CAPCOM is one of the third-party publishers that's been supporting the Nintendo Switch 2 the best, releasing excellent ports of many of its games powered by the proprietary RE Engine like Street Fighter 6, Resident Evil Requiem, and PRAGMATA. With Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition, the Japanese publisher truly worked its magic, pushing the system to its absolute hardware limits to deliver high framerates gameplay in handheld mode, which makes the platform's lack of docked Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support even more of a missed opportunity.
A new performance analysis and review shared by GVG ahead of the game's release today does an excellent job showcasing how well the port turned out. Not only it compares favorably to the original PlayStation 4 version in terms of image quality, but it surpasses it in terms of fluidity and responsivenesss, as, when the Switch 2 is set to a 120 Hz output, the game consistently runs in the 90-120 FPS range, which works flawlessly with the handheld mode's VRR support.
Unfortunately, as the Nintendo Switch 2 lacks VRR support in docked mode, those playing the game on a TV get the short end of the stick, although the game runs at a steady 60 FPS by disabling the 120 Hz output. Still, for an action game like Devil May Cry 5, high framerates make for a much more enjoyable experience, making the lack of VRR support in docked mode even more baffling.
In terms of features, Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition is on par with the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S releases, featuring the base game and all of the launch DLC, including Vergil as a playable character right from the get-go. The Legendary Dark Knight mode, which pits players against a larger number of enemies at once, remains a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S exclusive.
While it is understandable why it didn't make its way onto the Nintendo Switch 2, since a huge number of enemies on screen would have heavily taxed the system's CPU, it is still weird that it hasn't made its way to the PC version yet. Some Steam backend database movements suggested that something could have been brewing, but nothing has officially shown up yet.
Still, even without Legendary Dark Knight mode, Devil May Cry 5 is a game worth experiencing, and, in my opinion, one of the best entries in the franchise. Hopefully, it won't take much longer to learn how the series will continue following the departure of director Hideaki Itsuno, who led its development since the second entry in the series.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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