There are games that mark an era while not bringing great innovation, and others that rewrite a videogame genre from scratch. Then there are the games like devil may cry they do both. The series took the action genre and completely revamped it, effectively creating a sub-genre, lo stylish action, where the skill of the player really counts. The work comes from the brilliant mind of Hideki Kamiya (famous for having also created the superb Bayonetta), during the advent of the seventh generation of consoles. The series has made its fans experience joys and sorrows, ending up disappearing after a reboot certainly not up to expectations, at least from a commercial point of view. After years of speculation, rumors and anticipation leaks, it was finally announced on the stage of E3 2018 Devil May Cry 5 which seems to want to distance itself from the deviation made by Ninja Theory. Waiting for the fifth chapter, which represents the definitive return of the series, let's rediscover together the history and evolution of the saga of devil may cry, from the dawn to the present day.
The first devil may cry is a title that was able to revolutionize the action genre, establishing itself as a paradigm of hack and slash, but perhaps not everyone knows that originally it should have been the fourth chapter of the saga of resident evil. Towards the end of the 90s there was a lot of excitement among those of Capcom, eager to bring the famous horror series to the new one PlayStation 2 di Sony. It was decided to entrust the development and direction of the project to a young game designer named Hideki Kamiya, who had a very fast and dynamic concept in mind, in stark contrast to the staid rhythms they had characterized resident evil up to the third chapter. Kamiya began working with a renamed team Little Devil, implementing a dynamic camera and several other devices that slowly made him move away from the classic canons of the series. The situation alarmed the producer Shinji Mikami, which convinced the leaders of the Capcom to make that project a completely new game: it was about to be born devil may cry. Free from the constraints of resident evil, Kamiya and his team went wild, creating a super-fast-paced action that implemented exploratory elements. A gothic design, accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack that emphasizes the continuous fighting, represents the setting for staging the stories of its legendary protagonist: Dante Alighieri. son of the demon Sparda and a woman named Eva, with human features but with extraordinary demon powers. The story begins with Trish, a mysterious girl who came looking for him to make sure of his abilities and to ask him to help her stop the evil Mundus, emperor of demons and enemy of Sparda, who has risen after so many years of oblivion and is intent on conquering the world of humans.
The game is the perfect fusion of a 3D scrolling fighting game and an action-adventure, featuring a strong emphasis on combat, incredible weapons and spectacular cut-scenes.. The first devil may cry quickly became a point of reference for PlayStation 2 and a whole generation of gamers, above all for its gameplay made up of fast and original acrobatic fights. Dante Alighieri has the legendary sword at his disposal Rebellion and the two semi-automatic pistols Ebony ed Ivory (a reference to the famous 1982 song by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder), can find other weapons in the course of the game and is able to transform into "demon mode" with the Devil Trigger. One of the most characteristic elements of the title is the possibility of combining attacks with firearms and those with the sword even in mid-air. In addition to the gameplay itself, which is largely divided into combat sections combined with platform elements, the game stands out for the high number of combinations between weapons and skills, crowning the end of each level with a series of statistics and a final evaluation from D to SSS. Making increasingly spectacular and effective combos is necessary to be able to obtain a better rating and a greater number of Red Orbs to spend to purchase new skills and items. The boss fights broke the linearity of the game, to offer a challenge with unique characteristics that vary with each fight (it took three rounds at different times of the game before finally defeating them). Despite being only four, they constitute an impressive element in the narrative economy, where an extremely spectacular cinematic cut emerges.
A surprising game, but still not without its flaws. The story is not very solid and the narration exists as a function of the gameplay: Dante Alighieri does not shine by characterization, while Trish, which should be the key reason for the journey to Hell, is almost completely useless in the few sequences that see her as the protagonist. From a technical point of view, the only weak point is the use of a camera that cannot be controlled by the player, typical in the games of those years, which makes the management of the fights very difficult. devil may cry it's certainly not a title that hasn't aged over the years, but there remain elements of majestic grandeur that have allowed it to be one of the most important and influential video games ever.
The development of the sequel was entrusted to Hideaki Itsuno, removing it from the hands of the creator Hideki Kamiya. This not only marked a break, it would lead Kamiya to get away from Capcom, but yielded Devil May Cry 2 something different. Arrived on PlayStation 2 in 2003, the second chapter managed to sell very well, but disappointed most of the critics and fans, going to play the role of the weak link in the series. Capcom makes the game a brand by making a deal with Diesel, but the marketing campaign seems to focus more on the jeans worn by the protagonists than on everything else. This would not surprise us much today, but then it was seen as an attempt to only want to market the product and broaden the audience, at the expense of the hardcore soul that distinguishes the previous game. Overall, the art direction is lacking, the level of challenge decreases and the AI of the enemies is rather questionable. In this chapter Dante Alighieri he finds himself in the company of Lucia, an attractive girl with fiery red hair that we can use as an alternative to the son of Sparda. Net of some improvements in the management of the camera, the title appeared very simplified both in the boss fights and in the puzzles. Stylistically much darker than its predecessor, it featured larger but less detailed environments, and the same Dante Alighieri he turned out to be anonymous compared to the extravagant and mocking half-demon the world had fallen in love with. As mentioned, the complaints were not lacking, but Capcom he treasured it for a new episode.
The team immediately set to work to create the worthy heir that fans expected. When Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening arrived on store shelves in 2005, the game immediately managed to win back critics and audiences, making people forget the defects of the second chapter. It represents a prequel to the original and shows us a young and swashbuckling Dante Alighieri on the trail of his brother Vergil. A mysterious tower appears out of nowhere, emerging from underground and destroying part of the city. Dante is convinced that his brother could be inside, but the attack perpetrated on him shortly before by the demon Arkham is the beginning of a series of truly impressive revelations. The game takes us to discover the past of the saga, to lead us where it all begins. The story deeply delves into the mythology of the game universe and its events are narrated through a multimedia approach, including two manga published by J-POP and a twelve-episode anime series created in 2007 by Madhouse studio.
Hideaki Itsuno he directs the whole thing again, and the series regains everything it had lost in the previous chapter. The difficulty is raised a lot, which is almost frustrating in some places. The biggest difference is that Dante Alighieri can adopt multiple fighting styles: Trickster, Sword Master, Gun Slinger e Royal Guard they are the main ones, chosen at the beginning of each level or changed during the game at the famous checkpoints, those in the shape of a lion holding an hourglass. Each style increases and changes the combos that can be made, prompting each player to find his own personal approach to combat. Then it came Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, where it was possible to experience the adventure even in the role of Vergil. The mode is the same but the variants are in the gameplay, in the particular park of Vergil's moves and in the additional mode Bloody Palace. Dante also makes an appearance in other video games, such as Marvel vs Capcom, Viewtiful Joe (another great pearl born from the brilliant mind of Hideki Kamiya) is Shin Megami Tensei III: Lucifer's Call (European version of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne), where he played the role of one of the villains.
Years go by and 2008 arrives. Xbox 360 has taken hold strongly while PlayStation 3 struggles to establish itself due to a decidedly high price. Hence the choice of Capcom to publish a title of the series for the first time in multi-platform. Devil May Cry 4, always developed by the same team led by Itsuno together with the producer Hiroyuki kobayashi, arrives on store shelves for both consoles and also for PC, representing the technical culmination, the maximum summa, of the spirit of the three chapters released for PlayStation 2. The dynamics have been modernized enough, but not upset. Over 50 songs and two hours of cutscenes were composed for the occasion. But the real bold choice lies in putting players in the shoes of a new protagonist: Black, member of Holy Knights of the Order of the Sword, which is joined by the much loved Dante Alighieri as a co-star. A ploy appreciated thanks to the good characterization of the new character, but not entirely new for the history of the medium (years before Hideo Kojima had performed a similar operation in Metal Gear Solid 2).
Black he is armed with a double-barreled pistol called Blue Rose, accompanied by the sword Red Queen, capable of increasing its power through theExceed system activated with L2. The novelty, however, is given by the boy's right arm, the Devil Bringer, able to use demonic powers to grab, throw and punch his opponents. In addition to the fights, there are puzzles to be solved by activating special switches or moving objects. Sometimes you have to overcome some platforming sections, where you will need to use the special ability of the Devil Bringer to be able to pass ravines or rise higher within the level. From about halfway through the game, we can play the role of Dante Alighieri, armed with his legendary pistols Ebony and Ivory, the gigantic sword Rebellion and the sawn-off shotgun Coyote. We also find the four styles available in DMC 3, but unlike the third chapter it will be possible to change them at any time by pressing the D-Pad. Really disappointing the fact that Dante's part is limited to a mere backtracking of the journey made up to that moment by Nero, traveling through the same settings and, above all, facing the same bosses again. The programmers could have looked for alternative routes for our hero, even using the same scenarios, instead we find ourselves traversing the exact same areas with very minimal changes. This makes it clear how much the role of Dante Alighieri is marginal with respect to Black.
During the Tokyo Game Show Part 2010 Capcom surprisingly announces that he has entrusted a reboot of the series to the western team Ninja Theory (known for Heavenly Sword, Enslaved and later in recent years for the acclaimed Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice). When the title hit the shelves in 2013, an uproar broke out due to the drastic artistic change that Capcom he had requested. Set in a parallel universe, DmC: Devil May Cry put the players in the shoes of a Dante Alighieri with short black hair, in settings completely different from the style of the original series. If you don't consider the fans' attachment to the traditional artistic style, the title turns out to be of fine workmanship, both in terms of history and in terms of gameplay. Graphically the transition toUnreal Engine is noticeable immediately and allows a huge level of detail, at the expense of a frame rate anchored to 30fps.
Dante's “new” origins are those staged in DmC, an operation that has a lot in common with similar comic productions, digging into the personality of the character and revealing new aspects. Likewise, the idea of bringing the metaphysical world of demons and angels into a contemporary reality, in which the devil hides behind consumerism, the media and finance is an extremely fascinating and courageous idea, raising the entire saga to new narrative horizons. The story of Dante Alighieri e Vergil, together with the new entry Cat and their war a Mundus it takes on an epic dimension, inserted into the reality of the human world. The level design is remarkable, hybridizing the classic structure with some platform-style elements that manage to vary the game action and add depth to the gameplay, helping to create scenarios in which human reality and the demonic realm intersect (not surprisingly the city where the title is set is called "Limbo city"), distorting the realistic setting into a nightmare of absurd shapes and lurking demons. Being a game devoted to frenzied action, there is not much room for psychological introspection, therefore the evolution of Dante Alighieri it is compressed in a rather hasty way, just as the social criticism of the post-modern world is superficial, but that is enough, together with a truly exciting direction, to build a solid narrative base.
The artistic direction of Ninja Theory leaves a notable imprint in the imagination of devil may cry, proposing a personal interpretation, mature and of great aesthetic charm. The presence of parallel dimensions has allowed the graphics to wander with the imagination, indulging in infernal, dreamlike or simply absurd levels. The metropolitan settings refer to the great European cities, but when they are confused within the Limbo the structures lose all contact with reality, folding into a nightmare of distorted forms of cities suspended in the void, in which Dante Alighieri it is found circling between pieces of destroyed streets, facades and buildings. The transition from reality to Limbo allows extremely diversified settings, truly visionary sets that reach very particular points of bizarre and inspiration.
This mixed approach is also reflected in the use of Dante Alighieri, equipped with useful applications to move within the levels. Arbiter e Osiris, in the presence of particular attachment points, they can be used as grapples able to make the character move from one point to another in the settings, move sections of the scenario to create new points of support, as well as hook and attract enemies during the fighting. It is a solution that paves the way for a more complex level design, which requires moments of precision on the jumps and on the control of the movements, but also a greater attention to the elements of the scenario. There are numerous secondary roads, secret doors and bonuses scattered around the levels that can go unnoticed, or impossible to reach because they await the acquisition of particular powers by the protagonist. Unfortunately there are some imperfections in the platforming phases: air control of Dante Alighieri it is not the best in accuracy, sporadic surface contact problems and a camera that often requires manual recall. In March 2015 the title was released in version Definitive Edition for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which includes all published DLC and 1080p graphics, with a game speed of 60fps. A little curiosity: the work was placed in first place in the ranking of the best 50 video games of 2013 by Game Informer.
In answering a specific question posted on Twitter by a fan, the producer Matt walker wanted to dispel any doubts about the positioning of Devil May Cry 5 in timeline of the series. According to what has been stated, the events of the game will take place after the events narrated in Devil May Cry 2, thus confirming the first theories that appeared on the net in the aftermath of the announcement. It's clear how the team went to great lengths to make the character of Black. The protagonist's increase in maturity is evident, and the demo at Gamescom in Cologne is already enough to notice greater security, bringing him enormously closer to the Dante Alighieri of the classic trilogy. That said, the chronological order of the series should look like this:
- Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
- devil may cry
- Devil May Cry 4
- Devil May Cry 2
- Devil May Cry 5
Coming out next 2019, the fifth chapter will resume the historical nature of technical hack and slash, in which equipment and frenetic attacks must be chained in a timely and varied way in order to produce truly lethal combos. The protagonist will be again Black, flanked by the immortal Dante Alighieri (even if it is not specified whether with a campaign of its own or simply as a variant in some specific contexts) and by a third character whose identity is not known at the moment. The absolute novelty concerns the presence of the Devil Breaker, namely the mechanical arm of Black with which it will be possible to unleash different types of elementary attacks, based on the upgrades and reloads that can be found around the map.
Devil May Cry 5 will be released on March 8, 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
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