Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. The aesthetics of DMC3 are not anime. Nor the are the ones in 4 but 4 has more cliche archetypes so it's brushed off.
The character designs and fight scenes in both
3 and
4 are pretty anime-esque to me. With most of Dante and Vergil's rivalry being showcased aesthetically through things like color, hairstyle, and fighting style, to the kind of shonen-esque monologues they wax in the rain and during confrontations, I find it more of an anime-style game than
DMC1 or
DMC2 ever came close to being.
And one or two '80s manga characters. In fact, very specifically that. Even with that aside, though, doesn't matter if a game takes western influence, how would that suddenly make it a western game? For example: I can tell Guille was made by a Japanese designer, no matter how American the influence of his creation was.
I never said having Western influences automatically made it a Western game. In controls, combat sensibilities, and narrative techniques, the game is very Japanese. But the original two games, and the tone and direction Kamiya and Mikami envisioned for the series from concept to execution was far more slanted towards Western entertainment than Japanese entertainment. This is nakedly apparent to the way Dante was conceived in development, the kind of characters Kamiya wanted to surround him with, the more hard-boiled American action hero persona they wanted to capture, and so on. No, these things don't make it a Western game, but much like
Resident Evil---which from inception was designed and catered with Western horror and B-movies in mind---they wanted the game to be more oriented towards a Western tone and appeal. This is a factual aspect of how
DMC1 was envisioned and marketed, and to deny it is to feign ignorance.
They traveled to Spain. The art style is Art Nouveau and they specifically looked at the works of Antoni Gaudi. More to the point, a lot of Japanese games take place on this side of the world. and they sure as hell don't get called western.
Yeah. And they didn't re-interpret those aspects in a more Japanese style, a la
Persona or
Drakengard or
Final Fantasy. They wanted to capture the essence of Gothic stylings and European Medieval Architecture. This was a deliberate choice to make the game's setting very Western in tone and atmoshphere. Again, this doesn't make it a Westernized game, but it's a clear indication of what kind of non-Japanese atmosphere and setting that they were aiming for.
Yeah, no. Again, just because something takes influence from another part of the world doesn't make it that. Believe me, I can tell that the Keanu Reeves version of 47 Ronin wasn't made in Japan and, aside from the actors, it's not a Japanese movie, nor Kubo, for that matter, in the same fashion Coco is not a Mexican movie just because it's set in Mexico and has an all Latin cast. It's still very clearly an American film. The DMC games have always been clearly Japanese and having western influence does not equate to having western roots. You wouldn't argue that Zelda has Western roots because it was Western fantasy elements over Japanese ones.
I meant Westernized in influence, not genre or background. That's what the bulk of people seem mad about with the more Western aesthetic to the environments, setting, and character types.
When those were apart of
DMC's identity to begin with.
In DMC4, what little there was of of Fortuna, looked more Rococo than anything in this trailer. Those looked Baroque to me. Could be wrong, though. If I remember correctly, for DMC4 the team traveled to Turkey or Romania. Somewhere in Eastern Europe.
What did this have to do with my point about people complaining about it being "not dark and foreboding enough" to suit
DMC?
More to the point, it's not just about the color or lighting, or even the art period, it's about what the world looks like when it's infested with demons. In DMC1 it was contorted, in parts organic, implying that it might be alive in places. DMC2 had it's world slowly become contorted and covered in weird matter. DMC3 had the tower covered in what I can only describe as dark fantasy architecture pieces with more standard old architecture, but with a little set dressing and mechanical clockwork motiff it worked out well to imply a chaotic place and I'd buy that it was a demon infested tower. DMC4 drops anything of the sort and Fortuna, even when it's crawling with the hordes of hell, looked like a lovely place to visit with nice castles, victorian churches and the most pleasant of whether. Maybe I'd still complain that DMC4 was still too bright even when they altered the town and forest but at least I'd feel like they tried to add an air of demonic. With DmC it felt like the world was trolling me and if at some point the walls had said something like 'cool story, bro' or 'that's not what your mom told me last night' I would've not been shocked. The Inception effect was cool but it didn't really scream demonic. DMC5 has the plant but it's not really doing it for me. Plus Redgrave looks like London.[/SPOILER]
PS: You didn't close your bracket.
Fortuna, unlike Mallet Island, Isle de Marle or Dante's City, is a religious city-state run by an Order that functions exclusively to slay and hunt demons. It goes to logic that the city wouldn't look like a demon-ridden apocalpyse since Members of the Order are presumably out and about trying to quell the demon forces in high numbers. The Order of the Sword isn't like some random city government, caught with their pants down at the sight of a demon invasion...they believe in demons, and hunt them regularly. They aren't about to let their own city, their culture, their architecture and religious monuments fall prey to demonic destruction.
Besides,
DMC5 seems to be bringing about the demonic apocalypse aesthetic to its visuals, so I don't know what you're complaining about specifically. Is it the lack of artistic influences like the previous games? Because if so, then maybe we should wait for more footage. Besides, it's not like previous
DMC games were allergic to showing urban-style cityscape. Plenty of
DMC2 has you traversing skyscrapers and city courtyards, and
DMC3 has its first two levels in very urban, albeit rundown town areas with bars and schoolbuses.
Why? You saying that RE has no hints to it that it's a Japanese game? Are you telling me that if I showed you RE4 and Gears of War you wouldn't be able to tell me which one was made in Japan just because they both are supposedly geared at a western audience? How about Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark? The Division and Binary Domain? Even better, between DMC1 and DmC are you unable to tell me which was made by the western studio?
RE4, 5 and
6 were created, influenced, developed and produced with Western influences almost exclusively in mind. The setpieces, weapons, characters, conflicts, and strictly American angle on the bulk of its main characters was done to create scenarios and stories with a Western-style tone, for both Western audiences but also to provide something in the vein of Western entertainment for Japanese fans. Capcom has explictly mentioned the former plenty of times, with numerous references to the scriptwriters they've hired from Hollywood productions, to the Western films that have inspired the likes of
RE5 and
RE6, to outright stating that they wanted
RE6 to compete with the likes of
Call of Duty.
This was the point I was making. Capcom, as a Japanese developer, was
trying to sell their game as a Western product, regardless of how different you or I may see
RE5/6 as the polar opposite of The Division, or Alone in The Dark. The
attempt was there. And that attempt is still here in
DMC5.
Again, Orienting to the west Western a game does not make. FFXIII was very heavily made for western audiences. Pretty sure no one's ever mistaken that game for Western.
Good, because I never called
DMC a Western game series, just one catered very heavily towards Western audiences.
And that is my problem right there. The Inafune approach didn't do them any favors, nor did the RE6 one of trying to please everyone. I like RE6 but from what I know I kinda am in the minority on that one. And to correct the main idea of that statement, they're no longer trying to make RE an action blockbuster. If anything REmake2 is going to be more of a Romero thing.
I never stated endorsement or disdain for Capcom's decision, I just presented it objectively. This isn't something new that they're doing...and I couldn't care less if, aesthetically or tonally,
DMC5 was more Western than God of War so long as the gameplay is up to par.
Capcom is to blame for not people not being able to tell different forms of Japanese media apart and just bunching everything in to a single category, namely 'anime?'
Rolling a bunch of heavy-handed anime influences into the aesthetic, narrative style, and design of its characters is what leads people to believe
DMC is similar to anime, not some cultural inability to separate the two.
The anime was hardly the most faithful adaptation, canon or otherwise. Dante was a hobo, the action was dull, the stories underwhelming and the demons sucked.
Doesn't change the fact that almost all of the same writers from the game series worked on it, or that many of the same narrative tropes and stylistic choices endemic to the games made it into the anime. In fact, many people I talk to think the anime actually worked so well because
DMC was already so much like an anime already.
Even so, I never saw anyone ever pull up a picture of any enemy or room in DMC 1-3 and nag about how they looked like they came straight out of an anime, nor the characters, either.
The way the characters act, are designed, spew dialogue, and fight is very much anime-inspired. Go onto the
DMC Reddit and look at how many people are already spurging at
DMC5 for the new game removing the anime-esque elements for a more Western feel. Plenty of people are into
DMC because of how anime-like it is. That isn't even up for debate. The fans are the literal example of it.
Actually, now that I think about, I know where it came from, It was the InuYasha comparison that started around the time of DMC3.
And Trigun.
And Hellsing.
And Cowboy Bebop.
And Vampire Hunter D.
And Bleach.
And DragonBall, with the way the characters fought.
Seriously, I still see these comparisons made by fans today. I don't know what you're talking about.
