The game actually isn't bad (Speaking as someone who doesn't like it). It's playable and the combos are fun and easy to pull off, but I just don't like the games style.
I think the monsters aren't so much grotesque as ugly (there's a difference). The levels, the characters, they're all just really really ugly. I think that it was actually an intentional design choice, for which they should be congratulated, but compared to the aesthetic designs of the previous game, DmC just goes for unappealing. It's not just the characters that got a redesign, it's the whole game.
But I'll admit, it's much better than people would have you believe. It definitely didn't "ruin the franchise", but I think a lot of people are going to be turned off by its new direction; which is to name Dante the stereotypical "Chosen one" and have him kill things. Especially where before Dante wasn't special, he was just a half-demon who wanted to kill demons for revenge. It seems like a different game entirely, kind of like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was to Silent Hill 1, but a much better game.
