Games

[JoshF]

Here's what Devil May Cry would look like after getting beaten with an English ugly stick (the most powerful kind):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCcIiEBfdGs

[Bread]

Capcom Europe is quick to assure us that Capcom Japan is not abandoning their series:

A true collaboration, DmC sees the team at Ninja Theory joined by key staff from Capcom’s R&D division. Creative direction for the title will be undertaken by Ninja Theory’s Tameen Antionades and overseen by Hedeaki Itsuno, who has worked on all previous titles in the series. DmC is being co-produced by Capcom’s Japanese and North American development operations.

http://www.capcom-europe.com/blog/2010/ ... one-to-go/

As for the new character, looks like they're cashing in on the current vampire resurgence.

[icycalm]

So it seems that DMC 2 will be topped after all.

[JoshF]

From Hideki Kamiya's Twitter page:

Whatever. RT @Solivagant @PG_kamiya #DmC, by Ninja Theory? Do you think they will "evolve" the action game from your Bayonetta standard?

http://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/24585741526

I've been sad since Dante left me. RT @nss_13_ @PG_kamiya It's sad to see what you started turn this way

http://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/24617578357

I miss him, too... RT @nss_13_ @PG_kamiya I miss the Dante you made

http://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/24627202510

[icycalm]

The last one is hilarious. Everything about these "Ninja Theory" dudes is hilarious, starting with their name.

[JoshF]

From the makers of Heavenly Sword!

[icycalm]

I agree. They are HOT. RT @dorobohime @PG_kamiya in one interview new #DmC director said that your Dante and Bayonetta is not cool

https://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/25405701246

I said I DON'T CARE. RT @DevilOKhalof @PG_kamiya do u agree what they did to DMC?

https://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/25408216392

[icycalm]

Is that gif for real?

[immersedreality(old)]

I just got done playing through the demo of Ninja Theory's upcoming action-adventure Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and there is definitely a noticeable delay in the analog response. The movement controls in general just felt choppy. It's not as bad as it appears to be in Heavenly Sword (that is if that gif is to be believed), but it's light years away from the airtight controls of the original Devil May Cry.

[El Chaos]

Combat trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-20 ... may/715168

The action looks considerably tame, Bayonetta runs full circles around this thing. Aesthetically speaking, it looks very simple and unremarkable: cheap-looking textures, blocky character models, very few effects or filters, barely any detail... man, Devil May Cry 4 looked much better.

[JoshF]

Is that gif for real?

I just now found out where the gif comes from. Here's the link:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3725/measuring_responsiveness_in_video_.php?page=3

It takes 7/60ths to start an attack, but 18/60ths to start to turn around (See movie: mvi_4263w). Clearly something is wrong there. I would consider that a bug.

Anyway, trailer sucks.

[ingolfr]

New combat footage: http://au.ign.com/videos/2011/12/01/dev ... ctid=85707

[Nic P]

Combat trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-20 ... may/715168

Devil May Cry 4 looked much better.

Dude, Devil May Cry 1 puts this pice of shit to shame (in terms of art direction). Though to be fair, in that respect, I consider it to be one of the most beautiful games ever made (along with, for example, Doom 2). Even Bayonetta looked meh compared to DMC 1 (as did Vanquish, mainly for the muted colours, or lack of colours, and the fact that the backgrounds, while grandiose, where quite bland. Character design for the enemies, on the other hand, was fucking brilliant!).

[icycalm]

Based on these two videos, the games looks Great. Not good, nor decent -- let alone whatever inane names you impressionable young kids are calling it, but GREAT. Moreover, based especially on the second video, the action looks great too. My only complaint is with the protagonist's clothes. He's dressed like a hobo. But as a character, he is better designed and plain simply more good looking than any character to have ever appeared in the series bar Dante. He does look dumb in some promotional images, and perhaps also the initial trailer, but in the last video especially he looks great.

As for Chaos's comments, if he hadn't been a long-time collaborator he would have been banned by now. Same goes for his comments in the NG3 thread. It's like he's blind and stupid or something ("cheap textures" lol).

It's almost as if all it takes to sway people are a couple of negative posts by me and Josh, based on nothing but the most flimsy evidence -- an early announcement trailer; a random promo pic; even the fuckin' game's NAME in some cases. But we, dear readers, in contrast to you, are not following blindly the general "direction" of a thread, instead creating our evaluations on the spot and on the fly, which is why we are able to to account for every new piece of information that appears (and thereby avoid looking like deaf and dumb dumbasses, like you people). And the information that we have on this title at this point is enough to make it one of the most anticipated action titles currently on the horizon. Not more promising than Bayonetta, to be sure, but certainly better than any other 3D brawler since Ninja Gaiden 2, including all DMC efforts after the first one.

I suspect what might have happened is that these Ninja Theory dudes improved their skills and learned from their mistakes in their previous two titles, and when the call from Capcom came they must have been flattered and inspired to work hard and take it to the next level. What's more, they can rip off the DMC series as much as they want without the fear of either litigation or press/fan backlash, which is clearly helping them immensely. Again, they don't seem to be aiming to break much new ground (though the aerial fighting in the second video IS the most impressive such effort I've seen since the Otogis...) And finally they must have Capcom's full technical support and feedback, which I am sure accounts for much.

[icycalm]

Note that I do not presume to speak for Josh. I hope he can see how good this game is now looking -- but even if he can't, it's no big deal, since he's not reviewing 3D action games for this site. At any rate whoever can't see the pure goodness in that game, especially after the second video, either doesn't like/play 3D action games or is way too stupid to even register anything I am saying.

[icycalm]

And please, do not think that I enjoy logging in here first thing in the morning and being FORCED to call some of my closest collaborators "blind" and "stupid". But when you come in here and post, in the comments thread of such a great-looking game, that it has "cheap-looking textures, blocky character models, very few effects or filters, barely any detail", you are fucking ASSAULTING me. You are giving me no other option to protect the quality of my site from your fucking retarded trash posts than by either banning you or barking at you to shut the fuck and get a fucking clue.

So shut the fuck up and get a fucking clue you goddamn pathologically pretentious troglodytes. If you don't enjoy seeing me verbally abuse you, DO NOT VERBALLY ABUSE MY GODDAMN NEWS THREADS.

[icycalm]

New trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN20rfRwQ_A

Mixed feelings about this one. It looks like a 3- or at best 4-star game. The only thing that marks it out as a non-Japanese title, on the other hand, is still the protagonist's wardrobe. Apart from that, it has the "empty level" feel of all the DMC games, that didn't bother me in the first game because the areas were small and enclosed, but which really begin to feel pronounced in all the sequels. Also:

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/31/dm ... ent-dante/

The half-angel, half-demon Dante in DmC Devil May Cry is not the Dante you know from Devil May Cry. Strange yes, but there’s an explanation inside Dengeki PlayStation. The magazine explains Ninja Theory’s game takes place in parallel world.

Laaaaaaame...

[lackofselfcontrol]

New pictures and some backstory:

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/01/dm ... by-demons/

[icycalm]

Those are some technically good, but artistically generic screenshots. WTF they are fighting in the middle of nowhere with some "alternate plane" shit in the distance? Is this the last stage or what?

We already know that Dante is half angel and half demon, and has been described as a “street brawler,” due to having grown up on the streets and fending for himself. Now, we also know that he spent the majority of his youth in various institutions, orphanages, youth correction facilities and foster homes. The catch is, most of these were run by demons and usually involved torture of some sort.

As a result, Dante has grown up with no respect for society and authority, and a hatred of demons in particular, despite being half-demon himself. Capcom say that Dante takes the side of the underdog in what he sees as an unfair society.

Laaame.

And I thought this character was supposed to be different from the real Dante?

This game is all over the fucking map. I already prefer the mediocre DMC1-sequels, and their run-of-the-mill but at least inoffensive animu-style plotlines.

[El Chaos]

New trailer from E3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHdk36PNuVw

Release date is January 15.

[icycalm]

It's awesome lol. Awesome in every way a game can be awesome. Bayonetta lol. The Brits sure showed the Japs this time! And at their very own genre! I can imagine the humiliation Itsuno will be feeling while playing this.

Like, best combat model ever. Best 3D boss fight ever. Only Gun Valkyrie's final boss gets anywhere near it. Play this demo. And remember, masterpieces are made to be savored (or should I say savoured?) This means highest difficulty level and when you fall into the lava and the game respawns you with a tiny bit of health gone you go into the options menu and hit RESTART LEVEL. When you die and the game asks you if you want to use a yellow orb you hit RESTART LEVEL. When you've passed the yellow orb screen and the game STILL asks you if you want to "continue" you say no thanks and you hit RESTART LEVEL. Don't let some silly modern design decisions fuck with your capacity to appreciate a game. You will never feel the thrill of flying around the boss while all sorts of chaos is going on if you allow the game to miraculously resurrect you every time you fuck up and drown in the lava. Play the damn fight 20 or 30 or 40 times if you have to. Got tired and frustrated? Grab that arcade stick and play a few credits of Raiden IV or MvC3, then come back later and try again. That's what arcade games are made for: little distractions to vent off some steam and get some change of pace between sessions of SERIOUS videogames.

Goddamn I am gonna eat some stuff and go back to that boss fight. It's 6:14 AM here and I am not sleeping until I get past it. Mad props to the Brits who did this. And mad props to the Capcom dudes who believed in them. It is a Capcom game and a DMC game down to the last pixel.

[icycalm]

Also:

Ninja Theory, Ltd. is an independent video game developer based in Cambridge, England.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Theory

The indies deliver once again! Too bad they are not friends with Derek Yu, so TIGSource will continue pretending that the game doesn't exist.

[icycalm]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/devil-may- ... 25-6401539

The PC version of DMC: Devil May Cry will launch January 25, Capcom announced today. That's ten days after the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions arrive January 15.

The game will also run at 60 frames-per-second, Capcom said.

There you go. And you will probably be able to increase the resolution and run it on 3 screens as well, as with DMC4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMe5tzcLLjo

Only potential catch is this:

The PC version of DMC: Devil May Cry was not developed by Ninja Theory, but rather Polish studio QLOC.

Hopefully they won't fuck it up too much, but with PC ports the consequences of fucking up are not so bad anyway as long as you have the money to simply throw better hardware at the problem. As for not delivering 60fps on consoles, I'd rather see botched console versions but full detail PC port, than see them toning down the visuals to get 60fps on consoles and the PC version suffering as well as a result. For quite a while now the best platform to get many of Capcom's big releases has been the PC anyway, and I was quite bummed to find out recently that both Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2 (which I recently played on the 360) have been certified by Nvidia to be 3D Surround ready on the PC.

[icycalm]

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/c ... ements2012

Devil May Cry coming to PC on January 25, 2013.

The folks at Capcom sent us a note today to let us know that DmC: Devil May Cry will be available as a digital download for Windows PCs on January 25, 2013. It will feature full AMD support, including AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology and the ability to utilize multiple graphics cards in a CrossFire configuration. There will be no arbitrary maximum limitation on framerates, it just depends on what your hardware is capable of.

On that note, Capcom posted its minimum and recommended system requirements.

Minimum

OS: Windows Vista/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz or better; Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or better
Memory: 2GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8GB free hard drive space
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3850 or better; Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS or better
DirectX: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

Recommended

OS: Windows Vista/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 3Ghz or better; Intel Core 2 Quad 2.7GHz or better
Memory: 4GB RAM
Hard Drive Space: 9GB hard drive space
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 6950 or better
DirectX: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

In addition to mouse and keyboard input, DmC will all be compatible with Xbox 360 controllers and all third party direct input controllers, Capcom said.

Great to see native Eyefinity support, bummed that they are not mentioning Nvidia at all. Bummed also that PC version is downloadable only. Hopefully they'll change their minds about this at some point down the road, but until then I am torrenting this okaysorry. I am not paying full whack for a goddamn rom only to see a disc release a couple months later and be forced to do it all over again.

[Dolt]

http://aztez.com/blog/2012/12/14/combat-analysis-dmc/

Combat Analysis: DMC

Before I say anything at all, just know that this combat analysis is primarily based on its independent merits, and only partially based on the merits of the old games. A comparison would be unfair since (as far as I know) this was not even touched by the Japanese developers of the first four games, but it's not completely avoidable since it became clear very quickly that Ninja Theory is trying to preserve the mechanical spirit of the previous entries. With that being said, I am joyously, delightfully, enthusiastically, proudly declaring that Ninja Theory has finally made some great combat. I was shocked and disturbed when it was announced that Capcom had given them the reigns, as their previous games (Kung Fu Chaos, Heavenly Sword and Enslaved) were generic combat experiences at best and awkward drunken haphazard combat experiences at worst. But they finally grew up and delivered. Keep in mind this is also based on the downloaded 360 marketplace demo! As of this writing, the full game isn't out yet. Anyway, here it goes:



Pros:

• If there's anything Ninja Theory can always straight up kill, it's their character animations. The characters all have style, charm, and personality, and the curves are fantastic. I have no idea what is motion captured and what isn't, and that's exactly the way I like it.
• Arcade movement! There is a tiny bit of acceleration when you first push on the analog stick in order to move Dante, but when you let the stick go he instantly stops. This is the way it has to be so that the player doesn't slide into enemy attacks, but it still happens all the time in too many combat systems. Not here.
• They rightfully implemented movement input cancelling and avoided the Amalur Problem. Furthermore, animation transitions between states are solid, and movement input cancelling looks good! (For example, providing movement input when landing does a couple frame transition for prettiness but is still responsive.
• The motion on the weapon swipes are great.
• For the most part, the effects are pretty good. A couple specific effects (pistol bullet impact on wall, angel whip gunk, etc.) are a little weak but most of them are good. Matthew also noticed this great touch where certain attacks provide a blast of wind to the cloth objects on Dante.
• DMC provides the player with three different weapons: a sword, a scythe, and an axe. They're distinct, they look and sound cool, and complement the primary weapon nicely.
  There is an AMAZING effect when you strike the deathblow on the last enemy in an encounter; it zooms in, covers the screen in splatters, and slo-mos nicely. It's a really nice touch that is overly dramatic and powerful without being intrusive or annoying.
• Input buffering might be a BIT overbearing, but it's a billion times better than not having it or implementing it sloppily. This is only partially a quibble because some of the buffers are very very long and it's a little absurd to see a move still come out (for example, dash and then immediately push attack; when you come out of the dash animation a moment later Dante will still fire that attack and it feels a little handholdy). BUT it's not in the cons because it was still done to good effect.
• Attack connections feel good! It's not super weighty but it compensates by being overly splattery (which is appropriate to the game's art style) and it's good fun to strike things.
• The game does a fucking wonderful thing with it's Gap Timed mash flow; it fires an effect when a branch in the combo has been activated by waiting! To see exactly what I mean, swing the sword twice and then pause, but keep your eye on the sword. It indicates to you when you can branch with a flash. The other two weapons do the same thing and it delights me.
• Enemies are all super duper suprisingly solid! Good silhouettes, great tells (check out the off-screen broadcast of the cherub's arrow!), AWESOME sound effects (love love love love to death the sound the cherubs make before they shoot you with their arrow, it's HORRIFYING), and some attacks are game changers in the best possible way (the red shield guys on Son Of Sparda difficulty do a thing where they set a huge area of ground on fire and it's a blast to deal with).
• The air game is a fucking AIR GAME. There's so much to it! They really brought it down in terms of execution but still sent it over the top; where most games let you hover skillfully, DMC lets you rise and rise and rise and it's thrilling.
  The two grappling hooks (despite their cumbersome execution; more on this in the cons) are brilliant. They took what was amazing and remarkable about Nero from DMC4 and took it to the next level. You can bring an enemy to you, or go to them, and expression here feels rad.
• I have to celebrate the standing branch axe combo (attack > attack > pause > attack) because it feels amazing and I've never seen an effect like that. Hands down my favorite thing to finish people off with.
• There are bonus games and key destructibles peppered throughout the game world. It's another classic Devil May Cry trope, and even though I'd prefer to not stop fighting in order to find shit, it makes exploration (yawn) less yawn.
• UGH it has to be said; everything Ninja Theory makes is outrageously gorgeous and DMC is the most incredible looking thing they've made so far. This is going in the combat analysis because believe it or not, the aesthetic gestalt of a game affects your enjoyment of the core gameplay whether you think it does or not.

Cons:

• While the jump has that characteristic Devil May Cry feel (high but close) I feel like it takes Dante a little too far. The classic jump takes you almost nowhere, and so it can be used as a defensive maneuver but it doesn't really distance you from enemies. DMC's jump can and I'm not a big fan of that. And that's on top of two separate air dashing mechanics. It's just too easy to run away.
• The motion swipes as objects are not remarkable. Like I mentioned in the Pros the motion of the animation itself is great, but the effect is just not very interesting.
• This is my one major problem with DMC; the control scheme is a little painful and fairly inelegant. You utilize the face buttons to jump, shoot, attack, and special attack. I realize this is the post-classic DMC configuration (3 and 4 utilized the special attack input; 1 and 2 used that 4th button for environmental actions like opening doors) but I have always had some core problems with it. The first is that the guns, while necessary for style, are not very deep or complex mechanics. I love the idea of peppering your assaults with gunshots, I simply wish they did more. And for me personally, I have always found the special attack to be very cumbersome. It's essentially just a context mechanic input where the character does different things based on the state they're in when the button is pushed. It's confusing and needlessly frustrating.
• To exercerbate this, your way of accessing the mechanics of the other weapons is to hold one of the trigger buttons, which replaces all of the face button mechanics (except for jump) with new mechanics. Now this is okay for the attack button (I actually really like that) but the special attack's inherent confusion gets multiplied by 3. We've got a button here that does at least 6 completely different things based on your state and the other buttons you're pushing. IT'S TOO MUCH FOR MY BRAIN.
• The cherry on the confusion cake is that the button that fires guns by default becomes a grappling hook if one of the other weapons is being activated with a held trigger button. One version brings you to the enemy and the other brings the enemy to you. This is an awesome idea! But this context pile melts my brain and it is taking me FOREVER to get to the point in which I do the grapple that I want to do. My point with this con and the previous two is that there are always ways to make a control scheme more elegant and less overwhelming, and large amounts of context mechanics is not the optimal way.
• DE-FENSE. DE-FENSE. Soooooo you know how picky I am about this defense shit! But we've got an interesting situation here. First of all, there is a seemingly identical defense mechanic on both bumpers/L1 R1 buttons. This is a little painfully redundant, but it makes sense because this way you can utilize this mechanic regardless of which weapon you are accessing by holding down one of the triggers/L2 R2 buttons. No worries. I can forgive that, except we've got input blackouts on this defense mechanic during certain attacks! Argh! It's frustrating mostly because this is a legitimate design decision, but it's definitely in favor of the hardcore. Not being able to defend at certain moments is definitely classic Devil May Cry so I understand the decision. But it's one of those key decisions that makes a tremendous difference.
• Now I am going to HAPPILY move this out of the cons when I figure out what I'm missing (because I'm certain I am, after all it's the demo and it's not giving me all the info) but there is definitely a way to parry enemy attacks! And it's really difficult and super fun when it happens because there's a cool effect and you get to watch the enemy stumble back...but there doesn't appear to be anything you can do afterwards! There has GOT to be! There absolutely has to be. I'm almost certain I even did it once without realizing it! But upon direct experimentation, I could not find a punishing reward mechanic that can be executed after a successful parry. Will investigate further once the full game is out.
• While I enjoy the bonus games scattered through the game world, some of them teach highly valuable skills, and I think it's a wasted opportunity to not put these right in front of the player and use something else as a hidden bonus.

In summary, I'm gonna call this one nailed. There's a lot of text in the cons, but it's only because the few problems are very nuanced. DMC is not nearly as hardcore as the Japanese entries, but it's not about that. It was given to Ninja Theory to bring the IP to new people and that's exactly what's going to happen. To be honest, I'm just very very happy to be proven wrong. I was fully assuming this was going to fail because of how much I dislike their previous games. But I was able to maintain this inkling of hope given the vast improvement of Enslaved over Heavenly Sword. I'm really happy about about the final product, I'm thinking about the game when I'm not playing it, and I have this weird sense of pride in Ninja Theory for doing the asinine amount of tedious, obsessive, numbing work it takes to make a great combat experience. I'm glad I get to say this, but I can't fucking wait to see what Ninja Theory does next! :) :) :)