The first time I saw the opening intro of Devil May Cry, which was back in 2001, I knew I was gonne be in for a fun time. The way Dante just stood there with the sword plunged on his chest, barely acknowledging it, I was already swooning. Capcom has created a great franchise with Devil May Cry, and a badass character with Dante.
With his tall stature, white hair, big-ass sword, dual-wielding guns, and an attitude that screams “I do this shit for fun”, Dante is the type of protagonist that girls wanna be with, guys wanna be like, and gay boys wanna get in bed with.
With the exception of the travesty that is Devil May Cry 2, the series has been a solid hack & slash action game with some light puzzle elements. What it lacks in storytelling, it makes for having great gameplay. Granted, they tried to flesh out the storyline in Devil May Cry 4 – but at that point, I really don’t care about the soap opera behind the demon killing and all. I just want Dante to kill all the things! All the things!
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So after a great decade with the franchise, I was very surprised, dare I say shocked, to see the direction that Capcom has taken with my beloved Dante.
In case you’re still not aware, here’s the 2010 debut trailer for the new Devil May Cry – now titled DMC.
I don’t know who is this hipster-skinny, mascara-wearing, skinny jeans-sporting, emo kid but he is not Dante. I don’t know why they are calling this series Devil May Cry. It looks nothing like Devil May Cry.
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Last year, 1UP was able to snag an interview from Ninja Theory, the new developers of the series, and here are their thoughts as to why they decided to change Dante:
“The essence of Devil May Cry is all about ‘cool,’” he says. “It’s about Dante being cool and making you feel cool when you’re playing it, and so the combat and the style system and everything is integral to that. But, you know, what was cool 12 years ago — I think that was when the first game came out [Editor’s Note: he’s a bit off, as the first title came out in 2001] — isn’t cool anymore. If Dante, dressed as he was, walked into any bar outside of Tokyo, he’d get laughed out. What Devil May Cry did when it launched was it brought everything that was great about action cinema like the fashion, music — it was like a cultural melting pot — and I feel like now, for Devil May Cry to have that same impact, it needs to draw on new things. New music, new ways of cinematography, new fashion.”
Maybe because I’m older now, but I still think that the original Dante is cool. If changes were to be made, they should just tweak his costume a bit here and there, update his moves, and we’re good to go. Whatever this is that Ninja Theory is doing, it seems like they want Dante appeal to the hipster crowd. So does this mean that I should just like this new Dante ironically? Cause that’s exactly how I feel.
It’s been a year since the Capcom announced the game and it appears that Ninja Theory have remained true to the series’ roots – the hack & slash gameplay along with some gun-toting fun and creative combinations for decapitating monsters. So far, based on the new trailers, they have created a beautiful environment and solid gameplay for this reincarnated game. And yet, here I am still not on board because it’s not the same Dante.
Ninja Theory is a great game development studio. After all, they created the underappreciated gems that are Heavenly Sword and Enslaved, so they may be on to creating a great reboot for the franchise. Still, they’re not winning fans over with this trailer. The only thing that makes this game similar from the previous ones is the name (both of the game and the protagonist), the rest are very alien to me.
Then again there are gamers out there that like their man looking like a mix of 90’s Kate Moss and Billy Armstrong. So maybe this will appeal to that demographic.
Since there’s still very little info about the game, including the release date, I’ll be somewhat optimi… you know what, I can’t. I’m just really disappointed about the direction of this game. I just hope the original Dante comes back in some form in this game. That or don’t call this game Devil May Cry. Please Ninja Theory and Capcom, don’t butcher one of the hottest guys in video game history. I’m sure that I can’t be the only one that doesn’t like where they are taking Dante. And if there’s any of you that like where this is going, can you share as to why? Do you agree with Ninja Theory that Dante isn’t cool anymore?
Tags: Capcom, Dante, Devil May Cry, DMC, Ninja Theory
