The Death and Rebirth of Dante

PikiGeek: DMC is out, the dust has settled, and the critics have cast their judgement on the controversial re-imagining of Devil May Cry. DMC gives the franchise a fantastically strong reboot, with the potential to develop into what we hope will become a successful new series from Ninja Theory and Capcom.

[Magnagamer222]

Good read, touches on all the points that make & break the the DMC reboot. Check out the interview below for Ninja Theory perspective.

[VsAssassin]

I never knew the old Dante died. Hmmm...

[1Victor]

Yes he died and he's body got desecrated in ways too gruesome to write here and then cloned in a rush on a bathroom.

[Godmars290]

He went to hell or the demon realm in DMC2, same as his brother did at the end of DMC3.

I expect DMC4 which introduced Nero was either meant to fully replace Dante for DMC5, which would have ended with him as the final boss, or Nero rescuing Dante with the game being half in the human world and half in the demon.

[OmegaSlayer]

Yeah, if the white hair didn't fit, why should a sword as the main weapon fit?

[zerocrossing]

You know what, if they wanted to breath new life into the franchise then why not just make the new Dante the originals son? in DMC1 after defeating Mundus Dante says to him "Goodbye. And when you do come back, give my regards to my son will ya!"

They could have made that work but nope... had to reboot the franchise and piss everyone off...

[Omar91]

pissed or not the game was great. I enjoyed fighting vergil at the end it was sick. I think there could be some improvements for the sequel but for now, I think they did a great job. I never understood the hate for this game. but to each there own I guess.

[zerocrossing]

"to each there own I guess"

I do agree with that statement, but I wonder if it really is that simple... The whole point of the reboot was to reach a broader audience, now regardless of the current economy that didn't end up happening.

So, where to go from here? Carry on with the reboot and hope more people get interested in the franchise? Or admit defeat and carry on the original cannon that was niche at best?

Either way you're not looking at GoW numbers like Capcom wanted from this venture right?, the game may be good but it's failed at what it was designed to do.

[Smashbro29]

They retracted that it's a reboot, they said it's an alternate universe thing.

[Roccetarius]

They said a lot of things, but they didn't know what they were doing.

[Smashbro29]

Just looking at the sales numbers they're definitely sticking with the alternate universe.

[Kratoscar2008]

Both Dantes sucks to me aniway, at least character wise.

In any case DMC turned into a great fresh experience unlike lets say DMC 4.

[Aaroncls7]

Excellent article. I personally favor DMC 1 above all others, that game had a magic that IMO, has not been successfully recreated; maybe it was Kamiya's touch, or the unique sounds from Ueda's epic soundtrack.

However, after playing the new DMC I cannot say I dislike it, at all. Ninja Theory has done an incredible job, especially with the gameplay. It bothers me a little bit that they may not get the credit they deserve; but I think they were prepared for this possible outcome.

The way I see it, NT's DMC is an adaptation of the original series. This happens all the time with all kinds of intellectual properties; movies, books, etc. One example of this is Nolan's Dark Knight series, which was adapted significantly for adult viewers.

As gamers, we (the Devil May Cry fans) should not dismiss NT's efforts so quickly, instead we should appreciate their hard work; but make them very aware of their shortcommings (boss battles, ugh) and encourage them to honor the original game's flavor a bit more.

Also, while I liked the new musical direction and the dubstep tracks -Combichrist' theme is really fun; I'd rather stick with something similar to the original games' ost. Those tracks were high octane craziness, and fitted in nicely with DMC's revolutionary hardcore action theme.

New Dante, and his game are allright for an origin story. I believe the next game, if there is one, could really be more familiar to us, as long as both, Capcom and NT understand that maybe there wasn't much need to change so many elements of the series' (or first game, for me) unique japanese origins.