Devil May Cry HD Collection (2012)

I took the new upcoming anime as an excuse to finally play the first Devil May Cry. I've only played the last three games (4, DmC, and 5), so I was surprised to this is straight up a Resident Evil game. The puzzles, fixed camera, and single location making for a very different experience from the other games I played in the series. It makes Bayonetta 3 feel more like a return to form for the character action genre than a push in a new direction.

The original Devil May Cry is very strange and creative. The enemies are bizarre, and the environments are even more so. I applaud the art direction of the game. The combat doesn't go as deep, but there are still recognizable moves from the other games along with the rating system. Enough to make a good action game even if it isn't on the same level as the modern games. The finale felt like some epic PlatinumGames shit which I haven't seen from the other DMC games I've played. Clearly, Hideki Kamiya just loves to mix shit up by turning a game into a shooter.

The story seemed to barely be there. I doubt I need know this story going into the anime. The way the game just drops you into the level without much setup is strange. These characters don't get enough screen time to make me care about anything going on. The big dramatic moments just end up feeling silly.

Devil May Cry is a good, fascinating action game unlike anything I've played in the genre that came after it. It is a special one even it isn't among the best character action games.

Devil May Cry 1 - 7.5/10 Pretty amazing for its time, and holds up real nicely as a quick game even two decades later. It's not hard to see how such an instantly iconic game spawned such a classic series that we enjoy to this day. It is the perfect balance of wonderful 00s edge ("I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with light!!) and cool (Dante himself). Some of the fights felt cheap and while Dante has limited combat here compared to what he's going to get up to in the future the most of the boss fights are solid and feel great when beaten. Worth checking out to any game fan and a great game.

Devil May Cry 2 - 2/10 Technically functional but really is just a piece of trash. Boring boring boring and easy and boring. Probably one of the most unpleasant game experiences I've ever had, insulting on most levels, and so far divorced from anything that made the original great. Worth it just to see for yourself how hard it actually is to make a good DMC game.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening - 9.5/10 Challenging boss fights, a great story, character progression for dante, wonderful combat, tons of replayability, what's not to love? The gold standard for DMC that has yet to be bettered. DMC3 is the perfect balance of all the things that make DMC great, it throws 4+ combat styles for Dante, adds Dante's brother Vergil as your main rival, has Lady as the best female character, and just feels like an epic great story. The Metal Gear Solid 3 of the DMC series, a masterwork in its own genre.

Props to Devil May Cry, it started the franchise that I now love and really crafted a genre of hack and slash, maybe not the first but the one that set the rules. Although the graphics do not hold up and the story is very thin, I liked the original and found the entertainment in it.

When playing part 2 I instantly felt it, this was going to be a bad one and it was. I did not like this game at all. I found it unfinished, boring, and repetitive. A failure of a sequel plagued with a horrendous bad story.

Thankfully, part 3 came out and pushed the franchise to new heights for me. Formally introducing Vergil and giving us the brothers dynamic that changed everything. Now we had not only a cool protagonist but a great memorable villain as the brother. The levels were fresh, the bosses were challenging, and the action was fun. This is my second favorite Devil May Cry hands down (I still love DmC too much).