Devil May Cry: The Last Bastion of (Traditional) Character Action
Just in case you somehow haven’t been confronted by your own mortality in a while, the original Devil May Cry game released 20 years ago. Not quite old enough to drink, but let’s be honest, if Devil May Cry were a person, it’d drink anyway. Mostly tequila shots. Sometimes everclear (looking at you, 2009 reboot). I love the majority of the Devil May Cry games (you know, the good ones, like everyone else on earth), and with last year’s release of Devil May Cry 5, the franchise really established itself as something unique in our current age of video games: the last real bastion of character action games.
Now you all may be thinking, “Whoa Al, it happened again. Been sipping that dumb bitch juice too much; bought too many dumb bitch pallets of dumb bitch juice from Sam’s Club.” After all, we’re currently in arguably the strongest era of character action games ever! Spider-Man, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima–the list goes on. But what I’m talking about–and hell, what some of you may be too young to remember or have experienced (now we’re really getting into the ole mortality talk)–is traditional character action games. Games that relied less on set pieces and gorgeous environments as it did focused, customizable combat and building combos and style meters. While several games have carried on some of these traditions–Spider-Man features pretty expansive combat customization, and Nier Automata offers big combo numbers if you put in the time to pull it off consistently–much of the substance has been lost or, more accurately, replaced with mechanics from other genres.
Perhaps the biggest example of this is God of War. God of War released on the PS2, and it featured combat heavily inspired by Devil May Cry. With the most recent release, however, God of War 2018 (while an absolutely stellar game) replaced much of the free form combat flow and combo-centered action with stat-related gear and more focused attacks. God of War combat is quite good, but it’s much more focused on being gritty rather than being flashy. No combo counters, no style meter, no graphics on the screen looking like they’re gonna explode if you land one more attack without getting hit. The game just feels different. Many action games today end up taking more direction and influence from Dark Souls rather than games like Devil May Cry, and while I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it is definitely a jarringly different landscape.
Some games keep up the traditions. Bayonetta is the most obvious example, though nowadays it seems Bayonetta 3 is perpetually trapped in development hell with an eventual release seeming more doubtful everyday. The upcoming Sifu looks like it could potentially carry on a lot of DMC-esque mechanics and style as well. However, after seeing so many franchises take drastically different directions, it makes me appreciate Devil May Cry even more, even if that appreciation is a little sad for a mostly bygone era.
It’s hard to put into words why the combat in Devil May Cry feels so special. For most AAA games today, it’d be considered a serious limitation if a game was so focused on combat to the detriment of rich character-led cinematic story or mind-boggling open environments, but Devil May Cry 5 released to absolute fanfare and critical esteem. Why? Because it follows the old adage that sometimes, less is more. Or, more accurately, it follows the rule of “it can be better to do one thing really damn well instead of ten things passably.” The flow of combat in Devil May Cry is utterly unmatched, and the satisfaction from seeing your style meter go up from a shameful D grade to a godlike SSS is unparalleled. As the years have passed, rather than going different directions like other action franchises, DMC has focused on expanding what it already did well. People like the weapon variety in the first game? We’re gonna go even crazier with weapon design in DMC3. People thought Virgil’s combat style looked really cool and offered something fresh? Here’s an entirely new character in Nero who forces players to approach combat in a totally different yet just as satisfying way. Players just wish they could jump into endless waves of combat to further refine their style? Enter the Bloody Palace mode in DMC5 which allows you to take each character for a ride in a fight-til-you-die scenario of randomized enemies. Players are having the thought “What if we had DMC, but super crappy and edgy to the point of completely missing the game’s original tone and themes?” You can play the DmC reboot!
Obviously, not every Devil May Cry game is a winner. Games like Devil May Cry 2 and the DmC reboot are better left untouched. And, despite my love for the more recent games, they are not above reproach. The final special edition of DMC5 is out, and yet we’re still missing franchise regulars Lady and Trish as playable characters. Despite these flaws, however, Devil May Cry is a franchise that inspired so many of our favorite games today and yet has refused to follow the industry’s trends (and stayed wildly successful anyway). You like difficulty in your games? The original Devil May Cry introduced Dante Must Die mode, the ultimate challenge in video game combat flow with one-hit kills for you and style requirements for enemy deaths. Want some lightheartedness to go with your battle intensity? Here’s a protagonist who flips about yelling “pizza time, yahoo!” as he decapitates demons. While Devil May Cry wasn’t the first to do these mechanics and features, it was the game to do them the best and–over 20 years–still doing them today.
In the age of battle royales, cinematic storytelling, and forced multiplayer mechanics, there’s something to appreciate about a franchise that refuses to conform to industry trends and money-chasing. Devil May Cry is not the new hotness, and it will probably never be the new hotness. What it is, however, is one of the most honest, reliable gameplay experiences that really answers the question “What makes a good video game?” with the loud, in your face, styling reply of “Being wildly fun, ya dingus!”
