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So, I tried DMC. I don't like it. Details inside.
13 years ago
The big orca towers over you...
Yes, I'm still alive. Busy like always, but I finally had a chance to try out the new Devil May Cry game. I really like the old ones, and wanted to see what this was about. Below is a lovely rant I wrote for another website, and I've decided to include it here, if anyone cares. It's quite lengthy. Enjoy! :D
So, I downloaded the DMC: Devil May Cry demo a few days back, and just didn't have the motivation to really try it out. I'll admit I'm being very shallow with this, but almost all of my hesitations have to do with the new Dante. His redesign is just...not right. Not right at all. I'm against reboots as a whole in most situations, but most of the time they keep some aspects in check. He's just not the Dante that's name is synonymous with Devil May Cry. I won't go into this much more, since there is plenty of controversy surrounding his redesign, and I'm definitely in the camp of "Against it." And that's all there is to it.
When you start the demo, it's clear that this isn't the same Devil May Cry you're used to. The menus are all an ugly red shade, with text overlaid in a fairly blergh font. It's stylized, to be sure, and some people may like it, but it didn't do much for me. There are two modes in the demo, a "Level" called SomethingOrOther, and a boss-battle. The game recommended the level first, and I couldn't've agreed more.
Before you start the level, you are assaulted with this shaky-cam montage type thing that is apparently to set up the story. There's some guy in a mask talking to the camera about demons being in the world, then it flashes to Dante waking up somewhere, then Dante meets this girl who helpfully explains that the mask guy is her boss. Then, Dante meets Vergil, who is like "Dante, we're twin brothers," and Dante's like "No way, really?" And then the demo starts.
Seriously.
There is a quite a bit confusing going on there, but I just want to focus on Dante and Vergil. The way Vergil introduces himself, it's like Dante didn't know him. (What?) Secondly, apparently Vergil is in charge of some kind of demon-hunting-thing, and they want to recruit Dante (What?) and apparently he and Dante get along (WHAT?). I'm assuming (hoping) that they will grow apart as the game goes, as a core part of DMC3 was their differences and how their personalities clash. Seeing them getting along is just...weird. It's a reboot, but I feel like characters' personalities and relationships are core aspects of the story, things that should not be changed. Otherwise, why call it DMC? Why not make an original IP?
I digress. Gameplay begins, and this is where I have to admit that I was (somewhat) pleasantly surprised. Controlling Dante actually feels pretty good. The controls are pretty similar to the original Devil May Cries, with Triangle swinging your sword, Square firing your guns, X jumping, and Circle doing some kind of special technique. Moving Dante around the area was very similar to the old games, and it felt fairly easy to jump right in. He had similar combos to the previous games, and tying them into combos felt intuitive and fairly simple.
There are some changes. The biggest of which is that Dante has two extra weapon buttons. Pressing R2 or L2 will activate different weapons when you press the triangle button. L2 is angelic attacks, and R2 is demonic attacks. These were a bit confusing at first, but soon enough I was able to chain moves together and kill the demons that stood in my way. It was pretty easy to do. R1 and L1 are both for dodging attacks, and pressing one will cause Dante to roll out of the way.
This is NOT the silky smooth combat of Bayonetta, or the lightning quick stuff of Ninja Gaiden, or even the best of DMC. But it does work, and is actually quite fun to see Dante chain these moves together and lay pain on the demons. He can always use L2 to dash towards enemies, or use R2 to bring the enemies to him. This felt odd at first, but once again, made sense when you used it. It was all easy to do.
Too easy. I got to an A rank in the combo meter without breaking a sweat, and would've broken S if there were more enemies on the screen. I was playing on Normal difficulty, and these enemies did NOT feel difficult. Maybe it's an early level, but I remember in DMC3 having my butt handed to me on the first level, when I was still trying to figure this out. I don't think this is a particularly early level, but it certainly didn't feel difficult.
There's also a lot of platforming in here. Like...a lot. Like, too much. Devil May Cry's platforming sections were always frustrating, since Dante's jump is an odd straight shot upward. That's still true here, though he does have some more forward momentum, it's not much. He also has a move that he uses by holding L2 and X to dash forward, but it's the opposite of precise. I made my jumps, but I never felt certain I was going to. Also, they should really adopt something from Bayonetta. In that came, she can't fall off platforms unless she's hit into one or jumps off. Dante can run right off. The camera isn't the most useful, and I had to redo sections several times. That, and it was somewhat hard to figure out what exactly -to- do. I spent about ten minutes running in circles, looking for the place the game wanted me to get to.
There are some cool things tho. Dante is (apparently) hunted by some kind of powerful demonic force. This force will cause the landscape to crumble around him, leading to some sections where the levels break, crumble, and press in on him. It can also cause words to appear on the walls, words like "Kill Dante," and "Get him." It sounds lame, but it's actually kind of neat to see. Unfortunately, these sections also come with the frustrating platforming, and I definitely missed more jumps than I made.
And the framerate. I played this on my PS3. It's...well, it's not good. It's never unplayable, but it's not silky smooth like the old DMC games, or something like Ninja Gaiden or Bayonetta (Xbox version). Sometimes it sputters too. The graphics aren't too spectacular either. Everything has this ugly kind of orange tint to it, or at least, it did in the level they gave you. It's the lighting effects, and they are probably some kind of advanced programming whatchamacallit, but they don't look all that great. The game has this really ugly, unappealing gritty look. Everything about it just doesn't look good. It seems like it's trying to be kind of realistic, but not really. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's unpleasant.
And unpleasant is the only way to describe the boss battle. The level was not long, about 20 minutes or so (and a good portion of that was me running about confused). So, having finished that, and watched another Shaky-cam loaded trailer for the game, I entered the boss battle. This was just...ugly. The boss is some kind of, I don't know, cocoon thing hanging from the ceiling of the room. It's like wrapped in muscle, and it's puking everywhere. Seriously. Dante even says "Smells like Sick in here." Lovely. So, the demon turns to Dante. They talk about something, and then the conversation falls into the two of them yelling F-bombs back and forth. Seriously. The dialog just goes:
Demon: "F*** YOU."
Dante: "F*** YOU."
Demon: "F*** YOU."
I know that they are trying to have the banter back and forth, but that's not funny. Or clever. Or even bad in the good way. It's just unpleasant. I don't mind sweary marys, but this is just not fun to watch or listen too. Keep in mind, while this conversation is going on, the demon is vomiting. Everywhere. Lovely.
I didn't finish the boss. I didn't even fight it. I just turned off the game.
And that's my general opinion of the demo. It has some actually decent ideas, and the combat is actually not too bad (if kind of easy). And controlling Dante is quite similar to the old games, or at least, feels that way. But, there's a lot of unpleasantness in here, it doesn't feel like Devil May Cry, and the framerate isn't good. Admittedly, I think Ninja Theory did some good things. But I think they made a lot of missteps that will be deal breakers for me. Dante's redesign, the platforming, the unpleasantness of it all.
I didn't even talk about the music. It's crappy. It's some kind of rock thing that seems to go with this "Edgey-ness" the game is trying to embody. It's not working for me. It doesn't feel like Devil May Cry.
It's kind of sad when Bayonetta feels more like a Devil May Cry game than a Devil May Cry game does.
Anyway, I'm off to play more Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. Now, there is a game you can enjoy.
So, I downloaded the DMC: Devil May Cry demo a few days back, and just didn't have the motivation to really try it out. I'll admit I'm being very shallow with this, but almost all of my hesitations have to do with the new Dante. His redesign is just...not right. Not right at all. I'm against reboots as a whole in most situations, but most of the time they keep some aspects in check. He's just not the Dante that's name is synonymous with Devil May Cry. I won't go into this much more, since there is plenty of controversy surrounding his redesign, and I'm definitely in the camp of "Against it." And that's all there is to it.
When you start the demo, it's clear that this isn't the same Devil May Cry you're used to. The menus are all an ugly red shade, with text overlaid in a fairly blergh font. It's stylized, to be sure, and some people may like it, but it didn't do much for me. There are two modes in the demo, a "Level" called SomethingOrOther, and a boss-battle. The game recommended the level first, and I couldn't've agreed more.
Before you start the level, you are assaulted with this shaky-cam montage type thing that is apparently to set up the story. There's some guy in a mask talking to the camera about demons being in the world, then it flashes to Dante waking up somewhere, then Dante meets this girl who helpfully explains that the mask guy is her boss. Then, Dante meets Vergil, who is like "Dante, we're twin brothers," and Dante's like "No way, really?" And then the demo starts.
Seriously.
There is a quite a bit confusing going on there, but I just want to focus on Dante and Vergil. The way Vergil introduces himself, it's like Dante didn't know him. (What?) Secondly, apparently Vergil is in charge of some kind of demon-hunting-thing, and they want to recruit Dante (What?) and apparently he and Dante get along (WHAT?). I'm assuming (hoping) that they will grow apart as the game goes, as a core part of DMC3 was their differences and how their personalities clash. Seeing them getting along is just...weird. It's a reboot, but I feel like characters' personalities and relationships are core aspects of the story, things that should not be changed. Otherwise, why call it DMC? Why not make an original IP?
I digress. Gameplay begins, and this is where I have to admit that I was (somewhat) pleasantly surprised. Controlling Dante actually feels pretty good. The controls are pretty similar to the original Devil May Cries, with Triangle swinging your sword, Square firing your guns, X jumping, and Circle doing some kind of special technique. Moving Dante around the area was very similar to the old games, and it felt fairly easy to jump right in. He had similar combos to the previous games, and tying them into combos felt intuitive and fairly simple.
There are some changes. The biggest of which is that Dante has two extra weapon buttons. Pressing R2 or L2 will activate different weapons when you press the triangle button. L2 is angelic attacks, and R2 is demonic attacks. These were a bit confusing at first, but soon enough I was able to chain moves together and kill the demons that stood in my way. It was pretty easy to do. R1 and L1 are both for dodging attacks, and pressing one will cause Dante to roll out of the way.
This is NOT the silky smooth combat of Bayonetta, or the lightning quick stuff of Ninja Gaiden, or even the best of DMC. But it does work, and is actually quite fun to see Dante chain these moves together and lay pain on the demons. He can always use L2 to dash towards enemies, or use R2 to bring the enemies to him. This felt odd at first, but once again, made sense when you used it. It was all easy to do.
Too easy. I got to an A rank in the combo meter without breaking a sweat, and would've broken S if there were more enemies on the screen. I was playing on Normal difficulty, and these enemies did NOT feel difficult. Maybe it's an early level, but I remember in DMC3 having my butt handed to me on the first level, when I was still trying to figure this out. I don't think this is a particularly early level, but it certainly didn't feel difficult.
There's also a lot of platforming in here. Like...a lot. Like, too much. Devil May Cry's platforming sections were always frustrating, since Dante's jump is an odd straight shot upward. That's still true here, though he does have some more forward momentum, it's not much. He also has a move that he uses by holding L2 and X to dash forward, but it's the opposite of precise. I made my jumps, but I never felt certain I was going to. Also, they should really adopt something from Bayonetta. In that came, she can't fall off platforms unless she's hit into one or jumps off. Dante can run right off. The camera isn't the most useful, and I had to redo sections several times. That, and it was somewhat hard to figure out what exactly -to- do. I spent about ten minutes running in circles, looking for the place the game wanted me to get to.
There are some cool things tho. Dante is (apparently) hunted by some kind of powerful demonic force. This force will cause the landscape to crumble around him, leading to some sections where the levels break, crumble, and press in on him. It can also cause words to appear on the walls, words like "Kill Dante," and "Get him." It sounds lame, but it's actually kind of neat to see. Unfortunately, these sections also come with the frustrating platforming, and I definitely missed more jumps than I made.
And the framerate. I played this on my PS3. It's...well, it's not good. It's never unplayable, but it's not silky smooth like the old DMC games, or something like Ninja Gaiden or Bayonetta (Xbox version). Sometimes it sputters too. The graphics aren't too spectacular either. Everything has this ugly kind of orange tint to it, or at least, it did in the level they gave you. It's the lighting effects, and they are probably some kind of advanced programming whatchamacallit, but they don't look all that great. The game has this really ugly, unappealing gritty look. Everything about it just doesn't look good. It seems like it's trying to be kind of realistic, but not really. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's unpleasant.
And unpleasant is the only way to describe the boss battle. The level was not long, about 20 minutes or so (and a good portion of that was me running about confused). So, having finished that, and watched another Shaky-cam loaded trailer for the game, I entered the boss battle. This was just...ugly. The boss is some kind of, I don't know, cocoon thing hanging from the ceiling of the room. It's like wrapped in muscle, and it's puking everywhere. Seriously. Dante even says "Smells like Sick in here." Lovely. So, the demon turns to Dante. They talk about something, and then the conversation falls into the two of them yelling F-bombs back and forth. Seriously. The dialog just goes:
Demon: "F*** YOU."
Dante: "F*** YOU."
Demon: "F*** YOU."
I know that they are trying to have the banter back and forth, but that's not funny. Or clever. Or even bad in the good way. It's just unpleasant. I don't mind sweary marys, but this is just not fun to watch or listen too. Keep in mind, while this conversation is going on, the demon is vomiting. Everywhere. Lovely.
I didn't finish the boss. I didn't even fight it. I just turned off the game.
And that's my general opinion of the demo. It has some actually decent ideas, and the combat is actually not too bad (if kind of easy). And controlling Dante is quite similar to the old games, or at least, feels that way. But, there's a lot of unpleasantness in here, it doesn't feel like Devil May Cry, and the framerate isn't good. Admittedly, I think Ninja Theory did some good things. But I think they made a lot of missteps that will be deal breakers for me. Dante's redesign, the platforming, the unpleasantness of it all.
I didn't even talk about the music. It's crappy. It's some kind of rock thing that seems to go with this "Edgey-ness" the game is trying to embody. It's not working for me. It doesn't feel like Devil May Cry.
It's kind of sad when Bayonetta feels more like a Devil May Cry game than a Devil May Cry game does.
Anyway, I'm off to play more Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. Now, there is a game you can enjoy.
Then I read through these two links and my disdain grew all the more: http://dickkickington.tumblr.com/po.....l-may-cry-demo
http://dickkickington.tumblr.com/po.....-devil-may-cry