Devil May Cry – Definitive Edition (Video Game)
Ted Hentschke
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Developed by Ninja Theory
Published by Capcom
Rated M for Mature
Available on PS4 (review), and Xbox One
Fun fact: the original Devil May Cry started off as Resident Evil 4. They eventually went a wildly different direction with Resident Evil 4, but kept going with the concept and eventually molded it into the beloved franchise starting Dante the demon hunter. That just goes to show that Resident Evil 4 was so perfect of a game that even it’s cancelled version is amazing.
There was a bit of an outcry when people heard they were remaking Devil May Cry and moving it in a new direction. Fans of the series worried that making Dante a snarky and brooding twenty something with black hair would destroy the franchise, which always relied on Dante being a snarky and brooding twenty something with white hair. DmC also betrayed the memory of the main series by having a plot that made sense, involving corporate corruption of the demonic kind instead of the crazy cult shit the other games were about. I have played every Devil May Cry game, and I could more easily tell you how nuclear fission works than what the hell was going on in those games.
The series has never really been about the plot however, opting to focus on sick combos and air juggling and just filling it all out with a smattering of one liners and a vague idea that something important is happening in the story. Gameplay wise, DmC was indeed a worthy successor. While not as hard as the rest of the series, combat was still frantic and satisfying, never feeling overwhelming and always pressing you to mix it up. It serves as a great contrast to “cinematic” games like The Order: 1886, which try to make the game look cool by pre-scripting everything and asking you to “press X to not die.” In DmC, all the badass stuff going on is a result of you playing the game. It doesn’t sacrifice player control for an exciting experience, instead making just the act of playing the game explosive and fun enough to keep you going.
When I played DmC: Devil May Cry two years ago, I remember a distinct lack of outrage and an ample amount of balls tensing badassery. As a blonde nerd, in my youth I dreamed of one day cosplaying Dante, girls flocking to my brooding abs and well kept hair. Then I discovered my one true love, Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil 4, and my costume party identity was set for life. So, while I have always really appreciated the character, I never held him as some kind of sacred and unchanging figure. To me, it was important that he did good, was badass, said one liners, and killed demons. In DmC, Dante is a brooding loner who does good, is a badass, says one liners, kills demons, and experiences a character arc that leads him out of being a loner and into a hero. If you are to describe this game as disloyal to the series, its more like a wife cheating on her arranged marriage for true love than Skanks McGee sucking cock for quick cash.
So, why am I talking about all of this in the past tense? Well, clever reader, that is because these are all sentiments on the 2013 release of DmC: Devil May Cry, which was unexpectedly one of my favorite games that year and blew my expectations right out of the water. This is mostly because I didn’t have much faith in the series after the lame love story that was Devil May Cry 4, and not because I did not have faith in the developer Ninja Theory. Ninja Theory has to date not made a game that I did not love, with Heavenly Sword still having one of the most gorgeous and well told worlds, if not a bit rough around the edges combat wise. Their facial animation has always been incomparable, and combat both fluid and visually satisfying. There was a part in Heavenly Sword where the main villain mocks the protagonist by shouting back when she screams in rage at him, and the pure malice in his CG face was nothing less than art.
So it saddens me a bit that a studio I so love would go for the easy cash grab of a “definitive edition”. They released a mobile game in conjunction with EA in 2013, which got a pass for being kind of fun for a mobile game. Still, this and the mobile game are both clear money making projects, devoid of the love and tender caring that makes their other titles so captivating. This is my well documented and repeated general sentiment on re-releases, irrespective of what I think is the value of the package. So, personal bias aside, is DmC: Definitive Edition worth the relatively budget price of $40?
The package contains the full game of DmC: Devil May Cry and all the DLC bundles, along with a series of new hardcore modes that changes enemy numbers, placement, attack patterns, and some changes to combat. Improvements to the main game include running at 60fps at 1080p and a manual targeting system, which are nice features. It doesn’t make the game look as good as current titles, but it looks good enough to not embarrass your nextgen system. The manual targeting is a welcome addition, but I never really had a problem with the original system, so it’s more icing than a game changing fix.
The DLC consists of two skin packs, a 101 level arena mode, and the Virgil’s Downfall DLC. Personally, I could give a fuck about skin packs in a single player game, and a 101 level arena mode sounds like work. The Virgil’s Downfall DLC is short, but definitely worth playing. I never felt the main game was incomplete without it, but it added enough to make me pick up the game again and felt natural, which is to me the perfect recipe for quality DLC.
If this were a review for DmC: Devil May Cry, I would give the game a resolute 5/5. I really loved the game, and the minor quips I had with it are drowned out by the heavy metal and demon explosions. The game was not only a demon killing dream, but had heart and a plot that I cared about. Yet, this is not a review for DmC: Devil May Cry. This is a review for the Definitive Edition. You can buy the original game for $20 new and $15 used, and the Virgil’s Downfall DLC is available for $9. For some reason, the game is still $50 on steam, and $40 on the PSN, so this is one of those rare occasions where it actually makes more sense to buy the Gamestop physical copy than the digital one. The arena mode called The Bloody Palace is free now, so the question becomes are the skin packs and new features worth the price difference. I guess you also might be able to find this used for $35, so lets just call it an $11 difference.
I am beginning to think this whole no backwards compatibility thing on on the PS4 and Xbone is a conspiracy. If you are just getting into the console scene now, then your only option to play these games is to buy the bloated re-releases. The question is always a bit simpler then, since if you haven’t played DmC: Devil May Cry, it is certainly worth the asking price. If the original game was worth $60 in my view, then the remaster is certainly worthy of your $40 if it is your only option.
The problem I have with this re-release is that the only people that are going to notice a lot of the changes are the exact people who this review doesn’t matter for. Only the superfans that have spent dozens of hours mastering the game will notice the gameplay changes of hardcore mode or the visual updates. These people have already bought this game and dedicated themselves to it, so im left talking to the people that have both played the original and are interested in the additions of the re-release.
To these people I say that the additions and changes are certainly not worth $11. Sure, it looks a bit better and plays a bit different, but I don’t remember playing DmC and thinking, “wow, if only someone would make this game slightly prettier and mix up the combat marginally, I would give him, like, $11 bucks for it.”
If you own the original and never played the DLC, just buy Virgil’s Downfall for $9 and save yourself $31. If you really just must have everything that comes out when it comes out every time, then you won’t be embarrassed to own this, since it is still a great game. Still, there are far more people who already have played the game and are looking at this and wondering if it is a great installment for the franchise or a cash in. To them I say, while not just a straight port, it’s pretty fucking close.
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Categorized:Horror Gaming Reviews
