Devil May Cry is considered the grandfather of the... 'character action' genre (If anyone has a better genre name, please tell me), but it's certainly different from many of the other games in the genre. There is some over-the-top action, but the game is also permeated with atmosphere on many occasions. Oftentimes, you have to collect items and solve puzzles in a medieval castle. There's also fixed camera angles. In case you didn't know, Devil May Cry was originally going to be a game from the Star Fox series. Just kidding, it was actually going to be a Resident Evil game, and you can certainly tell. Even the menus are reminiscent of Resident Evil.
Anyway, this game is much simpler than other... '''character action''' games, which is understandable. You can switch between weapons, but it takes time and doesn't allow for cool combos like in later DMC games. Either way, it's still really fun learning all of the moves and using them to demolish your enemies. However, one thing I noticed is that even when I was steamrolling enemies, that didn't necessarily mean I was getting a good ranking. And when I did get a good ranking, I often wasn't sure what I did differently this time than other times. I have to guess it's based mostly on just getting in a bunch of hits instead of a variety, but I'm not sure. Combine this with bosses and many enemies where using the guns is the best option, and it seems to me that the developers weren't aware of what makes games in this genre fun. Honestly, I'm really disappointed that Kamiya didn't have a firm grasp on what people liked in the genre he was pretty much creating. Jokes aside, this is the only part that I'd say the 'this game hasn't aged well' argument fits at all, unless someone's really gonna argue that underwater levels and repeating boss fights three times were beloved in 2001.
Also, I know I was making a joke with the whole Starfox thing approximately 11 sentences ago, but the last two levels do have on-rails shooter sections. I just played Rayman 3, and it did the same thing. Apparently the new Sonic game did something similar. Why do games feel the need to completely change their genre in the last minute? Once again, was this something people liked in 2001? I don't think it is.
That aside, onto the story. Spoilers, I guess. Uh... Some girl named Trish tries to kill main character Dante and subsequently asks him to help her kill an evil demon guy, and Dante's like, 'yeah sure'. Then they don't interact for like two thirds of the game. Then it turns out Trish is evil, but then she saves Dante, and now she and Dante and buddies so they beat up the bad guy and leave the island. The biggest problem is that Trish just disappears midway through, so we don't see her and Dante grow close. They're still basically strangers by the end of the game, but they act like best friends. Also, the main villain, Mundus, is just some guy. He's boring. I'm not asking for much from these games' stories, I just want the cutscenes to be entertaining and motivating, and Devil May Cry's story was only entertaining sometimes, mainly when it was Dante just swinging weapons around and making fun of bosses.
Visually, the game is an early PS2 game. It looks fine. I like many of the enemy designs, but the castle is pretty basic in terms of visuals. The audio seemed pretty unmemorable to me to be honest.
I was considering giving this game a 7/10, but there were a few too many flaws, so 6/10 it is. Either way, I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the... '''''Character Action''''' genre.
Anyway, this game is much simpler than other... '''character action''' games, which is understandable. You can switch between weapons, but it takes time and doesn't allow for cool combos like in later DMC games. Either way, it's still really fun learning all of the moves and using them to demolish your enemies. However, one thing I noticed is that even when I was steamrolling enemies, that didn't necessarily mean I was getting a good ranking. And when I did get a good ranking, I often wasn't sure what I did differently this time than other times. I have to guess it's based mostly on just getting in a bunch of hits instead of a variety, but I'm not sure. Combine this with bosses and many enemies where using the guns is the best option, and it seems to me that the developers weren't aware of what makes games in this genre fun. Honestly, I'm really disappointed that Kamiya didn't have a firm grasp on what people liked in the genre he was pretty much creating. Jokes aside, this is the only part that I'd say the 'this game hasn't aged well' argument fits at all, unless someone's really gonna argue that underwater levels and repeating boss fights three times were beloved in 2001.
Also, I know I was making a joke with the whole Starfox thing approximately 11 sentences ago, but the last two levels do have on-rails shooter sections. I just played Rayman 3, and it did the same thing. Apparently the new Sonic game did something similar. Why do games feel the need to completely change their genre in the last minute? Once again, was this something people liked in 2001? I don't think it is.
That aside, onto the story. Spoilers, I guess. Uh... Some girl named Trish tries to kill main character Dante and subsequently asks him to help her kill an evil demon guy, and Dante's like, 'yeah sure'. Then they don't interact for like two thirds of the game. Then it turns out Trish is evil, but then she saves Dante, and now she and Dante and buddies so they beat up the bad guy and leave the island. The biggest problem is that Trish just disappears midway through, so we don't see her and Dante grow close. They're still basically strangers by the end of the game, but they act like best friends. Also, the main villain, Mundus, is just some guy. He's boring. I'm not asking for much from these games' stories, I just want the cutscenes to be entertaining and motivating, and Devil May Cry's story was only entertaining sometimes, mainly when it was Dante just swinging weapons around and making fun of bosses.
Visually, the game is an early PS2 game. It looks fine. I like many of the enemy designs, but the castle is pretty basic in terms of visuals. The audio seemed pretty unmemorable to me to be honest.
I was considering giving this game a 7/10, but there were a few too many flaws, so 6/10 it is. Either way, I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the... '''''Character Action''''' genre.
6 Comments
@Elkmane Yeah, something involving spectacle, style, or something like that fits more in my opinion. I may use that.
every day i count my lucky stars that we left the "what if our game took place in a boring uninspired castle for more than half of the run time" era of gaming behind in the 2000s for the most part
@Junie It probably would've worked much better for a Resident Evil Game, but yeah, I can't say I disagree.
Man seeing this game as it was released I thought it was the best looking and playing game at the time. I think a lot of younger people play this now and find it pretty simple and it is compared to most character action games but this was something special at the time. I think there are a lot of great simple details people overlook when it comes to the games design and combat and enemy behavior. Love the game to death but agree I don't know what the hell Kamiya was thinking with that shooter stage. I get he really loves Space Harrior but don't cram it this game where it doesn't fit and is horribly balanced on harder difficulties.
@SlasherMcGirk While I definitely implied that the whole 'This game didn't age well' argument is really reductive, perspective certainly has an effect on opinions of a game. The thing is, I only played this after DMC 3, which undoubtedly skewed my opinion. However, I did rather enjoy this game, and I don't want a 6/10 rating to be the only thing people get out of my review, because this game is obviously much more than that.
But yeah, maybe if ten years from now there were a ton of games like Hypnospace Outlaw, I'd still prefer the aforementioned simply because it was so unique to anything else I ever played at the time. But who knows.
But yeah, maybe if ten years from now there were a ton of games like Hypnospace Outlaw, I'd still prefer the aforementioned simply because it was so unique to anything else I ever played at the time. But who knows.
Elkmane
1 year ago