The Latest Update on DmC: Devil May Cry and My Suspicious Impressions

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on March 4, 2012)

The design of Dante's trademark arsenal, the sword Rebellion and the set of handguns named Ebony and Ivory, has been revamped for the upcoming DmC: Devil May Cry.

Just a few days ago, Side Mission, a blog for the gaming website Gametrailers, posted an entry regarding newly revealed information about DmC: Devil May Cry, the latest production of one of Capcom’s most famous video game franchises under development by Ninja Theory and due sometime this year. That information consists of a few new details regarding the past of the game’s revamped protagonist, Dante, and his trademark arsenal, a sword named Rebellion and a pair of handguns named Ebony and Ivory. Dante has been described by Capcom as “[An orphaned] young man with no respect for society in general…[and who is also] caught between the worlds of humans and demons, [making him feel like] an outcast.” As for the arsenal, the design philosophy behind it has been described by GregaMan on the Capcom-Unity blog as:

“[Creating an] impression that they were crafted a long, long time ago and since their creation they have sent innumerable demons to their doom.”

“Ebony & Ivory have straight, clean looking barrels that make them look like contemporary firearms, while the addition of ornate embossing is used to give the guns a feeling of mystique and uniqueness. As you move into the grip you can see that the guns have a more fluid, liquid-like look that adds further mystery and a demonic flavor to their design.”

“Rebellion is designed to look like a powerful sword, with the detailing in the handle giving it a feeling of historical significance coupled with a demonic heritage. The same design ethos that was used for the Ebony & Ivory grips is also true for Rebellion’s hilt, making the weapons match stylistically.”

Now what I am about to say here is pure speculation and nit-picking. The revamped design of Dante’s sword and guns looks suspiciously familiar to me, as in I’ve seen them somewhere before. In order to explain this, I am going to make comparisons between the weapon design of the past games and the new one. Here are images of the designs of Rebellion, Ebony, and Ivory that have been used throughout the Devil May Cry series.

Now here are images of the revamped designs of Dante’s arsenal.

What follows next are images of weapons used by Devil May Cry 4‘s main character, Nero: the motorcycle-engine-powered sword Red Queen and the magnum-based sidearm Blue Rose.

I’m not exactly an expert on weapon design, but it appears to me that the overall design of the revamped Rebellion and that of Nero’s Red Queen are almost identical. That theory is based on how the cutting edge is set on one side of both swords, how the shape and length of the hilts are a little bit alike, and how there is a curved edge sticking out at the spot connecting the bottom end of a blade and the top end of the hilt of both swords. Also, the basic shapes on the revamped dual handguns and the one on the Blue Rose appear similar to me; the triggers on those side arms also appear to share a curved design. I’m not an overzealous fan-boy, so I’m not complaining. Yet, I have a feeling that the people who made the revamped designs have been borrowing elements of Nero’s arsenal. It’s all just a guess, so I could be wrong about that. Speaking of borrowing, I just can’t help but find similarities to Dante’s outfit and the one worn by Nero in Devil May Cry 4.

The two characters appear to be wearing the same boots, the same pants, and almost the same jacket. The jackets themselves have the same color padding, black on the outside and red on the inside. Based on the comparisons I have made between the weapon and character designs of both the old games and the upcoming reboot/remake/re-imagining, I am beginning to suspect that laziness on part of the design department is apparent. As for the story details, I’m not sure about the whole aspect of the young angry loner who hate society and the law; to me, it feels like I’ve seen and heard it all before in the movies, almost like a cliché. There is one other thing you should know: I do enjoy the Devil May Cry games, but I am not some overzealous fan boy or a whiny commenter that posts single lines that are either unfounded complaints or just make no sense. In writing this post, I just felt I should share the latest information on DmC: Devil May Cry and express my feeling as to the direction the game itself is going.