Devil May Cry - DmC

I have some problems with the upcoming DmC game.

Let me preface this with a possibly bizarre standpoint: I think I could like this game if it was not part of the Devil May Cry franchise.

Devil May Cry has been a big part of my life for many, many years.  I've cosplayed DMC3's Vergil, I've got a cosplay tucked away for Gilver (which was vastly less expensive than DMC3 Vergil).  I have roleplayed in story writing format for these characters, and I have written my share of fanfiction.  The games provided me so much entertainment that I purchased all games, soundtracks, and when DMC3:SE came out, I bought it to partner with my original copy just because I would be able to play Vergil, despite the fact that all it was was his skin and battle moves laid on Dante's frame.

I even have a soft spot for DMC2.  It's sort of the bastard child of the four games, but I appreciate the insinuated development for him there.  He's been at that schtick a long, long time.  I realize DMC4 was a slight retcon of that personality due to the sheer outrage, but I still personally accept DMC2 to be Dante's future after the fourth game.  He's older, he's tired, so he just gets what he needs to done with very little to say about it.  Maybe he's outlived his mortal friends, maybe something happened and Trish is no longer with him.  I fathom Dante's later years became very lonely.

So, what about the upcoming DmC?


There will be vague spoilers to prior games in the series and speculation based on trailers released for DmC.  I will try to be as unspoilery as possible for prior games, but it has been YEARS since the last came out, so this shouldn't logically be an issue.

Physical Appearances and Qualities

Physically, I'm not too thrilled with Dante's black hair.  I realize it turns white during his battle modes, presumably when he devil triggers (I'm assuming this is still called that; I kind of start going blind with rage after a while), but the whole point to Dante's physical persona is the white hair.

Now, we are introduced to Vergil, his twin brother of course, who has apparently platinum blond hair.  So, Dante either colors his hair black, or they're not identical twins.  Either way, it's not white.

His clothes, no big deal.  I think they nailed it fair enough for both Dante and Vergil in an AU sort of way.  Dante's still slovenly in his youth, while Vergil is incredibly pristine.  Vergil's been brought into an almost militaristic appearance.  When I show his image to people who haven't played the series at all are reminded of the Nazi uniforms.  I don't know if this was done intentionally, perhaps for some foreshadowing, but it works for the Vergil I know and love.

I don't have problems with their weapons either, or Dante's combat style according to the videos we've been shown.  It looks like they're drawing heavily off of DMC3 and DMC4, and I really have no problem with that.  It shows that something is consistent.

Overall, my major problem is the hair color.  That's probably pretty funny, but that white hair has been so pivotal to recognizing Dante and Vergil.  You see red, you see blue, you see white hair, and people know who they are, a lot of the time without knowing the games.

Personality

I have no real problems with Dante's trailer-based personality.  He still seems like a hardened kid who has probably raised himself.

Most pointedly, Dante's vocabulary has grown regarding profanities, but I'm sure we can blame standards in age rating versus game dialogue for this.  This has, as with television, become progressively more lax.

My gripes come via Vergil.  I just don't get why he's suddenly this eager twin brother with smiles and 'sup bruddah's and the like.  There could be a reason, like he's going to ensnare Dante in a trap, or he's trying to ease Dante into seeing life as he does, and is actually pretending to be a good guy?  Because I can tell you that if there isn't something there like that, they will have officially damaged Vergil's character.

I know, I know.  It's a new beginning and all that, but there's a difference between a new beginning and a different story.  I'm trying very hard to think alternate universe/Elseworlds type of thing.  Because if they want Vergil to be a legitimately good character with no reason for strife between he and Dante (between the fact that it appears that they haven't seen each other in years), they're taking one of the very key elements to DANTE'S story, his personality.

In DMC3, Dante clearly enjoys chasing his evil brother even though he bitches the whole time, ending up ruined when the end came.  Vergil is a hidden level in Dante, a sore spot, a missing piece that he technically lost twice because Vergil was a power hungry maniac in DMC3.

Hopefully it's a lie.  I do have one big complaint about Vergil, though you'll see it in the Side Character section below.

Environment/World

Hey, it looks pretty cool.  It looks like they're trying to put an updated spin on the steampunk/gothic world Devil May Cry is set in.  Dark, grainy, drizzly, with sweeping statues, stone streets--and massive technological connectivity.  If there's one thing DMC has been awful with, it's been giving us a freaking era it's in.

The DMC anime gave us old cars, black and white television, and girls running around in dresses you'd see from the 1940s and even before that in some cases.  DMC1 had a very similar world to this.  Of course, DMC1 brought us Trish, and the anime had Trish and Lady in it, both of whom dress more from the 80s-90s in these earlier interpretations.

DMC2 gave us massive-ass tanks, fashionable jeans, and otherwise the build was similar to DMC1 and the anime.

DMC3 reminded me of some 1980s action flick.  I was waiting for critters jokes at times.  We see much of the same technology and whatnot as in the anime, DMC1 and DMC2, but Lady and Dante look like 1980s-1990s.

DMC4, we start to see updated character designs and technology that alludes to a more present state.  Okay, one piece of technology, which is Nero's portable music player and headset.  But even Trish sees an update here to the more ornate Victorian patterns on her corset that has become a Thing these days in steampunk culture.

With DmC, it looks like it's present day, just with DMC's dreary world.  Which is fine.  Even if I didn't have the complaints I do, I would be okay with it.  I respect the fact that the world has become more demonic, if the trailers are anything to go by.  That HAS actually always been a complaint of mine: We're dealing with Hell, the King of Hell, lords of Hell, why is everything like a mucous covered bouncy castle?

Now we're seeing a color scheme that reminds me of Silent Hill 3: reds and golds, bright lights and glossy surfaces that just don't seem to reflect anything.  It's by no means a survival horror game, but those colors work.  The amusment park settings, the big screens, the 'big brother' hints are all very cool.  The series has been no stranger to the concept of the Devil running the world, so hopefully they're employing that.

I just hope these trailers aren't fanservice.  So many fans are upset by this game that I think if they really hurt the scenery and change it more, to a point we lose what was core to the environment our characters lived in, it'll end up being a subconscious shot to the gut.

Side Characters

Aside from my personal hatred for the name Kat, I don't like the initial way this character is being presented.  She's being displayed like everything the internet hates in original characters that people write into fanfiction.  She's a medium, she's drawn in official art as this dainty thing, she's part of this rebel faction that brings Dante in to fight THE MAN, and in Vergil's introduction trailer, she's a damsel in distress.  Her VA sounds good, so that's something, but I don't like the way this is already starting.  If I find out she has four more names, her eye color changes, her parents died in front of her when she was a kid, she was horribly abused growing up, or anything like that, I'm going to scream.  If she ends up Kat the medium of a rebel faction that helps Dante and happened to get caught because she looks like if you bump into her she'll break, and that's it, okay.  No other special snowflakedom beyond that.

So, in Vergil introduction trailer, we see Kat has been kidnapped at some point.  Vergil and Dante have a conversation that's pretty Vergil and Dante, to start.  Dante wants to save her, Vergil berates him because it's one person and it'll jeopardize things, Dante's like 'eff you, she did a lot for us etc'.  So Vergil turns around and replies that okay!  They'll do things Dante's way.

What?  Shoot the boy in the head and tell him no.  That's Vergil.

Please, Vergil, be pulling some mind games, I'm begging you.

---

Overall, most of my complaints are strictly because they are rebooting characters instead of doing this with new characters and storylines.  I will buy the game.  I may hate it, I may be okay with it.  I cannot accept it as core canon, but AU canon certainly.

I will say, it'll be nice to have a new 'no skills, just hands, required' game.