O ye, of little faith
What's wrong? Sad that the Dante you knew and grew up with has been replaced with some punk kid? Sorry. It had to happen. But before you throw up your arms in protest, let's consider that it might actually be not only a necessary update, but an awesome one.
The Devil May Cry series was ready for change - heck, it needed one, badly, and there's a good chance Ninja Theory's reboot is just what DmC needed to blast back into relevancy.
It's not a sequel
The plot of Devil May Cry has gotten convoluted over the past few games. Dante got a son... or a... clone or something. And he looked exactly like Dante except he had a demon hand. But he might have actually been Vergil's son, maybe. Things were complicated, and there was a lot of baggage that would have needed to be carried over to a sequel, or even a prequel.
Which is why we're really happy that DmC isn't. Ninja Theory doesn't need to explain anything from previous Capcom games. Instead, it's allowed to live on its own without being tied down to per-established situations.
It actually takes place in an alternate universe
Even better than it not being a sequel or prequel - it's a reboot set in an alternate universe, which means it doesn't need to really have any ties to previous games. Not one.
It also gives Ninja Theory a chance to build its own universe from the ground up. It can create new enemies, new characters, and new environments, keeping the things we loved about past Devil May Cry games (Dante's red jacket, awesome combat) without feeling tied to the... less stellar aspects (everything in Devil May Cry 2). No weird demon-arm son, no estranged brother.
The story might actually make (some) sense (maybe)
Not being a sequel, prequel, or even set in the same universe allows Ninja Theory to do what the Devil May Cry series was never able to: have a good story. Say what you will about Enslaved and Heavenly Sword, but both games had fantastic characters and strong narratives. Without being tied to Capcom's past stories, Ninja Theory is allowed to make this the first Devil May Cry game with a story that actually makes a lick of sense.
Devil May Cry 4 was underwhelming
We liked Devil May Cry 4 when it came out a few years back, and we're not going back on our kind words. It was a competent hack-and-slash adventure with some cool battles, but... that's really all it was.
The story wasn't all that interesting and the new characters weren't great. Devil May Cry has always been about one-upping the last game, and Devil May Cry 4 didn't - it sort of puttered out in a cloud of sparkly smog. It was obvious that Capcom simply didn't know what to do with DMC, which led to an underwhelming experience.
Bayonetta out-DMC'd Devil May Cry in every way
...and then Bayonetta came out, and was the best Devil May Cry game in years. More than that, Bayonetta was the best Devil May Cry game we could ever imagine coming out. Platinum Games essentially pulled an Uncharted, killing the game it inspired by being so much better than it ever could have been.
But with the death of the old way comes the possibility for a new one. Now, Ninja Theory isn't married to that exact style of gameplay. Sure, there will still be some juggling of bad guys, but it doesn't need to copy and paste old mechanics. Bayonetta already out-did it in that area, so they've been given the license to experiment a little more, something they likely wouldn't have been allowed to do if there was still room to grow that genre.
The art style is phenomenal
Ninja Theory's games have always looked stellar, and it has adapted its interesting graphical approach to DmC in an awesome way. The surreal world fits Devil May Cry well, and the crumbling city of Limbo looks fantastic.
We can't even do this justice with words. Just check out the video below, you'll see what we mean. So. Pretty.
Ninja Theory is awesome
Seriously. Ninja Theory is really awesome. With both Enslaved and Heavenly Sword, the developer proved itself completely capable of crafting interesting characters and stories, and though both games had their faults (Heavenly Sword was too short and Enslaved was a little buggy), they were still exemplary adventure games.
There are few developers out there with the potential to make a better DmC game. Ninja Theory is the perfect pick to take the beloved series in a new direction without sacrificing its heart, and it couldn't be in more capable hands.
Emo Dante isn't really any sillier than old, flamboyant, shirtless Dante
Most consider Devil May Cry 3 to be the best in the series. In the first scene of the game, Dante is sitting around, shirtless, eating pizza, when he's interrupted by a demon attack. He proceeds to beat up all of the enemies while still eating pizza, striking random disco moves and spouting the occasional catchphrase while awesome music plays.
Dante is a ninja turtle.
Meanwhile, the new Dante is young and has black hair, and apparently he's the weirdo? Get real, people. The Dante you know and love is whacky, silly, and corny. Stop acting like he's anything more than a machismo professional wrestler. Like, seriously, he spends half of Devil May Cry 4 with a freaking rose in his mouth. At least give emo Dante a chance before you crucify the guy - imagine how many eyes we'd roll now if the first released image of Dante had him shirtless with a rose in his mouth. The amount of eye-rolls would set world records.
Plus, if you miss the old Dante that much you can just replay all of the old games in HD, giving you plenty of opportunities to watch shirtless Dante eating pizza.
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