and Pearl. TMs are back to being temporary and one-use, a feature which everyone despised. The one positive change I can note is the decision to do something similar to Sun and Moon where HMs are restricted to Pokemon that you don't need to waste HMs on. All around, I wish it was something similar to Heart Gold/Soul Silver where the game keeps everything from Crystal, while still adding new things in as well.
