Nero is worse in 5 than 4

[XELNAGATYLER]

I used to think I hated Nero, but recently I've been paying more attention to his character in DMC4 and realised I don't hate him in that game at all, I just hate his DMC5 version.

Many criticise Nero in DMC4 for being emotional and the fact he loses his temper, but I ask, wouldn't you be the same if one of the few people who loved you was kidnapped? Nero has every right to act that way, and by the end of the game we see he has gone from being a boy to a man, a novice to a seasoned warrior that becomes more mature and accepts that his arm can be used for good. I don't feel like Nero learns anything in DMC5 as he spends the entire game bitching about being called deadweight and I found the cussing extremely cringe. I hated that he didn't seem to have a bunch of questions in his mind to ask Vergil too. It seems so rushed.

In DMC4 his design was way better, his outfit was less plain and he didn't dimension travel to the DmC universe to get his haircut. I'm guessing they made his hair shorter so he'd look more mature, but it doesn't suit him at all.

I'd even say Nero's gameplay is worse than 5 for people like me who are combo players. My reason for saying this is because I hate having to buy new breakers all the time and not being able to switch to a specific one I like. They should have took some inspiration from DMC3 and only allowed players to have four breakers at once, but with the ability to switch between them without them breaking. The new moves that are not linked to the breakers are great, I'm glad they're there, but they went about trying to improve Nero in the wrong way. Yes I could get mods, but I shouldn't have to rely on the community like that.

 

[DoomSlayer87_Sss]

I don't like nero at all, i tolerated him in 4 due to no choice and was hoping for 5 that he would grow and mature into a character i could like more like raiden did in mgs. Unfortunately in dmc5 nero was still a giant whinger and moaner but i prefer his combat to 4's at least.

 

[V's patron]

I didn't like Nero in either game but prefer him in the latter half of 5. He brings more to the table as a naive idealist and a team player than the tryhard wannabe delinquent he started out as.

it's easier to write him off as a wannabe Dante as his first impression felt too similar to how Dante was in DMC3. That undercuts him and makes him feel unnecessary. The original pitch of him being more like a upper class detective would've been better in the long run. It would be jarring but that would feel different to DMC3 Dante.

we have one smart aleck devil hunter with a sword and a gun....why do we need another? His only interesting relationship is with Vergil. Just give him a love of pizza and he's all set as Dante 2.0

I don't mind him being emotional in the beginning of 5 but I'd prefer him to be more cruel as a character. He lost an arm recently so he shouldn't be a nice guy. Having him be more vicious in a fight and desperate to win would be more fitting.

 

[Foxtrot94]

prefer him in the latter half of 5.

Sums up my thoughts pretty much.

The end of 5 does a decent enough job at showing him maturing a little bit more and setting the character up to evolve further in a future game.

In 4 his mission was intrinsically personal in nature, he was basically just caring to save Kyrie and very little else but I can buy him as a protector of the human world by the end of 5. To me that's a step up.

 

[XELNAGATYLER]

Sums up my thoughts pretty much.

The end of 5 does a decent enough job at showing him maturing a little bit more and setting the character up to evolve further in a future game.

In 4 his mission was intrinsically personal in nature, he was basically just caring to save Kyrie and very little else but I can buy him as a protector of the human world by the end of 5. To me that's a step up.

He already accepted himself as protector of the world at the end of 4

 

[Goldsickle]

I like the concept of Breakers being consumable that can bypass a lot of the enemy's attacks or abilities, allowing you to be invincible or even knock down large enemies (prompting developers to add a stun or launch animation for bosses).

But I'm indifferent to how they are implemented.
There is some fun in planning ahead and resupplying but I think what makes this a bother is due to all the loading screens you need to sit through in order to purchase and replenish supplies.

 

[V's patron]

He already accepted himself as protector of the world at the end of 4

I don't think that's his arc in either game. In the beginning of 4, he already committed to hunting demons for the Order and doesn't waver from that. I don't even think he even has an arc. His character largely feels the same from beginning to end. The closest he has to one is he accepts his demon arm by the end of the game.

A large problem with 4 as it feels like a first draft. It has potentially interesting ideas but doesnt do much with any of them. Some of that is because the development costs and time were cut, while the concept art shows them settling on a less interesting version of 4.

In comparison, 5 feels more focused on what its to say and has the stronger hook with Vergil coming back.

In 5 he has a few different ones but the easiest to follow is him going from lone wolf to team player.

 

[DoomSlayer87_Sss]

I actually think they missed an opportunity with nero (hear me out lol)

The devil bringer corrupts Nero due to him being more human than dante and vergil so less balance and control. Then it takes him over entirely and he still plants the tree in 5 and drains blood for power and eats the fruit while still being in possesion of yamato.

His bringer manifests into Urizen, and Dante seeks out vergil to take back yamato and help him bring nero back, the final fight has you play as vergil against nero and beat the corruption out of him by appealing to his humanity.

Only downside would be no V

For me that would have been a much better arc

 

[V's patron]

I actually think they missed an opportunity with nero (hear me out lol)

The devil bringer corrupts Nero due to him being more human than dante and vergil so less balance and control. Then it takes him over entirely and he still plants the tree in 5 and drains blood for power and eats the fruit while still being in possesion of yamato.

His bringer manifests into Urizen, and Dante seeks out vergil to take back yamato and help him bring nero back, the final fight has you play as vergil against nero and beat the corruption out of him by appealing to his humanity.

Only downside would be no V

For me that would have been a much better arc

You could have Urizen attack Fortuna and Nero fails to save everyone. Or nearly everyone as a few survivors remain but it's still a huge loss.

After losing, he's driven by revenge and steals the blood fruit, eating it to spite Urizen and using it as a way to even the scales. He kills Urizen at the halfway point and decides to be a more proactive savior than Dante or Sparda was.

So the rest of the game is the DMC crew trying to reign Nero in but Nero falls off that slippery slope and becomes too cruel to stop with words alone.

you could still keep V and have him be a human Vergil. Urizen is still Vergil's demon half. After Urizen dies, Vergil is stuck as V with his frail body. Even so, he decides to helps Dante stop Nero as his redemption.