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RTTP: Devil May Cry 1 (HD)

S

Sora_N

Member
I bought the HD Collection for $6 1-2 weeks ago, because Trophies and because I never bought DMC3SE.

I last played DMC1 on PS2 over 10 years ago, I think I played on Easy because I sucked so much. I think I got a little better as a gamer over the years, but not that good still - I'm playing on Normal now and not having many problems.

I played 2 (can't remember anything) on PS2 when I borrowed from a friend, I don't think I will touch this at all from the collection. I bought for DMC1 and 3.

I also finished DmC on PS3, I played some of DMC4 but sold it last year since the PS4 one was coming out.

Now back to DMC1, the game is definitely old but it's very atmospheric. The music and the locations are nice, the story is kind of subtle but you see some of Dante's personality which they show more in later games.

You kind of fight the same bosses in different forms in the whole game and that's it.

Phantom x 2
Griffon x 3
Nelo Angelo x 3
Nightmare x 3

It's a little harder each time but the strategy is mostly the same, but man I feel so much adrenaline rush and accomplishment when I kill these bosses.

I feel like I finally can conquer Phantom after 10 years. Griffon is a joke though.

Nelo Angelo is interesting, Nightmare is super tough. I just beat Nightmare 2, took me 3 tries.

I think one aspect is that you can sorta cheese the bosses after Phantom/Griffon.

I found that you can just DT and break through enough of Nelo Angelo's attacks, dodge a couple and mash until you get your DT back and repeat.

Nightmare is the same, but I found that I can just use Ifrit and jump divekick to build my DT until his core exposes and then DT and beat the shit out of him.

This game is so fun, I actually didn't enjoy it when I was a kid but I really appreciate it now.

Did anyone pick this up (again) recently and feel similar?

I overlooked DMC1 since I actually really really loved DMC3 even as a kid/teen. I can't wait to replay DMC3 after this. How much harder are the next difficulties? I don't know if I can even handle it but maybe I will try it this time.
 
It can be interesting to replay games like this that were charting new genres at the time they were made and see how they went about introducing themselves. Like the path to the castle and needing to find red orbs once you enter was partially to show off the atmosphere, but it also ensures that the player can get used to the movement controls and how the camera works before they have to worry about fighting. As opposed to in DMC3 where it doesn't have as much issue throwing you into fights at the very beginning because 3D action games had become commonplace by then.
 
DMC1 is my favourite of the series even thought it's the shortest and most content-less game of them all. Probably because of the impact it had as the first game of its kind that I played and a unique title for its time, but also because of how expertly crafted it is for its length. It's one fucking tight game. Phenomenal enemies, fun and engaging combat, great locales, cool boss fights, extremely challenging (remember everyone's first experience with Phantom? Baptism of fire that) etc. The gothic atmosphere and sheer creepiness of it as well was never replicated in future games. It also has my favourite Devil Trigger system in the series and I wish they would bring it back.

Just a fantastic game. One of my hardest Platinums too along with MGRIsing.
 
Gotta agree. DMC1 nails it's setting and atmosphere perfectly, and I for one love the soundtrack. If it wasn't for the deep combat of the future games I'd hold DMC1 as the king of the franchise.

If you ain't slash canceling you ain't playing it right.
 
Still the strongest in the series, I think. 3 and 4 improve upon it in certain aspects, but both of them are significantly more flawed than 1 (each in their own ways), and that keeps them from properly surpassing it.

It's true that you can totally overpower the bosses on normal mode using Devil Trigger - the game has some slight balance issues for sure (a lot of enemies absolutely cannot handle Vortex or Inferno). DT becomes less dominating on the harder modes though (which is where the game really shines, naturally).
 
DMC1 has that atmosphere, those enemy designs, and still looks good to this day. It's always nice to revisit.

The higher difficulties are manageable, especially if you know enemy weaknesses and employ some of the more advanced techniques like twitch canceling, shotgun hiking, and roll canceling. One of the more interesting combat changes on DMD, however, is the fact that they rebalanced damage output for Dante's moveset. For example, his DT moves tend to do significantly less damage, whereas in easier difficulties they simply obliterate some bosses.
 
Definitely my favourite one. Love the gothic horror vibe and the fixed camera angles. The wealth of content and relative shortness of the game compared to later efforts in the genre means that it's extremely well-paced, and as such feels very replay-friendly. There's always something new to see and do, all the time.

They got character action games so right on the first try, even if it took survival horror to piggy-back from it.
 
DMC1 is still my favorite game in the series, despite the first-person shooter underwater segments, which are just dreadful.

I bought the game on day 1, but was a total noob and had to play it on Easy Automatic. Still loved it, though. I didn't learn how to "git gud" at Stylish Action Games until DMC4.
 
I played it for the first time like two years ago, and I have to say it's the worst action game I have played. Awful final boss, repeated boss fights, horrible map with back tracking, awful water level, Nightmare is trash(let me run around the room hitting the walls and then the boss sits there with his core exposes or if you get sucked in you fight the same bosses you fought before), and the worst type of camera to have for an action game since it messes up your controls. The only positive thing I can say is that the Nelo Angelo fights were all right.

DMC 3 is great though, and even DMC 2 is better than it,
 
antitrop said:
DMC1 is still my favorite game in the series, despite the first-person shooter underwater segments, which are just dreadful.

I bought the game on day 1, but was a total noob and had to play it on Easy Automatic. Still loved it, though. I didn't learn how to "git gud" at Stylish Action Games until DMC4.
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I forgot to say fuck the water anything in the game in the OP. Lol.
 
BkzUzi said:
I played it for the first time like two years ago, and I have to say it's the worst action game I have played. Awful final boss, repeated boss fights, horrible map with back tracking, awful water level, Nightmare is trash(let me run around the room hitting the walls and then the boss sits there with his core exposes or if you get sucked in you fight the same bosses you fought before), and the worst type of camera to have for an action game since it messes up your controls. The only positive thing I can say is that the Nelo Angelo fights were all right.

DMC 3 is great though, and even DMC 2 is better than it,
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It's great that gaming has come so far to be able to say something like this, because at the time there was absolutely nothing like Devil May Cry. It was so revolutionary it coined its own sub-genre. It was one of the first must-have PS2 games after the launch drought.

Even Kamiya himself recognizes the game's obvious shortcomings though, that's why he made Bayonetta.

DMC2 earns its reputation more than deservedly as one of the most regressive and disappointing sequels ever made, that much I'm sure of. Even if DMC1 may not hold up, DMC2 wasn't even good for its time.
 
DMC1 is definitely a good game. Set the series up for a lot of greater things such as combos, being stylish and the characters. It's corny as hell but...oddly charming.
 
Platinum themselves said that they use a similar framework for each game and develop from that.

From the couple I played you still upgrade your skills and stuff and fight enemies.

Same as DMC1 but more advanced.

I thought Korra was interesting in that you get all the powers back only by finishing it once first. Playing DMC makes me want to replay that one as well.
 
Got the HD collection to play all of them for the first time (Besides 2). I loved the first one but fell off of 3. Mostly due to fatigue.

I loved the fixed camera perspective. It reminded me of the resident evil games. (for good reason)
 
I finished DMD earlier this year. Even with the slash resets (twirling the analog stick to reduce recovery), it was hard as fuck. Finally broke down and used items on the second fight with Nightmare. Usually I'd save them for that shit rail shooter section and to face roll the last two fights after.

I probably would've given up if it weren't for the reset tech. I still got super stuck on some DMD bosses like griffon where the tech isn't even useful and Nelo 3 where you're dead in 2 hits and do no damage to him--it's some serious movement test to see how well you've mastered the game and probably a brick wall for item spammers.

I'm a bit 50/50 on DMD mode's balance, but everything before that was just a joy to play.
 
I love DMC1, even if the combat is lacking compared to the later titles, the atmosphere and enemy designs make it worth it. I love how you can see the thing that carried over from resident evil.
 
BkzUzi said:
I played it for the first time like two years ago, and I have to say it's the worst action game I have played. Awful final boss, repeated boss fights, horrible map with back tracking, awful water level, Nightmare is trash(let me run around the room hitting the walls and then the boss sits there with his core exposes or if you get sucked in you fight the same bosses you fought before), and the worst type of camera to have for an action game since it messes up your controls. The only positive thing I can say is that the Nelo Angelo fights were all right.

DMC 3 is great though, and even DMC 2 is better than it,
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In no way, shape or form is DMC2 better than 1. DMC2 is a huge pile of shit and can't do anything right. None of the attacks even feel like they have any weight to them (I still can't get over how shitty the stinger is), the bosses are absolutely atrocious, the enemies are terrible, it looks completely drab and the story somehow manages to be the worst in the series. DMC1 does every single one of those things better even if it has its own shortcomings.

I played DMC1-3 for the first time in 2014 back to back (and got all the achievements), so this isn't nostalgia talking.
 
I dunno if it's just it being kinda late, but somehow I beat Nightmare 3 in only 3 tries. The battle was pretty much the same lol, I abused the eating part so I can cheese a portion of his health by cheesing Nelo Angelo.

Then I got to the second last mission, the inverted controls gave me hard time underwater already. I totally forgot about the stupid flying Mundus part(s).

I can't dodge anything since the controls are messing with me. :/
 
Sora_N said:
I dunno if it's just it being kinda late, but somehow I beat Nightmare 3 in only 3 tries. The battle was pretty much the same lol, I abused the eating part so I can cheese a portion of his health by cheesing Nelo Angelo.

Then I got to the second last mission, the inverted controls gave me hard time underwater already. I totally forgot about the stupid flying Mundus part(s).

I can't dodge anything since the controls are messing with me. :/
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I think if you use the d-pad the controls are normal. It is pretty annoying though. I don't even mind the underwater parts because they're so brief, but I always cheese out the flying battle by using items.
 
DMC1 is bad. Sure, I enjoy the environments, and it has "atmosphere" or whatever, but the most important thing, the core gameplay, does not hold up. The mechanics are super bare bones and the camera is really bad. DMC3 (the GOAT), DMC4 and even DmC are all better. Never played 2.
 
Jedi Link said:
DMC1 is bad. Sure, I enjoy the environments, and it has "atmosphere" or whatever, but the most important thing, the core gameplay, does not hold up. The mechanics are super bare bones and the camera is really bad. DMC3 (the GOAT), DMC4 and even DmC are all better. Never played 2.
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The "core gameplay" is an entire level above DMC3 and 4's. Enemies designed to contend with the player's toolset instead of being haphazardly thrown together like 3's, proper stage progression unlike the mess you get in 4, a well-built hardest mode that isn't a slog (like 3's) or kind of a joke (like 4's). DMC1 is still one of the best games in the genre.
 
My first PS2 game :)

I still get a weird kick out of those secret missions in it.

I fucking love the Ifrit gloves as well.
 
devil_may_cry_hd_collection-1840605.jpg

Devil-May-Cry.jpg

dmc1.jpg


Like a boss all running 60 fps on playstation 2 hardware.

And yeah, devil trigger is kind of OP in DMC1. They toned it back down in DMC3.
 
BkzUzi said:
I played it for the first time like two years ago, and I have to say it's the worst action game I have played.
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You must have played very few 3D action games, then. The PS2 gen in particular was absolutely littered with them and most of them are beyond awful.
 
Sir Ilpalazzo said:
The "core gameplay" is an entire level above DMC3 and 4's. Enemies designed to contend with the player's toolset instead of being haphazardly thrown together like 3's, proper stage progression unlike the mess you get in 4, a well-built hardest mode that isn't a slog (like 3's) or kind of a joke (like 4's). DMC1 is still one of the best games in the genre.
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You're going to have to give me some examples here from both.
 
It's probably my favorite in the series. It just had the best pacing, enemy behavior, art, and music. DMC3 of course trounces it in difficulty and combat depth, and is probably more fun to play overall. But I don't respect it as much.
 
i tried playing it again recently and got to whatever chapter is after the second nelo angelo fight and was like welp nope i'm bored
ultimately i can't deal with the speed of the game being so slow- it's just a preference thing since i also have the same issue with non-turbo DMC3/4 too

in addition to that it drives me crazy that guns have startup/large startup in dmc1 despite also being super powerful
like, gunslinger is my favorite style but shotgun twitching and shotgun hiking are only entertaining for so long. i need point blank, fireworks, trickster dashes or something that just adds that juice.

really the biggest thing that surprised me was that enemy stepping was a thing in dmc1- i had played it as a kid and i guess i never did it 'cuz man shotgun hiking kicks ass and basically held my attention for a solid 10~ missions

barebones is probably how i'd describe it too but also with consideration that it shows very strongly why it's the originator of the stylish action/crazy/whatever game subgenre pretty well- there's a lot of stuff in dmc1 that was either carried over or built upon in other great games within genre that you notice really quickly

edit:
also before i forget it totally has the best dante outfit get fucked dmc2
 
Jedi Link said:
You're going to have to give me some examples here from both.
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I think it's pretty self-evident. Marionettes and their variety of abilities, shadows' behaviors changing based on how aggressive you're being and the way fighting them doesn't just boil down to "shoot them and then mindlessly hack at their weak spot" since exposing their weak spot just changes their attacks, not disables them, plasmas' multiple distinct forms, the list goes on. This isn't even getting into all the neat quick kill tricks you can pull out against enemies such as the sin scissors, blades, shadows, which are satisfying to pull off but demand a bit of attention, so you have to be slightly on the ball to pull them off against groups of enemies. That's what I'm saying - the DMC1 enemies, for the most part, have real thought put into them and how the player is going to approach them.

Then you get to DMC3 and its bloodgoyles (shoot them and then stab them while they sit defenseless), sloths (okay enemy but they have 10x the health they should for some reason, the chess pieces (imported from DMC2), greeds (damage sponges with super armor), dullahans (lol), fallen (lol) - bad stuff. Even the good enemies in DMC3 pale in comparison to DMC1's marionettes and blades. Half of DMC3's enemies are simply not fun to engage with on any level, and that's a real shame because it's a top-tier action game in many ways but is dragged down by some miserable, pervasive stuff. I think it's very much one step forward from DMC1 but two steps back.
 
Sir Ilpalazzo said:
I think it's pretty self-evident. Marionettes and their variety of abilities, shadows' behaviors changing based on how aggressive you're being and the way fighting them doesn't just boil down to "shoot them and then mindlessly hack at their weak spot" since exposing their weak spot just changes their attacks, not disables them, plasmas' multiple distinct forms, the list goes on. This isn't even getting into all the neat quick kill tricks you can pull out against enemies such as the sin scissors, blades, shadows, which are satisfying to pull off but demand a bit of attention, so you have to be slightly on the ball to pull them off against groups of enemies. That's what I'm saying - the DMC1 enemies, for the most part, have real thought put into them and how the player is going to approach them.

Then you get to DMC3 and its bloodgoyles (shoot them and then stab them while they sit defenseless), sloths (okay enemy but they have 10x the health they should for some reason, the chess pieces (imported from DMC2), greeds (damage sponges with super armor), dullahans (lol), fallen (lol) - bad stuff. Even the good enemies in DMC3 pale in comparison to DMC1's marionettes and blades. Half of DMC3's enemies are simply not fun to engage with on any level, and that's a real shame because it's a top-tier action game in many ways but is dragged down by some miserable, pervasive stuff. I think it's very much one step forward from DMC1 but two steps back.
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Not nearly as bad as DMC4's enemies. DMC4 enemies were incredibly defensive in the worst way; way to many passive defenses! A few examples!

Fausts that played a ranged, float-away keep away game, with super armor that needed to be whittled down by projectiles or the Devil Buster, followed by a vulnerable phase where they run away and until their armor regenerates!

Chimera's that give other enemies the power interrupt combos with no warning.

Blitz's that are like a poorly designed Shadow; invincible armor that hurts you if you attack with a melee attack (and they usually placed in close quarters with other enemies). You really have to whittle their armor down, and once you break their armor they still fight back hard- they have wonderful teleports to get away from you. Finally, once you do kill them, they have an overly long berserk phase!

The Final Boss: The final boss is the embodiment of enemy design in this game: He is a pure keep away boss. If you sit at the other side of the arena he'll do almost nothing threatening, other than throw a few projectiles. You spend the entire fight chasing his around his arena, repeatedly breaking that shield of his, while his moveset is focused mainly on pushing you away.


The problem was that they layered way too many defenses on several enemies that don't work together and manly just do a "full stop" on the player often times. It was worse than DMC3! Given enemies a way to defend themselves is fine - necessary, but sheesh, it was completely based around a lack of engagement- a lack of interaction! It was mostly all super armor, negating attacks, and running away!

Devil May Cry 1 had great enemy design.
 
BkzUzi said:
I played it for the first time like two years ago, and I have to say it's the worst action game I have played. Awful final boss, repeated boss fights, horrible map with back tracking, awful water level, Nightmare is trash(let me run around the room hitting the walls and then the boss sits there with his core exposes or if you get sucked in you fight the same bosses you fought before), and the worst type of camera to have for an action game since it messes up your controls. The only positive thing I can say is that the Nelo Angelo fights were all right.

DMC 3 is great though, and even DMC 2 is better than it,
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Is this bait?
 
Carbonox said:
DMC1 is my favourite of the series even thought it's the shortest and most content-less game of them all. Probably because of the impact it had as the first game of its kind that I played and a unique title for its time, but also because of how expertly crafted it is for its length. It's one fucking tight game. Phenomenal enemies, fun and engaging combat, great locales, cool boss fights, extremely challenging (remember everyone's first experience with Phantom? Baptism of fire that) etc. The gothic atmosphere and sheer creepiness of it as well was never replicated in future games. It also has my favourite Devil Trigger system in the series and I wish they would bring it back.

Just a fantastic game. One of my hardest Platinums too along with MGRIsing.
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Same.

DMC1 is my favourite, with DMC4 in second.

DMC3 is just too hard for me lol, and I like the graphics of 1 better anyway.
 
I played it for the first time last year. I found it really hard to cope with the camera unfortunately. It was really disorienting when the angle changed and I say this as a major supporter of fixed cameras but I think this is the wrong kind of game for them. At least for me as I need tank controls to stay orientated in a fixed camera environment but they would be unsuitable for DMC's gameplay.
 
gelf said:
I played it for the first time last year. I found it really hard to cope with the camera unfortunately. It was really disorienting when the angle changed and I say this as a major supporter of fixed cameras but I think this is the wrong kind of game for them. At least for me as I need tank controls to stay orientated in a fixed camera environment but they would be unsuitable for DMC's gameplay.
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The fixed camera angles are an issue most fans accept. They work nicely in a few "scenic" areas, but the camera is problematic as a whole. Nelo Angelo 2 springs to mind.
 
what an interesting time on GAF when DMC1 and GTA3 are panned as outdated and there's a Quest 64 thread is fondly remembering the game as an underrated masterpiece

yes i know, not a hivemind, try to remain calm
 
Hypron said:
In no way, shape or form is DMC2 better than 1. DMC2 is a huge pile of shit and can't do anything right. None of the attacks even feel like they have any weight to them (I still can't get over how shitty the stinger is), the bosses are absolutely atrocious, the enemies are terrible, it looks completely drab and the story somehow manages to be the worst in the series. DMC1 does every single one of those things better even if it has its own shortcomings.

I played DMC1-3 for the first time in 2014 back to back (and got all the achievements), so this isn't nostalgia talking.
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antitrop said:
DMC2 earns its reputation more than deservedly as one of the most regressive and disappointing sequels ever made, that much I'm sure of. Even if DMC1 may not hold up, DMC2 wasn't even good for its time.
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DMC 2 was more fun to play because of how OP Dante was. Sure stinger sucks, but from what I remember the camera even though it was also fixed it wasn't as bad it was in DMC 1. Another improvement was that their was variety of bosses, and before you say none of the bosses were fun. The wolf pack guy and the final boss were all right. DMC 1 only had the Spider and Nelo Angelo, but you had to fight each one like three times. The final boss of Dante's section wasn't also a starfox 64 level in DMC 2, and there wasn't as much backtracking. Oh and speaking of story there was nothing as cringey as this in DMC 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qG4AlK1qk

I'm not saying DMC 2 is a good game, I'm just saying I enjoyed it more and consider it the better game since it has at least one thing going for it. Both of them are shit games though, DMC 1 is just worse. DMC 3 was great though, the only problem that I had with it was the annoying back tracking that it had.
 
BkzUzi said:
DMC 2 was more fun to play because of how OP Dante was. Sure stinger sucks, but from what I remember the camera even though it was also fixed it wasn't as bad it was in DMC 1. Another improvement was that their was variety of bosses, and before you say none of the bosses were fun. The wolf pack guy and the final boss were all right. DMC 1 only had the Spider and Nelo Angelo, but you had to fight each one like three times. The final boss of Dante's section wasn't also a starfox 64 level in DMC 2, and there wasn't as much backtracking. Oh and speaking of story there was nothing as cringey as this in DMC 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qG4AlK1qk

I'm not saying DMC 2 is a good game, I'm just saying I enjoyed it more and consider it the better game since it has at least one thing going for it. Both of them are shit games though, DMC 1 is just worse. DMC 3 was great though, the only problem that I had with it was the annoying back tracking that it had.
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Even if you found certain elements of DMC1 disagreeable or aged, I think you're probably forgetting how bad DMC2 is. For most people, OP Dante and OP guns didn't make the game more fun, it made it more boring, especially since Dante's movement was slothful and sluggish. And further, DMC2 actually had broken level design/spawn points, AI, and combat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5FrWcrc-XU
Courtesy of Mike Kob

The two bosses you describe are good in concept, but not as much in execution. And even if they were done right, it wouldn't justify the other absolutely trash bosses in the game. To me, boss variety doesn't mean much if almost all the bosses can be dispatched the same way. Also, the underwater boss on DMD is the worst fucking boss ever designed in an action game hands down.
 
I think the last boss is pretty bad but kind of old school. I have to git gud to beat him. I just hate how I have to beat both forms in a row and can't die. I'm spoiled by modern games.

The shooter part sucks and then I suck at the second part.

It might take me another 2 weeks to beat the game at this point, not much time to game.
 
Sora_N said:
I think the last boss is pretty bad but kind of old school. I have to git gud to beat him. I just hate how I have to beat both forms in a row and can't die. I'm spoiled by modern games.

The shooter part sucks and then I suck at the second part.

It might take me another 2 weeks to beat the game at this point, not much time to game.
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I item spam him, both forms. #noshame

My least favorite part is not just that it kicks you back, but you have to mash quite a bit during the rail shooter part, so you get worse as your hand gets more tired on each retry.
 
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