Gaflima
Son of no one.
warcrow posted this on the Ars Technica Open Forum :
So I was fortunate enough to get some hands-on time with the new DMC (about 20 minutes) and then interview Gregory Lewickyj, Associate Producer (about 15 minutes) last Friday. Here are my impressions and the interview taken from my blog (incoming wall'o text!). Let me know what you think!
The new Dante doesn’t care what you think about him, his hairstyle or his choice in music—he just want’s to kick some demon ass. Capcom, however, does want you to care. They want you to give the new Dante a chance, and it shows. This was my initial thought after playing the new Devil May Cry and interviewing Associate Producer Gregory Lewickyj last Friday.
Hideaki Itsuno and his team are back, but this time they’re working with the fine folks over at Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West) to retool DMC. Why does Capcom feel the series needs a reboot? We can only guess, but the more important question is: Should you care? The simple answer is a resounding yes.
The vertical slice I played—focused mainly on a combat sequence in a burning city—was quite fun! I didn’t get to see everything the game has to offer (menus did not work), but I did notice there’s a dedicated evade button, a soft lock to enemies, a style meter and of course the new Angel/Demon modes. I admit it, I sort of cynically anticipated this game feeling awkward, making a desperate crawl towards Bayonetta’s style and mechanics. I’m happy to report I walked away not feel that way at all. It still feels like Devil May Cry, but better looking and…juicier. This is mainly due to the ability to quickly switch between Angel and Demon mode. Yes it can be done mid-flight, and there is no cooldown. So in a flash I was able to switch between the modes at the press of a trigger.
Let’s get on to the interview!
Mark: Hello!
Gregory: Hi! Right off the bat I should warn you I cannot talk too much about the game, however there are a few highlights we can hit.
Ok, you go first. What would you like to chat about?
Well one of the things we want to talk about is the work Ninja Theory is doing with Hideaki Itsuno and the rest of the Japanese team. He was involved with Devil May Cry 2, 3 and 4. So he’s also heavily involved with this new game and working very closely with those guys on a lot of different aspects of the game.
The other hit is the fluidity of going from Angel to Demon mode, and then back to combat to without. The different attacks and combos that can be done because of that, those are the highlights. We want to show people what’s in there. Were you able to experience that with you time with the game?
Oh yeah! From what I played it felt like you guys really nailed the vertical combat, which has always been the most interesting aspect of the combat for me in the series. It’s super-fast, responsive and engaging. In particular I really enjoyed the push/pull mechanics of the Angel and Demon modes. Real quick I’d like to chat a little bit about the tech, first. How much of it has migrated over from the previous games and how much of it is new? For what it’s worth I thought it looks fantastic.
So there are some behind the scenes things going on, with Hideaki Itsuno involved and some [traditional] Capcom qualities that go into some of the actual combat—those are there. But in terms of ones and zeros, there are some real differences there, but partially this is on the Unreal engine as well.
What about the motion capture technology Ninja Theory is sort of known for using?
We don’t have anything to say about that at this time.
I have to reiterate how good the vertical combat felt. It was easy enough to thrust an enemy into the air and then juggle him, however the difficulty slightly spiked when I tried to snap to another enemy mid-air to transition that combo. Most of the difficulty had to do with switching between the Angel and Devil modes in mid-air, because it requires holding down either L2 or R2 to stay in either mode. It wasn’t long however before I started pulling these combos off, but I also have experience with the series. I wonder how newcomers will adapt to this mechanic. Will they have the patience or tenacity to experiment? Are you guys at all concerned with that level of complexity for newcomers?
I think we’re actually really hopefully and positive that there’s going to be a lot there for the fans of the series, and also for those that are trying this out for the first time. I think there is a fun experience there for both groups.
Are the complexity of the controls slowly introduced to the player as one progresses through the game, or are the Angel and Devil modes all thrown at the player at once?
We can’t talk about that now.
Is there a leveling system in place?
Also not on the table for discussion.
I think the main thing here is we want to get [the game] into peoples hands for the first time and have them experience the fluidity of the combat, and get a sense of how it really feels. Hopefully people start to take away some positive things.
How smoothly did things go when Hideaki Itsuno and his team was introduced to the folks over at Ninja theory? Were things initially a little tense between the two teams? It sounds like a complicated situation; a new direction for the series, two teams coming together from for the first time with completely different backgrounds and then there’s the language barrier.
I just hope people give [the game] a chance. Come to the game with open eyes and see what’s here.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes to really help make sure the Japanese team is working with the Ninja Theory team on a lot of different notes. I’m hopeful fans of the series will be pleasantly surprised, and hopefully some new people can approach the series for the first time. It’s going to be a lot of fun! Kicking demon ass, I mean what’s more fun than that right?
How much of the old team is involved with the new Devil May Cry?
I don’t think I have a real answer for you with that. I just want to impress upon you and your readers some key figures: Hideaki Itsuno as the director, who was vitally involved with the 3 previous titles, and there are others.
How big is the Ninja theory team?
You know I don’t have details on that, but they’re sizable. It’s a triple-A title.
How was it, getting the Japanese team and Ninja Theory together to learn to work together cohesively?
There are a lot of challenges involved with that. Obviously the language [barrier] and making sure everyone is speaking in the same terms about the same things. I think there’s been a lot of fun there too. I think there’s been a lot of learning on both sides. Both teams have been really excited about it. I know some of the Ninja guys were really on board with having those guys come out and work with them. It’s been really productive. So, yes, there have been some challenges that go into that, and some have taken a little longer to iron out, but once we got there we got to a place where there is a lot of productivity going into those conversations. Both teams are really feeling they’re getting a new perspective on some of the problems being faced in the development process. You know, how one team might look at a certain problem and address it compared to how the other time might do it, and then hashing it out.
When are we going to see the game?
2012.
Thanks Greg, and good luck!
Thank you.
Hope you enjoyed!
