Devil May Cry 4 interview - the men behind the mayhem

GamesRadar: Can you explain a bit more about Dante and Nero's relationship to one another?

Hiroyuki Kobayashi: At this point all we've told the fans is that Dante is an enemy of Nero as he comes in and fights, but Nero doesn't know that Dante is actually a devil hunter. So we find out more about that later.

GR: What we saw with Dante yesterday was not final. He wasn't in the levels he will be in the final game. Can you talk about where Dante might be and how much we might see him?

HK: You can't use Dante at first, but you will be able to use him in some places. So as the story progresses and there's a need for you to use Dante, you will be able to use him and it's pretty much well interlaced into the progression, the switch, between Nero and Dante. So you will be able to use Dante. That's all we can say about it at this time.

GR: Capcom US told us that part of the reason you made the switch to Nero, a new character, is that Dante is so powerful at the end of Devil May Cry 3 that it would be weird to have him start off with nothing in the sequel. Can you talk about the philosophy behind that?

HK: The person you talked to is pretty accurate in saying that. The character Dante has been built up to such a powerful person that, if we just put him on PlayStation 3 and said "here, play with Dante" that he'd be such a difficult character to control that we changed gears on him and put a new character in that you'll have to build up. But in the end, like you said in the last question, you will be able to build up to use Dante.

So, also this being a new platform, I wanted to introduce this game, Devil May Cry, to a new audience. So it's a way to bring everybody into the picture. People who know Dante will recognize him and look forward to playing him. People who don't know the game at all will be able to start with a new guy and have fun with it too.

GamesRadar: Can you explain a bit more about Dante and Nero's relationship to one another?

Hiroyuki Kobayashi: At this point all we've told the fans is that Dante is an enemy of Nero as he comes in and fights, but Nero doesn't know that Dante is actually a devil hunter. So we find out more about that later.

GR: What we saw with Dante yesterday was not final. He wasn't in the levels he will be in the final game. Can you talk about where Dante might be and how much we might see him?

HK: You can't use Dante at first, but you will be able to use him in some places. So as the story progresses and there's a need for you to use Dante, you will be able to use him and it's pretty much well interlaced into the progression, the switch, between Nero and Dante. So you will be able to use Dante. That's all we can say about it at this time.

GR: Capcom US told us that part of the reason you made the switch to Nero, a new character, is that Dante is so powerful at the end of Devil May Cry 3 that it would be weird to have him start off with nothing in the sequel. Can you talk about the philosophy behind that?

HK: The person you talked to is pretty accurate in saying that. The character Dante has been built up to such a powerful person that, if we just put him on PlayStation 3 and said "here, play with Dante" that he'd be such a difficult character to control that we changed gears on him and put a new character in that you'll have to build up. But in the end, like you said in the last question, you will be able to build up to use Dante.

So, also this being a new platform, I wanted to introduce this game, Devil May Cry, to a new audience. So it's a way to bring everybody into the picture. People who know Dante will recognize him and look forward to playing him. People who don't know the game at all will be able to start with a new guy and have fun with it too.