The demo isn't the beginning of the game. The full release will also have a practice mode.
The series is big on creativity, finding your style, and learning the intricacies on your own. Kinda like a fighting game where you can get through just doing the basics, but you've only just scratched the surface.
That's a pretty good comparison, so thank you for that.
I know the combat in Spider-Man isn't nearly as involved as DMC, but I felt like that game did an excellent job teaching you all the game's mechanics, while also letting you get creative on your own, without feeling like you weren't playing the game right. DMCV, on the other hand, puts a lot of visual information on the screen without much context. The popups were helpful, but then I see the breakers in the bottom right corner and am left wondering how to select which one I want to use.
I've gotten a bunch of replies to my original post, so I just want to clarify something. I've played DMC 1-4, and know how those games work and how they reward creativity. I'm used to unlocking abilities and learning new mechanics as the game progresses. I know they have high replay value, especially once you master the combat. I'm also in huge favor of games not holding your hand and letting you figure things out. I'm a huge advocate for the Souls series in that regard.
What I'm trying to say is that this demo puts a bit too much visual information on the screen and does a poor job explaining it all. As someone who hasn't played a DMC since 4's release, I felt totally lost with the combat in this demo. Why is more than 1 breaker shown in the bottom right corner, if you can't select which one you want to use? You aren't told that you need to use one to get to the next one in the lineup. Virtually no explanation is given for the revving system until way later in the demo, so you're left hitting L2 wondering what you're actually doing for yourself.
I felt this demo was catered towards DMC experts, while not doing enough to try to teach non-experts the deeper mechanics of the game. Just because a game's combat is deep doesn't mean the game shouldn't try to teach it to you. As someone who has played fighting games competitively, and sunk hundreds of hours into multiple titles, I can respect having to learn and master the game's mechanics. That said, I still don't think it's crazy to think that a game should do more to teach players.
Hopefully this is done better in the retail release.
