It’s very interesting to play this after falling in love with the Bayonetta games because, while it’s fascinating to see a lot of the ground work and inspiration for everyone’s favorite Umbra Witch, it’s incredibly hard to go back in time with a genre like this. The story is barebones and nonsensical at times, the camera angles screwed me over more than in Resident Evil, and modern games have spoiled me with their tight and responsive gameplay. And yet, there’s something undeniable about Devil May Cry. The B-Movie sensibilities are endearing, it’s fast-paced mission structure kept things moving, and once the combat’s rhythm clicked for me I was blowing through demons like they were nothing. I probably won’t come back to the origins of this storied franchise again, but it’s a game that I felt was important to experience for the cultural significance and my continued education on the “character action” genre.