Devil May Cry

Born from the ashes of a Resident Evil 4 prototype, Devil May Cry emerged as an entirely new type of game. Led by Hideki Kamiya (who infamously struggled as Resident Evil 2's director) and producer Shinji Mikami, DMC took the framework of the original Resident Evil (exploring a haunted mansion) and removed the key element (limited resources). In its place, they made a game around exhilarating combat influenced by 3D action games as well as Capcom’s own fighting games. You could fire guns akimbo at an enemy, similar to Laura Croft, and juggle them in the air like Street Fighter. The game ridiculed, celebrated, and rewarded based on the player's capability in switching up moves and styles without missing a beat.

The original DMC holds up well despite it being the oldest and simplest of the series. The castle, in which the majority of the game takes place, remains one of the greatest examples of immersive level design. There are lessons to be learned here by any working level designer and developer. The way paths eventually link, the detailed rooms, and the brilliant final act that transforms familiar spaces to create unease in the player are still striking design choices that make DMC a joy to play, even a decade later.

Due to the game’s lovely art direction and level design, DMC holds up pretty well after all these years. Its textures and geometry are just simple enough to make the game look dated but not necessarily ugly. There are certain quirks, however. While the in-game action and cutscenes are in glorious HD widescreen in the re-release, the menus and cinematics are not. It’s especially odd since Pipeworks Software, the developer of the collection, went through the trouble of putting in the Xbox 360 buttons and controller layout where appropriate in the menus.

Then there are some issues that remain problematic, after all these years -- no, I’m not talking about the platforming. The lip-syncing and terrible audio mixing that renders the dialog inaudible, at times, are as bad as they have ever been; a sharp reminder that in 2001, Capcom was still in the early days of crafting cinematic experiences for consoles. While rough around the edges, the level design remains the best in the series even if future entries improved elsewhere (and then some).

Está datado, mas ainda é razoavelmente divertido de jogar. Absoluto respeito pelo DMC original, de estilo tão próprio e ao mesmo tempo tão influente que definiu a base de todo um subgênero dos jogos de ação.

As someone who hasn't really played anything from this series up until now, I feel like this has aged pretty well! There are... certain aspects of it that haven't quite aged well — platforming straight up does not work as intended half the time and oftentimes leaves you kind of scratching at a wall/pillar/boss trying to scale it, fixed camera angles make dodging attacks a lot harder (and compounds the issues with platforming), and the checkpoint system often results in you doing the same parts of a level over and over again — but for everything that isn't so great there was something I really enjoyed. Combat is fast, tricky, and while it's not the most intricate thing in the world it's consistently fun to just pull your devil trigger and pummel enemies into the ground. Bosses, for the most part, are really fun to fight, and I don't even mind that you fight them like four times each because each new version complicates things and provides a functionally different experience from the last. I love how quick-witted and snappy the dialogue is contrasted with the... incredible cheesiness of the voice acting: it really helps sell the escalating craziness of the game and really gives it a B-movie sort of feel. When it works it really works. I'd hesitate to call it great — the weak bits provided pretty consistent frustration throughout the game — but I really enjoyed my time here and I'm really down to see how exactly the sequels iterate on the base provided here.

Competent start to an excellent 3d action series. DMC1 definitely shows its age with the lack of a flashy combo-ing system along with pretty bad platforming sections and a camera you fight with just about as much as any of the actual enemies, but keeping in mind that this was the framework for so many games even past the 6th generation of consoles it's not hard to see how this little game was so beloved back in 2001.

Still well worth your time, if you can get past some oddities like the swimming sections and kind of barebones combat. The setting design and entire mood of the game is the best part, enough to even be unrivaled in some aspects to later games in the Devil May Cry series.

Devil May Cry is pocked by obvious flaws stemming from a disorganized development cycle, but remains one of the defining moments in early 3D gaming. Evidence of the game's chrysalis as a Resident Evil sequel abounds, but the end result is worth replaying nearly two decades later. Every moment where you cringe at a clunky camera angle change or the awkward delivery of a voice line is far overshadowed by the meticulous detail of the game's mechanical experience. Devil May Cry was a turning point in the medium.

Devil May Cry is one of the original 3D hack n slash games, I remember playing this game a few weeks before Winter break during my Sophomore year in high school, and I replayed it years later when it came to the HD collection. Its a fun hack n slash that is pretty difficult as well. I like the style and atmosphere of the game, its broken into short levels where the objective of each level usually consists of traveling through a couple rooms and finding a single item to help you progress while fighting off regular enemies. Most of the levels end with a boss fight. The things with this game is its pretty short and to the point, the levels are all short and can be beaten in 5-10 minutes each, and you fight each of the main bosses in this game 3 times each. That's really the biggest issue with it, despite its solid gameplay and design it does feel pretty limited, especially compared to the later games. There are only 5 total bosses in this game, and all are faced multiple times, and none of them really change up their tactics too much in later fights except for maybe Nightmare, who is a bitch in his final form. The other problem is the game only has 2 real weapons, there are more but those weapons don't have devil trigger so are practically worthless. You get a number of guns as well but most of them outside 2 of them are also worthless. You get a few pretty cool combos for the weapons but compared to 3 you are very limited where in this you have 2 weapons that maybe have 4 or 5 combos each, where in 3 you get something like 5 or 6 weapons all with their own sets of combos and upgrades.

As for the story, its pretty minimal, Demon hunter goes to help mysterious woman hunt a demon emperor who happens to be your father so you spend the game fighting through his minions and progressing through his castle and underworld to reach him. Its kind of a weak story compared to the later games but still has its moments, but the voice acting in this is pretty awful. The game is fairly difficult as well, most enemies in this hit like trucks, and the bosses will annihilate you if you don't use devil trigger or have healing (at least for the later game bosses). There are some cheap attacks and moments from bosses that can be frustrating but if you are prepared and have items stocked you can save yourself the frustration. But the atmosphere and style of the game makes the challenge worth it, and its a fun game, even if it was greatly improved on. Sure the missions are a little short, the game is limited, and bosses are repeated, but it makes up for that in style, enemy design, and devil trigger being one of the most badass ultimate forms.