DmC Devil May Cry

[Tyler]

I missed the lock on early on but after putting in 30+ hours I am so used to not having it. The only time it bothers me is with combos that have a fwd+fwd start, like Stinger for example, pushing the left-stick forward twice is just unweildy.

[Big Boss]

Well that post by Tyler sums it up. 8/10 action game and 6/10 DMC game. I rather have the series buried than a DmC 2.

[IshmaelIsBack]

I ask you folks again , will you read a post that's probably longer than most reviews for majority of games , on " WHY " the community despises this , some detailed pros and cons on the game's mechanics , other elements which play a major role in shaping up a solid Hack'n'Slash title ? I don't wanna waste 1/2 hour of typing for everyone to TLDR.

[Solitaire]

Why hellow there.

 

 

How much would you give it? 7 out of 10?

[Tyler]

Finished it on Dante Must Die. Only a couple of encounters were a pain in the a*s but other than that it was mostly smooth sailing. It's a shame the bosses remain the same on DMD. Compared to DMC3/4 DMD was pretty much a joke.

 

I sincerely hope the game does well enough to get a sequel. I would love these mechanics to be expanded upon and I definitely need to see where the story goes from here. The style meter certainly needs tweaking (there's at least a patch for the PC version which drops SSS and SS down), the colored enemies need to go, bosses need to be challenging (actual fights, not set piece battles) etc.

 

Oh and (final boss spoiler) the Arbiter absolutely destroyed Vergil on DMD. It's a shame I never tried using it on him in the other modes.

[IshmaelIsBack]

The last few pages have been rather lolworthy to begin with. Most of the stuff that's been can be genralized here ( the interwebz as well ) and what they lack is a sense of gravitas , both these sides , it's sometimes even silly to an extent it's just sad. Here's my 2 cents on what , where and why it's bad & good among other things. Most of you will just plain TLDR it , but for the people who do care to read it because of the franchise and the ongoing fuss , here goes.

The Bad

First off , NO , the general consensus that this title is being bashed front , back and side-to-side ONLY because of how the lead the lead character looks like a " twilightized emopunk " is the biggest SHAM I've EVER seen in recent times. A BIG FAT NO to this. There are fair reasons aplenty as to " WHY " exactly the the fans of the franchise consider this reboot " bad by DMC standards " and the following are just a few of'em. Why am I comparing this to vintage DMC and talking about standards when clearly this being a reboot/alternate universe ? Ask Capcom , they named it " Devil May Cry " of all things because they own the IP. So it's more than obvious that the comparisns are driven.

1. The switchover from MT Framework 2.0 to UE 3.5

Now , I'm not familiar with the reviewing fraternity at all , to give out an example , Silent Hill 2 and Restless Dreams are IMO , one of THE greatest innovations in modern-day gaming but the reviews say otherwise. I mostly don't just read reviews for the titles I'm looking for. But as far as the ones I've read for this so far NONE have mentioned this very crucial aspect .

MT Framework was tailormade from ground up for Capcom's in-house franchises such as DMC , Biohazard , Lost Planet etc. from the DMC3 engine ( which was again a reworked DMC1 engine ) and some tools from the Biohazard 4 engine as well. It not just improved game after game but also one of the more stable engines out there. Now , when it comes to DMC games , it maintained 60 FPS throughout with taking almost little to no hits at all.

While most people think framerate could be the worst case scenario in DmC , in reality it's actually the framedata being the biggest culprit of them all. If you think framedata is ONLY applicable with fighting games , you're just plain wrong and misguided. EVERY MOVE in the past games in the series ( TBH not just Devil may Cry , but every possible famous h'n's titles out there , NG , Onimusha etc.. ) has an active framedata analysis where it plays a vital part in hit-registry , chaining moves on higher difficulties & other customized modes for veterans. You just don't have a practice mode here to experiment like fighting games. The most important aspect here is how the framedata of MT framework is to that of UE. I'll avoid going into advanced combat and be as simple as I can. For example , perform a stinger in DMC1/3/4 and roll to the side , now do the same animation here in DmC ( Of course , angel/demon dive here since no lock-on ). Notice the difference ? The heaviness you feel here in DmC is the recovery time + input lag that's given for MOST UE games , and stinger is just ONE move among everything in this game and I'm not even getting into advanced combat mech like jump cancelling , air raid etc.

Now , it isn't anything on NT's part but that's how UE generally works. Take UE's 3rd person action games which has even minimal combat like Batman , Wolverine etc and it exists, masked by the slow-mo's of course. THIS is one of the MOST debated subjects of the reboot among the hardcore DMC community. Combine this with locking the console versions at 30 FPS and you just have nightmare redefined. At core , the original IP has evolved over the last decade to its finest form of combat in DMC4 minus the array of weapons. Fast paced action with muscle memory & timing defining a user's skill is what these games have all been about and this is something that will just put the fans off , hence the outrage with some of them behaving a little silly at times.

2. Lack of Style system , simplified combat , no lock on , taunt etc

DMC3 introduced the style system and it was a huge success amongst the community and even one of the USP's of it tbh. A completely different moveset apart from that of your weapons , to even think of this concept is mindblowing and DMC3 sported 7 of these which can be equipped at the start of each mission or the divinity statues. What's even better ? Eventhough reduced to 5 , DMC4 took it one step further and had on-the-fly style switch. Yep , you heard that right , ON THE FLY just like the weapons , all at the simple push of the d-pad. Now in DmC , taking this out is already a huge bomb in itself but having the style moves associated with each weapon is just a plain crime which is really hard to tolerate.

The original IP's combat , mainly 3 & 4 , is fairly deep for a normal h'n's title. It's one of the very few apart from the Ninja Gaiden games that has a dedicated following and a pretty active TST scene as well. Some of'em even went to the extent of claiming the community is half as big as Shoryuken but I guess that's exaggerated , still doesn't take away the scene being huge. The reason why it's so popular because , the advanced combat mechanics are left to the user's innovation basically. Being creative and mashing different buttons in succession are 2 entirely different things. DmC here belongs to the latter and provokes you to do that more. Why ? Because the design core is built in that manner. When you have the trigger buttons for different weapons and using them to grapple them to you and get you to them to result in unlimited air chains is just a very cheap way of designing a combat heavy game like Devil May Cry. The thing to note here is that you can't compare this aspect to that of DMC4's devil bringer at all despite being slightly similar in terms of how they play because of one main reason , balance.

The lock-on has become an integral part of h'n's titles in general barring some big names but let's stick with capcom games here. Ever since Onimusha Warlords came out there have been numerous titles following the same road , DMC was one the first full 3D titles to do so and it was just a perfect feature because of the then fixed camera angles. I see no reason as to WHY exactly NT avoided lock-on. Crowd control was present in the previous titles as well but that doesn't necessarily mean you should avoid lock-on. Take the Legendary Dark knight mode of DMC4 on the PC for example , I only played the PS3 version & missed this but nonetheless it was recieved bloody well. When you actually lock-on to a target in the past games , not only do your moves get 100% accuracy which is basic but also very useful for various enemy types in air combat when you're trying to juggle after a launcher and seamlessly target switch to others to get that style rank up with swag written all over it , than being just another half-assed mechanic like it is in DmC. My guess on why they didn't implement this is pretty clear that they are trying to force the difficulty on us and doing a pretty poor job at it because some mechanics like parrying ( loosely based on DMC 3 & 4's move named " release " from the Royal Guard styleset and MOMK of Bayonetta ) make the entire game look like a cakewalk on the highest difficulty possible , here implying DMD instead of Hell & Hell from DMC4 because of the damage dealed.

Also , taunting was another unique feature that very few games in the past implemented , and a handful of fighting games. DMC4 had a reworked taunt system which gets better later. It really worked well , be it , the term as pure as it can be , TAUNT , either can be done to provoke an enemy before starting the combo or after completing it , not just raises your style meter and the mana/DT gauge , but also gives you that sheer satisfaction of badass gameplay with you being a part of it. Again , removing this doesn't make sense at all. Citing the removal of taunt for DMC2 again here not justifies it either because how this version of Dante is.

Capturing gameplay , today , is the equivalent of the sky being blue , thanks to devices pushing the envelope and the word " compact " with these. But , a decade ago it was ALMOST non-existant.

DMC3 SE's launch had the community wanting a counterpart of the highly popular Master Ninja Tournaments of Ninja Gaiden & it's Hurricane Packs. Thus , got established a concept of " True Style Tournaments " not officially by Capcom , but by a set of fan communities themselves. Usually abbreviated as " TST " , it has had 4 editions up until now where the user is given a timeframe where he/she submits UNEDITED videos showcasing their skill for the available set of styles in the game. The concept was a HUGE success with even IGN and Gamefaqs sponsoring a whole edition

A user named " Kail " sparked a revolution with his vids named " The Elysium " and " The Elohim " among the community of DMC around 7 years ago back when the TST scene was just established by the community. These following videos were first posted on to fan communities , only later on youtube by different users/fans of Kail. These define the fine line between pure skill & muscle memory than that of button mashing in succession. Check them out if you're interested in classic DMC , they're worth your time.

 

 

There were more people with a similar skill level like flamer0 , Brea , Kamui etc but they're not known as much as Kail because of the youtube frenzy his vids had. As for Brea , she even went to tournaments like evo ( don't remember which edition ) , played in front of the jawdropped audience

3. Difficulty

It's tricky classifying simplified combat as one of the aspects and difficulty as an another one altogether. The general misconception is that these both go hand-in-hand so they're one and the same is JUST PLAIN WRONG. Combat being simple is " ONE " of the reasons on how the game could be easy. Difficulty in gaming has come a long way of change in the last decade , with hack & slash games playing a major role in them. Right from the days of Devil May Cry to both the hurricane pack volumes of Ninja Gaiden on Xbox Live , there have been numerous titles with really challenging difficulty modes including Onimusha 2 : Samurai's Destiny & 3 : Demon Siege ( Hard-Critical ) , Onimusha : Dawn of Dreams ( Oni ) etc which pushed the bar with every sequel they came up with. Now , higher difficulties in games , not just hack & slash , are pure VFM than what people who don't play on them make it out to be , bragging rights. NO , When I pay $60 ( or $50 last gen ) for a game , I wan't to play it on EVERY difficulty I possibly can and have fun & a worthy AI to invest my time in , it's that simple. Dumbing the difficulty down would just mean 2 things , either you're a bad inexperienced developer or you're looking to cash in on the masses. Ninja Theory and a whole lot of developers this generation fall into the latter category , and tbh some acclaimed ones like Kojima Productions with Metal gear 4's The Boss Extreme ( If you think this was actually hard play the original on Extreme and the PAL version Sons of Liberty on European Extreme & you might know what I'm talking about ) and Platinum Games with Bayonetta's Non-Stop Climax as well.

TLDR that part , all games this gen do it so why nitpick on DmC ? Because it's worse and I'll tell you why. The damage done by each and every enemy species here is considerably low tbh and with the console version locked at 30 FPS you'd be having ample time to parry and spam it for eternity with you 2 trigger buttons and their demon/angel pulls.

The aspect that hurts more here is this ,when you have a mission based game like the predecessors ( rather the non-canonical original IP ) where an active ranking system exists purely based on how different you chain your moves together without getting hit , DmC just pokes fun at it by having the most casual style rank up EVER and that's an understatement. Take a look at this for example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNyNX0jY7aA

That was , of course , from the demo but it exists in the final game at MOST crowd control scenarios. Now the worst part of all this is not how the weapons like the arbiter being overpowered or how fast you rank up ,but how the style rank actually works this time. When your style meter ranks up in DmC and you let go of your juggles/moves in the middle of performing them , your meter drops to your last attained rank unless you get damaged to drop further down which is highly unlikely. For example you are in the middle of a combo and trying to stop it while you're on Rank SSS , you won't get back to the bottom of the ranking cycle " D " , instead you just drop down to the start of the SSS meter and stay there until you get hit and drop down to " B". This works for DMC4 because the meter gets really hard to get up , with each higher rank you climb , despite style & weapon variations. But in DmC , it's painful to see the sheer pace at which the meter fills itself up by some of the most BASIC " bread and butter " juggles ANYONE can come across , again , on the HIGHEST difficulty possible , Dante Must DIe. This is one of , if not the most cheapest aspect of the game to even call it style in the first place. There are people on the internet , gaf , friends of mine locally who've played the console versions and say the very same for the entire game. All that and despite dying around 5-6 times , the mission brief grants you an S rank which is cringe worthy really.

Those are some of the things I could come up with which I thought was fair and now , onto the other side of the coin.

The Good

1. Level Design and Writing

Art , be it any any form can be subjective and DmC isn't an exception. Both these forms have been heavily praised by most reviewers out there , you don't have to trust them but they can't be wrong here either. Unless and until the review's done by some dedicated FGC's like SRK & Zaibatsu or the fan communities and the semi-active DMC scene, you can't expect a in-depth analysis on combat , most of the time. But here it's a hit or miss , since it's entirely based on opinions , like how you and I trying to duke it out on how good or bad TDKR turned out to be. The level design is actually NOT BAD at all come to think of it. I'm a sucker for the Euro architecture combined with DMC's underworld nightmare design myself and it's considerably better imo but tbh , again , for a script like DmC limbo doesn't look bad either. The PC version runs flawlessly with almost no texture pop-in's and low res textures , with some really good setting ( again for a script like this and totally imho ) in the BG with that inverted bridge amongst others. The writing and it's outlook on corporate evil taking control on society hasn't been done too many times " in gaming " too.

2. OST

A good soundtrack/BGM can play a major role on the pacing of the game in both cinematics and gameplay. Let's be honest here , DMC 4's OST was overly repititive and pales in comparisn to the legendary OST done by Ueda Masami for the original & the eargasmic tracks of 3/3SE done by Shibata Tetsuya teaming up with Shootie HG of Hostile Groove. Now , you can't prefer your personal favorite genre of music to be made OST for a video game because of various reasons like setting , writing , characters etc. Another thing to note is how repetitive they sound in-game boss fights and levels. Given DmC's overall theme & setting here , Combichrist and Noisia have nailed it in the OST department with some really groovy aggrotech & dubstep ( though I hate the genre ) numbers with some really good ambience to back it up. It's nowhere near 1 & 3 but not actually as repetitive as 4 was. Listen to these two samples

3. Pricing here in India

Honestly , I wouldn't have spent $60 on this game day one at all and would have gone with a cheap used copy a month late. There are just too much purchases like MGR's Collector's on one platform and an SE on the other , Ni no Kuni , Dead Space 3 and the already purchased Anarchy Reigns , lined up but seriously , $18 for the version that obliterates the console brethren ? Count me the f**k in. It might as well shut me up at that price.

and finally

4. Devil May Cry 5 is happening

When Capcom approached Ninja Theory for a Devil May Cry game and NT actually proposed their version of DMC5 , it was thrown back at them and I quote

If we wanted to do Devil May Cry 5 , we would have done it ourselves.

This obviously means 2 things. One , they wanted a complete new IP which doesn't carry a nickel from the original and two , the original ( well technically Team Little Devils but Team Itsuno ever since 2 ) development team is committed to a different IP , Dragon's Dogma & all it's DLC's , a possible sequel as well on nextgen.

(i) Let's rundown the entire franchise origins ( 1 & 3 ) according to the DMC canon. Vergil attract's Dante's attention for the amulet > Dante's awakening > join forces with Vergil to defeat arkham > defeat Vergil > Go back to human world to be lured by Trish to mallet island few years later > learn about his brother being under Mundus's spell as Nelo Angelo after releasing him > Finally defeat mundus and flock off. Now anyone who's played the originals & the new DmC would notice NT retelling these 2 stories in one game with just a different narrative , differences in writing and some new characters.This is just more than a co-incidence. ( More like the new MK by NRS from MK1 to UMK3 , but that's by the same guys minus Tobias.)

(ii). Why would they start a franchise again , when a sequel sold really well by 2008's standards ? 3 million , though being multiplat , was no joke back then.

(iii) Why target an end-of-gen release window ?

(iv) This is probably a filler just taking the lineage of Devil May Cry to cash in as the board at Capcom would've wanted it to. It certainly did backfire with the widespread hate and if it's someone that's noticed it , it's Capcom. With the projected numbers being even low , I won't be so sure of a sequel to this.

(v) Even if this turns out to be a trilogy , I'd be least bothered on DMC5 being buried. Why ? If there's one team that's gonna do DMC5 it's Team Itsuno. I see no other studio and more than sure that Itsuno would NEVER , as said by Dante in DmC , " NOT IN A MILLION YEARS " , let CyberConnect2 handle a project as HUGE as DMC5. If they wanna match up to the level of premiere Hack'n'Slash game design of P+ and to an extent even the " Now-Itagakiless-and-learnt-from-past-mistakes-on-QTE-&-setpieces" Team Ninja , It can ONLY be Team Itsuno with a comeback DMC5 , not to mention a halfway nextgen release with a gazillion viral promos/teasers before reveal.

Phew , those were just some of my views entirely , and in all seriousness this mere existence of two factions should stop imo. Users have the right to like/dislike w/e they want and the sole purpose of this forum to exist to share/discuss opinions , but calling out names on public forums goes to show not only you being silly but also immature at times. For people who're relatively new to the series - if you can cut down the hostility on the fans who don't dig this as you do , well they have their reasons and right to be upset for. Now , for the so-called " FANS " , too much of something can be tiresome at times and most of all , be happy that the original series is a different IP alltogether & has every chance in the world of a possible sequel. It's just my way of saying

[Big Boss]

^Your post clearly shows how much casualized our gaming has become now. None of the so called professional reviewers touched upon this, 90% of them wont have a clue about what you said about combo cancelling and the importance of lock on, because frankly, many just complete the game for the heck of it and post reviews based on 1st impressions. There is a solid reason behind this game's dismal sales, and everyone should pretty much accept that fans (the real ones who played DMC 3 etc for ages, most of them clocked 99:59:59 in DMC 3 at all difficulties) are not buying this and for a very good reason. The core fan does not accept sh*t disguised as a dessert and rightly rejects it.

 

NT have always been pathetic devs combat wise, they should have never been chosen for this so called 'reboot'. Anyways, game barely made 1 million and Capcom has dropped projections from 2 million to 1.2. Game has bombed and hence either this series will be shelved or we will get a proper DMC 5 from guys who know their stuff rather than a hipster team like NT.

[avkash]

I will just

[Tyler]

Good summary SIB... just skimmed through it. Will read it completely when I get some time. Yes the combat is significantly dumbed down and is missing features from the previous games. However change is inevitable. It's apparent that Capcom wanted to take the franchise in a different direction and appeal to a new audience. I call it the "Uncharted" effect. That's what everyone is doing right now.

 

That said, I'm fine with this change. Like I said earlier, I'd rather have a dumbed down DmC than no DMC at all. Honestly I think NT did a great job of westernizing the game. It's definitely the best hack-n-slash game developed by a western studio. The combat is actually deeper than it seems. It's just easy for newcomers to finish the game on higher difficulties. DmC combo videos have started appearing on YT and I was surprised to see the insane stuff some folks are pulling off.

 

PS: I'd rather Itsuno and team work on Dragon's Dogma 2 than a DMC5. DD was in my top 5 GOTY last year and I can't wait for Dark Arisen.

[playstation]

Good summary SIB... just skimmed through it. Will read it completely when I get some time. Yes the combat is significantly dumbed down and is missing features from the previous games. However change is inevitable. It's apparent that Capcom wanted to take the franchise in a different direction and appeal to a new audience. I call it the "Uncharted" effect. That's what everyone is doing right now.

 

That said, I'm fine with this change. Like I said earlier, I'd rather have a dumbed down DmC than no DMC at all. Honestly I think NT did a great job of westernizing the game. It's definitely the best hack-n-slash game developed by a western studio. The combat is actually deeper than it seems. It's just easy for newcomers to finish the game on higher difficulties. DmC combo videos have started appearing on YT and I was surprised to see the insane stuff some folks are pulling off.

 

PS: I'd rather Itsuno and team work on Dragon's Dogma 2 than a DMC5. DD was in my top 5 GOTY last year and I can't wait for Dark Arisen.

NT is a very good team imo...no matter what people say. Anyways good to see you too enjoyed the game and your post is something that one can count on. so i do think people will like it ..most of them when they play it.

[SpearHea:D]

The soundtrack is amazing

[Tyler]

Good summary SIB... just skimmed through it.

 

 

 

Was leaving for work man. Don't be hating!

 

@ps, good to know you enjoyed it too. NT get a lot of unnecessary hate.

[playstation]

Was leaving for work man. Don't be hating! @ps, good to know you enjoyed it too. NT get a lot of unnecessary hate.

No sir, I have just played the demo.... I will buy soon on pc. With tomb raider coming next month ...i have to just make it wait a bit. You right about NT...sad though.Hope to see more from them in next gen gaming scene also.

[Tyler]

With the way things have been going for them I hope they survive until then.

 

And yeah PC version is glorious. Looks amazing and runs above 60 fps. Very well optimized too.

[Big Boss]

^Artwork and level design aside, DMC 4 PC version looks better than DmC.

[Tyler]

DMC4 indeed does look good on the PC. I played it again just before starting DmC and it's still a very pretty game.

 

I love the character models and faces in DmC though. The ones in DMC4 look like wax models sometimes.

[Big Boss]

^I beat DMC 4 finally after playing DmC on 360, just to wash the bad taste of combat. DMC 4 though frustrating due to it's still stupid back tracking, was a much satisfying experience. The 2nd last level where we spin the cube to advance was so much fun. I played that level 2-3 times just to reach SSS combos.

[WhiteWolf]

DMC 4 PC version looks better than DmC.

DMC PC version destroys DMC4 - PC version...Console version also looks better..Lighting is fantastic in new DMC...

[WhiteWolf]

 

The last few pages have been rather lolworthy to begin with. Most of the stuff that's been can be genralized here ( the interwebz as well ) and what they lack is a sense of gravitas , both these sides , it's sometimes even silly to an extent it's just sad. Here's my 2 cents on what , where and why it's bad & good among other things. Most of you will just plain TLDR it , but for the people who do care to read it because of the franchise and the ongoing fuss , here goes.

The Bad

First off , NO , the general consensus that this title is being bashed front , back and side-to-side ONLY because of how the lead the lead character looks like a " twilightized emopunk " is the biggest SHAM I've EVER seen in recent times. A BIG FAT NO to this. There are fair reasons aplenty as to " WHY " exactly the the fans of the franchise consider this reboot " bad by DMC standards " and the following are just a few of'em. Why am I comparing this to vintage DMC and talking about standards when clearly this being a reboot/alternate universe ? Ask Capcom , they named it " Devil May Cry " of all things because they own the IP. So it's more than obvious that the comparisns are driven.

1. The switchover from MT Framework 2.0 to UE 3.5

Now , I'm not familiar with the reviewing fraternity at all , to give out an example , Silent Hill 2 and Restless Dreams are IMO , one of THE greatest innovations in modern-day gaming but the reviews say otherwise. I mostly don't just read reviews for the titles I'm looking for. But as far as the ones I've read for this so far NONE have mentioned this very crucial aspect .

MT Framework was tailormade from ground up for Capcom's in-house franchises such as DMC , Biohazard , Lost Planet etc. from the DMC3 engine ( which was again a reworked DMC1 engine ) and some tools from the Biohazard 4 engine as well. It not just improved game after game but also one of the more stable engines out there. Now , when it comes to DMC games , it maintained 60 FPS throughout with taking almost little to no hits at all.

While most people think framerate could be the worst case scenario in DmC , in reality it's actually the framedata being the biggest culprit of them all. If you think framedata is ONLY applicable with fighting games , you're just plain wrong and misguided. EVERY MOVE in the past games in the series ( TBH not just Devil may Cry , but every possible famous h'n's titles out there , NG , Onimusha etc.. ) has an active framedata analysis where it plays a vital part in hit-registry , chaining moves on higher difficulties & other customized modes for veterans. You just don't have a practice mode here to experiment like fighting games. The most important aspect here is how the framedata of MT framework is to that of UE. I'll avoid going into advanced combat and be as simple as I can. For example , perform a stinger in DMC1/3/4 and roll to the side , now do the same animation here in DmC ( Of course , angel/demon dive here since no lock-on ). Notice the difference ? The heaviness you feel here in DmC is the recovery time + input lag that's given for MOST UE games , and stinger is just ONE move among everything in this game and I'm not even getting into advanced combat mech like jump cancelling , air raid etc.

Now , it isn't anything on NT's part but that's how UE generally works. Take UE's 3rd person action games which has even minimal combat like Batman , Wolverine etc and it exists, masked by the slow-mo's of course. THIS is one of the MOST debated subjects of the reboot among the hardcore DMC community. Combine this with locking the console versions at 30 FPS and you just have nightmare redefined. At core , the original IP has evolved over the last decade to its finest form of combat in DMC4 minus the array of weapons. Fast paced action with muscle memory & timing defining a user's skill is what these games have all been about and this is something that will just put the fans off , hence the outrage with some of them behaving a little silly at times.

2. Lack of Style system , simplified combat , no lock on , taunt etc

DMC3 introduced the style system and it was a huge success amongst the community and even one of the USP's of it tbh. A completely different moveset apart from that of your weapons , to even think of this concept is mindblowing and DMC3 sported 7 of these which can be equipped at the start of each mission or the divinity statues. What's even better ? Eventhough reduced to 5 , DMC4 took it one step further and had on-the-fly style switch. Yep , you heard that right , ON THE FLY just like the weapons , all at the simple push of the d-pad. Now in DmC , taking this out is already a huge bomb in itself but having the style moves associated with each weapon is just a plain crime which is really hard to tolerate.

The original IP's combat , mainly 3 & 4 , is fairly deep for a normal h'n's title. It's one of the very few apart from the Ninja Gaiden games that has a dedicated following and a pretty active TST scene as well. Some of'em even went to the extent of claiming the community is half as big as Shoryuken but I guess that's exaggerated , still doesn't take away the scene being huge. The reason why it's so popular because , the advanced combat mechanics are left to the user's innovation basically. Being creative and mashing different buttons in succession are 2 entirely different things. DmC here belongs to the latter and provokes you to do that more. Why ? Because the design core is built in that manner. When you have the trigger buttons for different weapons and using them to grapple them to you and get you to them to result in unlimited air chains is just a very cheap way of designing a combat heavy game like Devil May Cry. The thing to note here is that you can't compare this aspect to that of DMC4's devil bringer at all despite being slightly similar in terms of how they play because of one main reason , balance.

The lock-on has become an integral part of h'n's titles in general barring some big names but let's stick with capcom games here. Ever since Onimusha Warlords came out there have been numerous titles following the same road , DMC was one the first full 3D titles to do so and it was just a perfect feature because of the then fixed camera angles. I see no reason as to WHY exactly NT avoided lock-on. Crowd control was present in the previous titles as well but that doesn't necessarily mean you should avoid lock-on. Take the Legendary Dark knight mode of DMC4 on the PC for example , I only played the PS3 version & missed this but nonetheless it was recieved bloody well. When you actually lock-on to a target in the past games , not only do your moves get 100% accuracy which is basic but also very useful for various enemy types in air combat when you're trying to juggle after a launcher and seamlessly target switch to others to get that style rank up with swag written all over it , than being just another half-assed mechanic like it is in DmC. My guess on why they didn't implement this is pretty clear that they are trying to force the difficulty on us and doing a pretty poor job at it because some mechanics like parrying ( loosely based on DMC 3 & 4's move named " release " from the Royal Guard styleset and MOMK of Bayonetta ) make the entire game look like a cakewalk on the highest difficulty possible , here implying DMD instead of Hell & Hell from DMC4 because of the damage dealed.

Also , taunting was another unique feature that very few games in the past implemented , and a handful of fighting games. DMC4 had a reworked taunt system which gets better later. It really worked well , be it , the term as pure as it can be , TAUNT , either can be done to provoke an enemy before starting the combo or after completing it , not just raises your style meter and the mana/DT gauge , but also gives you that sheer satisfaction of badass gameplay with you being a part of it. Again , removing this doesn't make sense at all. Citing the removal of taunt for DMC2 again here not justifies it either because how this version of Dante is.

Capturing gameplay , today , is the equivalent of the sky being blue , thanks to devices pushing the envelope and the word " compact " with these. But , a decade ago it was ALMOST non-existant.

DMC3 SE's launch had the community wanting a counterpart of the highly popular Master Ninja Tournaments of Ninja Gaiden & it's Hurricane Packs. Thus , got established a concept of " True Style Tournaments " not officially by Capcom , but by a set of fan communities themselves. Usually abbreviated as " TST " , it has had 4 editions up until now where the user is given a timeframe where he/she submits UNEDITED videos showcasing their skill for the available set of styles in the game. The concept was a HUGE success with even IGN and Gamefaqs sponsoring a whole edition

A user named " Kail " sparked a revolution with his vids named " The Elysium " and " The Elohim " among the community of DMC around 7 years ago back when the TST scene was just established by the community. These following videos were first posted on to fan communities , only later on youtube by different users/fans of Kail. These define the fine line between pure skill & muscle memory than that of button mashing in succession. Check them out if you're interested in classic DMC , they're worth your time.

 

 

 

 

There were more people with a similar skill level like flamer0 , Brea , Kamui etc but they're not known as much as Kail because of the youtube frenzy his vids had. As for Brea , she even went to tournaments like evo ( don't remember which edition ) , played in front of the jawdropped audience

3. Difficulty

It's tricky classifying simplified combat as one of the aspects and difficulty as an another one altogether. The general misconception is that these both go hand-in-hand so they're one and the same is JUST PLAIN WRONG. Combat being simple is " ONE " of the reasons on how the game could be easy. Difficulty in gaming has come a long way of change in the last decade , with hack & slash games playing a major role in them. Right from the days of Devil May Cry to both the hurricane pack volumes of Ninja Gaiden on Xbox Live , there have been numerous titles with really challenging difficulty modes including Onimusha 2 : Samurai's Destiny & 3 : Demon Siege ( Hard-Critical ) , Onimusha : Dawn of Dreams ( Oni ) etc which pushed the bar with every sequel they came up with. Now , higher difficulties in games , not just hack & slash , are pure VFM than what people who don't play on them make it out to be , bragging rights. NO , When I pay $60 ( or $50 last gen ) for a game , I wan't to play it on EVERY difficulty I possibly can and have fun & a worthy AI to invest my time in , it's that simple. Dumbing the difficulty down would just mean 2 things , either you're a bad inexperienced developer or you're looking to cash in on the masses. Ninja Theory and a whole lot of developers this generation fall into the latter category , and tbh some acclaimed ones like Kojima Productions with Metal gear 4's The Boss Extreme ( If you think this was actually hard play the original on Extreme and the PAL version Sons of Liberty on European Extreme & you might know what I'm talking about ) and Platinum Games with Bayonetta's Non-Stop Climax as well.

TLDR that part , all games this gen do it so why nitpick on DmC ? Because it's worse and I'll tell you why. The damage done by each and every enemy species here is considerably low tbh and with the console version locked at 30 FPS you'd be having ample time to parry and spam it for eternity with you 2 trigger buttons and their demon/angel pulls.

The aspect that hurts more here is this ,when you have a mission based game like the predecessors ( rather the non-canonical original IP ) where an active ranking system exists purely based on how different you chain your moves together without getting hit , DmC just pokes fun at it by having the most casual style rank up EVER and that's an understatement. Take a look at this for example.

That was , of course , from the demo but it exists in the final game at MOST crowd control scenarios. Now the worst part of all this is not how the weapons like the arbiter being overpowered or how fast you rank up ,but how the style rank actually works this time. When your style meter ranks up in DmC and you let go of your juggles/moves in the middle of performing them , your meter drops to your last attained rank unless you get damaged to drop further down which is highly unlikely. For example you are in the middle of a combo and trying to stop it while you're on Rank SSS , you won't get back to the bottom of the ranking cycle " D " , instead you just drop down to the start of the SSS meter and stay there until you get hit and drop down to " B". This works for DMC4 because the meter gets really hard to get up , with each higher rank you climb , despite style & weapon variations. But in DmC , it's painful to see the sheer pace at which the meter fills itself up by some of the most BASIC " bread and butter " juggles ANYONE can come across , again , on the HIGHEST difficulty possible , Dante Must DIe. This is one of , if not the most cheapest aspect of the game to even call it style in the first place. There are people on the internet , gaf , friends of mine locally who've played the console versions and say the very same for the entire game. All that and despite dying around 5-6 times , the mission brief grants you an S rank which is cringe worthy really.

Those are some of the things I could come up with which I thought was fair and now , onto the other side of the coin.

The Good

1. Level Design and Writing

Art , be it any any form can be subjective and DmC isn't an exception. Both these forms have been heavily praised by most reviewers out there , you don't have to trust them but they can't be wrong here either. Unless and until the review's done by some dedicated FGC's like SRK & Zaibatsu or the fan communities and the semi-active DMC scene, you can't expect a in-depth analysis on combat , most of the time. But here it's a hit or miss , since it's entirely based on opinions , like how you and I trying to duke it out on how good or bad TDKR turned out to be. The level design is actually NOT BAD at all come to think of it. I'm a sucker for the Euro architecture combined with DMC's underworld nightmare design myself and it's considerably better imo but tbh , again , for a script like DmC limbo doesn't look bad either. The PC version runs flawlessly with almost no texture pop-in's and low res textures , with some really good setting ( again for a script like this and totally imho ) in the BG with that inverted bridge amongst others. The writing and it's outlook on corporate evil taking control on society hasn't been done too many times " in gaming " too.

2. OST

A good soundtrack/BGM can play a major role on the pacing of the game in both cinematics and gameplay. Let's be honest here , DMC 4's OST was overly repititive and pales in comparisn to the legendary OST done by Ueda Masami for the original & the eargasmic tracks of 3/3SE done by Shibata Tetsuya teaming up with Shootie HG of Hostile Groove. Now , you can't prefer your personal favorite genre of music to be made OST for a video game because of various reasons like setting , writing , characters etc. Another thing to note is how repetitive they sound in-game boss fights and levels. Given DmC's overall theme & setting here , Combichrist and Noisia have nailed it in the OST department with some really groovy aggrotech & dubstep ( though I hate the genre ) numbers with some really good ambience to back it up. It's nowhere near 1 & 3 but not actually as repetitive as 4 was. Listen to these two samples

3. Pricing here in India

Honestly , I wouldn't have spent $60 on this game day one at all and would have gone with a cheap used copy a month late. There are just too much purchases like MGR's Collector's on one platform and an SE on the other , Ni no Kuni , Dead Space 3 and the already purchased Anarchy Reigns , lined up but seriously , $18 for the version that obliterates the console brethren ? Count me the f**k in. It might as well shut me up at that price.

and finally

4. Devil May Cry 5 is happening

When Capcom approached Ninja Theory for a Devil May Cry game and NT actually proposed their version of DMC5 , it was thrown back at them and I quote

This obviously means 2 things. One , they wanted a complete new IP which doesn't carry a nickel from the original and two , the original ( well technically Team Little Devils but Team Itsuno ever since 2 ) development team is committed to a different IP , Dragon's Dogma & all it's DLC's , a possible sequel as well on nextgen.

(i) Let's rundown the entire franchise origins ( 1 & 3 ) according to the DMC canon. Vergil attract's Dante's attention for the amulet > Dante's awakening > join forces with Vergil to defeat arkham > defeat Vergil > Go back to human world to be lured by Trish to mallet island few years later > learn about his brother being under Mundus's spell as Nelo Angelo after releasing him > Finally defeat mundus and flock off. Now anyone who's played the originals & the new DmC would notice NT retelling these 2 stories in one game with just a different narrative , differences in writing and some new characters.This is just more than a co-incidence. ( More like the new MK by NRS from MK1 to UMK3 , but that's by the same guys minus Tobias.)

(ii). Why would they start a franchise again , when a sequel sold really well by 2008's standards ? 3 million , though being multiplat , was no joke back then.

(iii) Why target an end-of-gen release window ?

(iv) This is probably a filler just taking the lineage of Devil May Cry to cash in as the board at Capcom would've wanted it to. It certainly did backfire with the widespread hate and if it's someone that's noticed it , it's Capcom. With the projected numbers being even low , I won't be so sure of a sequel to this.

(v) Even if this turns out to be a trilogy , I'd be least bothered on DMC5 being buried. Why ? If there's one team that's gonna do DMC5 it's Team Itsuno. I see no other studio and more than sure that Itsuno would NEVER , as said by Dante in DmC , " NOT IN A MILLION YEARS " , let CyberConnect2 handle a project as HUGE as DMC5. If they wanna match up to the level of premiere Hack'n'Slash game design of P+ and to an extent even the " Now-Itagakiless-and-learnt-from-past-mistakes-on-QTE-&-setpieces" Team Ninja , It can ONLY be Team Itsuno with a comeback DMC5 , not to mention a halfway nextgen release with a gazillion viral promos/teasers before reveal.

Phew , those were just some of my views entirely , and in all seriousness this mere existence of two factions should stop imo. Users have the right to like/dislike w/e they want and the sole purpose of this forum to exist to share/discuss opinions , but calling out names on public forums goes to show not only you being silly but also immature at times. For people who're relatively new to the series - if you can cut down the hostility on the fans who don't dig this as you do , well they have their reasons and right to be upset for. Now , for the so-called " FANS " , too much of something can be tiresome at times and most of all , be happy that the original series is a different IP alltogether & has every chance in the world of a possible sequel. It's just my way of saying

[Ne0]

^^ did you have to quote the whole wall of text just post that pic

 

glad to know some of the hardcore dmc fans are enjoying the game too .... maybe the haters will back off now