Gamer’s Review: Devil May Cry

During early development of “Resident Evil 4,” video game designer, Hideki Kamiya conceived an idea to make a fun action-adventure game as a spiritual antithesis of Capcom’s “Resident Evil” series.” Loosely based on Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” the game titled, “Devil May Cry” centers on a demon hunter named, Dante. He’s hired by Trish to track down Mundus. Emperor of the Underworld whos’ tied to Dante’s family. Dante heads out to Mundus’ place which is a castle located on an island filled with demonic creatures.

Released in 2001 (same year Outlaw Star aired on Toonami) on PlayStation 2, it received critical acclaim from critics and gamers alike. Thanks to selling three million copies, the game spawned three sequels, a prequel, a reboot and anime series on Netflix. I’m gonna come clean, I never played a single Devil May Cry game. I was curious to give the first one a try along with the sequels and prequel before I watch the aforementioned anime series on Netflix.

This review contains no SPOILERS. I’m giving newcomers a chance to play the first game.

Powerful & Weak Aspects

Powerful: Reuben Langdon did an amazing job for his performance as Dante.

Graphics for a PS2 still holds up. The HD Collection improves the look.

Gameplay/Mechanics

• Presented as a third-person action-adventure hack and slash, you play as Dante navigating his way in a castle filled with items, puzzles and enemies.
• There are 23 missions and 12 secret missions. Racking up a total of 35.
• After you finish a mission, a Grade System evaluates your performance. If you beat a mission on low or high rank, you obtain additional red orbs. Whenever you complete a mission, you’re rewarded Red Orbs based on your performance. For instance, if you beat a mission spending less time, defeating enemies and lack of damage, you’ll earn the highest grade possible, an S. Other grades are A, B, C and D. The higher the performance, the more orbs you obtain.
• Combat has a stylish feel. Attack your foes with melee weapons including a sword, and fiery gauntlets. You can also fire range weapons using dual pistols or a grenade launcher. As you slay a number of enemies without in rapid succession, a gauge pops up goes from Dull, Cool, Bravo, Absolute and Stylish. Short answer, D, C, B, A and S. This is similar to the Grade System.
• Spend your hard-earned orbs on power-ups, restore health, fill up your Devil Trigger Meter and the most important item, yellow orbs. They act as lives. You’re gonna need ’em.
• Boss Fights are tough. It took me an hour to beat the first boss on Normal Mode. The Phantom’s a cross between a spider and scorpion. I friggin’ hate big spiders. Every time I see a giant one, I always say David Arquette’s quote from “Eight Legged Freaks.” “Get back, you eight legged freaks!”

The game’s influenced by the “Castlevania” series and the classic hack and slash game, “Strider.”

We learn a little bit on Dante’s background.

A Plot Twist’s revealed towards the end.

If you have a hard time traversing, you can always look up a walkthrough on YouTube.

It took me 6 hours to beat the game. After you beat the game, New Game Plus retains all your stuff. New Game Plus extends more hours helping you improve grades in all 23 missions. Think you can replay the entire game on higher difficulty?

The final scene subtly sets up the second game.

Don’t forget to check out some artwork on the HD Collection.

I’m giving Devil May Cry credit for influencing Sony’s “God of War” series.

Weak: Camera doesn’t allow you to move in order to get a good look at enemies/bosses.

As I’ve mentioned before, the first boss took me an hour to beat him. Gave me a hard time. Unlike most games, you don’t change the difficulty to Easy until you beat him. That’s so unfair. To quote Chris Farley in “Black Sheep,” “What in the hell was that all about!?”

The Final Verdict: B, FOR BOLD!

An awesome first installment to a fun series, I really enjoyed it. If you’re new to Devil May Cry, buy the HD Collection on PlayStation Store or Microsoft Store. If you’re a Nintendo guy, the first three games are sold separately on Nintendo eShop. Which video game series by Capcom should I review next? Please leave a comment.