[First Impression] Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat, SSS Stylish Hack and Slash in Hand!

The rise of Devil May Cry through its fifth sequel has brought this franchise back as the king of the hack and slash genre. While waiting for the presence of the sixth series which may take a long time, Capcom continues to provide active support for this beloved franchise. Apart from the release of the latest version of Devil May Cry 5 and various by-products for it, they together with developer Yunchang Games have prepared a new mobile game entitled Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat.

Ahead of the game’s release in June, the developer happens to be holding a session final test which will last until early April. Taking advantage of the opportunity, we also happened to participate in the last beta to see the quality of the game firsthand. Will Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat be able to meet our expectations and the fans who are waiting for it? Check out a summary of our first impressions below.

“Remake” of Devil May Cry 3

As you can see from the trailer and screenshots of the promotion of the game, Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat is a game that brings many elements from Devil May Cry 3, especially from character design to Lady’s presence as the main heroine in the game. It’s not surprising indeed, because this game is indeed a “reimagined” version of the third series. Broadly speaking, the two are pretty much the same, it’s just that Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat brings a lot of new changes ranging from level design, enemies, bosses, to the presence of new antagonist characters.

The game can also be called a “remake”, because the old-school elements from Devil May Cry 3 have been remade in better quality. The clearest example is from the 3D character model which is indeed much more detailed and modern when compared to the PS2 version. Both veteran fans and newcomers alike can certainly appreciate the difference this game is trying to offer, and we think Yunchang Games managed to make a pretty solid reimagined version.

Apart from Devil May Cry 3, there is also a combination of elements from other games such as the Fortuna stage from Devil May Cry 4 to a UI style similar to Devil May Cry 5. It looks like a homunculus game, but at least the combination doesn’t seem forced and still make it natural.

Simpler and Grindy Gameplay

All Devil May Cry games are known to come with quite intense hack and slash gameplay. Aside from the Stylish Rank system that relies on smooth gameplay, executing combos in these games also requires extra hard work and can even feel like executing movesets in a fighting game. Especially for Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat, the game offers control options that are much more simplified but still have potential movesets and skills that are still maintained.

Simplified means that each command is arranged in a special button on the touchscreen, and you just need to combine attacks and maneuvers more easily. Even so, we still often made mistakes when trying to press one button and accidentally pressed another command, such as when we wanted to attack the enemy and accidentally jumped and so on. The position of the buttons that are close to each other takes time for players to get used to, especially for those who want to explore the gameplay more deeply and aim for the perfect score in each stage.

The motivation of the game in the game relies on an upgrade system that requires various special currencies. In addition to Red Orbs which can be obtained easily in all levels and when defeating enemies, there are some additional materials that can only be obtained by completing high-rank stages, progressing further, achievements, and many other side activities. This automatically makes the game feel more grindy, which is quite normal considering its status as a free mobile game.

In addition to offering single player game options, you will also be able to try multiplayer features such as Team Battle and PvP in real-time. This certainly adds to the replayability and extra fun in the game. Because it is a game that demands fast combo execution as we mentioned above, it will be very suitable of course to play this game with a controller.

How about the Microtransaction?

Honestly, we haven’t had a chance to touch the microtransaction section in it because this Beta access still uses Chinese and provides a few limitations. But if you look at the gameplay so far, the microtransactions that are brought may only include additional materials or money to unlock skills, costumes, and other side content. We hope this doesn’t get to the point of accessing online mode and making it feel like a P2W game. For that we should wait until the final release later in June.

Conclusion

Overall, the initial impression we got from Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat was mostly positive. This game managed to bring almost all the building elements of all previous Devil May Cry games. Despite its status as a mobile game, the gameplay foundation that is built really feels solid and even more comfortable than the early Devil May Cry series which still seem stiff and outdated. As long as this game doesn’t implement brutal microtransactions, we can see Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat as one of the best action games on mobile that you must watch.

When is the Game Released?

As for the release schedule, Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat will be available on Android and iOS on June 11. Please note that the new release is devoted to the Chinese region first. Information regarding the global release will likely follow in the future.

Be sure to stay up to date with other mobile game news on Gamerwk.