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Has the first Devil May Cry aged well?

I've seen more and more gaming sites and the gaming community place DMC1 lower in their ranking for the series in recent years, not because it was bad but because it has aged poorly, do you agree?

I personally preferred games like BG Dark Alliance for my hack an slashes, but I don't think DMC aged too badly. Yes, clearly due to Capcoms limited 3D experience and outdated controls, parts of the game may not be as polished as future entries, but I still find it playable and a fairly good game at that.

Do you think Devil May Cry (2001) still holds up today or do you agree with others it has aged badly?
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I think the core game holds up pretty well, but the graphics definitely look like they're from 20 years ago.

The game is actually really good on the Switch with the re-release - especially in handheld mode on the tiny screen which helps hide a huge amount of the graphical flaws.
 

Skifi28

Member
The first DMC game I ever played was 3 and went upwards after that. I only played the first last year and I disliked it for the most part, it really shows its age in all aspects and pales in comparison to anything other than 2. The levels are often too short, there's very few attack/combo options which makes combat a drag, enemy variety leaves a lot to be desired and I can't say I liked any of the bosses. Of course it makes sense given when it was released, but it's almost impossible to enjoy now. Every second I think "Why an I not playing 3 instead?"
 
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The Cockatrice

Gold Member
Neither have aged well imo. Hell, I'd even go as far as say DMC5 is stuck in the past as well in some parts with poor level design.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It has wonderful music to the levels and a lot of dark tones to it. Honestly, just subtract all the Styles in DMC3 and beyond and you have DMC1. If you consider that level design in modern games add platforms to toss things up. I think you wouldn’t exactly feel like DMC is that far behind. You don’t have columns and stuff appearing all over the place or the ground breaking beneath your feet. You still have an original classic game.
 

Belmonte

Member
I'm playing right now again and I'm having a ton of fun.

Love the atmosphere with its horror tone and the Resident Evil influence in the level design is stronger than the other DMC, which is my preference. But obviously, enemies and specially Dante's moves are way more simple. It works very well in my opinion but they added so much in other games that DMC 1 Dante feels tame in comparison. DMC5 Dante is a hurt encyclopedia, dude has moves to feed at least 3 action game protagonists!

Kind of unfair since all the others are in DMC1 shoulders. DMC1 is one of the most important games ever IMO. First time we had a true 3D brawler.

DMC6 better have underwater levels!
 
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Well, it's an all-time classic for me, but in all honesty its flaws are pretty glaring now. The horrible platforming and fixed camera angles really stand out in a negative way. It's still a great game, and many genre greats owe a debt to this seminal work and stand upon its shoulders, but it's a tall task to remain a genre high-point 20 years down the road.
 

GametimeUK

Member
You can tell it laid the foundation for a whole wave of games, but the movement sure does feel super restrictive and tame compared to modern action titles.

It's playable for sure and enjoyable.
 

Beelzebubs

Member
Gameplay wise yes. Graphics wise, of course its gonna look dated because of the art style. Either way it's still a fun game.
 
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Ceadeus

Member
Camera placement and character control both don't do well in some level. You get to fight a boss with weird camera angles and it's a problem. When you struggle not at dodging and hitting the enemy but to constantly having to find the sweet spot for even targeting it.
 

Corpsepyre

Banned
I would say no, it has not. The atmosphere is on-point still, but from a play-ability point of view, you just can't go back after playing the newer action games. DMC didn't hit its kickass superfast action stride until 3, and that game has aged way, way better in comparison, in my opinion.
 

april6e

Member
No. It is the only game in the series that desperately needs a remake (besides 2 but that game can die in a fire). There are so many things they could clean up and add to the game to have it better gel with the other games in the series. A Resident Evil 2 style remake would do wonders for it.
 
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