Devil May Cry

Play as Dante, son of the legendary dark knight Sparda, as he takes on the emperor of the demon world, Mundus. With help from the lovely Trish, the Force Edge and his guns, Ebony and Ivory.

PlayStation 2

PlayStation Network (PS3)

Nintendo Switch

Overview

Devil May Cry is a self-described "stylish action game" directed by Hideki Kamiya and released by Capcom in 2001. The story focuses on Dante and Trish's quest to confront the demon Lord Mundus.

Gameplay

Throughout the game the player takes control of Dante, a half demon half human with special abilities. The game is split up into a series of missions in which the player must complete one objective to finish, for example get to this location. The game takes place on a castle where Dante must confront demonic enemy bosses. The gameplay is broken up into two sections, melee combat and shooting. Melee combat sees Dante fighting with huge swords and demonic weapons. While fighting, the players style is graded depending on how quickly they can attack and how they avoid enemy attacks, the grades are D, C, B, A and S.

At the end of the mission the style is averaged and the player is awarded with a grade for that level. The shooting combat in the game is largely used to tie attacks together like combos, a way to keep the chain going whilst being far away from enemies. Whilst in combat Dante builds up his Devil Trigger ability which when activated allows the player to regenerate health and have increased attack power until the gauge runs out. The player is also able to equip a large number of weapons and guns which are suited to different combat styles.

Story

Main Characters

Dante

Dante is a freelance underground mercenary in modern America. But his secret persona is even more extraordinary. He slays bloodthirsty devils from the depths of burning hell with his huge sword and dual-wielded handguns.

Trish

Trish is a hauntingly beautiful woman who invites Dante to Mallet Island, gateway to the devil world. She possesses supernatural powers and vast knowledge about devils. It is said she knows Dante's secret history. But what is her true identity and purpose?

Plot

Devil May Cry begins with Dante being attacked by a mysterious woman named Trish in his office. Whilst she is impressed with his fighting skills he explains that he hunts demons in pursuit of the ones who killed his mother and brother. After Trish explains the attack was a test she tells Dante that the demon he holds responsible for the deaths in his family is making a return. The pair then travel to an immense castle and Trish leaves Dante on his own to figure out what to do next. On his exploration Dante comes across large amounts of stock demons attempting to stop him on his quest. After further exploration and combat, Dante battles a demon named Nelo Angelo who impresses Dante with his confidence and fighting ability. The demon however flees at the sight of Dante's half amulet, after the demon attacks later in the game it is revealed that the demon was infact Dante's twin brother Vergil under demonic control.

When Dante finally meets back up with Trish, Dante finds out that she has betrayed him and she has been working for Mundus the whole time. When Trish is in danger Dante chooses to save her because of the resemblence she has to his mother. When finally confronting Mundus a wounded Trish helps Dante unleash his full power allowing him to take on the form of Sparda. After Mundus' defeat Dante and Trish escape the island in a plane and become partners in their new shop Devil Never Cry.

Trivia

Devil May Cry began life as an early version of Resident Evil 4. However, during early evaluations, it was determined that the game was too action-oriented rather than survival horror. While development of Resident Evil 4 restarted, it was decided to allow the previous work in progress to become its own game, resulting in DMC. Devil May Cry retains a number of elements from its days as a Resident Evil title, including its fixed camera angles, the puzzle-laden nature of the castle environment, and certain menu design elements.
The "juggling" that Dante can perform in the game comes from a bug discovered in a play test of Onimusha: Warlords.
The environments are based off the Spanish castles that developer Hideki Kamiya and his team visited during a research trip for Resident Evil 4.