[Rant] If You Don’t Think DmC Looks Great, We’re No Longer Friends

 

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Look, first things first: I’m not a gigantic Devil May Cry fan. I missed out on the first three games (for the most part) while they were hot, but did play (most of) 4 and picked up the HD Collection. I liked what I saw. That doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re a crazy person if you’re not excited for DmC. Hype, guys! I has it!

Devil May Cry has always been the embodiment of style over substance. Likewise, Dante has been the essence of “too cool for school” since the very beginning. At least, he was when the games first came out. For a relative newcomer like me in the HD Collection, Dante is laughable. Yeah, yeah, fill your dark soul with light and all that. That’s not what I’m talking about. Every single line that Dante utters (especially in Devil May Cry 1) is ridiculous. Groan-worthy, even.

It’s utterly baffling to me. Why are there such cults of personality regarding this character? He may be thin and sleek, his cloak may flow in the wind, but it doesn’t stop the amount of sewage spewing from his scrawny little mouth. Yes, I saw the same character you did, but I saw him ten years later. With most games this isn’t a problem, but here it’s almost painful. Dante isn’t cool anymore. Times have moved on. It’s right there. In living colour.

I’m not even dissing the games. DMC1 (my personal favorite in the series) is still a great game, regardless of Dante’s poor aging. It may just be the Resident Evil fan inside of me, but that game has the perfect mix of exploration, backtracking, and combat (it was the original Resident Evil 4, after all). We won’t mention DMC2. DMC3, I’m down with. It hasn’t aged as well as I’d hoped it would, but it’s still a blast to play.

Dante is a problem there, too. He’s constantly doing cool shit (that intro is still one of my favorites of all time) like shooting pool ball into demons’ faces whilst eating pizza, but every time he opens his mouth the cool is immediately sucked out of the party like helium at a Chipmunks reunion.

Yes, I get it. You like to “rock out.” Potentially even with your cock out! Haha! You’re hysterical, Mr. ‘Te!

…but seriously, shut the fuck up.

That’s my favorite new addition to the Devil May Cry franchise (according to the trailers, at least): every time New Dante opens his mouth, I don’t cringe.

He may not be the next James Dean, but he’s at least the next James Franco. I’d rank him four New Goblins out of five.

 

Creating a “cool” character is hard to do. Just look at James Bond, a character that I would argue has managed to stay cool longer than anyone else. It’s certainly not because he’s static.

When Sean Connery first played Bond in Dr. No, his chest hair ruled the roost. Panties dropped at the sight of it. When Daniel Craig took the reins for Casino Royale, he groomed that man mane. And it was cool.

My point is this: Whether you’re Dante’s one-liners or James Bond’s chest hair, you’ll never get ahead by keeping the status quo. Don’t be afraid! Shave that shit!

This may also have something to do with the fact that I always make my RPG characters look like Keanu Reeves. I’m dumb like that.

 

If you haven’t seen the newest trailer, do it. It’s worth it. It may not have anything to do with Devil May Cry as we know it, but frankly, dear Reader, I don’t give a damn. It’s slick, it’s fun, it’s colorful, and it’s cool.

The entire game just looks like fun. The nightclub aesthetic fueled by the same fluid action that the series is known for really floats my boat, the masked dude reminds me of V in all the right ways, and, once again, I don’t physically shudder every time Dante opens his mouth.

I have to admit here that I am a much bigger fan of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West than I am of the majority of Devil May Cry games. Some sadistic part of me spent most of the announcement of DmC hoping that Andy Serkis himself would be doing the motion-capture for Dante.

 

I’m sorry, I meant star of stage and screen, Andy Serkis.

How are you not looking forward to a new Devil May Cry game from Ninja Theory, anyway? Say what you like about the fluidity (or lack thereof) of the combat/simplicity of it all in Enslaved and Heavenly Sword, that was never what it was about. Of course they never hit the euphoric symphony of the S-Ranked combo in DMC. Until now, that was never what it was about.

If there’s one thing that the trailers have showed me, it’s that Ninja Theory is bringing their artistry in story and design, but they’re also bringing their A game when it comes to gameplay. Basic, rudimentary combat systems were always the design philosophy of their prior games. That’s not the case with DmC and it shows.

Perhaps this rant tells more about me than it does about the game. I’m fine with that. The real question that I would like to posit to all readers is this: Is it really that bad to get something different out of Devil May Cry?

Sure, the old formula has made great games in the past, but that doesn’t mean it still works now. I played through Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3 in the past months and I still couldn’t tell you anything that I enjoyed narrative-wise.

Give the franchise a change of pace. Kill the old tropes in favor of the new flavor. A little change never killed anything.

 

We won’t talk about that.

What I’m trying to say is: I would have a few beers with Dante of the past, but I would party with New Dante. That means the game is good, right?

 


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Author
Chris Jecks
Chris Jecks has been covering the games industry for over eight years. He typically covers new releases, FIFA, Fortnite, any good shooters, and loves nothing more than a good Pro Clubs session with the lads. Chris has a History degree from the University of Central Lancashire. He spends his days eagerly awaiting the release of BioShock 4.