Just beat DMC 1 on Normal and Hard. Holy crap, this game is seriously a masterpiece. The foundation it laid can be seen in every DMC game, whether it is soundtrack, art style, combat, design, mission structure, etc.
Although at times the guns can be borderline OP, I really appreciate the feeling of having guns that feel like strong weapons and can be used as actual strategies against enemies. As for melee weapons, the elemental aspects of them are amazing, and Ifrit to me is the best weapon ever in DMC. It blows my mind how strong it is, how cool it looks, and how useful it is. Loved Rolling Blaze. For me I just needed one more weapon and the game would feel complete, and this is interesting because in DMC4 I felt the exact opposite - I wanted more weapons, and still do to this day.
The game obviously has some interesting design choices, like the water levels, the space battle, some emphasis on platforming. But I appreciate all of those because this game felt to be an actual game, actual adventure. This game is total package. DMC3 and 4 can be a bit off to the other side the coin in emphasis on freestyle combats.
Again, this game laid some serious foundation in the franchise, and it is a shame that we never get to see what Kamiya, or even the current DMC team would have done to push it further within the same franchise, given the proper opportunity.
It annoys me to this day to read that DMC is stale or getting old. Nothing can be further from the truth. This game, just like DMC3, is one of its kind - there has been, past or present, nothing like it.
