Everyone knows who Ninja Theory is, and a handful of them are Devil May Cry fans who want to bust their skulls for the DmC reboot. I’ll admit I was in that camp until I saw the gameplay vids which are actually badass. Design lead Tameem Antoniades has come to the team’s defense a few times, and is doing so again.
Atoniades acknowledged that a reboot is often met with hostility, saying “Nothing needs a reboot unless that reboot works. Look at Batman. The parallel to the Batman reboot was Catwoman. Nobody needed that, but when it works it can change the course of a franchise in a positive way. It can make it survive.”
He also said that it was unfair that Ninja Theory was being targeted and blamed purely for the drastic changes to Dante’s character from a white-haired and very sarcastic badass to a black-haired punkish badass. He said in an interview with PSM3 that it was not his decision or opinion, as Capcom were the ones that told him to reinvent it.
Devil May Cry 4’s rather lackluster reception compared to Devil May Cry 1 and 3 (let’s forget 2 exists okay?) prompted Capcom to reach out to Ninja Theory to give the series a more western-game flair. Atoniades said that Western games had levels that felt much more open, and the world felt more “grounded”. The stages of Devil May Cry were rarely open and were often linear and claustrophobic, allowing for chaotic small-scale skirmishes for Dante.
Videos of Devil may Cry have shown that the areas are significantly more open, dynamic, and much more spacious. Western RPGs in particular have also had a liking for large open areas and non-linear gameplay. Ultima and Elder Scrolls being perfect examples. Capcom told them to reinvent it with these traits in mind.
The fan reaction to Devil may Cry continues to be quite negative, and I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t mentioned in Mr. Larcena’s recent editorial which pointed some strong fingers at the fandom of Mass Effect.
Antionedes also said that from his point of view, making a successful game involves making a game that you want to play and that you are proud of. A design philosophy that is also used by Team Shanghai Alice. He also said that trying to design a game around what you think people want will put you into creative bankruptcy and that will kill a series.
You can read the interview on CVG here. Enjoy.
Rian Quenlin
I’m going to admit right now I had some strong opinions on the reboot, but as new vids of it come out, I genuinely think that they can pull it off. I still dislike their design choices for Dante regardless, unless he becomes a very snarky and very sarcastic badass like he always is in very short order.
sedoi
creative bankruptcy? As if NT had creativity. Their game are pleasent ok games, worth buying for half a price. And this reboot? well, you only ripping-off. They don’t even shown some really new ideas. Alice, Darkness, Bayonetta, even Mass Effect. You shouldn’t be proud you should be ashamed of your poor ideas.
Jason
I’ve seen a couple gameplay videos and the combat does look like it has a lot of potential. I never played the first three DMC games but I do have to admit that the old Dante looks much cooler than the new one though. If they wanted to reboot the series I don’t think they should’ve radically changed a universally beloved character. You should at least keep the iconic aspects of your franchise.
I have to disagree about DMC4 though. I’ve played it and think that it’s one of the best hack-and-slash games out there. It also seems to have got a lot of good reviews according to Metacritic (not that video game critics are worth anything).
Jason
But in DMC4 you play most of the game as Nero anyway. So they already kind of ditched their iconic character in the previous game. I wonder why fans weren’t upset about that.
Rian Quenlin
There was quite a good bit of it, but not on the scale of Metal Gear Solid 2 where Raiden popped up out of nowhere and dominated 90% of the game in terms of control. Besides, who wouldn’t want a boss fight against Dante himself? That could’ve been in the special edition of Devil May Cry 3 but instead we got a recolored Vergil.
John
They are not badass. they are pigdisgusting. Fuck you.