Why I Love is a guest editorial series on GamesIndustry.biz that aims to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate the work of others. This post was written by Luis Correa, Game Director at C2 Game Studio, which is developing the upcoming Astor: Blade of the Monolith.
I grew up playing games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, and Double Dragon, and I always had a strong affinity for fantasy adventures with amazing worlds and characters. The 8-bit versions of these worlds sparked my imagination, but as a kid I could never have imagined how far gaming would evolve in the years to come.
Fast forward to 2001. Luis, now 22 years old, had recently moved to the US from Colombia with dreams of joining Digipen and starting my own game development journey. It was an exciting time full of possibilities, but I was also feeling very lonely. I had just finished my year as an exchange student to improve my English skills, all of my friends were moving back to their respective countries, and I was alone in Washington State. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on a PlayStation 2 console (not an easy feat back then, I assure you!), so I spent most of my time alone in my small studio apartment playing video games.
That's when I was stunned by the announcement of a Capcom game with a very strange name: Devil May Cry. I found the title very intriguing. Why would the devil cry? Who makes him cry? Would the devil even be able to cry? These were some of the burning questions I had to answer!
At first glance, it reminded me a lot of Resident Evil with its static camera angles (not surprising for a Capcom game), but the gothic setting reminded me more of Castlevania, one of my all-time favorites. That was just the tip of the iceberg of what was to come, though, because when I saw this white-haired tough guy in a red trench coat toss an enemy into the air and juggle them with his two pistols, I was completely blown away! I had never seen anything like it, and it was absolutely a case of love at first sight.
As we did back in the day, I scoured every gaming magazine for as much information about the game as possible. I remember reading that it was originally supposed to be a Resident Evil game (Resident Evil 4, to be specific, as far-fetched as that may sound) and that the now iconic “weapon juggling” gameplay was a mistake. It’s funny to think that a now beloved and legendary series could have been born out of a mistake. A mistake that unintentionally gave birth to the modern action-adventure-fighting game as we know it! Of course, all of that could just be a partial truth or even a total myth, but I choose to believe this version of events because it’s so fitting for the way our craft works. You never know when an accident will become a core gameplay mechanic and change the world of gaming forever. It’s like we always say in the game development world: it’s not a bug, it’s a feature!
When Devil May Cry finally came out in October of that same year, I had of course pre-ordered it from my local gaming store to ensure I got my hands on it on day one. I ripped the cellophane off the box, popped the disc into my PS2, and have never been the same since. Seriously, Capcom had raised the bar for what video games could be, and I felt very lucky to live in a time when this masterpiece existed.
The game opened with a cinematic of Dante in his office, with the oddly titled “Devil May Cry” cleverly being the name of his demon-hunting agency. I loved how Dante’s irreverent attitude was immediately apparent. He wasn’t like the stoic Belmont you’d see in Castlevania, nor the silent, noble protagonist of games like Zelda or Metroid. No, Dante was a trash-talking, confident, almost arrogant hero (or anti-hero, if you prefer).
So you get a glimpse of his power and it becomes clear that this is no ordinary man, but the son of Sparta, an ancient demon who fell in love with a human and sacrificed everything for his family and humanity. Dante was the best of both worlds: human enough to be vulnerable, demon enough to be a daring, super-powered guy.
More important than Dante's impressive superhuman abilities, his style was his own. The red leather trench coat and straight white hair were certainly a plus, but what really captivated me was how he moved. Dante did everything with style, but it wasn't just his deft gestures that won me over, it was more how I felt playing as him. How fast, precise, and agile the controls felt in my hands, and how powerful it made me feel as I dispatched groups of enemies with satisfying ease. Okay, okay, maybe “easily” is a little misleading for a game that was certainly not easy, but as I learned the mechanics and got into the flow of combat, I began to feel just as powerful and confident as Dante.
“Devil May Cry gave me an experience I will never forget and one that has stayed with me throughout my own personal game development journey.”
Luis Correa, C2 Game Studio
Devil May Cry provided me with an experience that I will never forget as a gamer and one that has stayed with me throughout my own journey as a game developer. To say that it was an influence on me is an understatement.
When it comes to a gaming experience, “game feel” is a very subjective thing. It’s hard to pinpoint all of the countless elements that contribute to it, and you’re likely to get ten different answers if you ask ten different people. It’s easy enough to analyze a game’s visuals through screenshots and trailers, but there’s a lot you just can’t know about a game until you have a controller in your hand. You have to be able to play it and feel it for yourself, and for me, Devil May Cry was unlike anything I’d felt before.
Remember, this was 2001. Three years before the Ninja Gaiden reboot, four years before the first God of War, and eight years before Bayonetta. You can see and feel its influence in all of these games, but that's not a complete list. We're talking about a game ahead of its time!
It took me over fifteen years to hone my craft and assemble a team that could attempt to create a game inspired by these same unforgettable gameplay dynamics. I'm sure that anyone who plays our studio's next game, Astor: Blade of the Monolith, will undoubtedly see the influence Devil May Cry had on it.
While our game has been built on the foundation of a beautiful fantasy world filled with adventure and exploration, combat is the main pillar that stands out. I have spent countless hours analyzing the best this genre has to offer. I have studied everything from anticipations, recoveries, hit frames, key poses, hit parries, particles, sound, etc. I find myself continually striving for perfection, though I realize that is a subjective goal.
The truth is that there are a lot of elements that contribute to the feel of a game, and each of them can be endlessly tweaked until it's perfect. I feel like I'll never be done tweaking, but I guess that's just the nature of developing these kinds of games.
No matter what path my career as a game developer takes, I will always carry that first experience with Devil May Cry with me, and the series will always have a special place in my heart. Now, at 44 years old, I am no longer among the main target audience for its latest installments, but I always buy them and enjoy those same elements that made the original Devil May Cry so special to me all those years ago: a fun, fantastical world to explore, and most importantly, the precise controls that make me feel like an unstoppable badass!
I wish Dante and the entire DMC team many more epic adventures that will surely inspire others just as the original game inspired me: to dare to dream big and do it in style!
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