Dante Must Die (?)

The new Devil May Cry has been getting a lot of heat.  With the changes to its leading protagonist Dante, fans have been in a tiff for a while.  I will give the initial worry some slack; the original trailer really didn't look good at all.  Dante looked way to skinny, and the way he smoked his cigarette was really emo and kinda .... well off I guess.  However, the later trailers and talks really showed some changes.  Dante's face started to look more like the originals while keeping his newer look, he put a little more meat on his bones, and the game was really shaping out to look like a great action game.

And it really did - gameplay is great, but I'll get to that in a second.

People were so angered at some stupid things that they cannot see what's what anymore though.  Because Dante's hair is now black, people can't even look over slight changes made to the character - changes that I feel still hold true to the basic roots and embodiment of Dante.  When I think of our demon slayer, I think overconfident, cocky wisecracker who doesn't take much too seriously.  I still feel like I get that with the new Dante, even though it is not as over the top and silly.  He still makes small comments here and there, he still talks smack to big ugly demons, it's just in a different light now.  It's like Ultimate Spider-man and how it's a different take on the character in a more modern world - same basic ideas and principals are there, but the character is in a different generation - different audience.  The new one is definitely not as slapstick, but it works with the new tone of this take on the universe (and remember people, its an alternate universe, not a reboot).  Like really people, we are arguing over a guy who was trying to eat pizza while dancing to goth metal while also surfing on demons and using really cheesy one liners.  We are going nuts about a character who says "devils never cry" after wailing out "I wanted to be the one to fill you dark soul with light",  shooting a tear out before fighting a demon in space.  The old ones are fun as heck, and I really think the essence of the characters are the same, just different universes they are reacting too.  Also to note, this new DMC Dante is just really starting out, so he hasn't really reached the point of silliness that Dante's Awakening brings yet.

But here is what also bugs me about everyone's complaining.

Because of the changes to the character, whether it be the way he handles himself or his black hair (spoiler, it turns white!), people are also attacking the mechanics.  Most people on the forums haven't even tried the game or demo, but see the basic structure and get mad because it's not the freakin' PS2!  For instance, in the new DMC, to launch a character you hit B or Circle - in the old game, you held R1, held the left stick away from the enemy and hit the attack button.  People are trying to convince others that the later is  better and more elegant.  They will also try and tell you the combat has no depth, but I've never had more fun in a DMC game.  They layout is simple too - you have a ranged attack button, an attack button, and a launch/slam button, and when you hold either trigger, that turns your sword Rebellion into different weapons to do even more stuff.  So at any given time, you can switch between 3 different weapons for a TON of combos, and that isn't even considering all of the other weapons you can switch too from the D-Pad!  Having the different weapons and such also made for some excellent platforming sections in the game as well.

This whole situation reminds me of when Wind Waker was announced.  So many people bashed it and said that it had nothing to do with Zelda long before it came out all because of the graphics and changes made to the series.  Wind Waker turned out to have all of the elements that make a Zelda game in spades and was truly one of the best games in the entire series.  All of the things that people complained about that were missing, those were all in the game!  People just wouldn't even try the game to see that it had ties to the fan favorite Ocarina of Time and that it had a whole freakin' huge plot about Hyrule!

Anyway, I urge people to try the new DMC - it's a great action game.

-Eddie