The Art Of Fighting

Capcom takes stylish action to dizzying heights in Dante’s most spectacular game to date.

- Nathan Brown

The hit pause is one of video gaming’s greatest tricks. A brief, almost imperceptible freeze in the action when a blow hits home, it may have been invented primarily to help fighting-game players react to the hit and continue their combos, but its real magic is in the way it emphasises the impact of a successful attack. Devil May Cry 5 is full of them, naturally; this is a Capcom game of supremely fast, impeccably stylish action. Yet here it feels celebratory, reverential even, pulling in references from the wider Capcom universe and delivering them with, in the context of its publisher, an unprecedented visual sheen. Dante, Devil May Cry’s headline protagonist, has here been blessed with a Shoryuken. Its animation has three obvious, lengthy and quite beautiful hit pauses. Bang, oof, pow. Magic.

As if the Street Fighter reference wasn’t clear enough, the weapon Dante uses to perform the iconic move is called Balrog. It has two modes, one a peek-aboo boxing style that recalls not only Capcom’s famous boxer, but in its rapid bobs, weaves and jabs, the sadly overlooked God Hand. The other, focused more on kicks, has its roots in capoeira, but it equally calls to mind Street Fighter V’s Ken. There are moments where Devil May Cry 5 feels like a kind of Capcom uber-game, a collation and celebration of some of its finest work delivered in dazzling style. Director Hideaki Itsuno acknowledges the references, then downplays them, and then acknowledges them again: “The Balrog is absolutely a