Devil May Cry (2001)

The very first entry to the Devil May Cry franchise is widely regarded as a seminal action game that helped define the Hack'N Slash genre. The MC is called Dante, a charismatic and cocky demon hunter on a mission to defeat the powerful demon Mundus and unravel the mysteries of his own past. From the very first moments, the game sets a dark, gothic tone with its foreboding castle setting, intricate level design, and cinematic cutscenes that feel almost like interactive movies. The gameplay is fast-paced and highly rewarding, blending swordplay, acrobatics, and gun combat.

You can chain together elaborate combos, juggling enemies in the air and switching seamlessly between melee and ranged attacks. It encourages you to fight with style, awarding rankings from “D” to “Stylish” based not just on survival, but on creativity, speed, and variety in combat. And despite score systems being a common thing in nowadays gameplay design, the more dynamic, unique and full of personality one like the first DMC's implementation was a standout back in the day. Boss battles are particularly memorable, often requiring both skill and strategy, and each one feels like a true test of mastery.

The controls and combat systems were innovative for their time, giving you a sense of freedom and power rarely seen in early 2000s action games. The OST complement the intense action, from epic orchestral pieces to edgy rock tracks, further enhancing the experience, though I think that this very first DMC had a more shy style for it's songs when compared to subsequent entries. While some people might find the difficulty steep and the camera occasionally challenging, these aspects also add to the sense of accomplishment when battles are won.

Beyond gameplay, this game established a lasting legacy with its over-the-top style, memorable protagonist, and influence on countless action titles that followed. It spawned a franchise that continues to be celebrated today, and its blend of challenge, style, and narrative depth makes it a standout title on it's platform that still holds up remarkably well. This is truly one of the milestones in gaming history, especially when it comes to this genre, a must-play if you have the opportunity to experience this in modern platforms. Despite my high praise on this title, I still think this sits in the weak spot of the franchise, though not in a bad way, but simply because it's sequels improved upon it's foundations much more that makes the OG DMC a little gray in comparison.

playing this game in 2024 is very different to watching your brother play it practically every day like 15 years ago

i tried the hd collection version and it's... still so janky. i could not get into it but i desperately want to try again bc i love the character designs and the combat style. also the music is fucking sick

I'm impressed how well this game holds up. The genre's come a long way since its early days, but you can get a good sense of its roots here. There isn't all that much to speak of in terms of combos and unique attacks but most of the important elements for DMC's gameplay were already present here.

As someone who'd only previously played DMC reboot and DMC5 I was pleasantly surprised to see that V's demons are all bosses in this first game. It's very cool and lends some context to their inclusion in the fifth game. In fact, I think once I've played through the rest of the series I'll probably revisit 5 to see how much more I get out of it now.

Getting back to the game itself, there's definitely some clunk to the controls. I'm still kind of baffled at the inclusion of an automatic lock-on system for your attacks because it was constantly getting in the way. I would try to turn around and attack an enemy that was about to hit me but then as my attack came out the lock on would spin me back around 180 degrees to the last enemy I was attacking, forcing me to take a hit for no reason. This was even a problem in some boss fights, namely the ones against Nightmare. If I didn't shove Dante's face directly into the buttons on the wall when I went to hit them, he'd spin around and try to hit Nightmare who was still all the way across the room, missing entirely. Just an odd design choice but one I'm willing to forgive for a game that was treading new ground.

Other than the aforementioned issue, combat was generally fun, and a huge breath of fresh air after my struggles playing the first two God of War games. Those games do have a stronger story than the first DMC by a long shot, but I just don't think their gameplay comes close to the fast paced combat and style of this one, despite it coming out around 4 years prior.

I kind of wish there had been less boss fights and more normal enemy encounters, because especially near the end of the game I started getting really bogged down on the bosses in missions 16-18, hence my mini rant post last night. Replaying an entire mission that mostly consists of running through empty hallways and solving a time consuming puzzle over and over to reach the boss I died to was very frustrating, and something I'd hope would be largely streamlined or removed entirely if this game ever got remade. I felt that this type of system worked a lot better in Dark Souls because the runback itself rarely felt like a waste of time to me there, but I know that's a big discussion point among folks in that community, so it's hardly objective.

After those missions things got better again though. Nightmare fight 3 was somehow less painful than the second fight (maybe I just got the hang of how to handle the boss?), the Living Tunnel was a cool environment to run around in with some solid enemies throughout, and the final boss was a bit of a curveball initially with its...interesting...first phase but otherwise enjoyable.

I guess I'll be moving on to the much maligned DMC2 next. It has quite the notorious reputation it seems. I'm curious to see if it is really that bad.

The first Devil May Cry is still my favorite in the series. The difficulty feels balanced, the story is enjoyably campy and the combat is basic but fun. I remember it being deeper but I could be conflating it with the later games in the series. One thing I especially enjoy is the atmosphere - it feels very Resident Evil-esque. You can tell it was originally supposed to be RE4.

My playthrough highlights:

I thought I should write a mini-review of this after completing it. I played through all 23 missions on regular difficulty on the HD Collection on Steam. I thought the ending was corny and ridiculous but I think it fits in pretty well with the rest of the game. Dante is a pretty likable protagonist and I don't mind him that much even with the inclusion of the cringy lines that haven't aged well over time. The two highlights in this for me were the combat and the setting. The combat is still fun besides a few glaring issues being the camera and just random bs that is in some of the enemies. The locked camera is clearly an issue in some parts when playing but knowing that the development of Devil May Cry was closely related to Resident Evil 4 makes me give Capcom a pass for the jank-ass camera. Besides the camera issues the only other thing that bothered me was some bs that came with some enemies and how they worked or specific attacks they had. I liked the final boss fight for the most part and took me a few tries with no healing items. The game also looks very good for 2001 and maybe some of that has to do with me playing the HD collection but I was still impressed nonetheless. I would talk about the story and how it's really not important but I don't think anyone is going to Devil May Cry 1 for an outstanding story.

Overall I'd give Devil May Cry 1 a 6/10, hopefully I live through DMC 2.

I’ve beaten the game on normal. I can't say that it was difficult. Likewise, I saw a comment that the game is more difficult than Dark Souls, the only Dark Souls game I played was DS3, and contrary to that, DMC is not more difficult (at least for me). In general, the game is really of its time, it came out exactly when it was most unexpected.

However, tank control and a fixed/dynamic funky camera with a level structure and save rooms, similar to Resident Evil, were well expected from a PS2-era game. I had no recollection of the music; it was a mix of generic rock (for my tastes) and cathedral classics; the only track I liked or remembered was the music from the Statue of Time; choir women's vocals are always a favorite of mine. The gameplay was probably quite fresh and innovative at the time of the game's release, but in 2023, due to my gaming experience, it is already familiar to me and does not impress me, even though the rating system really provokes you to try to beat the maximum rating. On the other hand, because you don't know exactly how the rating is calculated and for what you get points, you quickly lose interest because you have no control over it. I guess it's because it was my first walkthrough and I don't fully understand how the game mechanics work.

The UI/UX is quite stylish, the animated icons of weapons and items look cool and interesting even today (and it's the best in the series), and the fact that they are in low resolution with a VHS effect only adds to the coolness.

The camera is the biggest problem of the game; it is really not convenient and can ruin the experience in some places. The game is truly iconic not only for its genre but for other genres as well, for example, in God of War (Red Orbs/Wepon-Style Change/ platforming and puzzling).

It's been 22 years since the release, and it's captivating to play, but not that much. You see that it is raw, and you understand that it is a draft of different ideas, literally a test of a pen.

Story, the game has a story, kinda.

DMC also reminds me of NieR Replicant as it flows into other genres with its gameplay. Slasher as a foundation, platformer as a highlight, survival horror as a nod to the original concepts, arcade space shooter on the final boss fight, and rail shooter on water levels as a time echo.

Played the first title in the HD Collection on Steam.

I’ve never played any DMC game ever before this. I do for some reason remember it’s mediocre reviews on G4TV in the G4TV days and not being able to afford it (or it’s rental) at 16 anyway, so I never dived into it. But I knew it existed and needed to share in the legacy of DMC at some point, for historical reasons.

This game is great in that lens: I can see Capcom was trying to build a game on the RE engine with macabre/horror elements but which would have been unburdened by the lore of those titles (RE3 was 2 years prior and it’d be many more years before the revival with RE4). In that vein they did some great work on the levels and maneuverability of the main character, using lots of jumping and swimming as a spite to the things you couldn’t do in the RE games. As a tech demo, it works well.

As a video game with staying power, not so much. The story is kind of bewildering especially when compared to the mega hit that is RE2 (not that the game had amazing lore but that what was said fit into the action on screen in a 1990’s kind of way). Here we see a guy answer a phone, shoot a motorcycle a hundred times midair, and then follow a lady to a castle for… I forget why. Then you fight the same boss 3 times (each time he appeared I recalled the G4TV reviews and I laughed), kill the big one and call it a day.

Each stage is super short which I actually appreciated as some of the situations are pretty obtuse on how to solve (the tank boss in particular). I never really knew where I was supposed to go but managed to stumble my way through it anyway. The map helps a little bit but with all the elevation changes the RE mapping mechanism wasn’t very helpful (ah the good old days of just wandering around til you found where you’re supposed to go).

The camera is abysmal and really frustrates you. Enemies are frequently off screen and shooting at you, and it’s just not fun at all. Ah the bad old days of fixed camera angles.

When it was finally over I felt like I understood the promise of DMC and the reasons for continuing the series, while hoping they’d address the shortcomings on story and camera angles in the sequels (which I’ve heard they do and that DMC2 is relatively great).

I feel like this is worth hanging on to in order to put it all in context, but it’s rough around the edges and not worth anything other than that.

PC Notes: 1080p 60Hz on a Pixel 4 via Steam Link

"Where is your motivation?" I say to myself 10 months after beating Devil May Cry 5. Devil May Cry 1 is not really that good. It's really dated, but I can respect it as a relic of PS2 games. And it is one of the first of its kind.

DMC'1s biggest issue is also its biggest strength: the combat. The combat is a ton of fun yet it has a ton of jank. Why is there an auto lock on feature? This annoyed me more than it helped me. When I run past the enemies to my destination, I would want to destroy a few things along the way, but when I press circle, Dante faces towards the closest enemy instead of the freaking table. One enemy worked horribly with the combat: the Death Scissors. Fuck these guys. They have a ton of health and the only way to hit them is in the head which can be blocked if you melee so you use your guns instead and they don't deal enough damage. Fuck these guys. Imma just use my holy water. The camera in this game is abysmal. I get that this was a Resident Evil 4 prototype, but fixed camera angles to not work well with the combat. The tone feels off. Like the only parts where Dante does something wacky or cool was at the start where he shoots Trish's motorcycle and at the end where he flies out of Mallet Island. I guess he as matured since 3, but Dante feels really tame here. The story of DMC1 is kinda weak. Trish was a really weak character.

Out of the 3 DMC games that I have played(1, part of 3, and 5), Devil May Cry 1 has the heaviest atmosphere so far, which is executed really well thanks to its previous identity. For being an early PS2 exclusive, this game looks really good. While the combat hasn't blossomed into what DMC3 is, DMC1's combat feels a lot more slow paced a lot more tame and I like it. The bosses are really neat except for Nightmare. I really liked Phantom as a tutorial boss with how he teaches you to dodge and use Devil Trigger. Nelo Angelo was my favorite boss. Vergil is my favorite boss to fight against in DMC5 that I could replay it over and over again. I really liked the twist with Nelo Angelo being Vergil. The buildup with Dante showing the amulet after their first fight and then when Dante kills Nelo Angelo, he sees that same amulet. Dante has a nice arc from where he just wanted to finish the job because he was told to, now he wants to kill Mundus for killing his mother and brainwashing Vergil for him to die in the hands of Dante.

DMC is a decent romp to play through. It's janky, but it's still a fun time. It was one of the first character action games so I'll give it a pass. Now if you excuse me, I'll go check to see if sanity really is the price to pay for power with DMC2(I'm scared).

FINAL RATING: 6/10

The original Devil May Cry is ridiculously fun and addictive and has a surprisingly beautiful art style. Its combat is brutally difficult but rewarding if you are willing to learn it. Boss fights are massive and usually fair. That being said, it might be one of the most poorly written games I've ever played and has dialogue that will forever stick in my mind for how hilarious it was.

3.25/5.00

Full Review: https://watchreadgame.com/devil-may-cry-1/

I decided to pick this one up on the Switch since it was on sale. I was a bit hesitant at first to try DMC on switch mostly because I wasn't sure how comfortable it would be on your wrists, however, since the missions are very short I found out that this is the perfect game for quick play sessions. Being able to play one or two missions back to back on my daily commute was very refreshing!

I've always loved the atmosphere of DMC1 and how clear the Resident Evil influence is. Such a fun game, add in the portability and bite sized nature and it's well worth it for any DMC fan on the go.

Maybe I'm crazy but this is still my favorite DMC. I think it's because this is the one that still feels like a survival-horror game. Not too surprising since it started development as Resident Evil 4. I don't care too much about racking up a stylish combo meter as much as I love exploring a spooky castle full of creepy ass monsters as a white haired edgelord who loves pizza and a good pun. Incredibly fun to play and just a wonderfully dumb piece of entertainment.

This was also the first game I played on PS2, so it will always hold a special place in my heart for ushering in the console that would define the era.

This game is bad. I hate the fact that you jump with the triangle button, it was kind of hard to get used to that since it's awkward. You would expect to jump with the 'x' button, like I think it happened in DMC3 (which is way, way, way better than this game).

The story is by far the worst I have ever seen in a video game. It's sooo cheesy and the voice acting is so terrible, lol ("I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with lIiIiIiGhT!!!!11"). I wouldn't really care about that if I enjoyed playing the game, but it was not the case. I thought the enemies were repetitive and beating them was easy and boring. The platform jumping was super inaccurate and it took me way longer than it should have to get some items just because I would keep missing the platform or Dante would decide to jump down if I happened to press the jump command too close to the edge. There is nothing of value to this game. The graphics were awful, but I'm playing this in 2017, so maybe back in its time they were good. I don't know.