Devil May Cry

FWIW I very strongly recommend getting a controller for DMC. The control scheme is very intuitive, easily the best I've seen in an action game (especially with a bit of rebinding for relegating frequently held buttons to the shoulders).

Although it is often said there is no truly good controller for DMC (at least at the highest levels). You'll see keyboard players excel where pad ones fail, and vice versa

I can almost buy that keyboards would be better than a gamepad because of my experience with FPS, but I'm still seeing that you need an extra hand need to play as Dante.

Edited by agent-trunks on May 19th 2022 at 5:49:21 AM

The biggest issue for the standard controller layout when it comes to DMC is the D pad for style switching, IMO. Claw grip is uncomfortable as hell, you'd need to design a controller specifically for having the D pad available comfortably while not having to give up the left analog.

I wouldn't exactly be surprised if it exists, but surely there's a custom-made controller specifically for Dante's gameplay style?

There isn't. Also, not all people claw for Dante, even in high APM DMC 4. There's a lot of keyboard players because you can arrange the buttons in a lot of ways, while gamepad has the advantage of being more compact and easy to use instinctually.

I don't remember what APM stands for, but I'm hearing that it's ultimately subjective/a matter of preference, which I can totally also buy.

I decided to finally play DMC 1.

In the span of what I believe to be roughly 4 hours, & I reset every time I died, I'm on Mission 10. Boy, do I love those platforming segments. But seriously, while I am kinda enjoying myself the game does feel outdated & I don't find myself liking DMC 1 over DmC by the end of my playthrough.

APM stands for "actions per minute" but in the context of DMC it's often used to denote a playstyle that heavily favors using lots of moves one after another.

I don't remember DMC 1 having any really notable or constant platforming, except for the Ifrit unlock one that I did in one shot.

EDIT: Also check out the advanced tech for DMC 1 on youtube. It's worth it

Edited by Dylan_Dog on May 17th 2022 at 9:31:42 PM

Well, aren't you talented? I've only encountered 2 of them so far, the 1st time you fight Sargasso/the skull thingy & getting Ifrit. If there are only 2 platforming segments that aren't Secret Missions then that's a major relief to know. I'm still irritated knowing that Air Hike cost 4000 red orbs. There better be a good reason why that costs more than unlocking special moves.

I personally feel like the 2nd Shadow fight was the hardest, follow up by the 1st fight with Vergil. So far I died the most in my 1st fight against Phantom but half of the times I died was because of the camera angle & not using the Alastor Trigger. He was weirdly easy the last time you fight against him. Took me only 1 try at that point. I'm not entirely sure why.

EDIT: I will, thanks for the recommendation.

Edited by agent-trunks on May 17th 2022 at 12:41:42 PM

Well, it only took 11 years to finally play & beat DMC 1. Also, thank Dylan for suggesting looking up more advanced tech. It somehow made the game more fun. I still can't pull off the Shotgun Hike to save my life.

After playing DMC 1 I can definitely say that it really shows a lot of its age. It's really weird to play an accessible Dante, but I really did enjoy it. Not as much as playing as Nero but it was still pretty fun. I do have a few big gripes about DMC 1.

1st of all, whatever interests I might have in playing the Horror-Era Resident Evil & Omnimusha is pretty much gone. I know DMC has fixed camera angles until 4, but this was just infuriating to play. It wasn't that big of a deal until I got to Nightmare. I had a very difficult time finding its orb & every time I try to hit the rune wheel things it auto corrects me to try to hit Nightmare. I also really didn't like adjusting my direction every time there was a new angle & the bad platforming. I already whined about this part, but I believe it was Mission 14 where I was having an incredibly difficult time trying to get the Yellow Orb on top of the waterfall, or at least it was close to the top. The camera angle was very annoying because I couldn't get a good grasp of how far the gap is. It would've been even more difficult without Air Hike. But really what made that mission so hard was because I kept dying against the 2 Shadows. So I would have to restart the entire mission because I didn't waste my yellow orbs.

My last gripe is Trish. I already went on a rant about her, but I'm very disappointed she turned out. Trish was just there for nearly the entire game. I know DMC 1 is already short on its cast but that's why it stuck so much on how little Trish did in the game. I'm not even sure if the game was revealing her being the bad guy was even supposed to be a big deal. It came with such little flair in comparison to revealing Nelo Angelo's true identity. It's also not helping since they reveal Trish was Mundus's minion right after Nelo's death. And I still find it weird that apparently, a collapsing pillar would've been fatal to Trish of all things. Even nearly 2 decades since DMC 1's released they still don't know what to do with Trish's character. Granted, it's the 1st in the series but Trish's personality really feels off in the game. One moment she's a dick & then suddenly she's a good guy & needs Dante's comfort? I just find this so disappointing that since out of the entire cast Trish makes the best 1st impression. I mean Trish just beats the shit out of Dante & it was pretty brutal while being absolutely hilarious. Honestly, I feel like only Vergil can compare when it comes to 1st impression. What's really weird to me personally is that I thought Trish was going to be a boss fight, but that wasn't the case. She just helps Nightmare & that's it. After DMC 1, suddenly it's making a lot of sense why Trish isn't anywhere as popular as Lady.

That being said, I have a lot more things to gush about than I do complaining. For one, even though it's outdated, it's really not a bad place to start. A lot of the Alastor attacks are incredibly primitive but it gives you a really good idea of how to deal with most of the enemies. It's a shame they're so little Devil Arms, but again being 1st in the series, I can show plenty of leniencies. It's not the best DA Gauntlet in the series, but Ifrit has its own charm. Balrog is eons better but Ifrit has a few cool moves of its own. Like, have its own ki blast/Meteor. Pulling off Kick 13 is always satisfying, especially in Devil Trigger. And Inferno is such a cool move, I just love AOE attacks in general. Out of all the unlockable moves in the entire series, I only felt like Inferno felt rewarding in that regard. Of course, I still need to replay DMC 3 to remember what the Devil Arms are like.

The firearms aren't exactly mind-blowing or anything like that but I still enjoy them. Just not nearly as much as the grenade launcher. For whatever reason, I like using the shotgun here more than any of the other DMC games. There's something very satisfying about the shotgun I can't really find myself explaining all that well. Maybe it's because I still feel like I was actually juggling the Marionettes. I doubt I'll ever love using E&I but I think this is their best interpretation since they help a lot with carrying the air juggles. I'm very disappointed that the needle gun wasn't actually the SMG. Especially since I can still easily see the needle gun functioning as the SMG since it was DMC 1 was the prototype of RE 4. I couldn't really find myself using the Nightmare Beta gun. It didn't really feel like it was worth using since out of all the firearms Nightmare Beta is the only one that has ammunition & I just don't think it was worth using any of the DT either. Speaking of which, I really love how the Devil Trigger looks in this game. It's very reminiscent of Demetri's attack animation in Darkstalkers. I don't know if Alastor's DT is supposed to feel broken but I really love that feeling. You would think just spamming Air Raid would get boring, but nope, it feels pretty good to cheese out bosses with annoying camera angles. Maybe that's why I didn't have a problem with fixed camera angle until Nightmare.

I'm gonna be honest here, I don't ever think DMC's enemy mook design, in general, wasn't particularly great or anything like that. Especially if I compare them to Bayonetta which I honestly feel like that's pretty unfair to do. Of course, being the Trope Codifier, was it the Trope Maker of Stylish Action games & there are enemies that do stick out. I do like the Death Scissors designs, but I'm not crazy about them. The biggest mook that stands out for me is naturally the Shadows. I have no clue what to do against them other than spam Alastor's Air Raid & the shotgun. I can't believe how much easier DMC 5's Shadow is in comparison. Another cool thing I really like about DMC 1 is how many of the enemies are in DMC 5. That's such a nice Call-Forward since I'm playing DMC 1 well after DMC 5.

I'm also gonna be blunt here as well, I didn't think half of the bosses in DMC 1 was all that great. It was kinda cool to see them but it was a pretty straightforward boss fight. Well except for Nightmare, but that's more frustrating than anything else. I did have trouble with Phantom at 1st but that was before I realize how amazing DT was gonna be in the game. I didn't think Griffon was all that memorable but his death was shockingly brutal for a monster. Like geez, they actually went the extra mile to make Mundus look that scummy. That being said, once again Vergil is the show-stealer. Unlike all the other Vergil fights, I don't know too much about DMC 3 other than what I watched, is that Nelo Angelo is incredibly spacious, unlike the usual circular arena boss fight. Also really helps that the fixed camera angle worked to its advantage in both of the fights. It's funny that even though Slash Cancelling made the 2nd Vergil fight easy the last one didn't help as much as I thought it would. Vergil killed me 4 times during that fight & I really didn't want to reset during that moment. It's a good final battle & I was pretty shocked to see Vergil using the Summon Swords. I can't help but be a little amused that Vergil became that much bigger as Nelo Angelo, but apparently, that's canon if DMC 5 is to go by. Speaking of which, gotta be honest, I really wish DMC 5 Vergil boss fight had some reference but I suppose that would've been a detriment to the quality of the fight.

Although I don't personally think it's as good as Nelo Angelo I'm still very surprised how good the final boss battle is. Mundus far exceeded my expectations. Admittedly the rail shooter is kinda random & the controls weren't that great, it reminded me too much of Asura's final battle against Chakravartin. I absolutely loved the scale of the battle & I'm a little bit sad that DMC never really try to replicate it. I suppose there was the Savoir but that battle was more infuriating than it needed to be. I thought the way Sparda was implemented was very well done. It felt incredibly satisfying when you beat Mundus. Unfortunately, the very last part kinda dragged on more than it needed to. The actual final fight taking place in the sewers was a very weird call, but I do find it fascinating that I remembered Mundus's true form is a blob. I can't help but find that amusing since Arkham also took a form of a blob as well. I wonder if that actually means anything? Still, the last moment was still pretty cool if only because I did like Trish popping out of nowhere & enhancing both Dante & E&I to do the very 1st Jackpot in the entire series. I personally think the best part of that fight was summoning a fire dragon. It's so over top & I just couldn't help shouting "Come forth Shenron!". The 2nd phase was still overall the best part of that fight. If there's another thing I do prefer over the Vergils, it also helps that you can instantly fight Mundus as soon as the level starts. Making it the only time I was willing to save another file. I still can't believe that Mundus still hasn't come back even after all these years. I really do hope they bring back Mundus in some way. I personally believe it's way past Mundus still being alive after all these years.

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I do think Drew Coombs was a very solid Dante. While he can sound flat & he's going to be forever remembered for the incredibly infamous "Light" scene, he still manages to properly convey Dante's character. A particular highlight for me was how he was able to convey how pissed Dante was at Trish's betrayal. Very solid voice acting there, especially for its time. I guess doesn't really matter when MGS exists but I'll still stand by what I said.

Anyway, to make a completely unnecessary long post short, I do think while DMC 1 is an outdated game, it still plays mostly fine. Especially playing some of the older games of the past that really shows their age. In comparison, DMC 1 was just the start of something much more impactful than people truly could realize. Dylan told me a while ago that you have to have either a certain mindset or mood to play DMC 1 & I do believe that's a fair point. DMC 1 is an ok game, if not enjoyable. While it had moments, I greatly appreciate that DMC 1 wasn't this crazy hard game. After Bayo 1, I really needed a breather.

I'm kinda conflicted if I should play DMC 2 or not. After everything I've played in DMC 1, I can't help but think DMC 2 is going to be so much worse & it's going to live up to how bad it actually is. IE, I still remember DMC 3 being balls to walls hard & playing an easy game to ease into DMC 3 doesn't sound like the worse idea. Plus, I do really want to know what Lucia plays like & experience what she was like in DMC 2. Can't be any worse than Trish, but I also recall DMC 2 was mostly focused on her anyway.

Perhaps DMC 2 could wait until the Definitive Edition reaches next version? Just a friendly suggestion. Also, you start truly appreciating DMC 1 gameplay only once you've played through a lot of Platinum stuff, at least, that's what happened to me.

There's a Definitive Edition for DMC 2 & the HD Collection? AFAIK there's no actual difference playing HD Collection on the 360? Other than apparently having actual subtitles. Something I'm not entirely why that's not already a feature to begin with?

So far in my lifetime, I've believed I've only played 4 Platinum Games. My very 1st one was Madworld, followed by Anarchy Reigns, then The Legend of Korra, the very 1st Stylish Action I ever beat, & most recently Bayonetta. I've been wanting to play Transformers: Devastation & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants In Manhattan, but I can't find them anywhere. I also heard Mutants In Manhattan was bad, but I still want to try it out myself. I'm thinking about either replaying Korra or just moving on to Vanquish.

I forgot to bring this up earlier. Even though I don't plan to replay DMC 1, I'm very very glad that I finally played the game. DMC 5 comes across as an even better game for me now because of DMC 1. To the Call Backs with the mooks like the Nobodies, Death Scissors, & arguably the Angelos to V's familiars, it was awesome to experience the references that would be in DMC 5. In particular, I really like how many of the moveset Griffon & Shadow had was a reference to what they already did back in DMC 1. Granted, that's probably not the same Griffon, but it was still nice regardless. I've always been a sucker about how an enemy's technique is now in your possession.

Whoever is the next Puppet Fighter, they won't have the same appreciation like V did.

I like Trish but I wonder if she would be considered so popular if she had debuted in a less well received game.

It's a mod by Iammostwanted. Here's a link. https://youtu.be/8jAp2uDyR6Y

And yeah, both DMC 4 and DMC 5 brought back a lot of DMC 1, because DMC 3 is the least DMC 1-like game in the series. Also, I highly recommend you replay Platinum Games a lot before moving onto others. They're full of stuff that one does not truly savour until the THIRD time through, and that's without counting all the extra postgame and New Game Plus content.

I remember that video. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt my notebook laptop can handle that.

I mean, that does sound fun, but I just don't know if I really should. I already have a bucket list of games I want to play & replay as it is. And Bayo 1 really took out a lot of me despite how fun & challenging it is. I admit I do want to unlock Jeanne, but Bayo 1 is something I have to be in a certain mood to challenge myself like that again. As much been I've been loving the genre, the fact matter is I'm just not as good as you & I can't appreciate it as much. Although I do still plan to replay Korra. Especially since I remember that Korra borrows a few things from Bayo. Like her dodging animation. And I did find my Xbox copy of Ninja Gaiden, so maybe the more I play these games I can finally say I beat Ninja Gaiden.

Edited by agent-trunks on May 24th 2022 at 6:42:37 AM

Random post, but I haven't really seen any practical ability with DMC 4 Pandora other than the minigun aspect of the DA. I suppose this is subjective, but for such an overtop weapon I've never really seen it being used all that much.

I sometimes see the laser and missile pods being used in cmvs

Really, can you link me to those videos?

DMC 2 GAMEPLAY IS NOW GOOD. https://youtu.be/Y8iU5tw0V_U I REPEAT DMC 2 GAMEPLAY IS NOW GOOD

Does this mean no one wants a DMC 2 remake anymore?

I thought this was already released? It looks even better than the last video.

Last time it was just an initial release. This is its first complete version, its 1.0 if you will. And it's pretty amazing, especially regarding Lucia.

What little we've seen with Lucia, she looks extremely fun in that video.

I hope this means there'll be more combo videos for DMC 2.

I'll be bringing it to the next OCW monthly clip galore for sure. Speaking of which, the latest edition is a tribute to MF DOOM, and took a lot more effort than the previous monthlies. Worth checking out.

Well, I like what I just watched if that meant anything.

I'm looking forward to seeing some high-level DMC 2 DE in the future.

Here's more DMC newsletter, heh. One of the ABSOLUTE BEST (no exaggeration) DMC montages in terms of gameplay and editing has just dropped: https://youtu.be/GkG5stR23HA and modders are close to fully reworking all of DMC 5's Bloody Palace. Expect the unexpected.