5 Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

 Acclaimed Creator

5 Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

The Devil May Cry series was created by Hideki Kamiya, responsible for some of the greatest games of all time. Kamiya joined Capcom in 1994 as Planner for Resident Evil. He went on to become the Director of Resident Evil 2, taking the franchise in a more cinematic direction.

He created Devil May Cry after originally intending it to be Resident Evil 4. Kamiya then went on to direct the original Viewtiful Joe at Clover Studio, using what he had learned making Devil May Cry to inject the same action-packed focus on gameplay. Along with Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya founded Platinum Games, making both Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 in the following years. The Devil May Cry series has inspired so many different series at this point that it is an absolute must play to understand where this unique brand of stylish, over the top action came from.

Smokin’ Sick Style

5 Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

As action series go, Devil May Cry is among the very best. This is due to its emphasis on impossibly stylish and complex combat systems. Sharing a lot in common with fighting games, Devil May Cry utilizes huge combos, split-second timing and advanced techniques to create something which feels unique. The action is also decidedly challenging in the series, never holding the player’s hand, fully expecting them to learn the many systems at play.

The style meter in particular adds a sense of theatrics to the proceedings, requiring players to not only defeat enemies, but look good doing it. It counts up the variety of different attacks and combines them with things like timing of dodges and special attacks to produce a rating throughout each battle. Extra style bonuses are applied for actions like parrying and flawless kills which, along with the excellent attack animations, creates a combat system which is both fun to watch and rewarding to execute.

Epic Boss Fights

5 Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

One of the series’ long standing traditions is the inclusion of over the top boss battles. What’s notable about the ones which feature in the Devil May Cry games is just how varied they are and how many genres they seem to span. The literal first enemy you meet in the first game is a giant lava spider boss who goes on to torment you throughout the whole game. There’s a fight which throws Dante into space, another which pits him against a building-sized angel of death and even one against a babbling news anchor.

The series’ boss battles cover everything from gruesome body-horror to Tron-like sci-fi adventure. Many break the fourth wall to hilarious effect and some even feature bosses which go on to become playable characters.

Awesome Weapons

5 Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

As far as weapon diversity goes, Devil May Cry is definitely a winner. Each game features a variety of different weapons, each feeling unique and distinct. The third entry introduced the ability to swap between the weapons on the fly, with players able to assign two weapons to each of the trigger inputs. This led to up to four weapons being used at a time, to devastating results.

But of course it’s not all about quantity here as the ways in which each protagonist uses each weapon is always a treat to behold. Pistols are used to bury swords further into the chests of enemies, giant javelins are thrown through flying demons like they were made of putty and there’s even talking swords. There is a weapon for every play style you may have making Devil May Cry a surprisingly accessible series despite its initial difficulty.

Cheesy Cutscenes and Jaw-Dropping Cinematics

Reasons Why You Need to Play the Devil May Cry Series

The cutscenes which play out throughout the series are pure ’90s anime cheese. Sitting somewhere between Dragon Ball Z and Cowboy Bebop, they put across a sense of opera while retaining excellent action sequences. Every interaction between characters is genuinely worth your time, setting the tone and scope of the narrative.

They often blend seamlessly into gameplay too, elevating boss fights and action sequences to movie-level events. A lot of it is tongue in cheek but definitely knows when to get serious, never quite reaching the level of parody. Devil May Cry’s anything-goes attitude to its action makes for amazing cutscenes and cinematics, cementing it as one of the most stylistically unique gaming series of all time.