WARNING: I strongly advise acquiring a satiable drink or a bountiful snack. This is a LONG read.
Before I even discuss this, I should go on record and state that I don’t think there has ever been the “definitive, perfect DMC game.” Each game, for all of its strengths had been bogged down by tremendous weaknesses….and yes, that includes that recent, controversial reboot I’ve constantly white-knighted on numerous occasions. I still believe that the perfect, refined, and definitive Devil May Cry game has yet to made in the future.
But back to topic…
On a personal level, DMC4 and DmC are both locked in an extremely close tie for my favorite game in the series.
To me at least, DMC4 remedied everything that had ruined DMC3. The clunky controls and horrendous camera were demolished in favor of a smoother, fluid and more versatile combat experience. No longer was the player restricted to two guns, two Devil Arms and one Style. Now, all styles and weapons could be accessed on the fly, and without the hassle of going to a Divinity Statue. Not to mention, we had a second character, Nero, to shake things up a little…with his Devil Bringer and Red Queen demanding more consistent strikes and precise attacks, given how limited in range and power he was compared to Dante. And of course, the boundless production value poured into the game amplified the experience in just about every aspect. To this day, DMC4 remains the most lush and vibrant game in the series, with its detailed character designs, gorgeous cutscenes, and backdrops that all radiated a Renaissance Cathedral feeling, in the same way that DMC1’s backdrops were all designed around the tone of a Gothic Castle (which remains my favorite game in terms of locale). But the game still retains some of the lackluster elements of the series in its many attempts to omit them. The story is a classic DMC narrative in the sense that it’s a sporadic, nonsensical mess, with writing that’s only slightly better than the colossal trainwreck that was DMC3’s script. The game also has quite possibly the worst puzzle in the entire series…you all know which one I’m talking about, it’s not even worth mentioning. But, for all of its protruding flaws, the game still remains a diamond with rough edges in my eyes. The game had me backtracking and fighting the same enemies again, sure, but at least I was backtracking levels and fighting enemies that I liked. And for all of their two-dimensional prowess and underdevelopment, I found myself attached and invested in the characters of this particular game more than any other entry in the series…even Dante seemed less aggravating and more enjoyable in this game, and that’s saying a lot when you consider how much I despised the original Dante in all of his obnoxious and over-the-top glory.
Now, the funny story about DmC was that it’s what pulled me back into the series. It was announced at a time when I just wasn’t into the series anymore, long after I was burnt out on DMC4, the anime, and every non-canon novel that I hunted down. Sure, I was still a DMC fan, but I wasn’t an active one…one might even go as far to say I was retired. Then, a friend of mine sent me the game as a hasty Christmas present…and low and behold, I was Stinging and Prop-Shredding hordes of enemies like time hadn’t even past me by. The reboot itself was vastly different in tone and feel, its grungy and grotesque atmosphere actually rubbing me the right way…somehow reminding me of film favorites like Repo: The Genetic Opera, The Crow, and the recent Dredd reboot (ironic, considering Dredd’s writer, Alex Garland, participated in the creation of DmC’s story). Dante himself had undergone many extreme changes…and I’d be lying if I said I warmed up to him right away. But….with some much-needed signs of physical vulnerability, more grounded supernatural powers to make him seem less of a God-mode character, and an emotional range that far exceeded the Original Dante’s in every conceivable way, he actually became a more believable and relatable character. He got suspicious, fearful, disheartened, cocky, serious, argumentative…each fitting the situation well. And best of all, he had the kind of coarse and unlikable arrogance that the other characters were well aware and contemptuous of. From Vergil’s waning patience upon their first meeting, to Kat blatantly observing that “[Dante] doesn’t seem to care”, it’s clear that the other characters harbor as much disdain for Dante’s lack of authority and overall edginess. And that’s where the New Dante’s shining redeeming quality factors in, the one that (in my humble opinion) made him far superior to the DMC 1-3 Dante…he gets development. Over the course of the game, he does away with his old habits---he swears less as times go by, turns a stripper away and disregards with his lecherous activities, and starts caring about a cause and person outside of himself. By the end of the game, he seemed less like the foul-mouthed street urchin from Mission 1, and more like the respectable and mature Dante from DMC1 (whose presence was ousted by the insufferable frat kid in DMC3).
Is the reboot perfect? No…it isn’t, much like DMC4. And that’s why the two rival one another for my all-time favorite. They both are flawed and imperfect games, and could be fixed by a number of obvious and painless remedies (DmC’s most glaring faults being a more simplistic combat system, and having a restrictive plot tends to show gaping lapses in dialogue at times). They were also both hyped to death by their creators, even when the assets and the overall result didn’t back their claims up in the slightest. But a few shaky brushstrokes aren’t enough to render these masterful entries in the series as unfit to join the series whatsoever. I enjoyed both for their blazingly-smooth combat, their womb-penetratingly gorgeous aesthetics, bountiful attention to cutscenes, dismissal of grievous issues that have PLAGUED the series for the longest time (well, most of the issues), and above all….providing the best depictions of the Legendary Son of Sparda.
Before I even discuss this, I should go on record and state that I don’t think there has ever been the “definitive, perfect DMC game.” Each game, for all of its strengths had been bogged down by tremendous weaknesses….and yes, that includes that recent, controversial reboot I’ve constantly white-knighted on numerous occasions. I still believe that the perfect, refined, and definitive Devil May Cry game has yet to made in the future.
But back to topic…
On a personal level, DMC4 and DmC are both locked in an extremely close tie for my favorite game in the series.
To me at least, DMC4 remedied everything that had ruined DMC3. The clunky controls and horrendous camera were demolished in favor of a smoother, fluid and more versatile combat experience. No longer was the player restricted to two guns, two Devil Arms and one Style. Now, all styles and weapons could be accessed on the fly, and without the hassle of going to a Divinity Statue. Not to mention, we had a second character, Nero, to shake things up a little…with his Devil Bringer and Red Queen demanding more consistent strikes and precise attacks, given how limited in range and power he was compared to Dante. And of course, the boundless production value poured into the game amplified the experience in just about every aspect. To this day, DMC4 remains the most lush and vibrant game in the series, with its detailed character designs, gorgeous cutscenes, and backdrops that all radiated a Renaissance Cathedral feeling, in the same way that DMC1’s backdrops were all designed around the tone of a Gothic Castle (which remains my favorite game in terms of locale). But the game still retains some of the lackluster elements of the series in its many attempts to omit them. The story is a classic DMC narrative in the sense that it’s a sporadic, nonsensical mess, with writing that’s only slightly better than the colossal trainwreck that was DMC3’s script. The game also has quite possibly the worst puzzle in the entire series…you all know which one I’m talking about, it’s not even worth mentioning. But, for all of its protruding flaws, the game still remains a diamond with rough edges in my eyes. The game had me backtracking and fighting the same enemies again, sure, but at least I was backtracking levels and fighting enemies that I liked. And for all of their two-dimensional prowess and underdevelopment, I found myself attached and invested in the characters of this particular game more than any other entry in the series…even Dante seemed less aggravating and more enjoyable in this game, and that’s saying a lot when you consider how much I despised the original Dante in all of his obnoxious and over-the-top glory.
Now, the funny story about DmC was that it’s what pulled me back into the series. It was announced at a time when I just wasn’t into the series anymore, long after I was burnt out on DMC4, the anime, and every non-canon novel that I hunted down. Sure, I was still a DMC fan, but I wasn’t an active one…one might even go as far to say I was retired. Then, a friend of mine sent me the game as a hasty Christmas present…and low and behold, I was Stinging and Prop-Shredding hordes of enemies like time hadn’t even past me by. The reboot itself was vastly different in tone and feel, its grungy and grotesque atmosphere actually rubbing me the right way…somehow reminding me of film favorites like Repo: The Genetic Opera, The Crow, and the recent Dredd reboot (ironic, considering Dredd’s writer, Alex Garland, participated in the creation of DmC’s story). Dante himself had undergone many extreme changes…and I’d be lying if I said I warmed up to him right away. But….with some much-needed signs of physical vulnerability, more grounded supernatural powers to make him seem less of a God-mode character, and an emotional range that far exceeded the Original Dante’s in every conceivable way, he actually became a more believable and relatable character. He got suspicious, fearful, disheartened, cocky, serious, argumentative…each fitting the situation well. And best of all, he had the kind of coarse and unlikable arrogance that the other characters were well aware and contemptuous of. From Vergil’s waning patience upon their first meeting, to Kat blatantly observing that “[Dante] doesn’t seem to care”, it’s clear that the other characters harbor as much disdain for Dante’s lack of authority and overall edginess. And that’s where the New Dante’s shining redeeming quality factors in, the one that (in my humble opinion) made him far superior to the DMC 1-3 Dante…he gets development. Over the course of the game, he does away with his old habits---he swears less as times go by, turns a stripper away and disregards with his lecherous activities, and starts caring about a cause and person outside of himself. By the end of the game, he seemed less like the foul-mouthed street urchin from Mission 1, and more like the respectable and mature Dante from DMC1 (whose presence was ousted by the insufferable frat kid in DMC3).
Is the reboot perfect? No…it isn’t, much like DMC4. And that’s why the two rival one another for my all-time favorite. They both are flawed and imperfect games, and could be fixed by a number of obvious and painless remedies (DmC’s most glaring faults being a more simplistic combat system, and having a restrictive plot tends to show gaping lapses in dialogue at times). They were also both hyped to death by their creators, even when the assets and the overall result didn’t back their claims up in the slightest. But a few shaky brushstrokes aren’t enough to render these masterful entries in the series as unfit to join the series whatsoever. I enjoyed both for their blazingly-smooth combat, their womb-penetratingly gorgeous aesthetics, bountiful attention to cutscenes, dismissal of grievous issues that have PLAGUED the series for the longest time (well, most of the issues), and above all….providing the best depictions of the Legendary Son of Sparda.
