Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.
As a game journalist, one of the most common things I do is write about fictional characters that have cooler jobs than me. Don’t get me wrong, getting paid to play video games and then writing about them is a sweet gig, but it does lack excitement. Plus, it’s also not the type of job where when you tell people what you do for a living, everyone gets jealous and asks a million questions. Demon hunter, on the other hand, chances are you’re going to be the most interesting person in the room at any party. This is assuming you live in a world where demons are real; telling people you’re a professional demon hunter in our world will just make people think you’re crazy.
Member DmC: Devil May Cry?
Demon Hunter For Hire
This is the day job of Dante in Devil May Cry. Dante has set up shop on Mallet Island, which was done to make a living carrying out his lifelong vendetta against demons. Like in a classic film noire, a dame by the name of Trish walks into his office and brings him nothing but trouble. The job is for Dante to take out the demon lord Mundus. By some stroke of luck, Mundus is the one that’s responsible for the death of Dante’s mother and brother. Why Dante had to wait to get hired to settle this store raises an eyebrow, but it’s a good enough plot device to pick up his weapons and go demon hunting.
Saying Devil May Cry is a retelling of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy isn’t accurate, but that’s not to say the epic poem isn’t an influence. The name Dante is clearly a reference to the author, and the world being filled with demons seems like a similar environment to what one might experience while traveling through the nine circles of Hell, but Devil May Cry really is its own thing.
Kill Demons And Look Good Doing It
Devil May Cry is a game that puts the emphasis on action, and it’s not only important to kill demons, but Dante also has to look good doing it. Armed with a sword and two pistols, Dante is equipped to kill any demon that comes his way. The game rates how stylish the player’s combos based on how long they can keep up a streak of unbroken attacks. The rating scale goes Dull, Cool, Bravo, Absolute and Stylish, which follow the Japanese game alphabet where S is superior to A. Relying on the same move repeatedly can prevent the rating from increasing, which encourages Dante to mix it up when stringing together his combo attacks.
Dante is a formidable fighter at the start of the game and he only gets more powerful as he progresses. Orbs are collected by destroying environmental objects and killing demons, which can be used to make Dante more powerful. Unlocking stronger abilities and combos only makes him more stylish, which is in this world translates to deadlier. There are also improved weapons for him to pick up as well, so the character growth progression takes a tough as nails demon hunter and only makes him more powerful.
Devil May Cry’s stages follow a linear progression. The use of cutscenes in between stages and at crucial moments felt like a modern version of the NES Ninja Gaiden games, except, of course, the plot now progresses through fully-voiced full-motion videos instead of the comic book style approach in Ninja Gaiden. The use of FMV movies in games wasn’t groundbreaking in any way by the time Devil May Cry was released in 2001, but how they were implemented here did an excellent job of recreating this style of storytelling that was seen in much older games with more limited technology.
Devil May Cry was released to universal critical acclaim and is considered one of Capcom’s best games.
Exercise In Exorcism
Capcom is no stranger to creating horrific gothic environments with nightmarish horrors, and Devil May Cry isn’t lacking in these areas. The twisted world that Dante explores as he hunts Mundus is perfect for even the most depraved demons to inhabit. Devil May Cry is notorious for being a challenging game, and while the player can lower the difficulty level, the player is discouraged from doing so. Part of the appeal is fighting powerful demons, and certain enemy types just don’t show up in the easier settings, or if they do it’s not until much later in the game. Because of this, Devil May Cry should not be played on the easy level if someone wants the full demon-hunting experience.
Devil May Cry was released to universal critical acclaim and is considered one of Capcom’s best games. It’s not perfect, and like all games is subject to the passage of time. Compared to modern games, the completion time is on the short side, the characters and story could have used more development and the camera angle could benefit from numerous modern quality-of-life improvements. Plus, the line “devils never cry” at the end of the game could make this game hazardous to lactose-intolerant individuals. But even with these criticisms, it holds up well today and it’s easy to see why it was so exceptional when it was originally released. Devil May Cry is a game that emphasizes style, but has the substance to back it up, and is a game that really is a must-play for fans of action games.
Review: Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
An interesting bit of trivia about Devil May Cry is that it illustrates how failure can turn into a great success. Devil May Cry originally began development as Resident Evil 4. Similar toOnimusha: Warlords, the team working on what would eventually become Devil May Cry felt that it didn’t really fit into the Resident Evil universe, but their ideas had enough merit that it should be developed as its own thing. Devil May Cry is one of Capcom’s most successful and best-reviewed games and has since grown into an enduring franchise. So remember, just because an idea might not work for Resident Evil, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth pursuing.
Since its original release for PlayStation 2, Devil May Cry has made itself available on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, basically eliminating any excuse not to play it since it’s playable on just about every modern platform now. Devil May Cry has four sequels and a reboot called DmC: Devil May Cry. Devil May Cry 2 gets a lot of hate, and while it’s easily the weakest Devil May Cry entry, it’s not a terrible game. It just falls short of the high bar set by the other five Devil May Cry games.
