Overhaul & Rewrite Devil May Cry 4- Special Edition.

[Goldsickle]

I think the story would have more of an impact if Sanctus acted like some sort of father-figure to Nero from the beginning.
So when Dante "kills" Sanctus, Nero had much more of a motivation to hunt and kill Dante.
This also becomes more of a shock when Sanctus turns out to be the bad guy all along, prompting Nero to rethink about f***ing everything.

According to the script, Nero assumes that the first Bianco Angelo he encounters is a "friendly" simply from seeing the Order symbol on it.
Since it's also the players first time seeing one, it's not much of a surprise to reveal that they turn out to be just another enemy.
I feel like the opening cutscenes of DMC4 should have shown the Angelo armors piloted by real Order members.
This is so that when it was revealed that the ones fighting Nero are empty, it would come as more of a shock to players.

 

[V's patron]

@Goldsickle I read somewhere that Nero was meant to be an outcast in Fortuna. I would flip that and make him an idol instead.

It fits your take.

 

[Goldsickle]

I read somewhere that Nero was meant to be an outcast in Fortuna. I would flip that and make him an idol instead.

In my take, he's still an outcast, just shown much more fatherly love from Sanctus.
The rest of the Order are still like: "don't think we accept you just because his holiness treats you nice, you gun-toting coward".

Nero even shows lingering regret for not being able to save Credo in DMC5.
I wish there was more "family" interactions between him and the siblings back in the previous game.

If you perform a fully animated Buster attack on Credo and remain idle, you'll get an animation of Nero expressing regret that he just pummeled his adopted brother.
I think that's a nice touch.

 

[V's patron]

In my take, he's still an outcast, just shown much more fatherly love from Sanctus.
The rest of the Order are still like: "don't think we accept you just because his holiness treats you nice, you gun-toting coward".

Nero even shows lingering regret for not being able to save Credo in DMC5.
I wish there was more "family" interactions between him and the siblings back in the previous game.

If you perform a fully animated Buster attack on Credo and remain idle, you'll get an animation of Nero expressing regret that he just pummeled his adopted brother.
I think that's a nice touch.

I thought the in universe reasons for him being an outcast were weak. So maybe just have the arm manifest in his childhood?

 

[Goldsickle]

I thought the in universe reasons for him being an outcast were weak. So maybe just have the arm manifest in his childhood?

According to the novel, Nero was bullied by others because they claimed that his mother is a prostitute.
I feel that it's believable enough, since I knew some real-life examples where people are outcast for the dumbest reasons.

 

[V's patron]

According to the novel, Nero was bullied by others because they claimed that his mother is a prostitute.
I feel that it's believable enough, since I knew some real-life examples where people are outcast for the dumbest reasons.

Oh I read it was for his resemblance to Sparda which I never understood.

 

[Morgan]

Oh I read it was for his resemblance to Sparda which I never understood.

You'd think an island town indoctrinated into worshipping a demon as a god, with a family that adopts a child specifically for his resemblance to their god, wouldn't result in the kid being bullied due to that exact same detail. That's like bullying a kid with a 1:1 resemblance to Christ. Who would let that happen and not think the child's presence is the Second Coming and/or a sign of the End Times?

 

[berto]

But what would you guys would have done if your were a writer/director of the Special Edition? Feel free to post your thoughts!

Ok. So I take it this is the fantasy setting. All the money in the world. No narrative, production, story or any other kind of restrictions? I'll post my own before I read anyone else's.

Well, for me, the tone of the game has always been est absentis. That's the first thing I'd add. I said before, that game could've used a bit of that horror atmosphere from the other games. That's what I would add. I'd replace the super child friendly sounds the scarecrows make with something notably more sinister. Same with the music and other stuff.

Second. More costumes. 1 alt costume and a color variant are not a lot. Even if you try to pass off the super versions as alt costumes, they are not. MORE!!

Dante gets his own stages. I don't care if he fights the same bosses but he has to get his own stages and enemies, not just Nero's leftovers.

For Vergil, it's more than getting his own stages. It has to be his own campaign. Just like DmC's Vergil campaign, I'd like him to have an entire story and mini game with enemies unique to that. Story wise everyone wants to make Nero's mother a citizen of Fortuna but the novel clearly states that she traveled there because she heard that they worshiped Sparda and with him being a descendant she thought they'd treat him well. Too bad they had to add that bit where prostitution was a big thing at the time, so orphanages were always getting kids whose moms worked the streets and to everyone that equated to his mom being a hooker. That, to me, is intentional misinterpretation. Purposeful misinterpretation because people hear what they want and push it. In the novel it also tells of how Sanctus met Vergil while he was exploring the city and how he murdered the previous leader of the order, Solemnis. I would've like to have seen this in cutscenes.

Trish and Lady are more stuffing. I didn't like playing as them, at all. In terms of gameplay, making Lady no different from the other characters just cheapens everyone. Dante is no longer unique, everyone and anyone can be just as much as he is. I think having significantly more unique gameplay would've been better than just making her no different than the rest. Maybe even having her collect ammo or not have a jump function. I know this world have always played it a bit loose with the realism but having people shoot rockets into the ground to gain altitude is really jumping the shark. As for Trish, I would've really leaned into her electrical powers. Not sure how, but they're there and no one ever does anything with them.

I'd also try for a more realistic color pallet. The colors in this game are way too vibrant. It looks like a cartoon. I don't want something quite as opaque as 5 but this way too colorful.

 

[Goldsickle]

I don't like the rearranged chronology of DMC5's chapters but it seems to be the best arrangement to play the characters in a certain order to have players accustomed to it.

 

[V's patron]

@berto For your take, I'd advise scrapping the Vergil is Nero's father plotline.

It increases the horror tone and robs Nero of his safety net.

It also opens more doors storytelling wise.

 

[BlackAngel]

Rereading the behind scenes stuff @Picard and @BlackAngel posted, I'd say the mistake they made was settling on making Nero like DMC3 Dante. I might've preffered the "nobleman detective" angle. Like a young Sherlock Holmes ie.

It would've helped him standout more than he did initially. Granted I have more affinty for sherlock holmes than BLEACH so it's my own bias at work.

It's easier to write him off as Dante-lite because the game doesn't really explore what seperates them beyond the surface. If he's suppose to be an outcast or really only care about Kyrie, those are things the story should explore or challenge more thoroughly. He's not that interesting or believable as a cynical tough guy. In 5 he improves after the second Urizen fight because he drops the tough guy act and becomes more sincere. So either make him a goofball like Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho or lean into the surliness like Shinjiro from Persona 3.

Making Kyrie playable could help with the love story angle. Most video game love stories tend to work when both characters are controllable. So handling their relationship like this fanfic could be interesting. Ed and Orihime works better because they play off each other well and challenge each other from time to time. I actually wish Orihime was written this well in Bleach.

The Flower Princess and the Alchemist (Fanfic) - TV Tropes

Orihime Inoue of Bleach is mysteriously teleported into the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. There she meets Edward and Alphonse Elric, two young teenage boys looking for the Philosopher's Stone to regain what they have once lost. Orihime is tossed …

tvtropes.org

Her becoming a villian is a cool but hard to do with what we have. Someone like NiCo from Dead or Alive 6 would be more fitting. She works for the bad guys because she wants to ressurect her father. It's an interesting more dilemma for Nero and Kyrie to face together.

Nah, it's too unrealistic and it's gear towards PG-13 and +13. I was expecting a mature, serious, focused, and intelligent character who can solve murders of the supernatural. He can still be hot headed and have a temper, but make it the way that it's realistic. I would suggest that they should learn from Witcher 3 how they design Geralt's character of solving murders, hunting down monsters, and track down clues.

 

[V's patron]

Nah, it's too unrealistic and it's gear towards PG-13 and +13. I was expecting a mature, serious, focused, and intelligent character who can solve murders of the supernatural. He can still be hot headed and have a temper, but make it the way that it's realistic. I would suggest that they should learn from Witcher 3 how they design Geralt's character of solving murders, hunting down monsters, and track down clues.

I wasn't expecting realism from DMC but I get your point.

I disagree about Nero's immaturity. I never felt like that was the real issue for me. I just felt he was a copycat to DMC3 Dante. In fact Nero just feels like Dante at 16. Hence why I'm like "scrap him and just give me more Young Dante". The original ending where Kyrie leaves Nero would've worked better with Dante. After all, he has rotten luck with women.

Your take reminds me of an older Dante more than Nero. In fact putting Nero with DMC2 Dante would've fared better. They would've played off each other more. Since DMC2 Dante is radically different from the others, Nero's similarities to young Dante would've been better used and less annoying. He would remind us of what Dante lost in between the games.

Another option is to make him more Vergil-like. It would force Dante to take more interest in him. He couldn't stop Vergil from becoming evil, so him guiding a more morally murky Nero makes sense from an emotional level.

You don't even the Vergil's son hook for that to work.