Well, I finished it today. I can honestly say it's my favorite in the series. It hit all the necessary story beats we're familiar with from the first 4 games but put its own spin on it and, honestly, where the story ends up isn't as far away from the originals as you'd think based on first looks/impressions. Plus it's just fun as all hell.
I was struggling to think of just who Dante reminds me of, but I finally figured it out today. He's very much like Peter Venkman in the Ghostbusters movies. Just with a dirtier mouth, obviously. The way he's written, his reactions to things, his general smartass attitude...it's almost spot-on Venkman. I wasn't expecting to like him as much as I do because all the pre-release stuff made him look like a surly brat, but he had a really good character arc. Both he and Vergil, really, but mainly Dante because it established him as a surprisingly heroic character. I'm really very impressed by the game, and a fan of Ninja Theory now. I went and picked up Enslaved today, looking forward to giving it a whirl because I hear it's fantastic.
