DmC Devil May Cry

I have now played and finished all five console-based Devil May Cry games. I do not count myself among the hardcore superfans who do speedruns or complete Bloody Palace mode holding the controller with their feet or whatever, but, as I say, I’ve played every game and I feel like that gives me the right to make the following statement:

DmC is a Devil May Cry game.

In fact, I suspect that when upset (read: tiresome) fans of the series say that DmC is NOT a Devil May Cry game, what they really mean is that it’s not DMC3. That is accurate. Because DmC is actually what DMC3 WOULD be if it were made today, much the same way Castlevania Lords of Shadow is Super Castlevania IV remade for the seventh generation of home consoles, with all the visual updates, fan-service, difficulty modes, and optional collectibles that current action reboots seem to possess.

Let’s examine the similarities between DMC3 and the new DmC:

• A younger Dante who, initially at least, is less likeable and stands for even less than in previous games (surprisingly, DmC’s Dante actually grows a heart by the end of his game)
• A humorless brother Vergil who has unshakable beliefs which, combined with his apathy for humans and greed for power, make a final confrontation with Dante inevitable
• A physically capable yet emotionally vulnerable female side character whom Dante, almost against his will, begins to care about and defend (this is a trait of all DMC games besides 4, whose female characters are more props than people)
• Core conflict that revolves around the demon world breaking into the human one
• Fun and accessible but absurdly deep combat system with more weapons and combos than previous games—so many that even many skilled players will be unable to take full advantage of it
• Imp juggling
• Platforming sections that never feel quite right
• Too damn many difficulty settings

In short, DmC is Devil May Cry, and arguing about it only makes the internet a more boring place to visit. I’m talking to YOU, person who rated the game one star on Amazon without playing it because Dante’s hair isn’t white anymore.

With all that silliness behind us, we can look with fresh eyes at the Devil May Cry that Ninja Theory has built for us. The names and relationships of characters should be familiar to anyone who has played even one DMC game. Dante and Vergil are essentially immortal twin brothers, the sons of a powerful demon called Sparda. You find out almost right away that Dante and Vergil were orphaned and separated thanks to another demon called Mundus (the name of the main antagonist in the first Devil May Cry).

This all happened when Dante and Vergil were children, so Dante has conveniently forgotten all but flashes of the past, and the first third or so of the game is dedicated to him recovering his memories. Each recovered memory also unlocks a weapon or skill so that in a very short time the game dumps a massive arsenal into your lap and invites you to use it against whatever enemies and obstacles appear.

Despite what I said before about platforming in DmC being a bit off, the level design around those platforming sections is a real treat to behold. Basically, the human world is an illusion created by Mundus’s media and soft drink empire, and whenever Mundus’s minions detect Dante in the vicinity, Dante is shoved rudely into a co-reality called Limbo, which Mundus can manipulate at will. Buildings stretch and crack, roads break apart, and platforms shift as you jump across them, creating massive gulfs of empty space where moments ago there were solid surfaces.

Dante’s got the moves to get through it—double jump, two grapples, and a forward boost—as long as you’ve got the reflexes. Like I said, it all looks great, and by the end of the game the shifting geometry really keeps you on your toes. There is definitely more platforming here than in any other DMC game, and while the jumping controls aren’t perfect, they’re still the best in the series.

However, the star, as it must be, is the combat. Initially you’ve got your sword and pistols, which are familiar and versatile enough for series veterans to start juggling enemies from the get-go. For the first time since DMC2, the lock-on feature is missing, so you need to be mindful of which way Dante is facing whenever you take a swing at someone. The dodge button also returns, but Dante won’t dodge in the middle of an attack animation, which dramatically changes the pace of the battle system. It’s slower and even more tactical than before, and you really have to pay attention to enemy cues if you want to make it through a fight without getting hit. Basically, you can’t start a new attack after an enemy has started its own or you will get tagged.

The ranking system seems to be another sore spot for some DMC vets. Supposedly it’s “too easy” to have a SSS rank going all the time. I must suck horribly, because I don’t think I ever managed it. I got to SS a couple times, but I inevitably got caught with my pants down trying to use that sluggish dodge button. Getting hit once drops your rank by a factor of three. Have an S rank going? One hit and it falls to C. The instructions say that there is also a parry move that can be used against almost every enemy, though I don’t think I ever managed to do that either, not even by accident. Still, your rank does at least hold between waves of enemies. Unlike earlier games, if you have a flawless combo going, it does not end when the last enemy disappears. It will start right back where you left it in the next battle, which I find to be a nice change. In older DMC games I was always losing rank in the time it took to run to the next enemy.

With the new DmC, chasing enemies down is a thing of the past. Dante has two grapple moves, as I mentioned, which must be used in platforming and battle. The two moves fall under the angelic and demonic weapon categories—think Castlevania Lords of Shadow’s blue and red gauges. One grapple pulls an enemy to you, the other pulls you to the enemy. The angelic/demonic system also becomes very important when enemies appear that are only vulnerable to one type of weapon. This trend starts much too early in the game and becomes a real bottleneck by the end of the game to make battles longer and more difficult. It is probably the single biggest stumble the game makes.

There is one other problem I must address though. While the game looks fantastic and holds its 30 fps (SHUT UP, BORING PEOPLE!) very well during combat, the in-engine cutscenes are a completely different story. I’m not usually a graphics whore—I mean, sure, I love a pretty game as much as the next guy, and DmC is definitely pretty—but the graphical problems in the cutscenes of this game are so distracting that they actually detracted from my enjoyment of the game itself. The developers evidently chose to keep higher textures and effects on PS3 at the expense of shadows, which are so low-res that they look like jagged, nearly opaque bands across the characters’ faces. It looks simply terrible and distracts from the cutscenes, which are otherwise well-acted and full of interesting relationships and dramatic tension.

Actually, that I can complain at all about an outside influence ruining the story in a Devil May Cry game means that the series has grown up a bit. Usually what ruins the story in a DMC game is the story itself. Not this time. Those folks at Ninja Theory hire actual writers and actors, and they know their way around a mo-cap studio. Admittedly, DmC is probably Ninja Theory’s worst story, but it’s also their best game so far, and I hope very much that it’s not the last we hear from the new Dante.