Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry is a series of five hack and slash video games set in the modern day. The series was developed by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya. Originally intended to be a sequel in Capcom's Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry was such a radical departure from the series' style that it was developed into a new property entirely. The series centers on main character Dante's goal of avenging his mother's murder by exterminating demons. The gameplay consists of heavy combat scenes in which the player must attempt to extend long chains of attacks while avoiding damage in order to exhibit stylized combat; this element along with time and amount of items collected and used are taken under consideration when grading the player's performance.

The series has been a success with the first three games selling multiple million copies and being awarded the "Platinum Title" award by Capcom. The success of the video game series has led to the creation of comic books, novelizations, an anime series, guides, collectibles, publications, and a variety of action figures.

During the 2010 edition of the Tokyo Game Show Capcom revealed a new game named DmC Devil May Cry. The new game is developed by Ninja Theory and centers on a younger version of Dante.

Series origins

In 1998, after the completion of Resident Evil 2, preliminary work on a PlayStation 2 installment of the Resident Evil series began under the direction of Hideki Kamiya, under the name "Team Little Devil".^[1] Early research and development work included a trip to Spain to examine various castles as a basis for the game's environments. However, in prototype status, it proved to be a radical departure from the established Resident Evil formula and the survival horror genre in general. Rather than abandon the project entirely, the premise was changed and it eventually became Devil May Cry.^[2]

Common gameplay elements

The gameplay of the series focuses primarily on fast, highly stylized combat; gaining a high style ranking requires long attack and evasion strings while avoiding damage. In later games, the system was slightly modified so players had to actively vary the attacks used, so as to maintain the style rank. The style rank is tracked during combat with letter grades, from worst to best: D, C, B, A, S. They are also represented by words that start with the first letter of the class, "Dull" for D for example. The third game introduced "SS" and "SSS" ranks, which continues in the fourth. The player's performance on each level is also ranked using these letters.^[3]

The game also features some puzzle-solving and exploration elements retained from its survival horror beginnings, but these are downplayed; Devil May Cry games put emphasis on action.

The Devil Trigger ability enables the player's character to transform into a devil-like form with additional powers based on their current weapon, while the character's strength and speed increase and health is slowly restored.^[3] Notable weapons in the series include the swords Force Edge/Sparda in Devil May Cry,^[4] Rebellion in Devil May Cry 2,^[5] and Yamato in Devil May Cry 3.^[6] The first three games also eliminated the need to reload or reserve ammunition.

Dante is generally the lead character in the games, though in the second game Trish was available for play, Devil May Cry 2 featured another character who could be selected instead of him (Lucia), theSpecial Edition of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening allowed the player to use Vergil, and Devil May Cry 4 features a new protagonist named Nero.

Series innovations

Each game in the series has added new elements to the gameplay.

Devil May Cry introduced the 'style!' meter and ranking, encouraging players to attack continuously while avoiding damage.^[3]

Devil May Cry 2 introduced the ability to perform combination attacks in mid-air and an evasion button. It also introduced a weapon-change button, so the player could cycle through ranged weapons without switching to the inventory screen.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening added a selection of gameplay styles, allowing the player to focus on their favorite techniques or weapons, whether it be swords, guns, evasion or defense. Each of the four basic styles gain experience points, which unlock more techniques and abilities without costing 'red orbs', the common currency of the series. A second weapon-change button was added, allowing the player to cycle through the character's melee weaponry, specifically known as Devil Arms, as well.^[7]

Devil May Cry 4 brings one major innovation in the form of main character Nero's "Devil Bringer" arm, which gives players the ability to pull distant enemies in to be attacked, or smash them into the ground. Nero is also armed with a sword that can be "revved" up via a throttle handle, allowing players to precharge the sword for extra damage on the next hit, or with precise timing it can be charged after each attack, for extra damage and style. As Dante, players can also switch fighting styles in mid-combat seamlessly.^[8]

Series plot

The chronological order of the Devil May Cry series does not follow the release order of the games. The first game in the time line is Devil May Cry 3 followed byDevil May Cry, Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 2. The Devil May Cry anime series is set sometime between Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4. The manga acts as a prequel that leads up to the events of Devil May Cry 3. DmC is a reboot and has nothing to do with previous games in the series.^[9]

The plot of the series begins with Devil May Cry 3 in Dante's as-of-yet unnamed shop as a mysterious man named Arkham appears to offer an invitation from Dante's brother, Vergil.^[10] An immense tower erupts from the ground a short distance away from the shop and Dante takes the situation as a challenge.^[11]Following numerous battles Dante arrives at the tower's summit, Temen-Ni-Gru, and battles Vergil. Vergil defeats Dante and departs. He eventually catches up in the control room located in the tower's basement. The brothers battle again until they are interrupted by Lady, then Arkham, who has been manipulating them all to reactivate the tower. Arkham intends to steal the Force Edge, Sparda's sword.^[12][13]

Dante crosses over to the demon world and catches up with Arkham, and he and Vergil work together to bring down Arkham. Dante and Vergil battle, and Dante is victorious. Returning to the human world, Dante meets Lady outside the tower where she coins the phrase "devil may cry" while trying to comfort Dante over the loss of his brother. They form a friendship and the beginnings of a partnership in demon-slaying, and he names his shop "Devil May Cry".^[14][15]

Devil May Cry begins with Dante being attacked in his office by Trish. He brushes off her assault and she claims that the demon emperor Mundus is planning a return.^[16] Dante explores Mallet Island, encountering a variety of demons, including one named Nelo Angelo.^[17] Dante is defeated but Nelo Angelo flees. Other encounters with Mundus' demon generals serve to indicate Dante has become even more powerful than his father since his initial awakening in Devil May Cry 3.^[18] Nelo Angelo attacks twice more in later missions, and is eventually revealed to be Dante's brother, Vergil. Dante enters the underworld in search of Mundus, where Trish sacrifices herself to save him. Dante releases the power of Sparda that Vergil sought in Devil May Cry 3.^[19] Dante and Mundus then battle on another plane of existence. Trish returns and lends Dante her power. Dante then defeats Mundus.^[20] Dante and Trish escape as the island collapses, and later work together in the renamed shop, "Devil Never Cry".

In the Devil May Cry anime series, Dante is hired as the bodyguard of a young girl named Patty. While initially skeptical of his personality. Patty winds up growing attached to Dante and spends most of her time at his shop, often cleaning it or decorating it in girly fashion, much to Dante's dismay. While Dante's main job during the series is to protect Patty, he spends most of his time doing odd jobs he receives at his shop (which has been renamed back to "Devil May Cry" sometime after the events of Devil May Cry) which often end in him killing demons that harass the city. Lady makes a return, working as a Devil Hunter herself, to hire Dante in order to pay off a huge debt Dante owes. Trish soon shows up as well, and it's revealed that she has been working away from Dante for some time in order to try and establish a solo career as a Devil Hunter. Lady and Trish meet for the first time and do not get along right away. Despite this, the three wind up working together to take on certain difficult jobs. Near the end of the series it is revealed that Patty's mother is the descendant of a human sorcerer, who once sealed away the power of an ancient devil lord, Abigail. Eventually the demon Sid comes out as the villain of the series and reveals his evil plot involving the sealed away power of Abigail. While Lady and Trish fight off demons summoned by Sid, Dante fights and kills Sid himself. Sometime later, Dante, Trish, and Lady all get hired on the same job and take bets on who will win. Patty comes into Dante's shop to clean, showing that the two continue to have a somewhat father-daughter type of relationship.

In Devil May Cry 4 Lady visits Dante's shop (still renamed "Devil May Cry" again, and not "Devil Never Cry") to investigate The Order of the Sword, a cult-like group that worships Sparda and has been collecting Devil Arms. Dante is originally uninterested, but Trish (who appears to have given up her solo career and is working under Dante again) goes on ahead and takes the Sparda sword with her. Later, Nero witnesses Dante crash into an Order meeting and assassinate the leader, Sanctus. Nero attacks Dante and awakens his Devil Bringer arm, only to find that Dante was not taking their fight seriously. Nero pursues Dante, and along the way comes to realize that the Order is opening gates to the demon world in order to harness its power. Sanctus is revived through demonic power, and he sets in motion a plan to have Kyrie, Nero's love interest, kidnapped. Nero pursues and fights against Sanctus, but is captured by him and used together with Kyrie to form the core of The Savior, a giant demon in the form of a god. Dante steps in and destroys all the Hell Gates that the Order has opened, then fights against the Savior. Unable to destroy it from the outside, he leaves that task to Nero to defeat it from the inside. Nero kills Sanctus and rescues Kyrie, and ultimately destroys the Savior. Dante gives Nero the sword Yamato that formerly belonged to Vergil (the Order had found it, broken, and Nero had restored it and used it in his fights as his own Devil Trigger). Later, at the Devil May Cry shop, Lady pays Dante and Trish for their work; however, Trish is unhappy with the amount. Dante avoids dealing with the situation, and as a customer with the password phones in, the three head out to take on another mission.

Devil May Cry 2 begins with Dante entering a museum where an important item called the Medaglia is stored, where Lucia invites Dante to Dumary Island. Lucia's mother, Matier, asks Dante to help fight Arius, a businessman who wields demonic power.^[21] Dante decides to help.^[22] Lucia confronts Arius, who reveals that she was his creation.^[23] Shortly afterward, Lucia gives Dante the last of the Arcana before leaving.^[24] Dante then encounters Matier who asks Dante to take the Arcana to save Lucia from Arius.^[25] Lucia attacks Arius, though he captures her. Dante arrives and trades the Arcana for Lucia, then attacks Arius, who escapes.^[26] A large stream of energy strikes the Ouroboros (refers to an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle.) tower and a portal to the demon world is opened. Dante and Lucia argue over who will enter, with Dante entering the portal to deal with Argosax.^[27]

After Dante departs, Arius returns too, though Lucia goes on to defeat him.^[28] Within the portal, Dante fights and defeats the partially summoned Argosax. Finding the portal closed, Dante instead drives further into the demon realm on a motorcycle. In the aftermath of the battle, Matier insists to Lucia that Sparda returned from a similar trip. Sometime later in Dante's shop, Lucia muses about Dante and examines the coin he gave her. It shows that it was two headed. Outside the sound of a motorcycle echoes, and Lucia leaves to investigate. The player is not shown whether or not it is Dante.