Fuck me, thank you.
DMC peaked with the original. An all-round good game.
2 is trash we all know. Same as the reboot.
3 added fast weapon swap, the style switch system, generally the combat improved slightly. However, the strong art style and atmosphere of the original was degraded. the game is worse to look at than the original somehow. All DMCs suffer level design rehashing, but it became prevalent starting with 3. Additionally, the level design in any DMC is simply not as good as the original, even with the annoying swimming section it has. Music? Also much rehashing compared to the original. DMC1 also had some degree of platforming exploration and puzzle focus. Most of this is still present in the later games to varying degrees, but combat became the focus. Listen the combat is good but it's not THAT good. You mostly wail on easy copy-paste enemies with poorly telegraphed attacks racking up style meter for more orbs you don't really need with little danger (until you unlock later difficulties). Ninja Gaiden has better combat. Most fights right from the start are intense as fuck. Most common enemies will end you if you don't master the combat and quick. It's engaging from start to finish, while DMC is just a rhythm game disguised as combat UNTIL the boss fights. even the God of War trilogy lets you play on hard from the start, and actually poses a challenge consistently if you do so.
4. Again minor improvements to combat, but suffers all the same shit as 3 and some dialed up further, especially the rehashing.
5. There's an OK game in there somewhere. the anime shit originally very minimal in DMC1 has now peaked with 5 including a motocycle weapon that Dante dances a jam with jus cus, "how much convoluted nonsensical story do we care to add" is now peak, mysterious generic emo anime character Z is added to split up character development/progression even though he plays like shit. Level design is a straight line at this point, and when it opens up its rarely in interesting ways. Music? LOL it's now this pop trap dubstep trash:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpPaTM48h74
Series declined. Still some competent games at least, but it could have been so much more. and also less animu cringeyness too.
Ninja Gaiden (2004) is the peak of this genre. Sadly also another series that declined.
It's somewhat sad seeing you post this drivel Ash
If I didn't know you better I would say you're retarded, but since that isn't the case I'll go ahead and say you're being ignorant (and even a bit edgy to make this post more entertaining), or perhaps just misremembering them
So I'll start by reminding you that at the end of the day, DMC is
a fucking Brawler.
The gameplay (and specially the combat mechanics) and enemy design
are the end-all and be-all of the experience, the rest are details
Nice details that can definitively elevate or sour the whole experience sure, but still not the burning hot core that determines the game's final quality
And DMC5 is not only the best of the series in those regards but also one of the best in the genre
Now for DMC1, I do share the opinion that it is a good game and pleasant experience that should still be played despite its age
But dude take your fucking googles off...
As a 3D Brawler it's undeniably not a particularly good one
And even in its sort of RE exploration is not a very good game either - due it's structure of short missions with clear and explained goals and the fact that almost everything in the level but the right path get blocked off, it's pretty much impossible to get lost in any way
I don't know what you see in that game's platforming, when it's controls don't have enough precision to properly support it
By the way fuck off with saying DMC3 combat improvements are minor, not even shitposters at /v/ would say something this moronic
Also do you hate fun in video games?
Because chainsawing a demon with a motorcycle is fun
Calling it a rhythm however is the most stupid thing I've ever seen you write
Specially since this is a criticism you didn't lay down at Sekiro's feet
Even though in that game enemies can only be dealt with in very specific patterns, and its arsenal+moveset have a very limited range of purposes and highly restrictive usage
Design maladies which DMC doesn't suffer from, neither does Ninja Gaiden, neither does God Hand, neither does Bayonetta, neither does W101
But by your own dumb argument the above titles, which everyone with half a brain and some experience in the genre know are the best examples of it, are rhythm games
As for Ninja Gaiden
Go the replay the game again man...
You're exaggerating its qualities (or not remembering its defects)
I've completed Sigma 1 late last year (and been waiting for a good enough 360 emulator to play NG2)
What sullynathan said is true
NG boss design is shit - they're either "Simon says" type bosses, or so basic and generic that make you wish for a skip button, or the "human" bosses which the best thing you can say about them is that they don't suck
The regular enemies are the ones that are fun to fight but even them it's mostly the human ones as the monsters also greatly vary in design quality
Most of the time the difficulty doesn't come from the enemy design, but from the fact that every enemy has a hyper aggressive AI and deals a lot of damage - plus some attacks that have unclear or inconsistent rules and worst of all, absolutely no counters or defenses for (like the grab attacks Sully mentioned)
Another significant problems with NG is how every weapon has quite a few redundant moves, the lack of quick weapon switching discourages improvisation and, possibly the biggest fail, how the most basic move of the game is easily one of the most OP moves (talking about Flying Swallow)
Overall the Ninja Gaiden series hasn't realized it's full potential, so even it's best game is behind God Hand and Bayonetta as well
Finally, why are you complaining about unlockable difficulties in DMC and not in NG, or any other japanese action games?
Because in case you didn't notice,
every japanese action game does difficulty progression like that
It's how they like it, how they think replayability for these games should be like
The 1st run is meant to learn the game, unlock most shit and have a good time
Subsequent playtroughs are the ones for challenge
So bringing up God of War into this is just ridiculous man
This literally looks uglier than a nearly 30 y/o simple nintendo game.
The game looks fine
Shut up and fucking try it already
Tropical Freeze has great level design