DmC Devil May Cry: Is a reboot really necessary?

This past Tokyo Game Show (September 2010) and E3 (June 2011), Capcom revealed that a new Devil May Cry game is on the works. I wasn't able to view the trailers until last week.
The first trailer that I watched was from E3. It was an in-game trailer that showed the gameplay mechanics of the game. I didn't really focus much on the gameplay details because the first thing that got me thinking, who's the one slashing? I actually thought that a new character will be continuing what Dante and Nero left off in the last DMC game. The trailer showed vague details about this new character, I can't even see his face in the video! Then at some point, after a power burst (like a Devil Trigger or something) his hair turned white like Dante's. Then at the end of the video, it says, "Please comment on what you think about Dante." Is this really Dante? My fears were confirmed as I watched the TGS trailer. In this trailer, the character was beaten in chains and asked about his name. He replied, "My name is Dante."

As of now, there's very little information about this upcoming DMC game and Capcom only said one word: Reboot.

The most surprising news that I found out about the new DMC game: The development of the game was given to Ninja Theory, the same developers of the games Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. The game will be given a Western feel and Capcom said they will oversee the development to make sure the final product would be well received. However, at this point, we don't know how much involvement Capcom has in the development of this game.

The new game will feature a younger and grittier Dante, a complete contrast to the Dante that we've used to know. Also, Capcom revealed that this will be an origin story and it will revolve around revenge, thus revealing the darker side of Dante.

At first, I was a bit skeptical about this change, as I've really liked the old Dante personality. I don't really like this new savage-looking, psychopath Dante that the Ninja Theory is trying to introduce to us. However, come to think of it, this origin story does make a little sense to me. As a half-human, half-demon, I don't think Dante would be a demon hunter from just being cool, brash and cocky. He could have some kind of a dark past that led him to discover what he truly is and ultimately made him decide to be a demon hunter. However, do they have to change everything including his signature weapons? The sword that Dante used in the trailer is a morphing dark thin sword and looks nothing like Rebellion. The Ebony and Ivory, the signature black and white guns were replaced by black and grey revolvers. I see nothing that resembles the old Dante. And that really sucks. And the interrogation scene where he's asked his name? I could see the old Dante cracking a joke or two but this new Dante is like, "Whatever... I don't give a sh*t..."

I appreciate the effort of Heavenly Sword devs to bring something new to the franchise. But they should have left at least a single resemblance of the former Dante. It's a way of telling the fans of the series that, "Hey don't worry, we didn't screw up the character entirely!" Instead of just throwing this new character that could completely alienate the core fans of the series.

What's disturbing is the way they described the old Devil May Cry games in their interview. Tameem Antoniades, Lead Designer/Creative Director of the project said that "what was cool 12 years isn't cool anymore." So he thinks the new Dante is cool? And who do you think he is for thinking what's cool to the fans is not cool at all? His arrogance turns me off.

The question that keeps hanging in my head is: Is this reboot really necessary? As far as I know, a reboot usually occurs when a highly popular series has reached an all time low that it kind of hampered the popularity and integrity of the franchise. I didn't see that happened in the case of Devil May Cry series (well yes maybe in the case of Devil May cry 2 but that was long ago). Devil May cry 4 sold 2.7 million copies, the most out of the series.

I kept an open mind and showed these trailers to my brother. As a long time fan of the Devil May Cry series, he couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't like the new Dante, the weapons have changed, the transformation of Dante to white hair is absurd, the gameplay looks slow and stiff. To him this upcoming DMC game is an atrocity.I thought the same too, but I pretended to think it was the video's problem, not the game's. 

I really wanted to give this game a chance. But another thing that bothers me is the team behind the development of the game. Ninja Theory is known for giving an "experience" first, then "game" second. Heavenly Sword and Enslaved are masterpieces in terms of graphics, presentation, and story telling but suffers from so-so combat system, frame rate drops and technical problems. I do hope this doesn't happen in this game. Judging from the gameplay trailer, it's not looking good so far.

Overall, a lot of fans didn't like the direction Capcom and Ninja Theory are bringing this game to. In fact, the negative ratings to the video that Ninja Theory uploaded was a whopping 70%. It's not looking good for this game. I do hope Capcom and Ninja Theory got the message - they still have time to redeem themselves.

Just for fun, watch the video below which describes how the fans reacted to the new Dante.

Posted in: video games