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Original Devil May Cry (HD Collection) has aged well, it was ahead of its time...
- Thread starter Canis lupus
- Start date
I was playing through DMC1 over the summer, and had made it through my normal playthrough and about 3/4 of my hard playthrough... unfortunately then I had to move out of my summer apartment and by the time I got back to it I was shit at the game again 
still plan on going back to it though
still plan on going back to it though
Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness.
I loooooove Dante and Jester interacting with each other.
Yeah man. It's one of them games that just totally lightens up your day. So funny. It's just insanity. The banner between him and Cerberus. In fact every boss is such a ball. Really just good writing and great voice acting. Cutscene cinematography is top notch as well. Really stylish and funny.
It was great as well because I never knew the game was revered so when I brought it up to my friend and his eyes lit up I knew he was fucking awesome lol. We always talked about the game. Man those were the days.
Do you agree?
Yeah, it's one of those games that truly remains a person's favorite.
A Twisty Fluken
Member
DMC1 basically defined character action.
Loved those scenes in the game. DmC could never touch DMC3.
My rankings, DMC3 > DMC1 > DMC4> DMC2
DmC doesnt even exist to me.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
DMC3 is the reason I am gaming today.
I gave up on videogames early in the PS1 era and probably would of stayed away if It wasn't for my brother begging me to beat Cerberus.
I got my ass kicked so many times but I refused to give up. By the time I beat him, I was hooked.
Funnily enough, I was shown DMC1 years before and thought it looked corny. How utter wrong I was.
I gave up on videogames early in the PS1 era and probably would of stayed away if It wasn't for my brother begging me to beat Cerberus.
I got my ass kicked so many times but I refused to give up. By the time I beat him, I was hooked.
Funnily enough, I was shown DMC1 years before and thought it looked corny. How utter wrong I was.
My earliest memory of DMC is when metal gear solid 2 came out. I was living in Japan and just decided to buy a ps2 because of metal gear. After beating that game I was looking for something else to play. I used to walk all around akihabara going into used game stores looking for ps2 games to play. Found DMC interesting because of how Dante looked on the cover. All I knew of the game before I bought it was that it was supposed to have been a resident evil game. When I played it I was expecting that until the opening cutscene threw me for a loop. After that I was in love. Still have that game with me now.
Just abandon DmC and play DMC3I feel like I should abandon / get through ASAP DmC and give the rest of the games a chance
The Jason
Member
To me, nothing has come close to DMC1/3 in terms of action gameplay and style.
DMC1 was revelatory and DMC3 of course offered even more diverse combat.
I started the PS2 version of DMC3:SE again a little while ago but this thread makes me want to get the remaster.
I want to revist DMC1 and maybe 2 as well. I know DMC2 is the worst but I actually enjoyed it when it came out.
DMC1 was revelatory and DMC3 of course offered even more diverse combat.
I started the PS2 version of DMC3:SE again a little while ago but this thread makes me want to get the remaster.
I want to revist DMC1 and maybe 2 as well. I know DMC2 is the worst but I actually enjoyed it when it came out.
AcceptableGhost
Member
dmc2 is like action game cancer, its pretty miserable. the bloody palace mode is hilarious in that game.
I don't agree but it's not too far off. If DmC Vergil wasn't in DmC and was in a game with better hit stops animations, more fluidity, better enemy step mechanics and more weapons... yea he would for sure be better than DMC3 Vergil. But as it is... it's just missing that tightness of the previous DMC games.
DMC3 Vergil is a surprisingly well designed character for something you just unlock as an extra. All of his tools work extremely well with each other and he truly needs every move in his toolset, he has absolutely no fluff/vanilla moves... which is sort of a call back to DMC1 where every tool was so essential. You could've put his mechanics and toolset in a brand new fighting game and it would've been a solid action game. Vergil DLC in DmC at least has unique content, I would give it that much... DMC3 Vergil just played through DMC3 Dante's missions, some encounters being poorly balanced for him.
DmC Vergil is pretty cool too. I like the impact of his moves... you really feel like a bad ass. I love the Doppelganger mechanic for Vergil, I like his Summoned Swords being usable as zero frame pulls (although really over powered) and I like his big ass powered up moves. I just wished he had more weapons though... it's the same situation as Nero who was stuck with one weapon for the whole game.
Monocle
Member
It's embarrassing to see people rank DmC over DMC1. Nuance and solid design principles are sadly undervalued here. DMC1 might not be as flashy or accessible or instantly gratifying, but it's widely considered a classic for a reason. The thing is, its exceptional design doesn't become obvious until you really dig into the game over several playthroughs and difficulty levels. Even then, it can seem unremarkable or derivative because so many inferior games have copied its good ideas.
Yes, DMC1 might appear sort of run-of-the-mill at first, but then you start noticing things, like enemy behaviors you never saw before. (Did you know most enemies have fatalities?) The game is unusually difficult, which heightens the stakes for all of your choices and puts you in the same mindframe as retro games that were so punishing yet so rewarding to master. You discover how many attacks have an elegant counter that's not spelled out for you: for instance, hopping on a Shadow's spear at the moment it tries to impale you and riding it while you do some damage. You find that your apparently simple move set is really a collection of multipurpose tools that can be applied in all sorts of creative ways, like reflecting Phantom's fireballs with well-timed sword slashes or knocking a Sin Scissors' weapon aside and shattering its mask for an instant kill. There are so many other examples of how player ingenuity was anticipated and encouraged by the developers.
DMC1's art and sound design are underappreciated. They create an absorbing creepy atmosphere that hints at the game's survival horror roots. People also overlook innovations like the style and orb systems, which tie practical rewards, such as items, new moves, and weapon upgrades, to combat performance. DMC1 either invented or popularized action games that actively encourage the player to play well and look awesome using a combination of real-time combat ratings, end-of-level ranks, and currency that enemies drop on the spot. If you fight hard and avoid getting hit, you get more red orbs. It's a simple and effective system that adds another layer of urgency to battles.
All of the little things add up to make DMC1 more than just a good action game: interrupting the recovery animations of your attacks with different attacks or evasive moves, the ability to switch freely between melee weapons and firearms, juggling enemies with your guns, level selection, the insane attention to detail like the environmental text descriptions and menus (which include enemy digests that update as you fight them more) and so on. A comprehensive list of all the new and wonderful things DMC1 brought to the table would be impractically huge. I mentioned earlier that the game might seem derivative due to other games copying its ideas. Well, it's hard to map the extent of DMC1's influence on the action genre, but if there are any modern action titles that haven't borrowed a mechanic or benefited from its example, you can probably count them on one hand.
All this to say that not only is DMC1 rightly regarded as a classic, it's still just as good now as it was back when it was new. Which is especially clear in comparison to Ninja Theory's vulgar imitation.
Yes, DMC1 might appear sort of run-of-the-mill at first, but then you start noticing things, like enemy behaviors you never saw before. (Did you know most enemies have fatalities?) The game is unusually difficult, which heightens the stakes for all of your choices and puts you in the same mindframe as retro games that were so punishing yet so rewarding to master. You discover how many attacks have an elegant counter that's not spelled out for you: for instance, hopping on a Shadow's spear at the moment it tries to impale you and riding it while you do some damage. You find that your apparently simple move set is really a collection of multipurpose tools that can be applied in all sorts of creative ways, like reflecting Phantom's fireballs with well-timed sword slashes or knocking a Sin Scissors' weapon aside and shattering its mask for an instant kill. There are so many other examples of how player ingenuity was anticipated and encouraged by the developers.
DMC1's art and sound design are underappreciated. They create an absorbing creepy atmosphere that hints at the game's survival horror roots. People also overlook innovations like the style and orb systems, which tie practical rewards, such as items, new moves, and weapon upgrades, to combat performance. DMC1 either invented or popularized action games that actively encourage the player to play well and look awesome using a combination of real-time combat ratings, end-of-level ranks, and currency that enemies drop on the spot. If you fight hard and avoid getting hit, you get more red orbs. It's a simple and effective system that adds another layer of urgency to battles.
All of the little things add up to make DMC1 more than just a good action game: interrupting the recovery animations of your attacks with different attacks or evasive moves, the ability to switch freely between melee weapons and firearms, juggling enemies with your guns, level selection, the insane attention to detail like the environmental text descriptions and menus (which include enemy digests that update as you fight them more) and so on. A comprehensive list of all the new and wonderful things DMC1 brought to the table would be impractically huge. I mentioned earlier that the game might seem derivative due to other games copying its ideas. Well, it's hard to map the extent of DMC1's influence on the action genre, but if there are any modern action titles that haven't borrowed a mechanic or benefited from its example, you can probably count them on one hand.
All this to say that not only is DMC1 rightly regarded as a classic, it's still just as good now as it was back when it was new. Which is especially clear in comparison to Ninja Theory's vulgar imitation.
That Dude John
Member
This thread almost makes me want to finish DMC3 in da HD collection. Got stuck on the boss fight with the blue and red dudes with their heads on their swords. Kinda got tired of being sent back to the start of the mission so I just left it alone and accepted defeat a few months back.
Ah, Agni and Rudra. Cerberus works well against them, particularly Revolver when deflecting their attacks.
You should play on Gold Mode to make it easier, it has checkpoints!
That Dude John
Member
Oh, I was wondering what that Gold/Yellow choice was for at the start lol
Is it something you can change mid playthrough, or will I need to start from scratch?
Is it something you can change mid playthrough, or will I need to start from scratch?
BeautifulMemory
Member
start from scratch.
My favorite game of the franchise has to be DMC 1. Unparalleled atmsophere, great use of every single weapon (melee and firearms),every move has a purpose, greater utilities of Devil Trigger without being overpowered, awesome transformation in DT mode, every enemy and boss requires tactical strategies, killer soundtrack, Dante invades (albeit briefly) hell, etc. This is the game where I feel like literally every enemy and aspects of a building wants Dante dead.
When I first started playing the game, I would get spooked with the battle music and with the enemies. I had to remind myself that I am the demon hunter and the enemies are going to be afraid of me instead
Then I died so many times afterwards, and got really uncomfortable with the underwater mission and the first fight against Scythe (?) where you are trapped
Great post.
The ranking system is really just genius. Maintaining a high rank feels fucking great; when you get hit, losing that 'S' is just about worse than losing health, and ending the fight for a fatass pile of orbs is probably one of my favorite things in the game (that little sound the orb collection makes is fucking incredible).
That fight legit had me shook as a kid. I've always found steer skulls to be creepy, so the overall effect of the enemy being intimidating and going through walls and the level being nasty and claustrophobic and that crazy intense battle theme...shit was real.
BeautifulMemory
Member
Not to mention that the enemy can come at all from all different angles. And yes, completely agree with Monocle's post
Yea that Monocle post was godly.
He is completely right that people don't see the brilliancy of the game because so much of the stuff it did is copied and done to death now to the point of being common place.
Comparing DmC, a late previous gen game to an early PS2 gen game is also baffling. Baffling in that the comparison almost never takes into the equation the difference in hardware or the level of innovation difference between the two. DmC might be a good action game but DMC1 was THE action game when it came out.
The same applies to DMC3 vs DMC4. DMC3 had a Style system because Itsuno specifically said that the limited RAM of the PS2 could not allow him to have OTF Styles in DMC3. The difference in hardware is already a big problem with the two but DMC3 was operating at cap of the PS2... no action game on the PS2 was out putting half of the shit that DMC3 was. Most of DMC4's amazing combat stems from porting over DMC3.s combat and giving it OTF style. If Capcom remade DMC3 to have better graphics and OTF style switch then DMC4 would be an irrelevant game.
To put it into a way that most people on GAF can understand (I realize that we are talking a game that came out 12 years ago and many people have not played it here)... DMC1 was the PS2 era's Demon Souls. It wasn't a major blockbuster franchise but it created its own sub genre due to its innovation and no hand holding game design. Both games spawned off similar games (lets get it real... Capcom's Deep Down is their answer to the Souls game) and shaped the genre going forward. They also share in their design philosophies of heavy atmosphere, pattern recognition game play, skill based combat and emphasis on new game + and replayability.
He is completely right that people don't see the brilliancy of the game because so much of the stuff it did is copied and done to death now to the point of being common place.
Comparing DmC, a late previous gen game to an early PS2 gen game is also baffling. Baffling in that the comparison almost never takes into the equation the difference in hardware or the level of innovation difference between the two. DmC might be a good action game but DMC1 was THE action game when it came out.
The same applies to DMC3 vs DMC4. DMC3 had a Style system because Itsuno specifically said that the limited RAM of the PS2 could not allow him to have OTF Styles in DMC3. The difference in hardware is already a big problem with the two but DMC3 was operating at cap of the PS2... no action game on the PS2 was out putting half of the shit that DMC3 was. Most of DMC4's amazing combat stems from porting over DMC3.s combat and giving it OTF style. If Capcom remade DMC3 to have better graphics and OTF style switch then DMC4 would be an irrelevant game.
To put it into a way that most people on GAF can understand (I realize that we are talking a game that came out 12 years ago and many people have not played it here)... DMC1 was the PS2 era's Demon Souls. It wasn't a major blockbuster franchise but it created its own sub genre due to its innovation and no hand holding game design. Both games spawned off similar games (lets get it real... Capcom's Deep Down is their answer to the Souls game) and shaped the genre going forward. They also share in their design philosophies of heavy atmosphere, pattern recognition game play, skill based combat and emphasis on new game + and replayability.
BeautifulMemory
Member
I also like that the bosses become more of regular enemies as the game progress, especially when you have to fight them when you get absorbed by nightmare. I take it as "step your game up son" moment
Also, favorite boss fight atmosphere has to be Nelo Angelo 3. Showdown in the dark, alternate room, and Vergil looking scary with that big ass head, and when those spiral swords come at you. Oh man!
And if you think about DMC kind of is a prerunner in achievement as well, with its encyclopedia with different enemies, their weaknesses, and different attacks. Encountering those different firms will unlock files.
And shotgun and grenade launcher was never more godly in the franchise . God I love this game
And Dahbomb well put as well...apt comparison between DMC and Demon's/Darl souls.
Also, favorite boss fight atmosphere has to be Nelo Angelo 3. Showdown in the dark, alternate room, and Vergil looking scary with that big ass head, and when those spiral swords come at you. Oh man!
And if you think about DMC kind of is a prerunner in achievement as well, with its encyclopedia with different enemies, their weaknesses, and different attacks. Encountering those different firms will unlock files.
And shotgun and grenade launcher was never more godly in the franchise . God I love this game
And Dahbomb well put as well...apt comparison between DMC and Demon's/Darl souls.
badcrumble
Member
Oh man, and I wish so much that DT and Style were still available in the second half of the Mission 19 boss fight. T_T
But yeah, OTF Style Switch is incredible in DMC4, but I feel like the 'side weapons' of Dante's DMC3 arsenal (Cerberus! A&R! Nevan! Artemis!) are way more interesting than what Pandora and Lucifer brought to the table. That, and the kinda-mushy three-weapon cycling is a bummer to me compared to what DMC3 has (but I got used to that part eventually).
Wow. Took the words right out of mouth. I also like to compliment the sound design. Ebony and Ivory have a very satisfying "bang" compared to the later entries. DMC1's enemies also feel much more aggressive to the other sequels.
God damn. Time to dust off the old ps2.
Watching that combo video after seeing this is slightly nerve-racking. I'm not saying one is better over the other, but the difference in speed is pretty crazy.
That Dude John
Member
I respect Monocle's post to death. But I cannot honestly say I enjoyed playing DMC1 as much as everything else post-DMC3(including DmC). Maybe those titles just get by on the virtue of being later and bit further removed from the RE influences that, in my opinion, hindered the control scheme and combat system. Yes, DMC was innovative for it's time, and DMC3/4/DmC, God of War, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and w/e else greatly benefited from that game's very existence. But even as the progenitor, I don't think it holds up against it's descendants. Which isn't to say that it was bad(far from it), it was just the first of it's kind over a decade ago, and developers have had the chance to learn from it.
DevilPower
Member
Thank God for this particular thing.
I'm currently playing NG Sigma and no option of new game + is bugging me to hell...
BeautifulMemory
Member
I also love Ifrit's ability to party attacks when you jump. Using that against Nightmare is amazing.
And regarding enjoyability between this and other game...obviously we all have our tastes, but this game just has the best designs all around. Yes the combat might not be as fluid as DMC3, but the foundation is there and attacking enemies require as much defensive and offense. The way the melee weapons (especially Ifrit) and firearms are used is very unique compared even to other games in the franchise. I really enjoy how the enemies are designed both aesthetically and AI wise
And regarding enjoyability between this and other game...obviously we all have our tastes, but this game just has the best designs all around. Yes the combat might not be as fluid as DMC3, but the foundation is there and attacking enemies require as much defensive and offense. The way the melee weapons (especially Ifrit) and firearms are used is very unique compared even to other games in the franchise. I really enjoy how the enemies are designed both aesthetically and AI wise
IAmRandom31
Banned
DMC may have one of the greatest cutscenes of all time. Chapter 2 when he gets impaled into the floor face up with the sword in his gut, then awakens and lifts himself up through the sword and begins using it for his weapon, holy fuck. Watched that scene probably 19 times in awe.
DMC quickly let you know you are a supreme badass and never let's up on that fact throughout the series. Love the original series.
DMC quickly let you know you are a supreme badass and never let's up on that fact throughout the series. Love the original series.
Go Gold. It makes the game much less punishing and you can get thru the first four missions again in an hour.
Yes, compared to the other DMC games, including DmC, DMC1 feels like a relic. When you put it next to the others, you can clearly see that it doesn't have the focus that the later games had, as it was stuck between a RE sequel and a brand new game, design wise. We all know that it was supposed to be another RE game, but was changed to something else about halfway, and you can definitely see that considering how slow the pacing and how unrefined the combat interface is. One of the best things Capcom did was take in user feedback, which led to the great.
I get that it has history and it is still a seminal action game, and Monocle is absolutely right about that -- but that's really about it. I still think it's a great game, but I'm not going to say that it's stood the test of time in the face of innovation. It just hasn't aged all that well in reagrds to gameplay, and DmC is still a better game functionally and design wise.
Sorry, I'm not backing down from this.
Robot Pants
Member
Why in a few years?
DevilPower
Member
The graphics are pretty good and its 60fps...
It includes subtitles (for DMC 3 atleast).
Get a console, get some streaming equipment and upgrade my PC. Gonna do this shit live son.