And now we come at last to the final chapter in the original
Devil May Cry series. An unknown number of years after the events
of Devil May Cry 2 (or possibly
before it, remember, the timeline is screwy), we start the new game not with
Dante, son of Sparda, but with a brand new protagonist entirely. Enter Nero, a young man who took his
steampunk demon fetish a little too far and has had his demonic arm – the Devil
Bringer – for his entire life. Oddly
looking similar to Dante, Nero operates as a demon hunter for the Order of the
Sword, a religious cult that worships the Dark Knight Sparda as a god.
And then Dante comes crashing down into a sermon and starts
gunning around everyone in sight.
Nice to see that he hasn’t changed in all the time.
Nero takes exception to this, however, and is sent to track
down and kill Dante for what he’s done to the Order…only to find out that
something is not quite right about the organization that he works for. In fact, it’s something downright infernal
and he must get down to the bottom of it.
All the while, trying to save his beloved girlfriend Kyrie…who doesn't
really do much of anything in the story…from being absorbed into the Savior – a
demonic being that the Order is trying to artificially create using the power
of various Devil’s Arms they've collected.
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| Uncle Against Nephew? There is compelling evidence... |
So, basically, Dante is going from having to stop a powerful
demon cult from wiping the Earth clean…sadly, you don’t get to play as Dante
until about halfway through the game.
Instead, we’re stuck with Nero.
Nero, who is basically a mini-Dante with none of the comedic stylings or
hilariously over the top nature.
Instead, for being the main character of Devil May Cry 4, Nero’s journey is one more about accepting his
demonic heritage. In some ways, it’s a
callback to the events of Devil May Cry 3,
when Dante first takes on his Devil Trigger ability and begins using the full
brunt of his demonic heritage to battle the forces of darkness. The game is about Nero accepting this and
learning that, even though demonic blood flows through his veins, that doesn't
mean he doesn't have a heart.
For Dante, it’s more about reconnecting with lost kin and –
of course – kicking ass like he always does.
Hey, I never said he was the one with something to learn
this time around.
Combat pretty much goes as one expects it to – while playing
as Dante – so I won’t dwell too much on that.
With Nero, though, we get a few changes.
First, and more dramatically of all, is the Devil Bringer. It’s a handy little piece of God-given (or,
in this case, Devil-given) armor that Nero can use to pull enemies to him and
deal out all kinds of hurt, as well as be used for puzzles and challenges to be
faced in his journey – whether that be leaping between several multicolored
orbs or pulling blue orb fragments to him from otherwise unreachable places. Trust me, you’ll come to love it and miss it
when the time comes to once again take on the role of Dante.
Nero’s handgun – the Blue Rose – operates very much like
Ebony & Ivory do, save for being a single gun that fires two shots. His sword, Red Queen, may be one of the most
awesome weapons in video game history.
It’s a sword that has a motor attached to it. The more you rev it up, the more damage you
can put behind your hits with the Exceed system.
And, of course, for both of the Devil Hunters you can
purchase combos from the God of Time statues to be found all over the
place. This time, however, it is not the
Red Orbs of Demonic Energy that are used as currency for upgrades, but Proud Souls,
an item obtained throughout the game that essentially serves the same function
but allows the player to keep their precious Red Orbs for purchasing items,
health, and Devil Trigger upgrades.
Many people have wanted to bash this game because it’s “hard”. It’s not really hard, but it can be immensely
frustrating at times, such as with the boss battles (the Savior itself, in particular,
and Echidna the She-Viper). This becomes
more frustrating when you have to battle every boss three times. Once as Nero,
then once as Dante, and then once again as Nero leading up to the resolution of
the story. It just serves to pad out the game and it’s really rather tedious…or
at least that’s what I would say if it were like Devil May Cry 3 and it were just done as a special challenge
part. Twice? Yes. However, adding in Dante actually makes a major
problem with it.
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| ....this after making penis innuendos with a missile cannon... |
When you take over Dante, you take the exact same path that
Nero did – in reverse. Not even in a particularly clever way like Symphony of the Night’s inverted castle. It’s literally a blatant and rather tedious
retread of the previous levels. Unlike,
say, the original Devil May Cry –
which had the benefit of the demonic corruption changing the atmosphere a great
deal in the castle on Mallet Island – there’s really no excuse for this as the
atmosphere doesn’t change all that much.
Of course, Dante’s sections are saved by his usual brand of cheeky humor
and innuendo in the face of great danger. Seriously, there is a reason why this guy is so beloved and it absolutely shines in his scenes - one in particular being a scene set in an opera theater, which I refuse to spoil, but it is so beautifully over the top that you have to love it. So much ham. So. Much. Ham.
The combat also slightly more refined, very little changed
from 3 for Dante beyond being able to
switch between the four combat styles available to him, and that is definitely
a good change.
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| Huh...that ghostly figure looks familiar... |
There’s also, just as a minor note, the recurring fan theory
that Nero is the illegitimate son of Vergil.
From what I’ve been able to find, some people who have worked on the
game have stated that that is in fact the case – however nothing in the game or
from Capcom actually confirms
this.
Personally, there’s a bit too much
evidence to really claim that it couldn't true – the shadowy figure that envelops
Nero during his Devil Trigger (looking a lot like Nelo Angelo), his connection
with Yamato and the fact that Dante lets him keep it at the end after saying it
belonged with his family, the fact that he’s very cold, stern, and analytical
much like Vergil was – so I would definitely say that it’s a theory I support. However, unlike Vergil, Nero isn't lured by
the dark side. He embraces his demonic heritage
and uses it, much like his uncle Dante, to fight the forces of darkness.
As for the game as a whole, it’s definitely good. It really has a feeling of the end of Dante’s
story and the beginning of Nero’s in taking over the main role…so it’s really a
pity that Capcom decided to go and reboot the franchise with DmC:
Devil May Cry. I know this
game was ragged on for its difficulty, but was that any reason to derail the
story completely and start with a new plot?
…who knows? Maybe DmC:
Devil May Cry is just so good that it was totally worth doing that for?
…yeah, I have my doubts.
Devil May Cry 4 is now available from Capcom for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, and iOS.
For the latest from
the MadCapMunchkin, follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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