Devil's Third Reviews
If I could remove the poorly executed boss battles from the story mode, Devil's Third could have been a passable, albeit paltry, game. And while the multiplayer doesn't offer anything new and isn't overly populated, it can be fun for additional hours of gameplay. Your best bet is to wait for the game to fall in price before picking it up.
Today, Devil's Third is a fossil, its best ideas buried under layers of strata. And almost nobody has—or should have—the patience to dig them up.
Something is wrong when the only fun a game offers is by giving you the opportunity to laugh at its ineptitude
Devils Third has some ambitious and unique online gameplay, and at its core the campaign feels like an old brawler and shooting game from years ago, but it's games like these that make me appreciate the smaller titles or the underdogs that sit next to all the big budget titles. Devils Third is the embodiment of schlocky B action movies, and if players can associate with that style or old-school games, there is something of value to be found here. If everything read up until this point has you nodding in agreement or wanting to check this out, forget the numerical score, the $60 price tag might just be worth it. Otherwise wait for a price drop…if it ever happens.
Devil's Third is the videogame equivalent of a sad little erection from an old man whose mind has not aged with his depreciating body. At best, it's a curious relic from a bygone era of videogames in terms of both mechanics and attitude. At most, it's an ugly and boring game where the most interesting aspect is the prevalence an of inconsistent framerate despite looking like garbage.
After sensing a sinking ship, Valhalla Game Studios was smart to start development of the free-to-play PC version of Devil's Third. Multiplayer is easily the shining star of the experience, and I can see a lot of people picking it up with the right marketing. That day is not today though, and not with the Wii U version of the game.
While I enjoyed some of the characters and humor, the gameplay and story aren't really innovative or interesting.
Do I regret my time with Devil's Third? Yes I do.
The game clearly suffers from all the delays and change of engine, making it a technical mess. Still, if one can ignore those, this is a fun and challenging action game with a colorful cast of characters as long as one doesn't take them seriously.
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The Devil's Third is a hell of a lot of fun because it breaks every rule in the book. I would take that, technical warts an all, over the glistening and safe nonsense that we're exposed to from almost every other shooter out there.
Technically shambolic but appealing in an odd way
Devil's Third is not a complete disaster, but the troubled development process left us with a phantom of what this game truly was supposed to be. With that being said, I've had a lot of fun with what we got. Devil's Third is a rough experience with a lot of faults, but yet fun enough for a couple of sittings. This sword is unpolished, but it gets the job done.
Overall this feels pretty rushed for a Tomonobu Itagaki title – none of his Ninja Gaiden titles suffered from the same issues as this. The soldiers Ivan's teamed up with are a bunch of generic - almost cliché - and didn't add to the story, or help with bosses, making them fairly pointless. However, despite all that, it was fun, and in the end this could have been a great straight up beat 'em up if they had left out the shooter aspect.
Devil's Third might not be the cream of the crop when it comes to Wii U exclusives and may look a little rough around the edges due to its troublesome development, but there is a lot of fun to be had in both the single-player and online portions for those with an open mind and the ability to look past its rough exterior.
All in all, Devil's Third is a mixed bag on the Wii U that even with its graphical issues and at times flunky controls, there is some sort of decent game to be found, more so in multiplayer. Character designs are decent and some of the ways you dispatch your enemies is truly amazing but unfortunately some things like the frame rate or the wishy washy accuracy of the controls affect the single-player campaign. In conclusion, Devil's Third is buggy but does have a few shining moments, provided you can move past the inconsistencies.
Itagaki previously claimed that Devil's Third would be a revolutionary shooter, but I can now safely declare that statement to be laughable at best and highly delusional at worst. Devil's Third fails to be even an adequate game on almost every count, from its performance, to its gameplay, to its story and characterization.
With weak combat, useless violence, and pay-to-win multiplayer, Devil's Third is not worth your time.
Devil's Third is tricky to recommend, ultimately. There's undoubted fun to be had online, but at the same time this is an action game that sells Wii U gamers short. It's packed with good intentions and ambition, but Valhalla Game Studios was unable to execute its vision well enough. The devil is in the detail, and that's the problem.
After a long and troubled development history it's hard to describe Devil's Third as disappointing, but whatever genius Itagaki possessed when he made Dead or Alive 2 or Ninja Gaiden seems to have deserted him with this one.
With just five hours on the counter, barely anything gets time to truly sink in. Add to this the technical issues and the inconsistencies of the presentation and you have a game that could have benefited from a bit more playtesting.