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[Grand Theft Scratchy]

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Devil May Cry, series creator Hideki Kamiya took to Twitter to share interesting development details regarding the inception of the franchise. While some of the information is already known, such as Devil May Cry having started out as a prototype for Resident Evil 4, it was revealed that the stylish combat the series is known for was born from a bug in Onimusha. [Thanks, automaton!]

Kamiya revealed on Twitter that Onimusha was in production in another department on the same floor at the same time, and that a bug that resulted in enemies flying into the air inspired what would become the stylish combat seen in Devil May Cry. Kamiya witnessed the bug and immediately went to Programmer Kazunori Inoue to say “I want to hit enemies and see them fly into the air!” Inoue then began working on a system to implement this feature.

Coincidentally, Inoue had been working on auto-target system focused around guns at the same time. In conjunction with the ability to now hit enemies up into the air, as inspired by the bug in Onimusha, the combat for Devil May Cry was created.

Kamiya also shared that it was mainly Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series, that encouraged Kamiya to make what was then a Resident Evil 4 prototype into its own title. This was largely due to it no longer feeling like a Resident Evil title.

The most recent Devil May Cry game is Devil May Cry 5 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Devil May Cry Stylish Combat Was the Result of an Onimusha Bug

Series creator Hideki Kamiya revealed that the combat in Devil May Cry was inspired by a bug found during the development of Onimusha.

www.siliconera.com

 

[Orta]

Onimusha is the game I wanted a PS2 for, ended up buying it for Devil May Cry instead.

Turned out to be a shit decision tbh, bloody hated DMC.

Loved Onimusha though.

Bool story cro, I'm sure you'll all agree.

 

[Yoshichan]

Speaking of dead franchises. Is there any other game that just abruptly stopped, despite having continuously good sales throughout the franchise?

Onimusha: Warlords – 2.02 million (PS2)
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny – 2.1 million units (PS2)
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege – 1.52 million (PS2)
Onimusha 4: Dawn of Dreams - 325,000 copies (PS2) in Japan, presumably around 1 million copies sold world wide.

 

[Blitzmangoman]

First game with my PS2 back then. Good times.

 

[Kamina]

Why are you quoting twitter posts which almost nobody here can read?

 

[ShadowLag]

Blocked.

 

[Loke]

Still the best DMC IMO. Love the blend of gothic horror and stylish action.Also by far the best soundtrack of any of the games in the franchise.

 

[Saint Boot]

Onimusha is the game I wanted a PS2 for, ended up buying it for Devil May Cry instead.

Turned out to be a shit decision tbh, bloody hated DMC.

Loved Onimusha though.

Bool story cro, I'm sure you'll all agree.

I really wish they would have remastered all the other Onimusha games, or at least 2 and 3.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I had that feeling the moment I saw Devil May Cry on a Babbages kiosk that it was going to be amazing. I immediately preordered a copy. There wasn’t much on the market that let you hit an enemy into the air and then keep firing bullets. It was one of a kind experience. Now a days you have all sorts of genres and games that do fast paced combos. I never bothered with Devil May Cry 2 until way later. No one was talking about it, so I’m glad I had the original when it came out.

Onimusha had a good run, especially with the not so amazing Blade Warriors and the GBA T-RPG. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more remasters over the years.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Great game, but I was lousy. I think I got through 1/3rd of the game tops. Never been good at Ninja Gaiden/DMC kinds of action games. I was trying to use a shotgun for as much as possible and it didnt seem like it would get me far and I bailed on the game.

 

[PleaseDontBanMe]

 

[decisions]

Probably my favorite gaming franchise of all-time, though sometimes it’s tough being a DMC fan feeling like every release will be the series’ last…

DMCV was very good but in hindsight, making V playable and forcing him to be played in subsequent playthroughs really hurt the replayability of the game for me.

 

[TrueLegend]

The most non toxic rewarding system. You dont have to be stylish to finish the game. But if you put effort you will love the way you can play this game. Seriously nothing has ever come close to Devil May Cry not even Bayonetta. Its so accessible and yet has incredible depth in combat. The more I play other games i appreciate this game and series. Wholesome game combat.

 

[Aldynes]

For us PAL players back in the day, this one was probably the most downgraded gaming experience going from 60Hertz to 50, but we didn't have a choice, had a fantastic time with Devil May Cry one of my best gaming memories, I loved exploring the castle and the creepy atmosphere, amazing bosses, the game oozes with personality, I strongly believe the game wouldn't had been this memorable without all the problems in it's conception, being first a Resident Evil sequel and all that, they had to recycle the levels and some ennemies too, weirdly enough all seems to fit in the game.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

I really wish they would have remastered all the other Onimusha games, or at least 2 and 3.

I remember Onimusha 3 because of Jean Reno and the awesome cinematic intro. It would be cool to see a re-release or a new entry in this series.

 

[AutumnLeaves]

Both Onimusha 1 and DMC 1 were just...jaw dropping. I remember renting them and being blown away. It was something that was just brand new. And those graphics and music. These games still hold a special place in my heart. Beautiful stuff.

 

[Alx]

I think that Onimusha bug thing was known, I’m pretty sure I heard about it soon after the game released.
I mostly appreciate DMC for opening the path to Bayonetta, which I prefer. The tone is better balanced. Also it’s too bad the original DMC kept the static cameras from Resident Evil, I never liked those.

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

DMC 1 and 3 may be my favorite PS2 games. Kind of a hard choice with MGS3 and Shadow of the Colossus, but something about DMC makes it a timeless classic even if it’s a little janky by today’s standards.