Finished this for the first time last night on "Devil Hunter" mode and have started slogging through "Son of Sparda" mode.
Having played through the story I think that I can safely say that the quality of storytelling on offer in this reboot is leaps-and-bounds better than that of any previous installment. Sure, Dante starts out as a bit of a douchebag who only wants to get by in life whilst having an absolute blast (opening sequence consists of Dante chilling in a nightclub before taking two women back to his place and getting laid) but as the story progresses players begin to see him becoming, both personally and physically*, like the Dante we know from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening.
I felt that the use of cognitive dissonance (where the player thinks a story is addressing their character but is really addressing themselves) throughout the story, portrayed through the use of "Modern Evil" really worked well in this rebooted universe. It actually got me feeling slightly uncomfortable at times where I saw a sequence where a newscaster was ranting about 'Terrorists' and how they 'should be put down like animals' only for me to turn on the news later that same evening to see allusions to the same. The references, some subtle and some not-so-subtle, towards things like a corrupt banking system, radicalism in media (the references to FOX NEWS and O'Reilly are too blatant to miss), and rampant consumerism all fit in well with the wider story.
The combat is signature Devil May Cry with some nice improvements. By default Dante is in 'Human Mode' and uses his sword Rebellion but holding down either LT or RT changes his weapon to either an Angel or Demon Weapon. Angel weapons (Osiris Scythe and Aquila Chakram) are fast-hitters and are excellent for crowd control whereas Demon weapons (Arbiter Axe and Eryx Gauntlets) are slow-hitters but pack serious damage and will shatter enemy shields. Changing between these weapons on the fly is very easy and opens up possibilities for some absolutely insane combos and any savvy player will be able to achieve S ~ SSS combos with relative ease, on the easier difficulties anyway**. Combat gets extremely hard on any setting above Nephilim mode as enemies on Son of Sparda or Dante must Die will victimize you; they have access to new moves, all become capable of reacting and countering your moves if you get too repetitive - you need to go big or go home.
The sound track is pretty good as well. You will be hard-done-by to find any sort of orchestral of choir music anywhere in here but the series staples of rock and metal have survived, this time accompanied by aggro-tech and some trance.
Overall, fantastic game. Easily on par with Devil May Cry 3 if not slightly better in some respects.
8/10.
What did you think of it?
Ending Discussion
I felt that the ending was slightly rushed and unless it is elaborated on through DLC and/or new titles I will be pretty disappointed. Whilst it was good to see Ninja Theory respect previous series plot points such as Vergil's downfall I felt that they REALLY crowbarred Vergil's change in character in out of seemingly nowhere. You can totally see where this version of Dante will go from this point onwards however, with the demons of Limbo now exposed for the world to see Dante will have a reason to become a supernatural mercenary and open his firm "Devil May Cry". It wasn't explicitly stated whether or not Dante and Kat embarked on a relationship or not but the ending seemed to hint towards it.
* Spoiler about the Ending and Dante's looks: In the final battle against Vergil Dante is forced to use the full power of his Devil Trigger to overpower his brother. Whilst he is successful in overwhelming him and in coming extremely close to killing him the demonic energy released permanently turns his hair snowy white.
** Little note about the Aquila: You first get the Aquila around Mission 9 after you kill Bob Barbas of the Raptor News Network. On the easier difficulties such as Human and Devil Hunter the Aquila has two-move-combo which, provided enemies do not have shields, is impossible to block and racks up style points insanely fast. Buy-In followed by Tornado with 3-4 demons caught in it's vortex will put this look on your face.