re: what makes DmC Dante relatable

[Angel]

Do you guys think an instant connection needs to be made between the player and the character before an issue such as relatability comes into it? Should there be something that grabs you first to make you decide whether the character is someone you can relate to or not?

 

[Asmodaius]

Do you guys think an instant connection needs to be made between the player and the character before an issue such as relatability comes into it? Should there be something that grabs you first to make you decide whether the character is someone you can relate to or not?

Absolutely not.
Relatability is not necessarily a factor to if I like the character or not. I simply find the character more interesting then. The whole reason a developer attempts to make a character relatable is because they wish to flesh out the character, to show that there is more to this character than just the superficial, that there is more than what the eye can see. Some like that, others don't really care about it.

It's something that is very lacking in fighting games, for example, because many developers don't feel the need to flesh out their characters, because they don't find it important. They just want some cool looking characters with an excuse for fighting, hence why so many characters in fighting games share background stories, such as "He wants revenge" or "He wants to be the strongest in the world"... Yet, I am a huge fan of fighting games. A few fighting games have delved in storyline development, such as Mortal Kombat which just made the series even more interesting to me.

It's the same with Devil May Cry. Some find the story important, others just want an action-filled game with some cool character. DMC2 and DMC4 seems like two games in the series where the storyline is rather lacking and is just an excuse for Dante and co. to fight some badass demons. And sadly, this also hurt DMC Dante in that he never really seemed all that fleshed out to me. His relatability is lacking - except for those few moments where Dante actually showed some character development, where he showed that he is more than a cool demon hunter...

However, in the very first DmC trailer, we get to see a whole lot of Dante being more than just a cool demon hunter, as I have already stated before. And what we saw made him seem more relatable, in my opinion. Just in that one trailer, he became more relatable than the Dante we know from the original series. It made people think, and the threads made on this forum in those early days are proof of that.

 

[V's patron]

@cool demon- I think your taking too literal since you don't have to go the same circumstances as the character to relate to him/her because if that was thru, we wouldn't like any fictional character.

@ to cool74- I could relate to both easily.

@asmodiuas- wherther or not these two versions of Dante are the same person depends on whether or not the writers want them too be similar or radically different. The main thing with most of the characters before 4 is that most of them are blank slates when it comes to their past. for example, lady could have been a bubbly cheerleader in the Midwest who might be Hispanic before we saw her in 3. Dante could have been anyone from a circus freak to a spoiled rich kid. Lucia's original self could have been anyone from a stripper to a socialite etc. so it's a not much of stretch to believe that Dante wasn't always buff and liked punk rock when he was a teenager.

 

[wallenb]

I dont think you need to relate to the character right off the bat, but NT has a way of making their lead character evoke emotion out of the situation that he/her is in. And for me, i find it really easy to but myself into those shoes of characters i play, and that is all the connection i need. I never, in any of the past DMC games have said, "man, i know what Dante is going through" Thats because i know for a fact that Dante is going to be cool demon hunter to the very end and be fine. As for DmC Dante, i have no clue what to expect from him, and i hope that he'll eventually become the cool demon hunter, someday. But as for right now, the confusion, the headache's and flash backs, the smoking, the overall suffering that the teenager is going through, I feel i'll have a more emotional connection to DmC Dante than all 3 past Dante's.