I was talking Psychonauts and God Hand, not MGR but since you brought it up, I might aswell talk about it.
I personally prefer MGR over DmC because it felt more of a solid game with solid combat. It got flaws though that holds it back. No instant weapon switching (Having to stand still just to go into the submenu and change weapon is just retarded), annoying camera, few bosses, weapons with few moves (Sai is only used as transportation and to stun enemies, very lacking) and a bit shorter game than I wanted it to be.
However, even though it got few bosses, every one was fun and challenging to fight. You mentioned earlier that DmC bosses were more "epic" in their representation due to the scale of the fights and the bosses. While that is true, they didn't back that up with much gameplay wise since some bosses were just **** easy (for example, Mundus and Succubus). MGR bosses on the other hand were harder and challenging.
DmC is a good game but I feel that it didn't do a very good job being a "DMC" game due it being easier than previous games DMC3/4, even on SoS and DMD difficulties.
MGR might not be a fantastic game but to me personally, it's a great game. DmC is not a great but a good game.
I give MGR 8/10 and DmC 7/10.
And in just 4 lines I thought Hollow Dante to be more entertaining than DmC Dante. If DmC Dante kept that asshole attitude the entire game, I think I would have found him more entertaining through DmC.