To me, the announcement, development cycle, and release of DmC followed a common path to its logical conclusion: a decent action game that markets itself to a new audience. That's all it could have ever been, and that was the single "good" path the franchise could have taken. The Devil May Cry franchise effectively died in 2008. Everyone involved with making that series good left to do other things, and Hideaki Kamiya, the father of the franchise, put all of his expertise towards creating Bayonetta, which he himself considers the ultimate evolution of Devil May Cry. Also, Bayonetta is preeetty good. Simply put, Devil May Cry as it was before Ninja Theory touched it simply can't coexist in the same world as Bayonetta because Bayonetta is just...better. It also has the minds behind Devil May Cry working to make it great. It's similar to Tomb Raider's existence after the Uncharted series happened. It just kind of floundered and then sparked an inevitable and much needed reboot. This is the only way the beloved Devil May Cry franchise can see be relevant -- by being utterly tasteless, easier, and less insane. This is what the franchise needed to stay alive.
 
So isn't this a good thing? I mean, for one the DMC franchise gets to stay alive. Also, we have Bayonetta! Bayonetta, dude! That game is super crazy! We don't even need DMC anymore! I thought we were on the same page here, but then the internet rage just wouldn't stop. What did people think was going to happen to the new game exactly? It's unreasonable to think a Ninja Theory game is just going to bomb flat out. At the very least, they know how to make games about dudes beating up stuff with weapons.

I see where you're coming from for sure. And in a way, I agree. I bought the game today, and have been playing it since I got home. I guess the point that I've been struggling to properly articulate (and still am not sure I can) is that the game in every feels like a wolf in sheep's clothing. An imitator that learned the wrong lessons, and applied the wrong elements to the persona it's attempting to portray. Yeah I can talk all day about how the soft-lockon is imprecise, execution is far more forgiving, and the hit detection has sometimes gone apeshit on me, but that's boring. But there's also the issue of this being a Devil May Cry game that in no way feels like one. There's no heart, and absolutely no style behind it. The previous games (we do not acknowledge DMC2) were equal parts the player and the game having fun. It was cheesy, but it was endearing at the same time. This new game though is just a bunch of afflicted looking characters tossing around swears. There's still a level of silliness to the game for sure, but I can't reconcile it with the inconsistent seriousness that it throws at the player.

So basically I said all that to say this: I was hoping it would bomb (though I knew it wouldn't) because I didn't want to see the off-putting elements of the game be affirmed in the eyes of Capcom specifically. Because let's be real here, if this reboot is financially successful then that's what we're going to see more of, no matter what Capcom USA says.

Still going to power thought the game. Maybe something changes, and in fact I really hope something does. And of course, all this is just like, my opinion, man.

PS: You're totally right, I still have Bayo <3

@Anjon said:

Bayonetta is just...better.

I disagree and I also think that the logical conclusion to draw from the fact that DMC4 is the best selling DMC game ever (DMC1 may have sold better?) is that people wanted more like that and not a reboot that strips the game of everything people liked with the franchise to begin with. Really, DmC is to DMC4 as DMC2 is to 1.

I also disagree with the statement that Ninja Theory knows how to make "games about dudes beating stuff up with weapons" - Considering they've never made a game where the framerate actually stuck to 30 or higher when you did this, I wouldn't call them very successful in that regard.

And overall I think the notion that one franchise should suffer through this shit just because another franchise is better in your opinion is pretty silly.

Bayonetta is definitely better than every DMC except the Vergil fights are better than the Jeanne fights (or at least more varied) and weapon selection/balance was better in DMC3 (note everything else about DMC3 was worse apart from those 2 things). But as a DMC fan and someone who 100%'d 3 and 4 from what I've seen the game looks like it has made logical and effective improvements to a flawed, but fun franchise (the flaws were more acceptable when the original DMC was made to be sure, but a post God of War character action game needs to make improvements over time; and DMC4 sort of did some of those but wound up being just a good game instead of being a great one). I'm seriously considering purchasing it for the full price though I'll probably wait it out a bit and I almost never buy $60 games (2 games last year, 3 the year before that).

@Ataribomb said:

I see where you're coming from for sure. And in a way, I agree. I bought the game today, and have been playing it since I got home. I guess the point that I've been struggling to properly articulate (and still am not sure I can) is that the game in every feels like a wolf in sheep's clothing. An imitator that learned the wrong lessons, and applied the wrong elements to the persona it's attempting to portray. Yeah I can talk all day about how the soft-lockon is imprecise, execution is far more forgiving, and the hit detection has sometimes gone apeshit on me, but that's boring. But there's also the issue of this being a Devil May Cry game that in no way feels like one. There's no heart, and absolutely no style behind it. The previous games (we do not acknowledge DMC2) were equal parts the player and the game having fun. It was cheesy, but it was endearing at the same time. This new game though is just a bunch of afflicted looking characters tossing around swears. There's still a level of silliness to the game for sure, but I can't reconcile it with the inconsistent seriousness that it throws at the player.

So basically I said all that to say this: I was hoping it would bomb (though I knew it wouldn't) because I didn't want to see the off-putting elements of the game be affirmed in the eyes of Capcom specifically. Because let's be real here, if this reboot is financially successful then that's what we're going to see more of, no matter what Capcom USA says.

Still going to power thought the game. Maybe something changes, and in fact I really hope something does. And of course, all this is just like, my opinion, man.

PS: You're totally right, I still have Bayo <3

This pretty much sums up my feelings about DmC.

I want this reboot to work. Not for DMC's sake, because to be honest, my interest for the series died entirely with DMC4, which I ended up heavily disliking once Nero was out of the way. I want this reboot to work for Ninja Theory's sake. These dudes know how to spin stories and they know how to make cutscenes. They know how to build interesting worlds. if DmC bombs, their studio dies off and we'll be left with generic action games that follows the same boring blueprint since a decade.

That said, I had zero expectations with this DmC, and to be honest, it's my all-time favorite DMC game. They managed to squeeze a good little storyline within a series that had little to none. They managed to make every swear words matter, at least to me, because Dante reacts exactly as I would. And the gameplay. Man, do I love this game. Everything is so elegant and chains together which such fluidity. Fights seems much more alive and active that ever, at least to me.

And yeah, I miss the lock on. :(