Devil May Cry (Japanese: デビル メイ クライ) is a series of five hack and slash beat 'em up video games with a modern dark fantasy and gothicsetting. The series was developed by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya. Originally intended to be a sequel in Capcom's Resident Evil series,Devil May Cry was such a radical departure from the series' style that it was developed into a new property entirely. The series centers on the main character Dante's goal of avenging his mother's murder by exterminating demons. The gameplay consists of heavy combat scenes in which the player must attempt to extend long chains of attacks while avoiding damage in order to exhibit stylized combat; this element along with time and the amount of items collected and used are taken under consideration when grading the player's performance.
The series has been a success with the first three games selling multiple million copies and being awarded the "Platinum Title" award by Capcom. The success of the video game series has led to the creation of comic books, novelizations, an anime series, guides, collectibles, publications, and a variety of action figures. A high-definition remaster of the three PlayStation 2 titles was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. The collection features trophies/achievements and high definition graphics.
During the 2010 edition of the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom revealed a new game, named DmC: Devil May Cry. The new game is developed byNinja Theory and is a reboot of the series.
Series origins
In 1998, after the completion of Resident Evil 2, preliminary work on a PlayStation 2 installment of the Resident Evil series began under the direction of Hideki Kamiya, under the name "Team Little Devil". Early research and development work included a trip to Spain to examine various castles as a basis for the game's environments. However, in prototype status, it proved to be a radical departure from the established Resident Evil formula and the survival horror genre in general. Rather than abandon the project entirely, the premise was changed and it eventually became Devil May Cry.
Games in the series
| Title | Year | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Original | ||
| Devil May Cry | 2001 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Devil May Cry 2 | 2003 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening | 2005 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,Microsoft Windows |
| Devil May Cry 4 | 2008 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows |
| Alternative Reality | ||
| DmC: Devil May Cry | 2013 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows |
Common gameplay elements
The gameplay of the series focuses primarily on fast, highly stylized combat; gaining a high style ranking requires long attack and evasion strings while avoiding damage. The game also features some puzzle-solving and exploration elements retained from its survival horror origins, but these are downplayed; Devil May Cry games place the emphasis on action. In later games, the system was slightly modified so players had to actively vary the attacks used, so as to maintain the style rank. The style rank is tracked during combat with letter grades, from worst to best: D, C, B, A, S. They are also represented by words that start with the first letter of the class, "Dull" for D for example. The third game introduced "SS" and "SSS" ranks, which continues in the fourth. The player's performance on each level is also ranked using these letters.
The "Devil Trigger" ability enables the player's character to transform into a devil-like form with additional powers based on their current weapon, while the character's strength and speed increase and health is slowly restored. Notable weapons in the series include the swords Force Edge/Sparda in Devil May Cry, Rebellion in Devil May Cry 2, and Yamato in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. The first four games also eliminated the need to reload or reserve ammunition.
Dante is generally the lead character in the games, although most of the games do offer another character; Devil May Cry 2 featured Lucia, the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3 allowed the player to use Vergil, and Devil May Cry 4 featured a new protagonist named Nero. Devil May Cry 2 also allowed the player to play a bonus section as Trish.
Series innovations
Each game in the series has added new elements to the gameplay:
Devil May Cry introduced the 'style!' meter and ranking, encouraging players to attack continuously while avoiding damage.
Devil May Cry 2 introduced the ability to perform combination attacks in mid-air and an evasion button. It also introduced a weapon-change button, so the player could cycle through ranged weapons without switching to the inventory screen.
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening added a selection of gameplay styles, allowing the player to focus on their favorite techniques or weapons, whether it be swords, guns, evasion or defense. Each of the four basic styles gain experience points, which unlock more techniques and abilities without costing 'red orbs', the common currency of the series. A second weapon-change button was added, allowing the player to cycle through the character's melee weaponry, specifically known as Devil Arms, as well.
Devil May Cry 4 brought one major innovation in the form of the main character Nero's "Devil Bringer" arm, which gives players the ability to pull distant enemies in to be attacked, or smash them into the ground. Nero is also armed with a sword that can be "revved" up via a throttle handle, allowing players to precharge the sword for extra damage on the next hit, or with precise timing it can be charged after each attack, for extra damage and style. As Dante, players can also seamlessly switch fighting styles in mid-combat.
Series plot
| Devil May Cry series fictional chronology |
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The chronological order of the Devil May Cry series does not follow the release order of the games. The first game in the timeline is Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakeningfollowed by Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 4 and then Devil May Cry 2. The anime series is set sometime between Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4.[citation needed]DmC: Devil May Cry is a reboot of the series, featuring an alternative universe Dante with a different look.
The plot of the series begins with Devil May Cry 3 in Dante's as-of-yet unnamed shop as a mysterious man named Arkham arrives with a message from Dante's brother,Vergil. An immense tower erupts from the ground a short distance away from the shop, and Dante takes it to represent a challenge from Vergil. Following numerous battles Dante arrives at the tower's summit, Temen-Ni-Gru, and battles Vergil. Vergil defeats Dante, apparently killing him, and departs the summit. However, the dormant devil power within Dante revives him, and he sets out in pursuit of Vergil. He eventually catches up to him in the control room located in the tower's basement. The brothers battle again until they are interrupted by Lady, then Arkham, who reveals that he has been manipulating all three of them to reactivate the tower. He intends to steal the Force Edge, Sparda's sword, and reopen the gates to the demon world, over which he will rule. Arkham leaves Dante, Vergil and Lady for dead and heads into the demon world. However, Dante follows him, eventually catching up with him, where he and Vergil work together to defeat him. Dante and Vergil then fight one last time, with Dante proving victorious. At this point, Vergil then dives deeper into the demon world. Returning to the human world, Dante meets Lady outside the tower where she coins the phrase "devil may cry" while trying to comfort Dante over the loss of his brother. They form a friendship and the beginnings of a partnership in demon-slaying, and he names his shop "Devil May Cry".
Devil May Cry begins with Dante being attacked in his office by Trish. He brushes off her assault and she explains that the attack was simply a test to see if he really is the son of Sparda, as the demon emperor Mundus is planning a return, and only a descendent of Sparda can defeat him. Dante explores Mallet Island, where Mundus is set to return, encountering a variety of demons, including a strangely honourable opponent named Nelo Angelo. Dante is defeated by Angelo, but upon Angelo seeing Dante's locket, with a picture of his mother, he flees, sparing Dante's life. Other encounters with Mundus' demon generals serve to indicate Dante has become even more powerful than his father since his initial awakening on the summit of the tower in Devil May Cry 3. Nelo Angelo attacks twice more in later missions, and is eventually revealed to be Dante's brother, Vergil, who has been forced into Mundus' service since diving into the demon world at the end of Devil May Cry 3. Dante defeats Angelo, killing him, and releasing his brother from Mundus' control. He then enters the underworld in search of Mundus himself. Once there, Trish sacrifices herself to save him, and Dante comes to understand the power of Sparda that Vergil had sought in Devil May Cry 3. Dante and Mundus then battle on another plane of existence, and Trish returns, lending Dante her power, and helping him to defeat Mundus. Dante and Trish escape as the island collapses, and later work together in the renamed shop, "Devil Never Cry".
In the Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, Dante is hired as the bodyguard of a young girl named Patty. While initially skeptical of his personality, Patty winds up growing attached to Dante and spends most of her time at his shop, often cleaning it or decorating it in a "girly fashion", much to Dante's dismay. While Dante's main job during the series is to protect Patty, he spends most of his time doing odd jobs he receives at his shop (which has been renamed back to "Devil May Cry" sometime after the events of Devil May Cry). Lady appears, working as an independent Devil Hunter, to hire Dante in order to pay off a huge debt Dante owes. Trish also returns, and it's revealed that she has been working away from Dante for some time in order to try to establish a solo career as a Devil Hunter. Lady and Trish meet for the first time and do not get along right away. Despite this, the three wind up working together to take on certain difficult jobs. Near the end of the series it is revealed that Patty's mother is the descendant of a human sorcerer, who once sealed away the power of an ancient devil lord, Abigail. Eventually the demon Sid emerges as the villain of the series, and reveals his evil plot involving the sealed away power of Abigail. While Lady and Trish fight off demons summoned by Sid, Dante fights and kills Sid himself. Sometime later, Dante, Trish, and Lady all get hired on the same job and take bets on who will win. Patty comes into Dante's shop to clean, showing that the two continue to have a somewhat father-daughter type of relationship.
Devil May Cry 4 begins with Lady visiting Dante's shop (still renamed "Devil May Cry" again, and not "Devil Never Cry") to investigate The Order of the Sword, a cult-like group that worships Sparda, and has been collecting Devil Arms. Dante is originally uninterested in the case, but Trish (who appears to have given up her solo career and is working under Dante again) goes on ahead and takes the Sparda sword with her. Later, Nero, an orphan who was adopted by the Order, witnesses Dante crash into an Order meeting and assassinate the leader, Sanctus. Nero attacks Dante and awakens his Devil Bringer arm, only to find that Dante was not taking their fight seriously. Nero pursues Dante, and along the way comes to realize that the Order is opening gates to the demon world in order to harness its power. Sanctus is revived through demonic power, and he sets in motion a plan to have Kyrie, Nero's love interest, kidnapped. Nero pursues and fights against Sanctus, but is captured by him and used together with Kyrie to form the core of The Savior, a giant demon in the form of a god. Dante steps in and destroys all the Hell Gates that the Order has opened, then fights against the Savior. Unable to destroy it from the outside, he leaves that task to Nero to defeat it from the inside. Nero kills Sanctus and rescues Kyrie, and ultimately destroys the Savior. Dante gives Nero the sword Yamato that formerly belonged to Vergil (the Order had found it, broken, and Nero had restored it and used it in his fights as his own Devil Trigger). Later, at the Devil May Cry shop, Lady pays Dante and Trish for their work; however, Trish is unhappy with the amount. Dante avoids dealing with the situation, and as a customer with the password phones in, the three head out to take on another mission.
Devil May Cry 2 begins with Dante meeting an associate, Lucia, in a museum. She invites him to Dumary Island, where he meets her mother, Matier. She asks for his help in fighting Arius, a businessman who wields demonic power and is planning to use a collection of magic artifacts, the Arcana, to call forth a devil lord known as Argosax. Dante flips a coin, and based on the result, he decides to help. Lucia confronts Arius, who reveals that she was his creation. Shortly afterward, Lucia gives Dante the last of the Arcana before leaving to face Arius alone. Dante then encounters Matier who asks Dante to take the Arcana to save Lucia from Arius. Lucia attacks Arius, though he captures her. Dante arrives and trades the Arcana for Lucia, then attacks Arius, who escapes. A large stream of energy strikes the Ouroboros tower and a portal to the demon world is opened. Dante and Lucia argue over who will enter, but Dante flips his coin to determine that he will be the one to go. After Dante departs, Arius returns to the human world, though Lucia goes on to defeat him. Within the portal, Dante fights and defeats the partially summoned Argosax. Finding the portal closed behind him, Dante instead drives further into the demon realm on a motorcycle. In the aftermath of the battle, Matier insists to Lucia that Sparda returned from a similar trip. Sometime later in Dante's shop, Lucia muses about Dante and examines the coin he gave her, discovering it is two-headed. Outside the sound of a motorcycle echoes, and Lucia leaves to investigate. The player is not shown whether or not it is Dante.
In other games
- In the Viewtiful Joe games, another Capcom series created by Hideki Kamiya, Devil May Cry characters appear in the PlayStation versions. Dante is a playable character in the PlayStation 2 port of the first Viewtiful Joe. The PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble includes Dante as well as Vergil, Trish, Sparda, Marionette, and Plasma.
- Dante was set to appear in Soulcalibur III, but did not make the roster. However, templates exist to make a numb0er of characters using the create-a-character mode, including both Dante and Vergil.
- In a deal between Capcom and Atlus, Megami Tensei character designer Kazuma Kaneko did the designs for Dante's and Vergil's demonic forms in Devil May Cry 3. In return, Atlus included Dante (in his Devil May Cry 2 garb) as a character in an enhanced release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne titled Maniax in Japan. The later English localization of Nocturne was based on thisManiax edition of the game.
- Dante and Trish are playable characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Vergil is also playable, along with Dante and Trish, in the updated Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Both Dante and Vergil retain their Kazuma Kaneko-designed Devil Trigger forms for these installments, since their inclusions are based on the third game of the Devil May Cry series.
- Dante (in his DmC: Devil May Cry appearance) is featured as a playable character in the 2012 game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Reception
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Devil May Cry | (PS2) 92.60% | (PS2) 94 |
| Devil May Cry 2 | (PS2) 73.56% | (PS2) 68 |
| Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening | (PS2) 84.11% (PC) 70.87% | (PS2) 84 (PC) 66 |
| Devil May Cry 4 | (PS3) 84.13% (X360) 83.26% (PC) 80.05% | (PS3) 84 (X360) 84 (PC) 78 |
| DmC: Devil May Cry | (X360) 85.62% (PS3) 85.58% (PC) 83.83% | (X360) 86 (PS3) 85 (PC) 84 |
The Devil May Cry series has received overall positive reviews. In 2010, IGN placed Devil May Cry at #42 and Devil May Cry 3 at #18 in their "Top 100 Playstation 2 Games".
A brief account of the development history of the Devil May Cry franchise aired in two segments on the Machinima YouTube network as part of their ongoing series "All Your History Are Belong To Us".
Cultural impact
The Devil May Cry series has sold over ten million copies world wide, with each release becoming a Platinum title. Devil May Cry has been cited as the beginning of a sub-genre of action games called "Extreme Combat", which concentrate on powerful heroes fighting hordes of foes with a focus on stylized action. The game has also been described as being the first game that "successfully captured the twitch-based, relentlessly free-flowing gameplay style of so many classic 2D action games". The series has become the game against which other 3D action games are measured, with comparisons in reviews of games including God of War, Chaos Legion, and Blood Will Tell.
Dante's confident and fearless attitude have gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked as the seventh of GameCrush's "Top 10: Most Badass Video Game Characters" list, and third among ScrewAttack's "Top ten coolest video game characters" list. The popularity of the Devil May Cry series led to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure.
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