The original Devil May Cry is essentially the birth of the modern 3D action genre. Games like God of War and Bayonetta wouldn’t exist as we know them today without it.
It looked fantastic visually for its time, and being able to seamlessly transition back and forth from gun to sword combat was something that hadn’t been seen in a 3D action game before. The game was dark, gothic, and oozed attitude.
Devil May Cry just had its 20-year anniversary, and the series is still going strong. Devil May Cry 5 came out in 2019 to great reviews, and fans seem to love it. So how well does the original hold up?
Devil May Cry was originally going to be Resident Evil 4 before Capcom decided to go in a different direction with the series, and the game’s Resident Evil roots are obvious. It has a fixed camera angle (like all the pre-Resident Evil 4 games did) that can become disorienting during combat. The camera angles change arbitrarily depending on where you are on the screen, and they change without warning. During tough battles, or boss fights, the camera can feel like it’s fighting against you at times unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
However, the combat itself is by far the strongest part of the game. Toggling back and forth from melee to ranged combat with your sword and gun weapons is still a lot of fun. The campaign is short overall and it’s divided into about two dozen missions that are short as well – so short that they constantly break the pace of the game. As soon as you start getting into the flow of the action, the mission ends, you receive a letter-grade for how well you did, and are allowed to save and buy power-ups with the red orbs you’ve collected from fallen enemies. Then it’s on to the next mission, rinse and repeat.
Thankfully, after you beat the game, you are treated to a New Game + mode which allows you to start the game over using all your weapons and red orbs – but you have to play the same difficulty level. So if you beat the game in easy mode, you can’t start New Game + in normal mode.
Also, Devil May Cry is one of those games where its easy mode is really its normal mode, and its normal mode is its hard mode. The first time I played through it years ago, I chose normal mode, and died a lot. This time, I made sure to play easy mode. It was still a good challenge.
The HD remaster holds up surprisingly well with its visuals. It still looks like a PlayStation 2 game, but it doesn’t look blurry or ugly other than some textures. However, the CG cutscenes look atrocious. They’re super fuzzy and don’t even look like they’re from the same game.
The basic story premise is interesting, but the writing and presentation are hilariously bad with lines that would make the characters in Resident Evil snicker – which is what gives the game its charm. You can tell it’s not trying to take itself seriously.
VERDICT
Despite issues with the pacing and camera angles, Devil May Cry still a very playable and enjoyable experience. So much so that I played through it twice in a row, back to back, which I don’t normally do. It’s an important milestone given all the games that came later that were influenced by it. If you’re a fan of modern action games and haven’t played it, Devil May Cry HD won’t blow you away with its visuals or mechanics, but it is a great timepiece and still worth going back to. It will fill your dark soul with light.
The Gamer's Standard 