Review

DmC: Devil May Cry

I Don’t Want To Be Young

DmC: Devil May Cry captures all the agony and ecstasy of growing up.

By Anthony John Agnello • January 22, 2013

The last time we met the demon hunter Dante as a young man was in Capcom’s Devil May Cry 3, a game notorious for its difficulty and absurd theatrics. This was a game about a dude who looked like 1970s Glenn Danzig fighting demonic jesters and eating pizza. Your activities included jumping 10 feet into the air from a crumbling skyscraper and hitting a ghost with a really sharp guitar. It was awesome, but it wasn’t really about anything. British developer Ninja Theory has now made its own portrait of the young man as a devil fighter in a reboot of the series, DmC: Devil May Cry. But rather than straight burlesque, this new game is about just how much it actually sucks to be young. It’s about as subtle as a rich kid’s quinceañera, but deep inside all the sweet combos is something true. It’s Catcher In The Rye by way of God of War.

DmC: Devil May Cry

In a world run by demons, Dante is the most dangerous kid alive because he isn’t human at all. He’s the son of an angel and a demon, meaning he’s the only one who can actually kill Mundus, a Laurence Tierney-looking demon who secretly rules Earth by controlling global debt and the media—and by keeping people addicted to energy drinks. Dante doesn’t give a damn about all that, though. At the beginning, Dante’s just a good-looking guy with superpowers and no friends. He spends his time doing what all good-looking boys do when they don’t give a damn about anything—he gets wasted and gets laid. Eventually, reality comes knocking. Mundus’ minions are hunting Dante whether he wants to fight them or not, so he grudgingly joins the fight for humanity’s freedom.

It’s a personal fight. Dante battles demons in Limbo, the spirit world that rests on top of the everyday. When the demons haunt Dante, the gray city around him warps into a neon hell where the bedevilments of adolescence—body image, authority, money—take physical shape. Posters for Virility, an energy drink, show buff models in the real world, but in Limbo, the models are sad and obese. Your surroundings can’t be trusted, either. When you infiltrate the Virility factory, its halls stretch and break, drawing the exit even farther away.

DmC: Devil May Cry

Every aspect of Dante’s world is lade bare like this in Limbo. TV news anchor Bob Barbas—a Sean Hannity proxy in the earthly sphere—presides over a prison of souls in the netherworld. Even if this take on the world, where everything is just an evil ploy to get you to submit to societal pressure, occasionally reminded me of hanging out with the goth kids at lunch during senior year, it’s so physical and rough that I always wanted to see more.

But while teen life is fraught, it can also be exhilarating, and DmC captures the thrill of youth, too. It feels great to lash out in Limbo. Dante is nimble in a fight, a sword can be transmogrified on the fly into other implements of destruction like scythes and axes, and the best way to put down demons is chaining together moves with all of those weapons like notes in a song. You get points for style, which you use to unlock new moves. DmC is never exhausting. It paces out these fights by interspersing brief scenes of magnetic dialogue and stretches of broken Limbo landscape where you jump and grapple-hook your way through.

DmC: Devil May Cry

It would be disappointing if Dante’s journey just culminated with a fight against a some building-sized monster. Of course, there is a building-sized monster at the end—what I’m saying is there’s something more. Dante gets the opportunity to avenge his parents in DmC, but more importantly, he finds himself giving a damn about things. Maturing. Revenge is fine, but winning the game means embracing your role as a member of a community. Felling a few titanic monsters is how this kid grows up.

Ninja Theory’s games have all explored finding your place in society. Heavenly Sword centered around a woman restrained by familial tradition. Enslaved: Journey To The West followed two characters as they struggled with conformity. Neither of those games felt human in the way that DmC does. Sword’s heroine was a mere plot device, and Enslaved’s lead characters, Monkey and Trip, were flat archetypes. Anyone who remembers the frustrating madness of becoming an adult may find something familiar in Dante’s trip. DmC captures the best and worst of growing up, and it leaves you with none of the scars.

DmC: Devil May Cry
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, (PC release scheduled for Jan. 25)
Reviewed on: PlayStation 3
Price: $60
Rating: M

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  • ItsTheShadsy

    Based only on a cursory read of other reviews, I had no idea the game
    had stories/themes like this. This was a genuinely refreshing
    perspective, and you never once harped on the superficial “His hair is different! He’s all emo! It’s not like it used to be!” narrative everyone else has taken. Thank you for actually talking about the game.

    • GaryX

      I’ve taken perverse pleasure in watching all the silly “super fans” freak out on the critics giving this game positive reviews. It’s like I’m drinking their tears.

      • Fluka

        Even better: the super fans who have given this new incarnation of Dante the witty sobriquet of “Donte.”

        • Spacemonkey Mafia

          I’m going to start referring to him as “Danke”, to say thanks for all the petty schadenfreude I’m wallowing in as a consequence of a developer having the temerity to tweak the unassailable aesthetic of the dying age of arena rock. 

        • Boonehams

          Or DINO, Dante in Name Only.

        • Citric

          Dino is also the name of a sweet Ferrari and a lovable dinosaur companion, so it’s a name I associate with sweet stuff.

      • rvb1023

        To be fair, outside of moronic complaints about the redesigned character (It’s a reboot morons) most of the naysayers have solid footing.

        -It runs at half the speed of the other games.
        -The combat has been slowed immensely.
        -To switch weapons is a hold effect rather than a simple button push, a really obnoxious trait taken from Heavenly Sword.

        • Bad Horse

          I actually found the shoulder hold a little more intuitive than the button-press method for some types of combos. But that game had all sorts of other things about it that were really, really goddamn annoying. 

        • Oxperiment

           @Bad_Horse:disqus  continue…

        • JohnnyLongtorso

          The thing that made me give up on Heavenly S-word was the quicktime event boss battles. Didn’t do it perfectly? Boss regenerates health! Have fun whittling away at the health until you get another chance to fail the quicktime event.

        • rvb1023

          @Oxperiment:disqus There really isn’t anything beyond that. Even positive reviews seem to indicate that this is true but are willing to look past it to see the new things NT brought, but if I were someone who played the game for it’s combat I imagine this game would be pretty boring  and simple.

        • Bad Horse

          @Oxperiment:disqus *SPOILERS FOR MEDIOCRE 5-YEAR OLD GAME* 
          I may have actually cheered when Kai was briefly hanged. And then she lived! Goddammit.

          *END SPOILERS*

          QTEs were way, way too brief, and missing them had way too severe of consequences. This is exactly why they’re not in fashion anymore.

          Not sure if it was always like this, but my 2009-vintage Slim had slowdown and sound artifacts galore, especially in the crowd battle scenes.

      • ricin_beans

        If there is one thing about DMC that needed to be jettissoned, it was the characterization of Dante.  I loved hacking things up, hated playing such a dorky parody of a “cool guy”.  Don’t know if this will be better in that sense or not, but I won’t miss the old version either way.

        • ComradePig

          If you’re looking for an escape from dorky ‘cool guys’…I have some bad news..

    • Citric

      I find it funny that a guy with a sensible haircut is somehow emo while a man with silver hair and dramatic bangs is not.

      Note: Emo has basically lost all meaning outside of haircuts for me.

      • PaganPoet

        Same here. Is it 2005 again?

      • Effigy_Power

        I still wonder if that was ever a thing.
        Wasn’t it just teens with goth haircuts and the blues?

        • http://www.avclub.com/users/merve,96925/ Merve

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo

          The term “emo” was originally used to describe a style of Washington DC hardcore punk. Who knows what the fuck it means nowadays?

        • Effigy_Power

          You really know how to ruin a perfectly nice guess with your dirty facts.

        • HobbesMkii

          Truly, Eff, if @Merve2:disqus has shown us one thing today, it’s that all life is suffering.

          *plays Paramore through tiny iPod speakers*

      • Boonehams

        I also find it funny that a man with a sensible haircut, white tanktop and black jeans is “gay”, while a guy with long, silver hair with dramatic bangs who wears brown leather pants, designer boots and a red leather jacket without a shirt is somehow not.

        • The Guilty Party

          See also Eddie Murphy in the 80s.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ChrisBrimstone Christian Brimo

       Yeah its amazing how immature gamers are. They’re angry the protagonist isn’t exactly like their fat selves.

  • Bad Horse

    So if Dante kills Mundus, do I not have to wake up so goddamn early? Because that’s the only way I’m gonna stop drinking Red Bull.

  • rvb1023

    I was never a huge DMC fan, maybe because, as Anthony said up there, it wasn’t really about anything. It was one of the most in-depth combat systems combined with cliched anime settings and writing that essentially moved you from room to room for the sake of combat. A friend of mine once compared it to a fighting game, only you play it by yourself.

    Then I played the demo for this game and I have to ask if the writing gets any better because it was terrible there. I know this series has never been a mark for writing but now that it is “about” something I really have to know.

    Ninja Theory’s games have always been rather meh for me. There heart is in the right place and they definitely recognize the potential for video games as a storytelling medium but so far all they have been able to produce is a few mediocre action games that really don’t play any better than a throwaway movie tie-in.

    • Citric

      One thing that they do really well is graphic design though. I really didn’t enjoy playing (the demo for) Enslaved, but it actually had bright colors and creative art. DmC also looks pretty, and I did enjoy the demo for that.

      • PaganPoet

        I liked Enslaved for all of its problems. And you’re right, for a game that takes in a post-apocalyptic world, it was refreshingly colorful and bright.

      • Enkidum

        I’m with @PaganPoet:disqus , I enjoyed playing Enslaved, although the massive plot holes and gameplay left quite a bit to be desired. What it did have was the best mo-cap I’ve seen in a game, ever. This almost redeemed the stupidity of the climbing parts of the game, which consisted of nothing, ever, except point your joystick towards the next glowing thing you can grab, but just looked so good you almost forgot it. And the facial capture and body postures made the emotions in the pretty trite cut scenes feel real. (I’ve mentioned this here a couple of times, but there’s a scene where Trip snuggles up to Monkey’s back as he’s driving her home, and the uncanny valley just disappears for a second – it looks like a teenager clutching on to the man she’s falling for.)

        And, yeah, the world was beautiful too.

        It sounds like this is another step forward for this general aspect of Ninja Theory’s skills. But I’d love to see this technical mastery tied to someone who knows how to write a story.

    • PaganPoet

      I like the games, as in, I have a fun time with them while I’m playing them. However, once they’re done, they’re done. They don’t stick with me as being particularly memorable. But, honestly, I feel the same way about the God of War series, and Bayonetta, and all the games that derived from this formula.
      The one exception was Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I know it got middling reviews, and many people complained that it was too generic, and didn’t have much in common with the Castlevania as a whole. I, however, adored that game. Not only was the gameplay perfected (that’s no button-masher, you have to fight defensively and with great timing), but the whole game had such a somber and bleak mood, sweeping music, beautiful graphics and music. I was not surprised that the game’s developers were Spanish, because the whole thing reminded me a lot of Pan’s Labyrinth, or the Devil’s Backbone, or other, similar Spanish fantasy/horror films.

      Kind of a tangent to go on, but…yeah. Devil May Cry games: fun while they last!

  • Spacemonkey Mafia

    Having never been invested in the franchise one way or another, I feel Ninja Theory didn’t take Dante’s redesign far enough.  Or, more accurately, they did, but scaled it back.
       When the first promo images emerged, I was far more intrigued than I’d ever been by a sallow, beaten-up Dante with a very self-destructive Sid Vicious vibe.  I liked the idea of the negative ramifications of all that untapped power and how there were real consequences of its squander and abuse.  Besides, not a lot of games really play around with an unattractive protagonist on a human scale.
       So it was a little disappointing to me to see they scaled that back and gave him more of a neutral bro look.
       But I haven’t played the game, so it’s possible that his bland attraction is appropriate for a story concerning his self-centered and debaucherous origins.   

    • caspiancomic

       Agree 100%. I played the DMC series but never really felt anything for it, so maybe my opinion “doesn’t count” or whatever, but the moment I saw the new Dante I thought he was such an obvious improvement over the original that surely the die-hard superfans were simply blinded by entrenched infatuation with the familiar. Old Dante was a generic beefcake with “COOL” hair and a surfer’s bod and a red leather trenchcoat and just felt like he was designed by a fifteen year old. When I saw that the new guy was going to be some sadsack bonebag I thought it was much more in keeping with how the character was always intended to be, before “COOL” got in the way: a self-loathing, hypocritical, all-powerful shithead. The new design carried the idea that this character isn’t nearly as cool as he thinks he is, which from a narrative perspective is way more interesting than a character who we’re supposed to think is COOL because he has white bangs.

      • Richard Mason

         I bought DMC3 years back and only just started playing it last month, and my god, is it the embodiment of everything terrible about 2000′s XTREME youth marketing. 

        The game’s fun enough, but the characters, their looks, lines, etc., etc., are completely insufferable.

        Thank god they gave it a makeover.

      • Destroy Him My Robots

        I disagree with that. I don’t care that much about either design, but the character makes sense as a cocky guy delivering goofy one-liners. After all, the game is about doing cool stuff. You’re launching enemies and juggling them mid-air until your “Dull!” combo is a “Stylish!” combo. How could “cool” have possibly gotten in the way when “cool” was the mission objective? What narrative sense makes implying he’s not as cool as he thinks when in between cutscenes I’m not only effortlessly beating up giant lava spiders, but trying to make it look as good as possible? Let’s not throw cohesion between gameplay and character out the window just to replace one silly notion of coolness with another. From what I’ve seen, both could have been designed by 15 year olds, one of them is just a bit gloomier and thinks profanity is edgy.

        • http://twitter.com/MikoSquiz Miko the Squiz

          The goofiness was the central foundation of DMC3. The opening scene had him killing demons with a pool break and backflipping off their heads while firing a gun with one hand and eating pizza with the other, screaming something about crazy parties. 

          He was supposed to be completely ridiculous, and toning it down seems like a weird move. They could’ve just made him less irritating without making him look like Generic Video Game Protagonist #2566, at least.

        • caspiancomic

           That’s a fair cop, I suppose what I was really trying to say is that I personally prefer the new direction. I understand that Dante was COOL, and deliberately so, and ridiculously so (as Miko points out), and I guess I just find the idea of deliberate stylish excess and thematic shallowness to be a bit tiring. With the new design (of not only the character, but the game as a whole from the sounds of things) Ninja Theory seems to be shooting for a bit of sincerity rather than detached COOLness, which I think is more difficult to pull off and requires more courage to attempt.

          But you’re right in the end: all we’ve really done is trade one COOL for another, and if I happen to personally feel we’ve gained for the exchange, well, bully for me. Cheers for the reply.

    • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

      I was a big fan of the 2001 original. And I like the reboot too. But you’re right. They were a little chicken. Then again the fan reaction to those original trailers wan’t exactly balanced either.

      It would have been interesting to see what would have went down with a Dante that was completely different rather than a more serious version of the old one.

  • JokersNuts

    The trailer for this game made me want to stay as far away as possible.  Looked like an Action Movie by way of Uwe Bol combined with all the macho angsty cliche bull that kids think is cool.  I also found Dante’s updated look and the updated rebootyness of the plot to just be less interesting than the original.
    Maybe the gameplay is good, but it seems like they haven’t made a fun game for this series since the first one. 

  • ChicaneryTheYounger

    This redesign is better ’cause I’d rather have sex with this one.

    I can give in to my base urges on occasion.

    • PaganPoet

      I was going to post something like this, but I figured GS commenters were getting tired of hearing about with which which video game characters I so would.

      On a related note, I found out who the face model is for ME’s Kaidan Alenko, a model named Luciano Costa: http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/128/ac8a0709b30d4fc781bcb603625850bf/l.jpg I take two, please.

      • ChicaneryTheYounger

         Bar the big ass forehead, yeah, I wouldn’t mind a go. He’s probably straight though.

        • PaganPoet

          I dunno, that is Instinct magazine. :shrug: I’d make him dress up in a skin-tight N7 uniform and play out every gaymer’s fantasy.

      • Fluka

        Holy shit!  Kaidan Alenko’s hair exists in the real world!

        • PaganPoet

          I actually do that hairstyle myself a lot. All it takes is a blow dryer and a liberal application of pomade.

          truth be told, I actually look quite a bit like that guy, just not as good looking. Maybe I like him because he’s a perfect version of me.

      • ChicaneryTheYounger

        “I’d make him dress up in a skin-tight N7 uniform”
        Latex?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anthony-John-Agnello/1362601810 Anthony John Agnello

      Yeah, my wife won’t stop talking about how hot the game menu screen is:

      http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/DmC-Devil-May-Cry-Screenshot-182-637×325.jpg

      God damn good looking video game protagonist.

      • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

        It is pretty awesome

    • http://www.facebook.com/ChrisBrimstone Christian Brimo

       Maybe that’s why so many guys hate it. They’re threatened

  • UndKeineEier
    • Fluka

      Teeheehee!

    • Fyodor Douchetoevsky

      Oh man, that petition description is hilarious. It reads like a second grade book report.

      Thanks for this.

    • ItsTheShadsy

      “This game is violating our rights as a consumers.”

      WE THE GAMER-AMERICANS must cast of our bonds of voluntary $60 oppression!

    • JohnnyLongtorso

       Fanboys May Cry

    • Fixda Fernback

      Jesus fuck… what??? How the fuck does this existing “violate our rights to have a choice between the original’s or the reboot”? Doesn’t the mere implication of there being a choice sort of hinge on the fact that there are things from which to choose (i.e. reboot or original)??!? 

      FUCK YOU GAMING COMMUNITYYYYYYYYYYY ARGGGHHHHHHH
      *rips hair from scalp, one fistful at a time*

  • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

    I really liked this new incarnation of DMC. But one element I’d like to see return from the original is the enemy count. In the first game you typically fought a small amount of really tough enemies. But in every game after that it’s been wave after wave of easier ones. 

    I liked the intense personal combat more. You only really get that in this game with those samurai demons. 

  • STOP_RIGHT_THERE_CRIMINAL_SCUM

    can someone give me an estimate how long this game is?

    • JohnnyLongtorso

      I’m about 3/4 of the way through and I think it’s taken me about 5-6 hours to get to that point. However, I’m playing on the easiest difficulty, so I haven’t died/restarted much, and I haven’t tried to hunt down the keys/secret missions/other collectibles.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anthony-John-Agnello/1362601810 Anthony John Agnello

        I played on Demon Hunter, the default difficulty, while doing a good number of the optional missions and looking for stuff. Took me about 11 hours total.

        • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

          It took me 8 hours to beat the game on Nephelim , which I actually found to be a little too easy. But I’m used to the ridiculous difficulty of the original series.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

      The story’s not too long but it has good replay value.
      That and 5-7 total unlockable difficulty levels.

      5-7 (the first three settings you start out with could be counted as separate but after clearing any of them you unlock the new one so I’d count it as 5.)

  • Someguy2323

    I can’t stand the redesign, and I’ll most likely avoid this game like the plague. The whole point of the original DMC was that Kamiya obviously thought the 80′s were cool, and cool enough to prevail in the 2000s. The love for the 80′s can be seen in the character design that harkens back to classic 80′s action heroes, the hard rock soundtrack, and the old school Castlevania gameplay. Which is why this reboot is a slap in the face. By Nolan-fying the main character (and the game) Capcom is pretty much saying Kamiya’s whole point in the original DMC is now null and void and that the 80′s style is outdated. Which is why I just don’t like this having the DMC name. Why have the name and reboot something if you’re not going to honor its original spirit? No one said that the vision was perfect, but it was a singular vision that I thought was well done, and I actually still think it’s genius that the game is (was) a technical marvel despite being a throwback, and I love how it juxtaposes RE atmosphere with the idea that you’re the unstoppable force.

    Regardless, I should judge the game on its own merit. That said, the script looks dreadful and sophomoric and looks to come at me with all the nuance and subtlety of an angry 19 year old creative writing who just watched The Boondock Saints. The gameplay looks like a step down from DMC 3/4, but doesn’t look to carry the subtlety of DMC’s weapon dichotomy or the unique designs and patterns of its enemies. 

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

       Translation: Yes, i’m going to judge this game fairly. It’s a piece of shit.

      What the fuck are you talking about? the original DMC games had the most horrible confusing storylines i’ve ever heard of, terrible cliche character designs and personalities that could be summed up by a single adjective printed on a sock puppet. Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay was great but everything else was so mediocre.
      Example: I absolutely loved the combat in DMC 4 but the game had sooooo much backtracking and a storyline that I could’ve come up with while taking a shit. “Demon cult/mad scientist/evil priest/blah. Run around this castle and jungle for no reason and stab the guy to free that bit-titted damsel in distress.” That and Dante just seemed shoved in for practically no reason other than to make it a DMC game.

      And you have a nerve to call this story bad? The first one to actually try something intelligent? I may not be perfect but the story’s leagues better than any of its predecessors.

      I also like how you completely judged and dismissed the game without even playing it seeing as you used the phrase
      ‘the gameplay looks like’.
      And yeah….the previous DMC games were just overflowing with subtlety and intellect……..

      • Someguy2323

         What are you talking about? When did I refer to the story of any of the games? There largely non factors in the series, and I didn’t offer any praise of them. If you mean my script comment, then yes, the scenes I’ve seen from DmC look wholly unimpressive and dreadful. DMC 1/3 were no prizes themselves, but that’s largely due to the  fact that they were channeling 80′s movies which involves camp. Even so, they both knew when to quiet down and let a piano score and text do atmosphere work for them. DmC looks to knock me over the head with some message that they don’t have the depth or acumen to pull off minus the wink and nod style of the original series. I’ve never played 4 so say what you will about that.

        I may not be perfect but the story’s leagues better than any of its predecessors.

        Faint praise indeed.

        I also like how you completely judged and dismissed the game without even playing it seeing as you used the phrase
        ‘the gameplay looks like’.

        Well, pretty much all my trusted sources say it doesn’t touch the depth of 3, and from what I’ve seen, the game lacks the outstanding enemy design of DMC. I’m not sure I need to play it when seeing is believing and 60$ for something I already feel tepid about seems wasteful.

        And yeah….the previous DMC games were just overflowing with subtlety and intellect……..

        Yes…..they were. They were designed by Hideki Kamiya and Shinji Mikami, two of the leading video game developers responsible for Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Vanquish, and Bayonetta. They were largely involved with the idea of taking a Resident Evil atmosphere and blending it with a Castlevania design, and many of the genius combat decisions. Their absence is why I disapprove of DmC the most.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

          -You ragged on the new DMC story, that was my point. One you barely even know about seeing as:

          -You even admit to not playing it once so I don’t think you have any ground to judge it on.

          -You think the design style equates intelligence? and that’s why you won’t play it?That’s incredibly dumb based off a few screenshots. Why don’t you call the developers and tell them that unless every detail is built specifically to your demands its a shitty game.

          -Uh, the guy who created DMC was booted out after the first game. So by your logic, 2,3 and 4 also suck. I agree on 2 though.

          -The castlevania design over and over again gets incredibly tedious and dull. The new DMC environments in limbo are incredibly gorgeous like you’re thrown into a world of Inception.

          -In character design, story and personality wise the previous DMC series wasn’t intelligent at all. They  The new DMC has some actual character development because it actually tries to tell a story. Still kind of cheesy, but at least its trying.

          -If you think this is good character design I think you’re insane.
          http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/11400000/Devil-May-Cry-4-Characters-devil-may-cry-4-11415824-500-1100.jpg
          http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4676447163058031&pid=15.1
          -The new DMC has some great enemy designs and makes it so you have to fight creatively. Button mashing will kill you in  any difficulty setting. That doesn’t put it above the others, but don’t judge it as inferior.

          -You call the stories non-factors in the series but you include it on a list of why you hate the new game? That makes no sense.

          Finally -You’re comparing detailed moments from the previous series games to a game you haven’t even played and know barely anything about! …That makes absolutely no sense.

        • Someguy2323

          Nick-you seem a little lost on a couple of things. One, this thing called the internet exist, you may or may not be able to watch scenes from a game or reviews from a game through it. Two, non factor means that it didn’t play integral part of the overall package. I don’t have much to say about DMC stories, but I don’t remember them being as insultingly bad as DmC. DmC does seem to attempt more, but that doesn’t mean it is automatically successful. Three, you seem to be picking out elements and not looking at them. Kamiya and Mikami did leave after the original, but their recipe was heavily used in 3 where they were still apart of Capcom. When I say Castlevania, I don’t just mean Castlevania, but how it combined and melded with an RE aesthetic. You seem to be lost on the design portion. You’re just picking random pics from random games and missing the point of my original post. My point is that (in 1/3 at least) the designs were all there to give you a heavy 80′s feel which gives you a nice mix of nostalgia with some bold, new gameplay. Which is what I feel is the essence of DMC, the old and the new mixing together

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

          And I think you’re completely lost on the fact that you think you know the game in and out without experiencing it firsthand. You can’t review a game without playing it. That’s utter bullshit if you think you can.

          My point is, you don’t think it can be a good game unless they keep everything the same.You complained about it not being castlevania gothic, about the character design, about the makers and enemy and the lack of a simple story (because it’s bad apparently that they tried to make it better).
          You don’t even care about the finished project you only care about what visual details from the previous games didn’t get put in. And don’t try and argue me on that point because if you haven’t even bothered to play the game yet still decided its awful, any argument you make is bullshit.

        • Someguy2323

           I’m not sure what else to say. I’ve looked at previews both video and text of the game and I don’t like what I see. Your notion that I need to play the game first hand to confirm that I won’t like the game is asinine. There are plenty of other games I feel ambivalent about, and I won’t play those to confirm their low quality. I’m not reviewing game: I’m offering up why the game isn’t for me personally.

          You seem confused about what I said. When I say, “It lacks the great enemy design of DMC” that doesn’t mean I want the same enemies as DMC, but I want the same quality of enemy designs as DMC. As for my “soul” point in the original post, yes, that does mean keeping somethings the same, keeping somethings the same means it’s a DMC game, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be different in other areas.

          Obviously I care about more than just the visual details as I’ve said the story looks grating, and the combat looks like a complete downgrade.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

          I’m not saying you need to experience every game to know if you like it. Obviously there’s some genres I’m not going to like. But this one in the exact same genre as the previousthat you’re dismissing doesn’t make sense.
          And when you’re making detailed assumptions about the game such. Art design may be one thing but I think it’s absurd that you can judge the combat without playing it.
          That’s overreaching way too much on the information you’re given.
          Also, for most of the enemy designs and patterns, unless you followed a youtube section going through the entire game start to finish, you probably haven’t seen half of what they have to offer.
          Of course you have a couple boring ones like the ravager and bathos. But the good easily outweigh the bad with the harpy, tyrant, dreamrunner, butcher, witch and rage.
          http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4630843209744994&pid=15.1
          http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4590878538727626&pid=15.1
          http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4868835913564733&pid=15.1
          http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121220050614/devilmaycry/images/thumb/f/fb/Butcher.png/200px-Butcher.png

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

    This game gets tons of points just for handing over half the music to these guys.
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26AK2BgnDt0

    Jump to a minute in.

  • zhouxiansheng
  • Sergio Barrio

    I couldn’t disagree with this review more.

    I think you are confusing ‘simple narrative’ with meaning. The story of a shithead becoming less of a shithead is not exactly a statement on youth and maturity.

    Dante does awful things and acts like a child for most of the game and at the end is just confused and perhaps even less responsible than he began.

    Furthermore, you’re neglecting the entire appeal of the previous series. They weren’t good games because sweeping narratives or plots ripped off straight from They Live, they were mechanically interesting and complex action games that challenged the player to learn and adapt. Calling DmC an improvement because it eschews those systems in favor of a half-baked story about youth and rebellion is utter nonsense.
    DmC is an average game with a dreadful story and a title unworthy of its legacy. Stop pretending it’s anything else.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

      1. Yes, because killing hoards of demons = ‘awful things’. Name one awful thing he does. He never kills or even hurts a single human.
      2. The previous games plots were virtually non-existent and terrible.
      3. It’s not part of the old legacy. How hard is it to understand the word reboot. You fanboys would feel so much better if you’d stop comparing it to the old games and see it as a separate entity. And don’t give me the nonsense of you wouldn’t care if it didn’t borrow the name. It doesn’t do any disservice to the previous entries by holding onto the same name as it, once again, is a reboot, a new series, a new take. A different thing altogether in many aspects. It’s not trying to be the same game so don’t judge it as one.

      • Sergio Barrio

        I was talking about things like endorsing the murder of an unborn child and its mother or (spoilers) freeing humanity from bondage and shirking responsibility. He’s also just a bit of a cunt, no? I don’t want to play as that guy. I don’t even want to be around him.

        I didn’t say anything about the previous games having good stories, I said that wasn’t their point.

        I don’t agree that an author can just cry “reboot!” and wave a magic wand and it’s instantly okay that they ignore a myriad of aspects about the original that made it good to begin with.

        I mean, let’s look at some other examples. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a recent reboot. It maintains the tone of the original games, it pays homage here and there with iconic imagery and musical cues. It’s also a beautiful game with neat scenery and a grand-scale campaign. DmC does not do this. One of the few acknowledgements (I could find) comes early on:

        http://youtu.be/xwTu2bpcZ3w

        Haha, that other guy dressed like a dork, I’m so much cooler.

        Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is also pretty relevant. It’s a Western take on a typically Japanese series. Again, the tone is intact and even though the gameplay is pretty different, it keeps (and even amplifies) a lot of the strengths of the previous titles: psychological intrigue and character-driven story. DmC chose to focus on the story elements of a series that had “non-existent and terrible” plots.

        My point is, it doesn’t have to be the same game. But it doesn’t have to be a prick about it. Lords of Shadow and Shattered Memories did their own thing, but they used their established series as an asset instead of a loathsome burden. Like I said in my first comment, DmC is just average. But when the game and its creator are practically pointing at me and laughing, saying “Ha! You liked that dumb old thing? You must be a dumb idiot, this is WAY better!” I can’t help but cringe.

        Anyways, sorry if this got a little long.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

          You calling the new fans pricks when ‘fanboys’ haven’t shut up for 2 years about how terrible the game was going to be?

          You wonder why they included that white hair gag. For one, its a quick little joke and nothing more. And two, that’s because old fans went on a complete melodramatic neverending rampage over it. Why should they give into them?

          The new dante actually grows from being an a-hole and actually displays human emotions. You can actually connect to him. It’s called character development.

          Also, don’t use the kill unborn child thing which is a bunch of whiny bullshit fans have clung too as a reason to hate it. I’m guessing you haven’t played it because.
          1. Vergil shoots her, a demon who tried to kill dante multiple times.
          2. It’s a demon baby that tried to eat/crush dante.
          3. The baby looks like this, bigger than a garbage truck.http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130119230603/devilmaycry/images/0/01/Mundus_Spawn.jpg

          How terrible of them to stop that from ruling earth.

          Trying to create a better, or at least easier to understand, story doesn’t mean they forgot about the other parts.

          Also, he doesn’t shirk responsibility, he ends the game with the weight on his shoulders to protect earth. And he accepts it. He stand up to his brother because of his beliefs.
          You ignorance means you clearly interpreted it wrong or haven’t played the game and read it offhand somewhere. And I’m guessing its the later because you had to insert a clip out of context instead of talking about it. So good job judging a game you never played just like most of the fanboys.

        • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

          I would put DMC in the same place as Shattered Memories as a different take on a familiar experience (Shattered Memories is a lot better than anything that’s come out of the “real” continuity of that series since the early 00s).

          And seriously, the hair gag. I thought it was hilarious (and more foreshadowing than anything as Dante’s hair slowly goes white as the game progresses.) It’s called an origin story. Where people mad that Xavier had hair in X-Men First Class? And that Beast made a joke about shaving his head which he dismissed?

          The Daniel Craig Bond movies like to make cracks about the campier aspects of other versions of that character. I liked Goldeneye, but I wasn’t mad when in Skyfall Q mocked Bond’s expectation of getting an exploding pen.

    • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

      Dante starts the game of as a sardonic loaner on the run from demons, he only joins The Order out of the sheer desire for revenge. But though bonding with his new friends and getting a sense for just how messed up things are he ultimately comes to believe in the cause even more passionately than his allies. Insofar as he chooses to fight Vergil at the end. The Dante of the end of the game isn’t dishing out cocky one liners anymore. He’s in a state of existential despair. Growing up can be hard.

      What objectively bad things does Dante even do? He kills a bunch of demons! And he has a drunken one night stand at the start of the game. Because only awful people have drunken one night stands.The combat is great. This game is more forgiving than DMC 3. But it’s still fun.

  • http://www.facebook.com/henry.arrambide Henry Arrambide

    Cool, a review that focuses way too heavily on the game’s story, which is pretty much something MTV Studios would put out in collaboration with Joel Schumacher, if it were a movie. Probably with an original soundtrack put together by Dani Filth.  

    I mean sure, it meets the standard “character goes through changes” criteria that a story needs to qualify as “not bad”, and is loaded with lots of shallow symbolism that just reaffirms the exceptionality of the player, but let’s forget all that. 

    What’s up with the condescending mechanical design of this game? I don’t just mean the ultra-linear platforming busywork – which is just filler to move the player from expositional chokepoint to chokepoint. What I mean is the whole “Red Enemy – Red Weapon” and “Blue Enemy – Blue Weapon” combat system that reduces fighting into a series of excel spreadsheets. It’s a glorified game of putting the square peg in the square hole. Rather than ask the player to learn the intricacies of the mechanics, developing their own style, and participating in the game world, you’re just strung along in such a dull Pavlovian cycle of hitting red switches and blue switches. 

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

       1. I didn’t really understand anything you said in the first paragraph, but whatever.
      2. The switches challenges the player and makes it impossible to button mash. It makes it so they have to switch weapons within the battle and develop a strategy, killed the monotony some people would become accustom to of just using the same attacks over and over again. You needs different moves and weaponsd for different enemies. What’s wrong with that?

      • http://www.facebook.com/JamesMauriceAlexander James Alexander

        It may not sound bad, but in practice it is really annoying when you have to fight a crowd of enemies wherein some can only be hurt with certain weapons. It complicates your strategy in a way that does not add to the experience.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

           Well, a tad, but it’s supposed to complicate it somewhat. The whole purpose is to add to the difficulty and make the battle a little more varied. It does get annoying at times, but it is challenging and mixes the formula up which is the intent.

      • http://www.facebook.com/henry.arrambide Henry Arrambide

        Cool, you’re willfully ignorant of a multitude of things and love making strawmen! I didn’t mention button mashing; I was talking about the pavlovian conditioning the game relies on instead of challenging the player. It is extremely monotonous when the game throws a blue enemy or blue icon at you, followed up by a red enemy or red icon. You know exactly what to do, there is no challenge or strategy involved. 

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/5ZA2TEOS6WNCQDPCMOCWYUR64I Nick

          Yes, I’ve played through the game 3 times and that makes me ignorant apparently.
          How is it monotonous. It stops the player from doing the same thing over and over again. And of course you need a strategy especially when the throw in red and blue enemies at you at the same time, making it impossible to hurt them both with the same weapon. That makes it harder. So how is that not challenging?
          I prefer the rebellion and arbiter, but the game makes it so I can’t always use them do to blue enemies and shields(for the rebellion). It mixes it up along with the grab and pull parts used to disarm and jump close to enemies. It mixes it up. That’s not monotony.
          Also, I wouldn’t call the platforming of the red and blue pull monotonous. Yes, it does the same thing each time but you could say that about almost any aspect of any game for the most part. You just sound like your determined to hate the game and are latching onto dumb things to prove your point.