Devil May Cry 4 is a stylish hack 'n slash; though, that's about all it's capable of pulling off.
The plot is, actually, decent; though, it's hardly worth any nomination for best plot. Basically, there is a young kid named Nero who possesses demonic powers; after a successful assassination attempt at his church, he's assigned to hunting down, and killing, his twin-brother: Dante. Though, throughout the game, none of the characters are memorable or enjoyable. They feel like cut and paste villains out of Batman films. Though, I give props to Nero; whose character felt, and resembled, like me.
Let's get down to the heart of the game: the game-play. It's stylish, it's quick, and it's entertaining. Sadly, the repetition quickly kills whatever enjoyment you're having with the game in about an hour. You fight the same enemies, arenas become predictable and are too frequent, and the game is unforgiving to newcomers. Devil May Cry 4 is difficult for those who haven't tried it before or haven't played it in a long time.
The achievements, in this game, are downright insane. You'll need to gain a lot of personal experience, hold a lot of patience, and spent an ungodly amount of time trying to obtain them. Basically, most of them have to do with difficulty - good luck with that, seriously. This game doesn't hold your hand; well, that is, if you skip the introductory tutorial. After, painfully, putting in those long four hours: I have four achievements, out of forty-six, worth a total of a whopping forty gamerscore. So, if you're an achievement whore, I'd recommend avoiding this game right away.
One, positive, note to add is the creative mixture of bosses. The enemy balancing that needs fixing in this game, though, is that bosses are actually easier than fighting the plain enemies. They provide no challenge, on the lower difficulty, and the balance feels way off.
For a game that came out, in like 2007, it looks pretty impressive. Though, some environments feel lifeless and empty. This also retracts from the experience. You'll fight in an abandoned castle surrounded by snow; you'll battle in a forest abundantly full of parasites; or you'll battle in a small town being invaded by scarecrows.
Overall, Devil May Cry 4 is a stylish hack 'n slash; though, that's about all it's capable of pulling off. Which is disappointing; considering how much I wanted to enjoy this game. Granted, a six out of ten is still a pass, though, it could have done much better than that in my opinion. If the game-play wasn't so mind-numbingly repetitive, downright frustrating and difficult, and almost impossible to obtain any achievements - that would be the start of a better, more solidly developed, game.