Kamiya Wants to Remake 1 (Again)

[berto]

Nothing new. This is something that pops up every few years.

https://insider-gaming.com/original-devil-may-cry-director-wants-to-remake-first-game/

Things are different now. Before, the idea was a non starter. P+ had left Capcom and freelancing a job like that was a complicated affair. But now, he's making his long awaited sequel. 20 years. A DMC1 remake could, ideally, take a fraction of the time Okami's sequel would take to make. Working with Capcom is no longer some impossible thing, he's doing it right now. Not to mention, they seem to be going trigger happy with remakes.

I don't know that I like this, thought. He's got years of action games under his belt but DMC1 was a special game. There are almost none like it. None of its sequels are. 1 isn't like Bayonetta, either. The tone and style of gameplay are not compatible. Can he really make a faithful adaptation.

 

[DoomSlayer87_Sss]

I think the question is, can he modernise it but keep the way it originally was like the recent oblivion remaster. If so, will he leave it alone beyond that and i am not so sure he won't add in a pile of extra things like a crazy directors cut and lose it's identity in the process.

 

[berto]

Modernize it? Sure. Keep or replicate it's spirit? I don't know. I do know that he can make an action game. His team and him created the genre. Modernizing it isn't the issue for me. That I know he can do. It's the finer details.

Take a look at this video.

The game is full of things like this. While I'm sure someone can make an argument for the rest of the series. it's always a small thing compared to things like this. A system like this wouldn't work on a modern DMC or a Bayonetta. Yeah, that fight with Cavalier, but that fight was based on this. There is no other fight like it in DMC. There are no other games like DMC1, even in Kamiya's repertoire. I think he needs the team that made that first game if he wants to remake it.

 

[Goldsickle]

As briefly mentioned in the video, DMC1 feels like a bloodier, darker version of Zelda, where there are some elements of mystery, exploration and discovery.
Meanwhile, most recent releases of DMC are mostly combo-crazy fests.

DMC1 was more open to different kinds of gameplay, like first-person swimming, aerial boss battle and a vehicle escape sequence at the end.

 

[XELNAGATYLER]

As briefly mentioned in the video, DMC1 feels like a bloodier, darker version of Zelda, where there are some elements of mystery, exploration and discovery.
Meanwhile, most recent releases of DMC are mostly combo-crazy fests.

DMC1 was more open to different kinds of gameplay, like first-person swimming, aerial boss battle and a vehicle escape sequence at the end.

Absolutely, and I think this is why a lot of DMC fans aren't fond about DMC1 these days. They think they can play and experience it like the other DMC's but that's just not the way it's meant to be.

 

[berto]

DMC1 was more open to different kinds of gameplay, like first-person swimming, aerial boss battle and a vehicle escape sequence at the end.

It's kind of an odd situation. This is because DMC1 was an RE game while the others are DMC games. Kind of a paradox.

One of the most informative videos I've seen for the game is this one

He mentions this a lot, too (Also talks a lot about the design philosophy that makes DMC1 what it is). In fact, I don't think he mentions the other games even once. He treats the game as an isolated project and it kind of goes to my point (well, our point, I suppose). 1 is the only one in the series where you can ignore every other game in the series and treat it as a singular title rather than a game in a series. This is because 2 & 3 are hinged to 1 and 4, m, and 5 are to 3, even more than to 1. 1 can be its own experience. 2 & 3 can technically be, too, but they are based on 1 while 1 is, like Onimusha, a repurposed RE game that can be, and is, its own entity. In this I could even argue that DMC1 itself has never had a sequel that tried to replicate its spirit. That's not entirely fair to 3 but it's not an exaggeration, either.

Absolutely, and I think this is why a lot of DMC fans aren't fond about DMC1 these days. They think they can play and experience it like the other DMC's but that's just not the way it's meant to be.

One of the debates I have with people online when the topic of a remake pops up is how a lot of combo... enthusiasts, let's call them, want a 1 remake to play and look like 5. Get Reuben to voice Dante, add styles, make air combos, get rid of everything that isn't combat, add a bloody palace, put weapons from the other games in and so on. Those tend to deteriorate into fights because I argue that doing that would completely erase what makes 1 special, that even the parts that qualify as bad add to the experience and give it its unique appeal. They don't care. They just want more of the same. I call them morons for not understanding why things work or why only caring about the superficial is why one one asks them on tips on game design, they call me other names (once someone even told me to just kill myself over it. mods did nothing, by the way. Useless fks). It's never pretty.

My point being that those people don't know why DMC1 works as a game, nor care. They don't see its appeal and would rather rewrite history to get their fanatic way than just allow the game to be. Their focus is singular and narrow. like a Halo/CoD kid who doesn't understand why anyone would play any other FPS.

Over the years, though, since 5, I think, people have been rediscovering the game. I've seen people in 4chan who were dissatisfied with 5 so they go to the other games and find that 1 has something they can't place that the other games lack. For a lot of people it's almost and intangible quality.

 

[V's patron]

Im open to a DMC1 remake for story reasons. It doesnt age well for different reasons than 2 and 3 is the more solid opening. If i were adapting DMC, id switch its place with 3. But im not a rush for it nor is it 100% neccesary.

So give me DMC6 or a spinoff like that rumored PSP game "Dance of Sparda" from back in the day instead of a DMC1

 

[XELNAGATYLER]

Im open to a DMC1 remake for story reasons. It doesnt age well for different reasons than 2 and 3 is the more solid opening. If i were adapting DMC, id switch its place with 3. But im not a rush for it nor is it 100% neccesary.

So give me DMC6 or a spinoff like that rumored PSP game "Dance of Sparda" from back in the day instead of a DMC1

DMC1 has aged extremely well, people just suck at it and blame the game, it isn't meant to be played like the others

I'd be happy with remakes, I don't have much of an interest in DMC6 in comparison.

 

[blackblur187]

yeah the guy mocking people for not wanting to play ac shadows wants my support lol no thanks.

 

[Goldsickle]

Devil May Cry series has expanded more on flight abilities, so can't they just expand on 3rd person underwater combat?
Nothing's stopping Dante from doing an Air Rave or Sky Stars underwater, kinda like how Lucia can use her swords in DMC2.

 

[Foxtrot94]

DMC1 has aged extremely well

It has aged like milk, let's be honest. It's clunky in almost every aspect and when you examine it without the lenses of bias, its positives really do basically just come down to art design and atmosphere, and even those are a double edged sword.

There are plenty of games out there that mix genres into some sort of hybrid. Sometimes it turns out those elements complement each other, sometimes they clash and seem to be like oil and water. DMC1 always felt like the latter to me. Always struck me as a game with a constant identity crisis. A game that doesn't know what it wants to be, and I'm not saying it's surprising considering its origin but the feeling was always there. Neither this or that.

The atmosphere did a great job at selling you a horror vibe, way better than any other game in the series but the stylish action game aspects, as rudimentary as they were, kept getting in the way of that rather than accompanying it. And the other way around.

That said, I'd be all for a faithful remake. It's only right that people who do enjoy DMC1 get treated with the same vibe the original game had, but with modern graphics and lighting. @DoomSlayer87_Sss brings up an excellent example with Oblivion Remastered. Just a couple of modern quality of life improvements over an incredibly faithful recreation of the original game. Now, I quit playing after a few hours cause, well, more modern RPGs have spoiled me. This very accurate remaster has made me realize I don't love Oblivion anymore like I used to back in the day. But I'm still happy it exists cause people who do still adore the game have gotten the chance to relive one of their favorite titles in modern day graphical quality. I'd feel the same about a faithful DMC1 remake.

However what I'd REALLY kill for is a properly rebuilt DMC2. Like, a DMC2 remake, made GOOD. That game always struck me as having a gothic masterpiece potential but with horrid execution. I hate DMC2 but I love what it could have been. Even though it was a vastly inferior game to DMC1, it still felt like its mix of action and dark atmosphere was more... I dunno... organic? If there is a game in the series that needs a remake badly, it's 2 I think. I'd give it priority over 1. Although, in Capcom's mind, I know that it makes a lot more sense to resell DMC1, definitely the more marketable and well received title.

 

[DoomSlayer87_Sss]

Funnily enough i would prefer a fully rebuilt from the ground up DMC2 remake aswell @Foxtrot94

 

[Goldsickle]

Wasn't there a quote from Kamiya himself that he sees DMC1 as "outdated" and he talked about how he played half of DMC4 in preparation to develop Bayonetta?

 

[berto]

It has aged like milk, let's be honest.

Oh, I am in absolute disagreement. No only with this but I find DMC1 to have the best atmosphere of the franchise and it balances it masterfully like no other game ever has. Everything you mentioned is either not an issue for me or simply not even close to a deal breaker. I'd go as far as calling it a master class in game design and I've got others to back me up on that. I'm playing it right now on my Japanese PS2 so I go it it fresh in my mind. This isn't nostalgia. I'm also not going to sit here and pretend the game is perfect; There are a lot of flaws, (that camera on DMD Griffon 3 fight) but nothing I'd tap out for. Yeah, the game is stiff when compared to other games but, just like an old RE game, if you play the game as it was design you will get an experience like no other in the genre and, for this game, you don't have to adapt to it as hard as a PS1 RE game.

From what you've said it seems to me like you simply didn't click with the game. It just doesn't speak to you and that's fine. You don't have to like every game ever made. That being said, I don't agree that it needs a remake or that a remake would be the best thing for that game. Remakes are a rarely a faithful experience or a benefit to the original.

Let's take RE4 2023 and its original. Yeah, REmake4 is a great game. It might even be a perfect game, but, unlike its original, it's not a memorable game. It lacks personality, it lacks charm. OgRE4 was a milestone and it had a presence. It was quotable and it people memed it for decades. There were threads and discussions of RE4 on a regular basis and the chatter for the game was constant. In comes REmake4 and for a few it gets attention. Sells like crack, people love it, make videos, threads and comparisons. Then, in less that a year and a half, the world goes quiet; not just for 4 but for 4 as well. Game isn't very quotable, people have a hard time remembering anything said, even, there are barely any memes on it and even for its connection to it the traffic for the original has all but halted, too. OG4 was a game that was ported even to toasters since it was so popular but with the remake making cash over fist there is very little incentive to port that one again, not when you can get the new one to make more money. This is a media that relies on a technology more focused than any other. If the publisher or owner doesn't want to port the games over because other, more profitable versions exist we are left with something as tenuous as piracy, which requires a PhD just to operate all those weird settings.

Personally I've played RE4 around 8 times and, then, I stopped. I just lost interest. Couldn't find the motivation to play again. I wanted nothing from that game. In coparison, I have no idea how many times I've played RE4 2005. I never got sick of that game.

DMC1's hypothetical remake would end the same way. Yeah, it'd be a "perfect" game. All the comforts, all the accessibility, everything slightly quirky or odd gone so that normies have nothing bad to say. At the same time, all the charm, all the uniqueness is gone and replaced with the same elements that every other game ever is composed of and before long the game becomes another one in the pile of the same titles with different skins and the original becomes something too expensive to support long time. I'd love it it were a game that had the same spirit behind it, like RE1 and its remake, but that's not likely. Capcom isn't interested in that kind of remake.

For the record, I've never held 'perfect' games in high esteem. A game doesn't have to be perfect for it to be a perfect game. I advocate for games like Gravity Rush, Folklore, Okami, El Shaddai, Shadows of the Damned or even something silly like Catherine, Lollipop Chainsaw or W101 as perfect even if they are flawed because are the things that leave more than a lasting impression. More than mechanical fine tuning these games have an intangible quality that shows that the people making it made it with passion which you feel in the controller. Perfect games, the ones that have no technical issues and provide an experience that the masses can consume, get the awards and sell the by the millions, those are not my cup of tea because most of them have no soul in the same way a generic pop song that sounds great and climbs the charts has no soul.