Devil May (make you) Cry

Capcom has a diverse repertoire of franchises, everything from Resident Evil to Streetfighter to Ace Attorney. In August of 2001, Devil May Cry joined their extensive roster on the PlayStation 2.

Devil May Cry is widely considered the first true character action game, a sub-genre of third person action defined by high-skill melee, dramatic flair and intricate combo systems.

Graphics: 3/5

The set design is gorgeous, but the graphics are quite dated. Excellent for the time, not so much by modern standards. There’s a sameness to everything that makes it easy to get lost and hard to find certain plot relevant items. Unlike later installations, your main form of currency, healing and upgrading are all just simple recolors of the same image. Cutscenes are sparse yet well-done with little quality disparity between cutscene and gameplay.

Storytelling: 2/5

The plot is simple, yet it takes a large backseat. It is very clear that the focus is placed on gameplay over story. There are gaps in background information purely because the story isn’t fleshed out. There’s not much room for interpretation because there’s very little to build from. While simple, it at least makes sense and is easy to follow.

Characters: 2/5

As iconic as Dante and Trish are, they have very few interactions and voice lines. Most of what we learn about Dante is from reading descriptions on his inventory items. Trish has a very simple, yet quick, development turn. Despite their little development in the first game, they do a lot with such little screentime. Trish and Dante’s distinct stylistic choices in playstyle and visual design take them a long way in terms of standing out amongst other games of a similar nature.

Game Mechanics: 3/5

Devil May Cry has both a high skill ceiling and a medium skill floor. Intense attack combos, tight timing and limited resources can make the game incredibly difficult and frustrating.

Each of the 23 missions has a ranking at the end based on damage dealt, highest combo, deaths, special item collection and the time it took you to finish the mission. The higher your rank, the more extra red orbs you get.

Red orbs are used to purchase new combos, upgrades and items in the lion goddess shops. Blue orbs increase your maximum health, green orbs heal you and gold orbs revive you at a certain checkpoint in the mission. The only checkpoints in the game are the separate missions.

Controls: 2/5

Like most games of the age, Devil May Cry uses fixed camera angles. This can make the necessary parkour infuriating at times. The combos are tricky and inputs aren’t always read correctly. There’s a large learning curve for the atypical movement; directional inputs move from where Dante is facing and not from the camera’s point of view.

While available on PC, I would certainly not recommend using keyboard and mouse for this game. You could technically do it, but the key-bind setup is atrocious and highly unintuitive.

Accessibility: 5/5

Devil May Cry is available on all modern consoles, mostly in the HD collection for $29.99, including the sequel and prequel, though it goes on sale for as low as $9.89 frequently. You can purchase Devil May Cry separately from its sequel and prequel on the Nintendo shop for $19.99, though it is frequently discounted to $4.99.

17/30 Grade: F

Despite such an abysmally low grade, I don’t hate Devil May Cry. It is a long and arduous experience. I discovered a level of rage I hadn’t yet known while playing. That being said, I found myself enjoying the game to the point that I willingly put myself through the sequel right after finishing the first game!

If you’re interested in hack and slash or character action games, go for it. If you’re interested in the Devil may Cry franchise, I implore you to pick up from the first game. Albeit bumpy, it’s a ride I’d sign up for any day.