As someone who only dabbled with him in Devil May Cry 4, this made the initial learning curve a bit rough to get over early on, especially because most of his really useful moves are locked away in the shop once you start off. He doesn’t have a double jump that lets him easily escape bad situations he gets actively weaker whenever he gets hit, whiffs, or runs away due to the loss of his concentration meter and while he’s got a proper dodge and block, they require very strict timing to use effectively. If it’s not already apparent, Vergil is an extremely technical character. You can hold L1 to transfer devil trigger energy into his Sin Devil Trigger meter, and when it’s full, holding down L1 will transform Vergil into his demon form, which gives him health regeneration, powers up all of his existing moves, and some gnarly special attacks that deal ridiculous amounts of damage. If you’re upset about the loss of his demon form, don’t fret, because Vergil still has access to it, though this time it’s through his Sin Devil Trigger. It’s flashy as all hell, and has great utility since any enemies that are defeated with it drop green health orbs, but the animation is a bit long and gets a bit old for my personal liking. One other interesting new ability Vergil has is the ability to stab himself with his sword and switch places with V for a powerful attack that utilizes all of V’s summons. Nevertheless, being able to put on twice the damage for a short period of time is quite powerful. The doppelganger only uses the Yamato, regardless of the weapon Vergil is wielding, which can make it a little tricky to effectively utilize if you’re not also using the Yamato while the doppelganger is active. Now when he activates Devil Trigger, instead of taking on a demon form, he summons a doppelganger that will mimic his own actions.

The biggest change to Vergil’s gameplay in DMC 5 Special Edition is how he handles his Devil Trigger. The higher your concentration, the more effective each of your weapons become: the range and damage of Yamato will increase, Beowulf will be able to charge up an additional level to deal massive damage, and the Mirage Edge will take on multi-hit properties. If you start running around, missing wildly, or get hit, the gauge will plummet.

As such, if you’re standing still or walking slowly towards your enemies, the concentration meter will start to fill. He’s calm, collected, and above all else, precise in his movements and strikes. You see, Vergil is not the kind of character that would just rush head into action like Dante or Nero would.

Vergil theme dmc 5