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I felt the need to write about my first few hours with DmC, as I have a feeling that the slightest hint of criticism will be met with eye rolling from my colleagues and listeners that tend to think I hate everything. Sometimes I wish people would actually listen to what I'm saying instead of just writing off my general attitude as pessimism. I've been playing and discussing games for a really long time, and there's is a lot I like about games. And guess what... there are things I like about DmC as well. Shocking, right?

What I like:

The Characters and Story
Surprise, I actually like what I've seen so far. I've never really doubted Ninja Theory's ability to tell an interesting story – my concern has always been that I didn't want them saddled with a franchise (and fan expectations) of a world and lore they didn't create. I think this limits their potential. Enslaved was one of my favorite games in recent memory. It really proved Ninja Theory's ability to craft an original world and characters, and treat them with a subtle maturity. Devil May Cry seemed like the last universe where they could apply these same techniques. And while DmC is a far cry from Enslaved, or even Heavenly Sword, the characters do seem well realized. Sure the new Dante is a dick, but that's fine given the premise. The story of the dick who doesn't give a shit, but then starts to give a shit, isn't new. This is the story they want to tell, and they seem to be hitting the right, albeit somewhat predictable, notes. Sure the fedora is a bit dumb, but I like that Vergil is appropriately regal. Also, modern demon witch girls who cast spells by tagging with spray paint is appropriately stupid in an awesome kind of way. They have a vibe, and they nail it. I'm genuinely interested to see where the story goes.

The Combat:
With the exception of the fact that everything feels a little mushy, I slowly began to see potential in what I played of the combat system. Many of the moves are designed in a way as to let the player control the placement of enemies (and the player) on the battlefield. As I juggled enemies and proceeded to wail away at them in the air, I had a move that could seamlessly pull enemies off the ground up and into the same air combo. So what started off as me juggling one enemy, quickly turned into me killing four baddies with the same air combo. This is a pretty cool idea for dealing with multiple enemies, and I hope I'm just scratching the surface of what this combat can do. But as I said, it's still pretty mushy. I find myself constantly fumbling with the controls as there are so many inputs. I know what I want to do, but I struggle with actually doing it. Holding the shoulder buttons to bring up your other weapons simply isn’t responsive enough. And for some fucking reason, you cant do certain gun maneuvers without letting go of the shoulder buttons first. It's frustrating, and honestly, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

What I don't Like:

The Music:
Simply terrible. And while the music was certainly poor in previous entries in the series, why is that an excuse to keep it shitty? Dante clearly has a punk vibe about him, so why not some early British punk music? Isn't this new Dante even wearing a Union Jack? I just don't get why Devil May Cry has to be synonymous with butt rock. Or just replace the music with the soundtrack from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. That way, everybody wins.

The Look:
We have recent archive footage of Greyfox playing Devil May Cry 4. Watch that and tell me it doesn't look a hell of a lot cleaner and smoother than this game. And that came out in 2008. I do like the environments conceptually (especially in limbo), but the execution is sloppy. I just don't enjoy looking around at the world. I think it's a combination of the sluggish camera and the over saturation of color, but it's a pain on my eyes when I'm searching for collectibles. I had a similar issue with Enslaved. Maybe Ninja Theory just needs to move away from the Unreal Engine. But while I do think my eyes will adjust to this over time, nothing is going to save the terrible enemy designs. Every single demon I've encountered so far has been a poorly rendered jumble of flesh. These monster designs seriously come off as a bunch of Silent Hill rejects. Then they start color coding them! Nothing here compares to the marionettes of the original or the twisted angelic monsters of Devil May Cry 4. I hope the game still has some surprises for me in this regard.

The Platforming:
I'm really at as loss as to why Ninja Theory thought a focus on platforming would be a good idea – especially when these sequences are so sloppy and uninspired. Jumping around just doesn't feel right. I'm not sure how it's possible to make a character so floaty also feel like a sack of bricks, but Ninja Theory are true masters at making movement feel wrong. Miss-judging jumps and air dashes constantly had me plummeting into the demonic abyss. It feels like I'm playing an N64 era 3D platformer. Has there ever been a character action game that figured out how not to completely fuck this up? Also, the ability to grapple on to predetermined points to pull pieces of the environment to and fro might look cool, but it's slow, brainless, and wasted potential. Imagine if Ninja Theory actually created tech that let the player manipulate the environment dynamically. A little indie game called Tiny and Big did it last year, and it seems like a perfect fit for the DmC limbo environment. Then again, that would have required them to do something new. I see a serious lack of ambition in the platforming and level design in terms of mechanics, and I'm finding myself more bored than anything in these sequences.

I'm ultimately surprised that the things I was most concerned about with DmC are managing to impress me. If the story doesn't fly off the deep end and I get a better handle on the combat, I can see DmC becoming a pleasant surprise. Now feel free to comment on how I hate everything -- I'll be playing Anarchy Reigns.

Comments

  • mgs2master2 Avatar
    mgs2master2
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I agree with all points made except the look. I feel in this type of game, at least how it is set up, it goes surprisingly well.

    Also the music was a poor choice to say the least. nothing like fighting horde of demons and hearing WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB as you fight.

  • ShadowStarr5 Avatar
    ShadowStarr5
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I am in agreement with Brad. that is all

  • Moblyn Avatar
    Moblyn
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I never thought you were going to be blind to the positives like alot of the haters seem to be. I have not played it so i cant criticize much of it but I also like the story and the characters from the little that I have seen. Good Article!

  • Jeremy Flower Avatar
    Jeremy Flower
    11 years, 2 months ago

    From what I've seen on the feed, those all seem like valid complaints. Especially platforming. Dante has an air-combo jump, not a "cross this gap" jump. Even with the air-dash, it looks clunky.

  • OlMuttonchops Avatar
    OlMuttonchops
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I absolutely agree on the platforming. Who in their right mind playtested that and thought it was acceptable? I don't much care for the story yet, and the combat doesn't really feel good to me. Like Brad said it feels mushy. As if you were fighting in Jello or underwater. I hope the story hooks me soon, because right now this is on the same tier as Dante's Inferno or Alice Madness Returns for me. Conceptually cool, but mechanically uninspired and a little mediocre.

  • Arxidus Avatar
    Arxidus
    11 years, 2 months ago

    While I don't mind the visual style as much, I agree with how muddy it looks. Nothing wrong with a super stylized world, but the over saturation almost makes the environments look as murky as the combat feels!
    Also on a side note, the PC version runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. That, in addition to the general visual improvements that come with running games on a high-end PC, might even serve to clear and clean up some of the visuals. Even though it comes to Steam on the 25th of Janurary, I think it might be worth the wait.

  • Nick Henderson Avatar
    Nick Henderson
    11 years, 2 months ago

    Soundtrack is excellent.

  • Zladko Avatar
    Zladko
    11 years, 2 months ago

    Honestly, I was really surprised by the characters and story as well. Probably because my expectations were extremely fucking low after seeing the dialogue from the trailers.

  • Per Morten Avatar
    Per Morten
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I agree with a lot of the points you make here Brad, and it's good to see that the comment section doesn't hate on the game like everywhere else.

    I do think the music is okay, but not half as good in the previous instalments to the franchise. Gotta represent the Norwegian band Combichrist, but they could av cut out the dubstep from Noisa or whatever they're called.

  • Nakamura Avatar
    Nakamura
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I've really enjoyed what I've played. It may not have combat as tight as the other games, but it's still good and fun. Characters and story are cool too. I even kind of enjoy the platforming. I do think that the game looks kinda muddy though... most of the limbo stuff is kinda cool and there's a certain mission that has a really nice style to it, but other than that, EVERYTHING in the "real" world looks gross and boring. The music is kind of neglectable too, I've just kinda ended up tuning it out.

  • Avatar
    Wasse
    11 years, 2 months ago

    This bourbon smells wounderful. Jolly good.

  • ManTrap Avatar
    ManTrap
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I pretty much agree with Brad here. The only thing I really seem to differ from him on is my judgement of the characters. Admittedly this is only his first impressions and I've finished the game, but I thought (by the end of the game) that although the characters had potential they were ultimately poorly developed.

    For some flagrant self promotion, here's a painfully long review I've written in the forums. Warning: Spoilers

    http://4playernetwork.com/forum/topic/639/

  • Avatar
    hewy
    11 years, 2 months ago

    It's a shame that all the places were the game fell down seem to be in it's forced franchise touchstones. And Every-time they give a nod to old Devil May Cry in the story it feels weird and forced, like if Shakespeare made an American pie reference. But overall it's pretty great. I would disagree about the music though (although not my taste) I think it keeps a focus on the interesting/dumb the world is a corporation theme. If it were British punk (Assuming you mean Clash/Wreck-less Eric style) it would bring too much attention to the (Punk) Dante, making him lose his charming enigmaticness and replace it with needy attention seeking vibe. The only way he can be so dickish and still be likeable is if the whole world and game is against him, even the music.

  • Moom Avatar
    Moom
    11 years, 2 months ago

    Nice points. Makes me want to finish Bayonetta though...

  • Avatar
    StückBrot
    11 years, 2 months ago

    I was actually interested in this game having played previous games of the franchise aswell as some of the older ninja theory games, but I couldn't even finish the demo because of its downright horrid soundtrack.