Retrospective: Devil May Cry 4

By Jeffrey Matulef Published 22 May, 2011

The lost boys.

At first glance, it's easy to think of Devil May Cry 4 as a soulless cash-in. Between its uninspired level design, confounding camera, and new protagonist who looks almost identical to series' hero Dante, it would seem as if Capcom had drawn too often from the same well. As Eurogamer pointed out in its 2008 review, DMC4 "feels like a high-def re-skin of a 2001 game design". It's no wonder Enslaved developer Ninja Theory has been hired to breathe some new life to Capcom's flagship demon hunter.

While Capcom was happy to continue pumping out sequels, series' creator Hideki Kamiya abandoned it soon after the first Devil May Cry. Not content to retread old ground, he sought to bring his madcap sensibilities to games like Viewtiful Joe and Okami.

It wasn't until 2010 that he returned to the third-person hack-and-slash genre with Bayonetta. Prior to its release I asked Kamiya what he felt the biggest difference was between DMC and Bayonetta, to which he replied, "With Devil May Cry we did everything we could do at the time - with Bayonetta, we want to make the best game we can now in this environment."

Bayonetta certainly felt more contemporary. Trimming the fat of unnecessary puzzles and fetch quests, crafting a camera that could keep up with the game's occasional liberties with gravity and the addition of slow-motion helped it scratch that progressive itch that DMC4 had seemingly abandoned.

2

It's a good thing Dante isn't real, lest he steal my girlfriend. And your girlfriend. And everybody's girlfriend.

But for all Bayonetta's razzle-dazzle, I felt like something had been lost along the way, and while DMC4 resembled an unimaginative iterative sequel - the kind Capcom is notorious for milking (cough Mega Man cough) - it unexpectedly withstood the test of time better than Kamiya's spiritual successor by ignoring more recent design trends.

Symptomatic of its time, Bayonetta was a more forgiving game overall. With mollycoddling checkpointing that respawned players midway through boss battles at full health, even the hardest setting allowed you to inch slowly forward.

Earlier Devil May Cry titles had the exact opposite problem, and dying on a boss would send you all the way back to the beginning of the level. You could buy continues to circumvent this, but doing this often required endlessly grinding for red orbs.

DMC4 struck a delicate middle ground, where checkpoints existed few and far between - though it at least had the decency to place them before boss fights. Revisiting it now it feels harsh losing 10 minutes of progress, but it toughens you up until sequences that you previously struggled through become a breeze.

1

DMC4's bosses are a highlight. They better be as you face off against them thrice.

At least when you did die it was a hero's death, for DMC4 was one of the last games of its kind not to have quick-time-events. You could only die in battle, and not just because you missed a button prompt during a cut-scene.

Ever since God of War and Resident Evil 4 adopted QTEs as part of the action game vocabulary they've become the norm. Their presence in Bayonetta was among its least appealing concessions to modern standards as one missed button press would result in an instant death, mucking up your score for the rather lengthy levels.

Going back to DMC4 today, it's refreshing to play an action game where whittling a boss' health down to nothing means your part is done. From there you can just lean back and bask in the glory of a cut-scene where your avatar does the rest. It may not be interactive, but it allows you to catch your breath after intense battles.

Since you're not on edge waiting for prompts, it's easier to appreciate the cinematics. The script may be drivel with acting that makes Brian Blessed seem subdued, but its choreography is inventive. There's an almost Fred Astaire-like quality to Dante and Nero's graceful moves and cocky taunts, as they express themselves better through fighting than talking.

While Bayonetta is also well known for expressing herself with her body, Dante beat her to the punch as a protagonist who flaunts his sexuality, especially unusual for male characters. Not aimed at anyone in particular, he just likes to make love to the camera. Upon getting a new weapon, he recites a soliloquy about his dick: "First I whip it out, then I thrust it, with great force. Every angle, it penetrates. Until, with great strength, I ram it in. In the end, we're all satisfied."

Despite this blunt innuendo, the game is surprisingly chaste with relationships and never gets past hand-holding. It treats sex like a child who doesn't fully understand what it is, but still likes to snicker about it.

Bayonetta adhered to the mantra of "bigger, badder, and more badass" taking not only the bombastic sexuality up a notch, but adding a dizzying array of weapons and moves at your disposal as well. This made it easy to feel overwhelmed and instead rely on the same few combos just as a tourist would only learn to say "Excuse me" and "Which way to the bathroom?" Even after beating Bayonetta on its hardest setting I never got the impression that I'd become fluent in her unique brand of combat.

DMC4 took the opposite approach and chose to scale its arsenal back considerably since its predecessor. Instead of dumbing things down, it makes up for it with quality over quantity. Primary player character Nero's sword, the red queen, comes equipped with a motorcycle engine (yes, really) which, if revved at just the right moment during a swing, glows bright red and deals extra fire damage for its next attack. It makes every slice a timing-based mini-game which makes Gears of War's similar reload mechanic feel lethargic in comparison.

3

Doc warned me this could create a paradox.

More innovative was Nero's "devil bringer," a glowing blue spectral claw that can be used as a lasso (sound familiar, Bulletstorm?). Being able to yank enemies towards you cuts down pesky walking time and drastically increases momentum in a series already known for its lightning fast action. Having such immediate access to the entire playing field was a masterstroke and it's a wonder why this hasn't caught on to other action games.

Comparatively, Bayonetta's major addition to the genre was "witch time", a period of slow motion triggered by successfully dodging at the right moment. It was a great mechanic, but was bewilderingly disabled from its unlockable harder difficulties. Crafting a harder challenge is admirable, but omitting the game's most notable feature took away much of what made it special.

Where Bayonetta lost its identity upon repeated visits, DMC4 reclaimed it. Perhaps the game's most criticized aspect was that a majority of its second half was a retread of the first. The primary difference was you played as Dante and the levels were structured differently, but environments, enemies and bosses were largely the same. Adding insult to injury, on the initially available difficulty settings Dante is grossly overpowered making the second half feel anticlimactic and half-assed. It's only upon a second playthrough on harder difficulty settings that these chapters come into their own.

4

Maybe putting a motorcycle engine in a sword as big as me wasn't the brightest idea.

Here, Dante's stages are significantly more challenging and it becomes apparent that you need to play vastly differently with him. Without the aid of the devil bringer, you must master the minutia of his move set to develop new strategies. It becomes clear that the first time around was little more than a tutorial to Dante's quickly expanding arsenal. Upon replaying these stages on harder settings, utilizing all his unlocked weapons becomes necessary. Once you realise this it no longer feels like lazy recycling, but instead makes you appreciate how well designed the enemies are to be balanced against two such different fighters.

DMC4 may not have been the bold step forward for the genre Bayonetta was. It lacked the latter's hyperbolic flair, wicked sense of humour, and insurmountable depth. Instead, it evolved along a different trajectory where its sophistication was obscured from plain view. Its harsh checkpointing, refusal to succumb to QTEs, and limited move set made it a curious blend of streamlined modern accessibility with vintage punishing sensibilities.

Picture of Jeffrey.

About Jeffrey Matulef

Jeffrey Matulef is a yank, but don't hold that against him. A freelance journalist by trade, he likes eating rhubarb pies, but not baking them.

Read more articles from Jeffrey by visiting the Jeffrey Matulef archive page.

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Comments (69) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jamhead #1 1 year ago

    I never managed to crack into this, despite being a fan of similar games (GoW in particular). I hate feeling like I am missing out on something...

  • Gearskin #2 1 year ago

    Aside from the annoying grapple bits, I thought this game was awesome! One of the best hack n' slashers of this generation.

  • menschenfracht #3 1 year ago

    eh, actually you could pretty much rely on some witch time even on 'Non-stop Climax' difficulty, there are some artifacts in shop enabling that.

    not that I consider Witch time a balance feature.

    also, my opinion no one cares about: Bayonetta > DMC 1 > DMC 4

  • carlosdfn #4 1 year ago

    I still don't know how they got away with releasing a 5 hour game that is artificially lenghtened to 10 by making you backtrack all the way back to the beginning, fighting exactly the same monsters and bosses. To make matters worse, in the end they throw a boss rush at you because fighting them twice wasn't enough.
    I felt so cheated and ripped off by this game. As much hate as they get for this incredibly lazy design decision it's never enough.
    They probably came up with the idea of a second character when they realized the game was too short. I can almost see the genius having the idea: "hey, let's introduce another character and make the player go through the game twice, once with each!" Brilliant!
    Edited by carlosdfn at 22/05/11 @ 10:44

  • Master09 #5 1 year ago

    Ashton Kutcher (if his hair was to be dyed blonde) would be the perfect actor to play Dante if ever there was DMC movie.

  • Freakachuu #6 1 year ago

    I gave this a try when it was on sale for a few quid. I was really underwhelmed. Too much faffing about and not enough mindless violence for my liking.

  • knocker #7 1 year ago

    I admit I've only played the demo but the lead character came across as camp, fey, possibly in denial about his sexuality.

    Now I read this; "First I whip it out, then I thrust it, with great force. Every angle, it penetrates. Until, with great strength, I ram it in. In the end, we're all satisfied."

    In any case I found the demo uninvolving compared to the lunacy of Bayonetta. Will give it another try on the strength of this retrospective.

  • beep #8 1 year ago

    I feel like I should at least finish the first DMC before I play DMC4...even though I have all the DMC games :(

  • Inmediasress #9 1 year ago

    DMC3 best of the series. DMC4 was a kind of letdown yeah msotly due to the artifical lengthening tough the first 5 hours were great.

  • Ferral #10 1 year ago

    The boss battles are what really stand out on DMC4, the rest of it was just the usual run of the mill 3rd person action type game but with swords (big swords at that!!), the locations were nice I must admit. Still a really fun game and worth getting, you can pick it up for a fiver in Game for the special edition. Its one of those series of games where you dont have to think to hard, just pick up and play for as long or as little as you like.

    I do prefer the speed and mayhem of Bayonetta, wife bought me it on a whim for my birthday last year and the first time I played it all that was going through my mind was WTF but in a good way (I wasnt actually that fussed when I seen the reviews I must admit). I also like the fact that combos can be pulled off easier with reminders on the loading screen of what you have unlocked and how to pull them off. Single button presses with a flick of the right stick, timing is easy to pull off.

    Cant go wrong with DMC4 or Bayonetta, both great games in their own right with decent set pieces and bosses.

  • menage #11 1 year ago

    While certainly not bad as game, it hardly came close to 3, or 1 even.

    In the whole scheme of things only 2 is worse than 4. It thought it was actually serious stuff instead of camp. And yeah, the game is hugely inflated.

    And god, if you make cutscenes make them interesting, half of them were so fucking talky long it breaks the flow of the game.

    Edited by menage at 22/05/11 @ 11:19

  • Hantheman #12 1 year ago

    Anyone elses think it's weird having retrospectives on same-gen games?

  • GreyBeard #13 1 year ago

    DMC3 is I feel more deserving of a retrospective because its far and away the best entry in the series to date, and didn't really get all the credit it deserved at the time.

  • mr2ange #14 1 year ago

    Loved the first game as it was a true ground breaker - back in 2000 when the ps2 was finding its roots, that was the game that made me say wow!

    never played the 2nd game as it was widely known of as a bit rubbish...

    3rd one was pretty good, arguably as good as the 1st game, but it was so god damn hard because of that mess up with the difficulty settings. Still some cool weapons and epic battles.

    I played some of the 4th game, while not awful it felt like it hadn't really moved on... Graphically it really is beautifully built, and a SOLID 60fps like ALL dmc games should be.

    As for the new one - Ninja theory - 30fps is not good enough. Make this the first game on your table that runs how it should do and plays how it should do. I dont care about how many realtime hairs are on dantes chin.
    Make it all run at 60 and i'll give it a try.

  • photoboy #15 1 year ago

    Personally, I loved DMC4. I've got it installed on my laptop at the moment, and I often go back for a quick slash-em-up (in fact I played through a couple of levels yesterday!)

  • Lord_BeeJee #16 1 year ago

    Loved this game (pc version for me) but never played one of the other DMC's, that might have made it a fresher game for me. Still hoping Bayonetta gets a late pc release but I fear thats not gonna happen.

  • ForozM #17 1 year ago

    Never was a big hack'n'slasher, that was, until God of War hooked me. Frankly though, no other games in the genre has had the same impact on me, and among the Japanese hack/slashers I prefer Ninja Gaiden.

    Played both DMC4 and Bayonetta, only managed to finish Bayonetta, I really tried to like DMC4 and to some extent I did but the puzzles and giant frogs just put me off in a way no other game has done in a long time. Bayonetta was far more streamlined and dare I say, casual.

    Just to mention it, the God of War Trilogy are in my opinion just better games. And the usual complains about easy and shallow combat is easily fixed by increasing the difficulty.

  • Inmediasress #18 1 year ago

    @Lord_BeeJee

    I don't think that will happen. Tough who knows but I believe if it would come for the PC it would have been announced by now.

  • lostlain #19 1 year ago

    I would have loved to see bayonetta on pc too ): And Vanquish for that matter!

  • Feanor #20 1 year ago

    "Comparatively, Bayonetta's major addition to the genre was "witch time", a period of slow motion triggered by successfully dodging at the right moment. It was a great mechanic, but was bewilderingly disabled from its unlockable harder difficulties."

    This is misleading. Bayonetta has two unlockable difficulties, and standard Witch Time is only disabled in one of them. And, as has already been pointed out, there are accessories you can equip to get it back if you absolutely couldn't play NSIC without it.

    Personally, I really enjoyed using the Evil Harvest Rosary on NSIC to leave a trail of bombs behind me as I dodged enemy attacks.

  • HokutoNoKen #21 1 year ago

    I am not sure if anybody has read Retrogamers (issue 88) article about DMC3. I agree with them that DMC3 is the pinnacle of the series so far.

    / Ken

  • SteveHolt #22 1 year ago

    "Upon replaying these stages on harder settings, utilizing all his unlocked weapons becomes necessary."

    Absolutely not. On the hardest difficulty, a fully upgraded Pandora's box (not sure about the name, it's been a while) crushes absolutely everything and requires zero skill (you summon a turret that launches auto-guided missiles in all directions).

    Save a couple holy waters+continues for Nero's difficulty spikes, try not to go insane while slogging through the overwhelmingly stupid board game (mission 19, took me 3 hours because I was VERY unlucky with the dices), and there you go, achievement unlocked.

    EDIT: the 7/10 review was spot on IMO.
    Edited by SteveHolt at 22/05/11 @ 13:32

  • coolbritannia #23 1 year ago

    Bought this for a fiver, wish I hadn't.

  • WeakOrbit #24 1 year ago

    Seeing as Capcom is releasing resident evil 4 and Code Veronica to co-incide with Resident Evil's anniversary this year it may not be above the realms of possibility that they could port Devil May Cry 3 or even 1 at some stage. what with the ten year anniversary of DMC occurring on the 17th of October.

    Either that or Devil May Cry 5 is released then. Frankly Devil May Cry 3 is the best in my opinion introducing the style system and a plethora of varied enemies, weapons and bosses. And it was filled with the best type of cheesy story as well.
    Edited by WeakOrbit at 22/05/11 @ 17:50

  • celery7 #25 1 year ago

    @Hantheman

    I can see the value in a retrospective on a current generation game - a lot of people own the hardware neccesary to play it and it's really easy to pick up cheap. Give it a few years and that may not be the case.

    Something doesn't have to be old to be viewed retrospectively, in retrospect drinking that milk that had been sat out since yesterday was a bad idea. I don't need to wait a few months before I can discuss that.

    I must say that this article was more DMC4 v Bayonetta, which in itself isn't a bad starting point for a new feature. Old genre stalwart v young upstart.

  • menage #26 1 year ago

    Oh, a HD remake of 1-3 would be bought by me. I'll even not whine that 2 is on there for completionist sake:D

    And this bit:

    "But for all Bayonetta's razzle-dazzle, I felt like something had been lost along the way, and while DMC4 resembled an unimaginative iterative sequel - the kind Capcom is notorious for milking (cough Mega Man cough) - it unexpectedly withstood the test of time better than Kamiya's spiritual successor by ignoring more recent design trends."

    Stood the test of time better? Are you telling me Bayonetta feels dated compared to DMC4 now or something? If that's the point I can honestly say I disagree. DMC4 didn't really do new stuff, it's a bit of a boring retread compared to the reinvention of Bayonetta.
    Edited by menage at 22/05/11 @ 13:58

  • super_monty #27 1 year ago

    Bored me senseless , sorry I bought it

  • Pastici #28 1 year ago

    More of a "Why I love..." than a Retrospective, still interesting read. The game bored the fuck out of me though, got to Dante, stopped playing.

  • darkphoenix #29 1 year ago

    I really disliked this game.
    The worst one I bought this generation.

    Hated the confusing camera-angles, above all else.

  • inutaihanyou #30 1 year ago

    DMC 1 and 3 in my estimation, having played through all of them, are the best games of the series. 2 should not be mentioned, and 4 was a real disappointment after the overwhelming greatness of 3.

    Maybe Ninja theory will breathe new life into the series with their prequel, but who knows, i'm hopeful after witnessing the series potential

  • Sharzam #31 1 year ago

    I thought it was an ok game but defiantly not a great one. Although i completed it (which is quite rare for me) the bosses really annoyed me, having to kill the same bosses 4 times each. Really whos bright idea was that. Oh and yes Bayonetta is better

  • Saxo #32 1 year ago

    IMO DMC 4 was a fun game, wasent so concerned about the backtracking, the story continued, and it wasent all the same. however i would have been better ofc if they had made the second part with whole new areas, but whatever i had a blast. took me 13 hours i think.

  • Goodfella #33 1 year ago

    1 was great, 2 was crap, 3 was great, 4 was crap. I see a pattern here. Fingers crossed for Ninja Theory's effort.

  • King_Edward #34 1 year ago

    Someone else that loved DMC4!? Hurray, I'm not alone.

    I have zero expectation of Ninja Theory doing the series any justice. That won't stop reviewers creaming their shorts over the motion captured, ill balanced, repetitive drivel on show though.

  • [STARS]TyranT #35 1 year ago

    Devil May Cry HD Trilogy for PSN please.

  • metallicorphan #36 1 year ago

    i will have to try again to get into DMC3 if all you guys say its the best,i have completed 1 and 4,didn't like 2 at all and couldn't get into 3

  • slivir #37 1 year ago

    I thoroughly enjoyed DMC4, so much so that I replayed the levels countless times to improve my score. I almost never do this in other games, Bayonetta included.

  • Diomedes #38 1 year ago

    A great game ,unfairly critized for being more of the same when "more of the same" was exactly what we wanted. Nero and Dante are awesome characters ,loved the story and the action!

  • drumbaby #39 1 year ago

    4 is much better than 2, but not patch on 1 and 3. Curiously soulless, lacking the grandeur and mystique of the very best of the series, and the bosses were pretty meh. But like I said, heaps better than the frankly awful #2.

    DMC 3 remains the best 3rd person actioneer ever. Utterly hoses on Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden.

  • nickthegun #40 1 year ago

    Gave up half way through. It probably didnt help that you start playing dante on one of the worst levels in the game, but I just couldnt be bothered going around in circles again.

  • JetSetWilly #41 1 year ago

    DMC4 is not fit to lace Bayonetta's boots. The difference in quality is night and day. If the best you can say about DMC4 is that it didn't have QTE you really are scraping the barrel.

  • thedriffter50 #42 1 year ago

    I was more into the God of War series as it had a better story but DMC1 and 3 were great games. To think it was first a prototype for Resident Evil 4.

  • Rack #43 1 year ago

    If you want a challenge Bayonetta provides, with tight demands on getting B-rank or better and a scoring system that focusses on mastering the game's core concept. If you just want to enjoy hte spectacle and get through the game Bayonetta provides with exceptionally generous checkpointing if you decide to take advantage. The only thing it doesn't provide is a dull relentless slog that is forced on you if you don't want it. It's not about balancing competing factors, Bayonetta elegantly provides the perfect soution for both ends.

    The same applies to the depth of moves in the system. Bayonetta is so deep that you can complete it's hardest mode only scratching the surface, yet the toolbox is flexible enough to allow effective play easily by mastering just a few of its components. That's not to say there's nothing to be gained by further mastery but it is again, another option.

  • jack24 #44 1 year ago

    Never even got to Dante's sections as I wasn't exactly gripped by Nero's portion anyway. Shame, as I was a massive fan of the originals. Agree that 3 is the best but I'd be damned if I could even do the first few levels nowadays, bloody ice cerberus.

  • Phishfood #45 1 year ago

    I loved DMC4 for its combat system, I ranked quite highly on the leaderboards too. Played through all the difficulty modes then went through them again to get the S ranks until Devil Hunter mode.

    I did not like this game enough to play it through again for a 7th time. Pretty good, considering there is no other game I have that I could stand to play through 6 times.

  • Tuffty #46 1 year ago

    One of the few games I've got all the achievements for (Bayonetta being another one). Say what you will but I loved DMC4. Nero and his new gameplay mechanics with the Devil arm were a ton of fun to play as and playing as Dante was as fun as ever, perhaps even more so considering you can swap between his fighting styles on (Swordmaster, Gunslinger etc) on the fly rather than only at certain checkpoints in DMC3. And it was all topped up with gorgeous graphics and the over the top approach I love about the series and of Dante's character. I do hope Ninja Theory's effort won't make the game more serious or darker in anyway, cause they tried it with DMC2 and it was a critical and commercial failure.

  • Douche #47 1 year ago

    The music is abysmal. Not as bad as Bayonetta though.

  • coomber #48 1 year ago

    I remember getting the first two games in the series for a tenner, purely because of its links to Resident Evil. The first game was so crap I couldn't believe it and gave up on it. Second was even worse. Dreadful series.

  • figaro7 #49 1 year ago

    Its a class beat-em-up with a great combat system, doesnt reach the lofty heights of bayonetta though, although it is better than ninja gaiden 2.

  • j1m.ch053n #50 1 year ago

    I really enjoyed dmc4. having only briefly played the previous games in the series i went into this one fresh and really enjoyed it.nero was actually my favourite character to play - probably because of the devil bringer

  • j1m.ch053n #51 1 year ago

    that said dante's pandora's box weapon was great

  • Code_R #52 1 year ago

    DMC4 failed because they didn't learn from their past mistakes - instead of looking at why the 3rd installment is seen as the series high, they tried something else and decided that they should aim at widening the audience: scrap everyone's favourite protoganist, add a lot of sunny locales that just don't fit and include a bunch of stock anime characters that nobody cares about. The non existent storyline and cheap repeated levels add to these problems, even compared to the ones before where the story wasn't that great and 3-time bosses were standard. Which leaves us in the current state where, again, Capcom chooses just to find a way to make the series sell more instead of going back to what worked best. It's a shame the talent from the original left, but they managed before with DMC3 and should really take a hard look why everyone got into that and is dissapointed at everything that followed. There's a good reason people think Platinum games need to get hired.
    Edited by Code_R at 23/05/11 @ 01:03

  • Collymilad #53 1 year ago

    Enjoyed DMC4.

    Beautiful at points, but once was enough for me. Bayonetta was a better game mechanicaly imo, but it was just too cheesy for me.

  • FanBoysSuck #54 1 year ago

    Damn good game despite how much you have to backtrack and fight the same bosses over and over again.

    Which makes it exactly the same as Bayonetta then really, except for the much better soundtrack and story.

    /ducks for cover

    /rocks out to DMC4 OST \m/

  • FiOth #55 1 year ago

    Imho action hack 'n slash games should be more about combat expertise and less about QTEs and stuff like that. For me, DMC4 is one of the finest examples the genre has to offer. It gives the player the ability to use a robust battle mechanic against a plethora of interesting and awesomely designed enemies without getting puzzles and other distractions in the way. When it comes to pure HnS gameplay, there really is not beating it (well, maybe except for DMC3). Not to mention the lack of "cheap" factor, even on the highest difficulty settings.

    I wrote a full review about the game back then and still stand by my 8.5/10. If it wasn't for the repetition in scenery this game would have been perfect. As it came out it is nothing less than a masterpiece.

  • Demiath #56 1 year ago

    I struggled immensely with Bayonetta and was thoroughly relieved when I finally finished it. I got DMC4 but haven't played it much, and hearing that it is even more punishing than Bayonetta's bewilderingly super-technical, rhythm-demanding gameplay really frightens me. I may have finished Ninja Gaiden (i.e. the Xbox game) once, but that was a long time ago now and I feel like God of War - tired as the third game undeniably was - does a much better job at delivering contemporary 3rd person action gameplay which is accessible while still requiring some skill to get through.

  • SavageEvil #57 1 year ago

    DMC4 as a pretty good game, I didn't like play it at first because they switched the main character to this whining emo pseudo-Virgil clone Nero. He had a cool weapon but that couldn't save him from being utterly annoying as a character and the story was just plain retarded. Too much stagnant crap in this game, especially coming from playing DMC3 with the wild and brash young Dante...to then get forced to play as Nero was a slap in the face. The combat in the game was pretty straightforward with Nero as the game was built solely around him and Dante was put in as an afterthought because he was way over powered and didn't have abilities that allowed to to dispatch enemies in unique ways as Nero's, so it just didn't feel like Dante belonged there at all. Though playing with Dante and his on the fly weapon switching made for very interesting combinations which made me grin from ear to ear, sure he lost some of his moves from DMC 3 but the core mechanics were still there. Nero had some combos, but I rarely remember them as well he just wasn't that much of a memorable character...I still own DMC4 and I remember Virgil's repertoire better than Nero's and Nero is a poor mans Dante.

    Can't say that Bayonetta is so great, it's very good game, but too many over the top antics for my blood. And like the writer complained, some QTE can leave you very dead for one button mistake and it just felt like the game was artificially lengthened for no real reason. Every time you got seemingly close you had to go a little further, one thing Bayonetta borrowed from DMC and NG was the incredibly annoying camera angles at times. The combat in bayonetta was pretty good even though for the most part with the amount of things going on at one time during battles with multiple enemies made it kind of hard to keep track of what the hell was going on at times. It's a fun game no less, but I still can't say it was overall better than DMC3. Honestly QTE's are not my cup of tea, RE4 introduced them to integral parts of the game but it's just overused in many newer games, GoW and the like, GoW made mini games out of it but some games rely on it for cheap deaths.

    DMC4 is a solid 8.5 and Bayonetta is a 9, DMC 3 over both.

  • Inmediasress #58 1 year ago

    @SavageEvil

    Ah you know that's one of your typical whining emo characters that's what the japanese love so much. Must be a cultural thing but they really over do it.
    It infiltrates games,animes heck even movies that's why 90% of anime is shit because they put it full of emo and idiotic characters that western people can not identify with.(well apart from the anime/japan fanboys but that's the same with game fanboys)

    For example in DMC3 both characters were cool Dante with his usual bravado and Virgil with his ice cold demenor still in the end there was some sort of emotional confilct and drama but it did not evolve in to a crying and moaning contest like most other stories.
    In short these oversued emo shit characters kill the story in any game,anime,movie that's comming from japan.
    Edited by Inmediasress at 23/05/11 @ 07:37

  • Obiwanshinobi #59 1 year ago

    I've yet to play it, but even if it's a re-skinned PS2 game at heart, that's pretty rad in my book for you see, last-gen Capcom was a poster child for everything I like about Japanese games. Not a single Capcom last gen release I played to date rendered me disappointed (RE4 initially did, but then I'd discovered Mercenaries and got great deal of fun for my money). Even Viewtiful Joe had clicked with me finally.

  • Oldern #60 1 year ago

    I am sorry, but you kinda feel like that you did not take your time with Bayonetta. Calling Witch time its biggest feat is simply wrong.

  • freethinker101 #61 1 year ago

    Between DMC4 and bayonetta, I preferred Bayonetta. Then that's just me. BTW this is less of a retrospective and more of a Bayonetta Vs DMC4.

  • jabberwocky #62 1 year ago

    I'd love a HD remake of 1-3 even if i skipped 2 but DMC4 wasn't a bad game, it just wasn't great. DMC3 was by far the pinnacle of the series followed by the original and then closely by 4, the 2nd one can be forgotten completely.

  • Sgt_Petter #63 1 year ago

    Never played DMC4 beyond the demo a long time ago, it wasn't much fun back then, but I've played demos that doesn't serve the full game properly before. I loved Bayonetta, maybe I should pick this up.

  • geeza2020 #64 1 year ago

    coomber - "I remember getting the first two games in the series for a tenner, purely because of its links to Resident Evil"

    - lolwut? that massive link between them being..... er.... it had capcom on the box??? Wake up!!!

  • Obiwanshinobi #65 1 year ago

    I wonder why of all games where two playable characters follow pretty much the same path I can put my hands on (Threads of Fate, Soul of the Samurai, The Getaway, Capcom's own RE2 and and DMC2), DMC4 is taking so much heat for it. Its content is meant to be replayed over and over again to boot, as the rank indicates. Did people expect DMC4 to be more like God of War?

  • P1GEONPOO #66 1 year ago

    witch one is the best?!

  • evnewell #67 1 year ago

    Well, I love the DMC games - not all of them (looking at you, DMC3) - but these games have got something to them. Lighting fast action, really solid and fluid controls, high framerates, and an extremely deep and rewarding fighting system. Remember that DMC came before God of War and the new ninja gaidens. DMC really set the bar for what a 3D action platformer should be.

    I just wanted to note that I believe games of this genre should benefit from cutting edge optimization. 60 fps, no tearing. Certain types of games demand this (like COD) and DMC is one of those games. With Ninja Theory's abysmal attempts to optimze their previous games, and the fact that they've decided to make the new DMC in UE3, I have no faith that they will develop a game up to the DMC standard. If this has the usual performance hiccups I've come to expect from Ninja Theory, then I will be sitting this one out.

    I really don't like Ninja Theory. I find their games underwhelming, and their lead developers are arrogant and condescending. eurogamer seems to wonder why enslaved didn't sell better. Play it and you'll find out immediately. It's slow, repetitive. clunky, chuggy and broken.

    I think that capcom should have brought DMC to Mercury Steam.

  • BuckEntropy #68 1 year ago

    As has already been pointed out this is more of a DMC4 vs Bayonetta article. Which seems misleading in the first place, but then the article is almost shamelessly skewed as well. I have some issues with Bayonetta and just couldn't find any enthusiasm for DMC4, but the author seems absolutely preoccupied with casting the worst possible light on the one game. It's beyond obvious that Bayonetta deliberately attempted to be both as accessible as a God of War yet as deep as a Ninja Gaiden, and succeeds remarkably well. But criticizing the game for being easier to limp through COMPLETELY misses the point, the challenge is what you make of it in essentially the same way as DMC4. Bayonetta just happens to let players get through a whole lot more unique setups a little easier, rather than just a short game... and that's somehow a bad thing?

    A really ugly and disingenuous article IMO. Made all the worse for beating up on a game that I believe didn't even sell as well as DMC4 in the first place. Sad.

  • JodSUMO #69 1 year ago

    Enjoyed DMC4. As for playing through twice, must be a Capcom thing - try Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on Mega Drive. We've all gone soft these days :)