This game is neither awful nor the world ending orgasm that the two camps of people make it out to be.
This game has excellent combat and, for the time period, graphics and music. Has some elements usually associated with rpg games that work well, allowing you to grow in power as the game progresses and making you feel more formidable.
The Bad:
The storyline and characters, what little you see of both, are so awful that you find yourself glad that their appearances are so rare. Aside from fun combat, this game brings absolutely nothing to the table. It is extremely short. This reviewer beat it in under 10 hours on medium with no walkthrough help and without rushing at all.
Devil May Cry is a good, well choreographed action game, and nothing else. Contrary to what some people will tell you, this game is neither awful nor the world ending orgasmic experience that it is hyped to be. Quite frankly, Gamespot hugely overrated it though.
The game begins with a mysterious woman named Trish finding Dante at his office by way of driving through his front door/wall with her motorcycle, where he keeps a bunch of heads of monsters he’s killed. Strangely enough, nobody has ever told any scientists about the heads in Dante’s office.
After a brief little charming courtship scene where Trish stabs Dante through the heart and Dante responds by blasting away with his guns at her, he agrees to go with her to an island to put an end to the underworld entirely. Remember, Trish is hot, and according to Japanese game developers, no further explanation for why Dante goes with her is required.
Trish promptly leaves Dante as soon as they arrive at the island. You won’t see either her or any storyline updates until near the end of the game from here. When those two things do make a reappearance, the dialogue, story and character development continue to be as jarringly bad (possibly even worse) as the brief intro sequence you’re treated to, making you wish that neither had EVER made a reappearance again.
The gameplay of Devil May Cry is excellent, indeed the best part of the game. The controls are fairly intuitive for the time period, though not as good as some of the more recent games of the genre like God of War. But you have a sword, unlimited ammo, and the ability to go into a Limit Break style “Devil Mode” where your powers and abilities all get enhanced. Really, the only thing that differentiates this game from a hundred other Japanese games with a bad story and weak characters is the Devil Mode.
The Devil Mode is pretty cool. Depending on which devil artifact you have equipped, and how much you have powered it up, you can do several very nifty moves that make you feel cool and devilish. Otherwise, well, there just isn’t that much to this game.
The graphics and music are quite good for the time period, indeed top notch with both fitting in very well with the tone the game is trying to set. The voice acting on the other hand isn’t just bad, it’s terrible. It shows a lot where Capcom’s priorities are in that there is no middle ground in this game. Everything about it is either superb or awful. Graphics, music and gameplay are superb. Voice work, storyline and character development are awful. Indeed, where this game is weak challenges some of the worst games ever.
The enemies are a bit tough at first, until you start getting the hang of things and then they become quite easy. As do the levels and limited puzzles that are presented. Nothing that you encounter remains a challenge for too long so long as you take some time going back and forth killing bad guys to get Blood Orbs to power yourself up. This game is a fine way to spend a weekend, but nothing terribly special. Frankly, I’m at a loss to figure out how exactly it spawned two sequels, a couple of spinoffs, and legions of fans that get all wet in their nether regions at the mention of this game.