Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat is a spin-off entry in the Devil May Cry franchise, an Action RPG game with a Gacha monetization model. It's primarily developed by China-based NebulaJoy (previously known as YunchangGame) for the iOS and Android, but was greenlit by Capcom with acknowledgement from Hideaki Itsuno (the Japanese Director behind the previous Devil May Cry games) and assistance from the official Capcom Devil May Cry production team.
This game uses Dante, Lady, and Vergil's designs from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, but aside from that entry, it also uses plenty of aesthetic and Stylish Action gameplay elements from Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry, and Devil May Cry 5 while telling a different story apart from the worldbuilding already established in the past games. But because it was initially made for mobile phones, the game has simplified controls and mechanics compared to the more complex gameplay that's possible in the mainline entries.
Peak of Combat was first teased in China on 2017 and went under different names during development. After a series of open and closed beta tests held from 2019 onward, the game was released globally on January 10, 2024.
While it's also localized and dubbed in English, some recurring characters (like Vergil and Nero) have new voice actors than the ones who regularly played them in the "classic continuity" installments.
The game has an official English YouTube channel here
where it regularly uploaded various teasers, trailers, or behind-the-scenes videos.
Tropes for this game include:
- Adaptational Modesty: As seen in this video, the Nevan of this game wears a dress with long sleeves that still bares much of her cleavage and torso, but it's still a step-up from the (lack of) outfit that Nevan had from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (whose upper body is covered simply by her Godiva Hair).
- Advertising by Association: The "Calls from Hideaki Itsuno and Casey Edwards" video which was uploaded a day before the launch of Peak of Combat has Itsuno advertising Dragon's Dogma II before the end of his segment, which makes sense because he's a recurring series director for both the Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma IPs of Capcom.Itsuno: Please also pay more attention to "Dragon’s Dogma 2".
- Conflict Killer: The Cinematic Trailer has Lady shooting a rocket to break the Blade Lock between Dante and Vergil, causing the latter two to stop fighting. Then all three look at a huge figure towering near them, hinting at a more pressing threat.
- Crack in the Sky: In "The Rise of the King of Demons" trailer, the self-proclaimed King of Demons makes a grand entrance by creating a rift that cracks the sky in the background as if it was made of glass.
- Hit Stop: Officially-uploaded gameplay footage shows a dramatic slow-motion or complete halt of action when the diving attacks of Lady or Vergil hit their opponent.
- Instrument of Murder: The "Dante One-Man Show" trailer shows Dante fighting demons with an electric guitar weapon that has lightning powers, just like the original Nevan Devil Arm from Devil May Cry 3.
- Internal Homage:
- From the Cinematic Trailer:
- The shot of Dante and Vergil locking swords directly recreates a promotional artwork of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, specifically the one used as the Japanese cover of that game's Special Edition.
- The cutscene ends as a giant figure appears in the skies and slowly lifts its hands up. Not only does this figure look familiar, his pose resembles an artwork of Mundus from Devil May Cry.
- In Nero's first official trailer, his Unorthodox Reload of catching bullets with his revolver recreates his stylish reload from one of the early cutscenes of Devil May Cry 4.
- As seen in this music video for "Fire Inside", a cutscene camera briefly pans over the Rebellion on Dante's coat in a view similar to how the sword was shown behind Dante in the opening credits sequence of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series.
- From the Cinematic Trailer:
- Mythology Gag: From the various video clips uploaded in the Official YouTube channel alone, the cutscenes and marketing of this game reference a lot of things within the older Devil May Cry installments, most of which are nods to the franchise's songs, reused quotes, or homages that replicate previous scenes and moments. Some examples include:
- A cinematic cutscene that's frequently used to advertised the game shows Dante and Vergil battling it out in the rain, referencing a similar fight that took place atop the Temen-ni-gru tower in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. "Devils Never Cry", the main theme of DMC3, also plays during this cutscene to drive the reference even further.
- "Fire Inside", the English theme song that was specifically made for this game, has lyrics that mention "ebony" and "ivory" (in reference to Dante's named handguns), or "buried lights" (in reference to Vergil's "Bury the Light" theme song from Devil May Cry 5).
- A cinematic cutscene
- Once per Episode: Peak of Combat follows the series' recurring gag of Dante getting impaled through the chest by his own sword, as shown in the "Pluto" story trailer.
- Player Versus Player: As advertised in this trailer video, Peak of Combat has a PvP mode where you battle other players in real-time.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: "The Book of Demons Origin" trailer briefly tells the story of an invading demon lord who got trapped in a seal by Matriarch Matilda.
- Spectacular Spinning: In the Cinematic Trailer, Vergil leaps and spins his body along with his katana to try slicing Dante (which the latter completely blocks with his own sword).
