Devil May Cry 2 Review - Series Review Part 3 of 6

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Devil May Cry was a smash hit. The reception of Dante's first adventure was overwhelmingly positive, though not without a few complaints. Common complaints ranged from 'the game was too hard' to 'the camera was horrible (I agree)' to 'Trish wasn't playable'. Regardless, Devil May Cry was a critical and commercial success, and Dante had gone from a gaming nobody to the most extreme video game character during the first few years of the 21st century. As I mentioned in the Devil May Cry 1 review, Dante's adventure was the adrenaline jolt that shook the gaming industry.

A sequel was not only imminent, it was DEMANDED by gamers and critics alike.

The original Devil May Cry was developed by director Hideki Kamiya and Capcom Production Studio 4, however neither director nor studio were given notice that a sequel would be in the works until, surprisingly, Devil May Cry was being localized for European and North American markets. Hideki Kamiya and Studio 4 were not brought back to develop Devil May Cry 2, and the project was instead handed to director Hideaki Itsuno and Capcom Production Studio 1, whose past achievements include Capcom vs. SNK 2.


Producer Tsuyoshi Tanaka wanted Itsuno and Studio 1 to make the sequel naturally superior to the original. Tanaka emphasized larger environments (approximately 9-times larger than the original game). Puzzles were also to be downplayed (a good move in my opinion), and the camera system was to be revamped to allow better action scenes. Overall, not a bad list of fixes that would have obviously improved the original game. In addition to the logical evolution of the series, additional changes from the first game were influenced by public surveys distributed by the development team in an effort to appease fans. Based on the infamous outcome of Devil May Cry 2, I often wonder: "Who the fuck did they survey?"



Capcom (in their infinite wisdom) went all out in the marketing campaign for Devil May Cry 2. An official video game soundtrack was released in Japan. In addition, due to the focus of Devil May Cry 2's action on style, Capcom partnered with the Diesel clothing company, which has a history of working with game developers. Dante and Lucia were modeled with specially designed costumes featuring the Diesel brand name and were featured in promotional material in Diesel stores across Japan.



As it was with Playstation Home, Devil May Cry 2 is proof that Diesel clothing destroys video games as well as sexual identity.



The infamous outcome of Devil May Cry 2 was an overwhelming lackluster response. A lot of people have their own opinions of the game, which range only between "It's okay" to "It was a steaming pile of rat shit that killed off more brain cells than huffing a can of aerosol paint."

HAHAHAHAHA

This review is going to be smashing!

I love how the Hindenburg pics are in the story line.

ME WANT MORE!!

pls finish soon. lovd last 2 dmc revs. cant wait 4 3rd.

srry m using txt 2 post : )

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A little more to ease tensions:



Dialogue

Dialogue in Devil May Cry 2 isn't as horribly cheesy or stupid as in the first game. Why is that?

BECAUSE NO ONE EVER FUCKING TALKS!

Dante has become a stoic, silent hero like Clint Eastwood's 'Blondie' from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" instead of a wise-cracking, rebellious figure more along the lines of Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop". It is a complete character reversal, and it's so abrupt that you can't shake the feeling that this Dante is some kind of evil impostor. What happened after the events of Devil May Cry to make Dante act and behave so completely different? Did Trish dump him, and he took it too hard? That would explain Trish's absence from the sequel. Or, maybe Dante was abducted by aliens and the DMC2 Dante was grown in a pod for some elaborate plan for world conquest...

The point is: This Dante IS NOT THE SAME DANTE.

The other protagonist, Lucia, is another great conversationalist... for a MIME... Her invitation to Dante at the beginning of the game is the only time you will ever hear the voice of this ethnically-challenged belle until you reach the very end of the game. Then it's the same rhetoric we heard with Trish from DMC1: "I'm a demon created by (insert bad guy's name) to take over the world and kill you... blah blah blah"

Then you put Dante and Trish together towards the end and you hear striking, dramatic conversations on par with the following:

Lucia: "I'm a demon."
Dante: "..."
Lucia: "Fight me to the death!"
Dante: "No."
Lucia: "Yes!"
Dante: "No."
Lucia: "But I'm evil."
Dante: "No."
Lucia: "You're right... My life has meaning now. Thank you, Dante! Let's fight evil!"
Dante: "..." (too cool to say 'yes')

So Devil May Cry 1 had horrible dialogue, and Devil May Cry 2 has NO dialogue. Why am I still pissed? Because REMOVING ALL of the dialogue is not a FIX. Sure, DMC1 was cheesy and sometimes made you cringe, but at least there was evidence of characters actually interacting with one another. Hell, even the bosses interacted with the characters.

THE prime example of this massive backstep is when you fight The Phantom again. When you first met with the lava spider demon in Devil May Cry 1, his entrance was dramatic, and he approached Dante, taunting him with a hellishly deep voice. There was a sense of dread and almost helplessness as you watched this colossus approach you with intent to kill. In Devil May Cry 2, The Phantom returns. There is a bright light and 'presto' there he is, and you proceed to kick his ass. NO DIALOGUE ABOUT THE PHANTOM GOING TO KILL DANTE THIS TIME, AND NO WRY RETORT BY DANTE. But regardless of how cliche dialogue like that is, the first game pulled it off with some style, and the absence of it leaves an unbearable void in its place.

The first Devil May Cry had very few problems with its witty comebacks and the 'faceoff' dialogue, but it stunk it up with its dramatic scenes. So to remedy this, you drop ALL the dialogue? It makes NO SENSE!

Am I hard to please? Very.

looks good so far. needs more pictures of the game.