A weekly newsletter about Star Wars, Video Game novels, and adjacent topics.
jessebartel.substack.com (https://jessebartel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
DEVIL MAY CRY 5: AKA MOTORCYCLE FOR HANDS SIMULATOR
Hello all!
This week Mitch and I discuss the absolutely brilliant, CINEMA (as the kids say), video game DEVIL MAY CRY 5. While it might be…almost 7 years old now, it was a new experience for Mitch and Me. And boy howdy am I glad we finally got around to it.
I was also playing the port of the Switch 2 edition and the performance is killer on that thing. Capcom broke into the Switch 2 architecture and has been delivering banger after banger port on the handheld. Replaying levels in handheld mode while traveling is a godsend. I highly recommend the S2 version if you need DMC on the go.
DMC5 was not without its controversy (controversy? on the internet?) with the inclusion of a new character named “V.” Unlike Nero and Dante, V’s combat style resembles that of a magic user where you control a panther, a hawk, and a golem to do your bidding. This requires the player to be at a distance from the action and learn an entirely different play style. Both Mitch and myself enjoyed V’s inclusion as it broke up the game because while Nero and Dante also play differently, they are similar.
DMC5 does its best to tie all the games together in a way that’s digestible and even includes a series summery video for newcomers. Funnily enough, they completely gloss over DMC2 but, I mean, obviously. The story, as wacky as it is, is followable and builds to a pretty bad ass moment that leaves the series at a point of optimism for its future.
Enjoy our musings on the game, the series, and everything else on our minds.
Our next podcast will be about HALO: CAMPAIGN EVOLVED
Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe (https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
30 Jun 2026
THE EVIL WITHIN 2 aka "WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER" Simulator
Hello all!
This week, Mitch (Dale Cooper) and I discuss THE EVIL WITHIN 2. This is fresh off our discussion of THE EVIL WITHIN which is a messy, flawed game but one I love regardless. THE EVIL WITHIN 2 is a game I like but I do feel like it lost sight of what made the debut so great.
Mitch and I start the show discussing TWIN PEAKS because I have been rewatching it with my girlfriend lately and Mitch decided to watch for the first time. We do not spoil anything!
Mitch also laments the end of DESTINY 2 and we discuss drama surrounding that. RIP to all Bungie employees laid off (like 400 of them jfc).
But back to the topic at hand…
THE EVIL WITHIN 2 finds returning main character Sebastian 3 years after the events of the first game as a drunken, depressed mess. After losing his daughter in a house fire and no longer being on the force, he is aimless. That is until Kidman shows up again and offers him a chance to JACK BACK INTO THE BIG BRAIN and maybe rescue his daughter?? The story follows a couple of twists and turns with antagonists in the form of a serial killer photographer, a religious fanatic and the corporation running STEM. But…it doesn’t quite have the narrative pull that the first game has. While messy and unpolished, there was something to the story of an abused child projecting this horror world. Now? It’s just like a military operation.
I don’t want to be all down on THE EVIL WITHIN 2 - I think the added polish to the gameplay allows the player to enjoy the moment to moment gameplay more. I was running it off an Xbox Series X and there is a boost to framerate and it was more enjoyable to play than when I first tackled it on the PS4 around release.
Speaking of release! The 2nd game was not directed by legend Shinji Mikami. He decided to take on a producer role which might be the reason why the game feels a little more…straightforward? But THE EVIL WITHIN 2 is far from a bad sequel or a bad game, it’s enjoyable but it just loses a little personality.
Let me know what you think of these two games and we will be back soon.
Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe (https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
1 May 2026
Podcast: THE EVIL WITHIN AKA The Green Gel Collection Simulator
Hello all,
We are diving back into THE EVIL WITHIN-verse since both Mitch and myself played it…probably around launch? That would be about 12 years ago now….
After Shinji Mikami worked on VANQUISH (https://jessebartel.substack.com/p/podcast-time-revisiting-vanquish) with his boys over at Platinum Games, he broke away to start his own studio: Tango Gameworks. TG would go on to develop wonderful games and finally fall victim to Microsoft’s "we’ll buy you but then close you” business practice. But we don’t have to talk about that now.
Tango Gameworks ran out of money quickly after they first got started and reached a deal with ZeniMax (the Bethesda parent company). With an injection of cash flow, Mikami and team got to work on THE EVIL WITHIN which may be seen as Mikami’s reluctant journey back into the survival-horror genre. If you don’t know, Mikami was the director for RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL 4 and seen as the grandfather of popularizing that style of game. Whether he wanted to or not, Shinji returned with THE EVIL WITHIN in 2014 and it was met with mixed reviews.
Many praised the game for its ambition, mood and action sequences but critics/gamers became hung up on the performance and at times, frustrating game design. Critics were also mixed on the aspect ratio the game is in. The letterbox format was never a problem for me but I remember the online chatter at the time taking issue with it.
Returning to THE EVIL WITHIN 12 years later I found I still enjoyed it but was less patient with its clunkiness and poor visual fidelity. It’s an ugly game that reminds me of those Nintendo Switch ports where everything is blurry (I played this time on my Xbox Series X - not sure how PC version looks). But outside of that and a couple of “whoops you died unexpectedly” set backs, I actually found myself engrossed in the story more so this time around. Maybe because I knew the game goes off the rails that those expectations allowed me to grasp what was going on.
THE EVIL WITHIN is a clunky boy but one I still have fondness for. I praise Mikami’s ambition here to make a game both familiar and wildly imaginative. Mitch and I had such a great time again that we will be going back to play THE EVIL WITHIN 2 which Mikami was not the director of and it was also a bit of a departure from the first game in terms of its structure. I remember liking it but let’s see if it has aged well.
Another fun fact - the asylum in THE EVIL WITHIN was based of the Winchester Mystery House. If you don’t know anything about that place, GOOGLE IT but here is a picture.
Until next time, enjoy video games while you can still afford them!
Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe (https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Contact Damage Per Podcast
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Damage Per Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
