Miss Devil May Cry as much as I do? Maybe these games will help.

I miss Devil May Cry a lot. I miss juggling enemies with a wide variety of weapons, barely dodging attacks and trying to find openings, that rocking soundtrack getting me in the fighting mood, and balancing all of that with not only the charismatic Dante and company, but also a grading system that motivated me to play the stages over and over again. There hasn’t been a new main entry game in over eight years, barring the remastered version of DMC4. And while the rebooted DmC: Devil May Cry went well with critics, it split the fan-base, and there doesn’t seem to be a sequel for it even after all these years. And I didn't like the direction it went anyway.

There are also only rumors for now about a new Devil May Cry game, with nothing else to back it up. Even the father of Devil May Cry, Hideki Kamiya, had wanted to make a game where Dante and Bayonetta teamed up together. But there’s only so much teasing and wishing that can happen before someone eventually wants to scratch that inner devil and make themselves cry with difficulty. So here are some games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta that will hopefully satisfy that urge. I won’t mention Bayonetta howeve,r since it’s likely you are already playing that, like I am! If not, I definitely recommend both games.

So let’s rock, baby! These are five games similar to Devil May Cry!

5. God of War series

I hear a lot of times God of War tries to rip off Devil May Cry, though aside from fast combos, there aren’t a ton of similarities. Even so, this is still a fun series to get invested in, with plenty of great boss fights and challenges ahead! You play as Kratos, a Spartan who fights on behalf of the Greek gods in order to rid himself of the nightmares he has after being tricked into killing his family by the God of War, Ares. There are other stories, but the gist of it is this: angry dude smashes faces of godly deities and giant monsters.

However, the gameplay is more than just striking hard and fast with your blades. Some of the games offer different weapons, though none feel quite as satisfying as Kratos’ iconic dual chain-swords. There are also many spells that grow stronger and sometimes even act a bit differently when upgraded. When the game has no combat to offer, you can expect a lot of time devoted to some surprisingly good puzzles and platforming, some of which may even stump you!

While not as fast as other games on this list, the original God of War does still possess quite an epic scope to its story, and the third game is just epic all around. Personally, I recommend God of War 1, 2, and Chains of Olympus, as I feel those are some of the best the series have to offer -- mainly 1 and Chains of Olympus for their stories.

The series is difficult, but not unbearably so, which is why it’s lower on the list. In fact, it relies a lot on quick-time events to execute finishers, and the button mashing is particularly demanding in the first game. The harder difficulties still prove a challenge though, especially with challenge rooms to put your skill and patience to the ultimate test, and all to gain new stuff as well. If you don’t mind playing a gorier and more slow-paced action game, the God of War series might be the right pick for you. (Especially now that we have God of War 4 to look forward to.)

4. Ninja Gaiden series

Of all the games on this list, it’s hard to list one as hard as Ninja Gaiden. That’s mainly because the other games tend to have something to make them easier or have more RPG elements. Not so much with this one, and it’s all the more brutal with this game series. Hell, the first boss in the first Ninja Gaiden is apparently one of the hardest bosses in history. I heard horror stories about how brutal this game was, but I tried to play the second game in the series...and eventually got my ass handed to me hard.

What this game does have is fast platforming, multiple weapons (ranging from scythes, to gauntlets, to so much more), and punishing difficulty that is nearly guaranteed to make you cry. I consider these games significantly harder than Devil May Cry! There is, however, the inclusion of long-range combat against certain bosses, which I honestly didn’t enjoy and quickly threw me off. It’s also a game not focused much on style, but speed and action. Finish the foe hard and fast, or they’ll do that to you. And some of the boss designs for these demons are pretty damn amazing!

While the first two games are heavily praised, the third one unfortunately failed to gain the same kind of attention due to a dramatic decrease in difficulty and taking away the use of multiple weapons as well. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge tries to improve on the original, and adds in much more, but it may be a safer bet to stick to the first two games. And if you already have played them, try playing the original Ninja Gaiden games on SNES. But even I am not that brave, for I like to not break my controllers.

3. Muramasa: Rebirth

Now if you want a much faster Odin Sphere-like game (art style at least), look no further than this! In Muramasa, you play as two different characters with different storylines, and eventually different endings. While I only ever completed one of the story modes, I can certainly tell you that playing this on normal mode is no easy feat. Enemies hit hard and fast, you have limits as to when you can recover health, and your swords can even break temporarily. The game revolves around you jumping, dashing, and rolling about to achieve high combos to dispatch foes. Each sword is not just useful for their overall attack power, but in special moves that you can pull off as well. Some are ability boosts, and others can be useful techniques to hit multiple foes!

But these do come at the price of your sword’s durability, which works like MP and drains more when you block attacks. At that point, that particular sword is unable to be used temporarily. Luckily you can switch between three swords, and they are classified as two types: short and long. Short blades are naturally faster, while long swords are stronger, and both perform a bit differently -- especially depending on which character you are focusing on. In order to recover durability, you would need to use other swords, so it’s even more important to keep switching and upgrading weapons.

The game does have a much easier mode in case the main game becomes too hard...which is what I eventually had to downgrade to due to sucking hard. Make no mistake, you cannot and should not let your guard down for even a microsecond. With a ton of swords to collect, two stories to go through, and even more characters to play as via DLC, Muramasa is certainly a game worthy to be considered by DMC fans! It's only available on the Vita and Wii -- but I recommend the Vita version, as it's an updated version and the only one with the DLC.

2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Truth be told, I never played the full game due to lacking money. But after playing the demo, seeing a couple of playthroughs, and even the Death Battle between Raiden and Wolverine, I wish I had! Metal Gear Rising Revengeance doesn’t quite have the kind of story that could compare to other Metal Gear titles, but it more than makes up for it in the fast gameplay department.

You control Raiden from the Metal Gear Solid series after he has been upgraded to become a cyborg. Following some events in-game, and after throwing a frigging Metal Gear Ray before slicing it up to ribbons, he gains an even stronger body capable of some crazy stuff! You’ll be slicing the limbs of any and all enemies, in addition to doing combos. There’s even a special mode where you slow down time to slice off individual body parts, like trying to gain certain items to replenish your health and gauge to keep on slicing things up.

The game doesn’t hold back in the amount of gore or destruction it tries to deliver, either. I do not exaggerate when I say your enemies can be cut up into tiny pieces with your fast slicing skills! Also, the game tends to go all out with its ridiculousness, from the robot with a chainsaw as a tail, to the giant robot bosses, to even its final boss, who is simply amazing. Also, Raiden wearing a sombrero...and why would you NOT want that?

However, I never really liked how dodging was handled. It involves parrying enemy blows most of the time, as well as some quick-time events too. There are occasional stealth elements, but these are optional and not really worth it, so you can just go in swords-blazing. Even so, it’s harder to feel more badass than playing as this ultimate cyborg! Now...I just wish I had more cash to really play this insanity. And this was also done by Platinum Games too, the same people responsible for Bayonetta, if you just needed that extra incentive. And the soundtrack is to die for as well!

1. Viewtiful Joe series

If you haven’t played this series and you are a Devil May Cry fan, now is the time! Granted, you may wish Capcom picked this series back up too. Worked on by the same developer as Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe is a 2D side-scroller that relies on a lot of jumping and slowing down time to deal with foes. Seems easy, right? You could not be more wrong!

In order to upgrade, you need to gain points, which can mostly only be gained by hitting foes while in the slowdown feature, and it’s also necessary to deal with certain enemies. And it’s very easy to screw things up, as Joe moves slowly in this mode too. If the meter depletes, Joe is powered back down temporarily. You can also speed up time to deal with certain obstacles, and many other abilities later on are gained either through progression or buying them with in-game points. Not only that, but the bosses and enemies are pretty challenging too, so it’s all the more important to finish foes with style!

As tempting as it is to play on the Adults setting, there is no shame in trying the Kids difficulty. Because on Adults...the difficulty spikes pretty damn hard. That’s not to say there aren’t benefits to beating the game on higher difficulties, as they can unlock characters, like Joe’s girlfriend Sylvia, Alastor (the same demon who is Dante’s sword in the first DMC), or Captain Blue. And on the PS2 version, you can even unlock Dante, who has his own story mode.

Full of bright and colorful visuals, great combat and music, and even a kinda interesting story and hero, Viewtiful Joe 1 is a hard but fun experience. I still have to play the other games, but I can say with confidence that this series is worth a try for DMC fans! My only real gripe is the game does not enable subtitles, which would be great since I want to understand the conversations in this game.

What games do you play when you start to miss Devil May Cry? Let me know down in the comments!