Lets get the Dante design out of the way shall we, I was a fan of the original series, and personally I prefer the original design. However this design isn't as bad as everyone claims it is. The original Dante was designed to be the embodiment of cool when he was created in 2001, thus the longer hair and trench coat. The new Dante was meant to be the same, but created for the current definition of cool, which is a bit more lame, but lets face it in a world full of hipsters this could have been far worse. As for the hair color, Team Ninja originally did want to give him white hair, but Capcom told them no and to make him more different so he could be distinguishable from the original series. And as the game progresses he goes from an arrogant ass to a more recognizable version of himself, his hair even turns white after he embraces his heritage at the end of the game, which unlocks white hair Dante for replay.
Next for the story, the Devil May Cry series isn't known for its incredible stories, and if you were to only play one of them you wouldn't learn much. The new series is about a demon who controls the entirety of humanity through poisoned soda and heavily biased news. This story is actually better at conveying the character dynamics and the character growth is far more noticeable in this game. Honestly I think its the best plot in the franchise because of how much is going on, though the dialogue is something to be desired.
Virgil however is almost ruined in this game. When you first meet him it isn't too bad, just a contemporary design that and a V for Vendetta feel to him. but as the game goes on the Virgil turns into an unrecognizable monster. He uses guns, something he's only done once in the original series. He kills a child, which to be fair is a monster who tried to kill you one level ago, he screws up a hostage exchange by killing the hostage. He has no honor like he did in the original. Plus not spoiling anything, he does something at the end that the original Virgil would have never done. However his abilities remain unchanged, and I'm looking forward to play as him next month because of this.
Then there are the other characters, I can do a whole section on each, but since most of them are new and not recreations of old favorites, I won't. First off is Kat, a witch that uses a spray can and stencils for spells, this is actually pretty cool, despite the ingredients she uses. Then there is Mundus, the big bad of the game, in the original Mundus was imprisoned by Dante and Virgil's father Sparda, which is why he returned seeking revenge on his children. In this version Mundus controls humanity through the economy, Sparda was his second in command, but he betrayed him by taking an angel as his wife. Thus Mundus killed Sparda's wife Eva and imprisoned Sparda for all eternity. So ironically the revenge is sought by the children in this version. This also opens up the possibility that Sparda could later return because he is still alive. Then there is the bosses, one mimics the Slurm queen from Futurama, one resembles the MCP from Tron and is an obvious parody of Bill O'Reiley, and the third is Mundus' mistress. That's really all there is to them.
As for the gameplay, the weapons are easy to swap between mid combo leading to amazing combos. The guns however are next to useless in this game forcing you to use close range weapons in order to do any real damage. It also feels easier than the older games, not to say it can't be hard, but I beat every level with at least an A rank, and on some levels I even pulled a SSS rank, something I could never do before. Sure it can be difficult on the higher difficulties, but the original three difficulties are very easy. Also lets go over Limbo, I had a fear that it would be a gimmick forcing you to play the same area twice, once in Limbo and once normally, but I was wrong, Limbo was a way for the designers to have fun with the level designs so they weren't boring, and it made for the best levels I've played on in a long time.
The last issue I want to go over is Devil Trigger. The Devil Trigger has been a staple of the series since the beginning and is usually a way to amplify speed and strength. It also transforms Dante into his true demon form with some influence from whatever weapon he has equipped. In this game it changes the world around him creating an amazing effect. It also shoots all lesser enemies into the air while slowing down bosses and can be used to recover health. It is meant to resemble the Quicksilver style from Devil May Cry 3. Unfortunately I found it useless unless fighting a boss, and actually became a hindrance to big combos by launching enemies into the air forcing aerial attacks. Virgil's Devil Trigger is more like the Doppelganger style creating a duplicate to add support. Personally I would have preferred if they dived deeper into the new angel heritage of Dante, possibly an "Angel Trigger" to add variance and open up customization options.
My final verdict is this, fans of the Devil May Cry series should not pass this up, get over your grievances and play this game you won't be sorry. If you've always wanted to play a Devil May Cry game this is a good starting point as it is forgiving to newcomers and is the first of a new storyline. However if you are on the fence about it, the demo is free on Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Store, and it includes a boss fight and standard level. So try it out then make your judgement. The game is short, so if you don't want to pay $60 for only 7-8 hours of gameplay, I sugest waiting until it has a price drop. I enjoyed it, and if the original series was never released many of the problems I have with this game would go away. So because of that I rate the game at a B.
No comments:
Post a Comment