Topic: Devil May Cry 4 is out!

[Quemaqua]

Damn it.  More crap I need to spend money on.  I'm not the biggest DMC fan in the universe or anything, but it's been long enough that I could totally go for one.  And it came out on 360, which I didn't realize it was going to do, so... yay!

[Xessive]

Cool. When's the PC version scheduled to come out?

[PyroMenace]

I checked out the 360 demo, definitely lots of fun. I've never been into the past entry games but this one felt really fun and looked great. I'm going to look into getting it down the road.

[iPPi]

I've never tried the first 3, and I have little to no interest in this one... I might give the demo a shot though since it appears to be getting some favorable reviews.

[beo]

i played a tiny bit of the first game, but got bored really quickly and took it back for a refund. haven't touched the series since. i played the demo of this one on the 360, thinking that maybe with all the praise these games get, i should give it another shot. i can't say that i was impressed.

[Cobra951]

Didn't the DMC games get the blame for the unfortunate direction the 3D Prince of Persia games ended up taking?  I will be trying the demo in any case.  I was just trying to remember why I have misgivings about the series.

[Xessive]

I've actually played through DMC3 on the PC. It was fun and crazy in the beginning, but I can see how anyone would get bored quickly. I got really bored, but it was either DMC3 or watching the laundry machine, and somehow I managed to see the game through to the end. I definitely liked and enjoyed Onimusha more though.

[Quemaqua]

The games get blamed for a lot of things, but that's only because they do what they do very well.  There's a lot of difficulty involved, more often than not, and skill is greatly rewarded.  I never played the second one since the general consensus was that it sucked, so much that I think they even removed it from the official canon (not that story matters here... the characters are utterly ridiculous just for the sake of being utterly ridiculous, which really almost kind of makes the games funny... except for all the gothic art and violence).  I really liked 3, but didn't beat it.  The insane difficulty was great to me, I loved it, but I got distracted and never went back mostly due to it being on the PS2, which for some reason I just don't play much these days for action games and such.  I prefer my nicer monitor for those, and use the PS2 more for RPGs and such.

[Xessive]

Honestly, by the time I had reached the last quarter of DMC3 I just downloaded a trainer and cheated my way through. Mind you, the only cheat I actually used was the experience boost so I can max out Dante. I had gotten tired of the monotonous monster-generatoring rooms and just wanted to get to the end and watch the cinematics.

It's rare for me to use trainers or cheats especially when I'm playing through a game for the first time. I usually try them out later just to muck about in the game world.

[gpw11]

The only one I played was DMC3 on the PC.  As you can imagine, the port kind of sucked, but it still played well (I guess that can be expected seeing as it was a ps2 game).  I can see why people may say that about PoP, but I wouldn't use that to judge this game.  PoP's action sequences pale in comparison, and there's a reason they got influenced by DMC - because it does a lot right.

I'd say Ninja Gaiden is a fair game to compare it to.  They have a lot of the same elements, but NG seems a lot more focused on the core mechanics, while DMC3 seemed to be more concerned with offering flair and 'variety' in said mechanics.  Personally I liked NG a lot more because of the steep learning curve, unforgiving gameplay, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with that, but DMC was nevertheless fun.

I did, however, get pissed off and stop playing it.  Mainly because I found the mix between the 'serious' plot elements and enviroment, and over the top cartoony characters to be a bit retarded.  Dante started to remind me of Poochy from Ichy and Scratchy.  A little bit too "X-TREME" for me.   I gave up when I got one of his main weapons which happened to be an electric guitar.  You want me to shock monsters with a demonic electric guitar?  Fuck this shit.

I'll probably try out DMC4, and I'll probably like it for at least a while.  The game play is there, it's just the other stuff that I find a bit ridiculous.

[Xessive]

I enjoyed the PoP action sequences and fights a lot more than DMC. I suppose there is a minor influence but I would have never noticed if it was pointed out to me. It's too different. DMC has a lot more "panache" in its action and fighting scenes that's for sure.

I can relate to your gripes with the Electric Guitar bit and the "I can't decide if I'm serious or zany" style. I think the only character with a long, red trench coat who could pull it off is Vash The Stampede.

[gpw11]

I still don't see all that much of a similarity between the two. I'm also still of the opinion of the PoP action sequences being extremely weak compared to DMC or NG. 

I think the only character with a long, red trench coat who could pull it off is Vash The Stampede.

You just made me go to google, and I'm still clueless.

[Xessive]

I still don't see all that much of a similarity between the two. I'm also still of the opinion of the PoP action sequences being extremely weak compared to DMC or NG. 

You just made me go to google, and I'm still clueless.

Haha I forced GPW to go to Google! Mission accomplished! Hehe

Vash is from an anime called Trigun. It was a funky show.

Description of Vash: (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

(click to show/hide)

Vash displays two different personalities. Vash usually exaggerates foolish characteristics to make people feel unthreatened and to hide his identity; for instance, exhibiting an almost obsessive love of doughnuts [2] and at one point, claiming his real name was Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III, although this is most likely false. Vash's reputation as "The Humanoid Typhoon" is legendary, as is the damage and destruction associated with his presence.[3] However, when those around him are threatened, Vash shows complete focus and control.

Vash is a multidimensional character who, despite his age, has still not found peace with himself. A point of conflict in the series are the inner differences between Vash and Millions Knives, his twin brother, and their regard for humanity. Though Vash and Knives have gone through the same experience and torment, Vash chooses to remain hopeful and loving toward humanity, where as Knives has fallen into a deep-seated hatred of their race. Their personalities also have key differences: Vash cannot stand the despair of being alone, whereas Knives revels in his loneliness and has no desire for any company.

Because Vash refuses to kill any of his opponents, he often suffers at the hands of very persistent enemies and their attempts at revenge. As a result, his body is a patchwork of large scars, chunks of missing flesh supported by metal mesh, and stitch marks.

Back to the topic: Ninja Gaiden I enjoyed more than DMC as well. DMC is alright I just get a weird vibe from it. I watched a few episodes from the DMC anime series and I got the same weird vibe, except a little lamer.

[Quemaqua]

There's an anime?  Jeez.  That must be incredibly awful.  I pretty much hate all the lame character shit too, but the gameplay is fun enough that I just ignore it.  Plus it seemed worse in 3 than in the original.  It was present there too, but in a way where you couldn't tell as much if they were trying to be serious or not (which was almost worse.... at least later on it became plainly apparent that no, they weren't being serious).

And I hope to God you mean PoP3 and not the others, Xessive, otherwise you have no taste in combat at all.  No offense.  The combat in the first game sucked like crazy.  I mean, it was fine in that it worked and was fluid, there was just absolutely nothing to it and it was repetitive as hell.  Also, it required almost no skill.  From the little I've played of the next one, it's better, but not that much better.  The third is supposedly the best of the bunch, but I haven't tried it yet.

[gpw11]

Thank you for once again confirming my pre-existing judgment that anime and manga are both really really queer.

[Xessive]

There's an anime?  Jeez.  That must be incredibly awful.  I pretty much hate all the lame character shit too, but the gameplay is fun enough that I just ignore it.  Plus it seemed worse in 3 than in the original.  It was present there too, but in a way where you couldn't tell as much if they were trying to be serious or not (which was almost worse.... at least later on it became plainly apparent that no, they weren't being serious).

And I hope to God you mean PoP3 and not the others, Xessive, otherwise you have no taste in combat at all.  No offense.  The combat in the first game sucked like crazy.  I mean, it was fine in that it worked and was fluid, there was just absolutely nothing to it and it was repetitive as hell.  Also, it required almost no skill.  From the little I've played of the next one, it's better, but not that much better.  The third is supposedly the best of the bunch, but I haven't tried it yet.

Haha yeah I'm referring to the most recent PoP The Two Thrones, which was apparently the one most criticized. The combat in the first game was just as you said: fluid but repetitive, once you figure the formula it's the same shit over and over, fortunately the rest of the game made up for that.

THe combat in Warrior Within was more developed than Sands of Time but it was just more moves added to the same basic principle. The Two Thrones is when they chnaged things up a bit, most notably by adding the stealth kills.

I think the overall atmosphere of DMC is one the major deterrents for me. I feel uncomfortable and in no mood to beat the crap out of hordes of demons. By contrast I liked the atmosphere in Chaos Legion more but the combat sucked.

Thank you for once again confirming my pre-existing judgment that anime and manga are both really really queer.

Hahaha any time It depends on the show, really. Have you watched Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann?

[beo]

Thank you for once again confirming my pre-existing judgment that anime and manga are both really really queer.

oh man, the fansub will do nothing but reinforce those opinions. it's hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

one of my friends is a big dmc fan and torrented the entire series. a bunch of us got together with a few joints and we could barely breath through the laughter. i've never seen such a concentrated collection of engrish.

[Quemaqua]

So I picked this up today because I had to take a break from music before I shot myself after making that last 8 and a half minute monstrosity.  I figured this would be a good way to just blow off some steam.

Man, I was right.  This game is awesome and a half.  And then some more awesome piled on top of that.  With naked ladies.  It's basically just more DMC, but it's got some cool new twists to the combat that make it a great deal of fun to play.  There's also a ton of customization options that help you sort of round out the way you want to do things.  Comboing seems a good deal easier now, but that mostly because you can leave a bit of a gap between your attacks and not lose the whole combo... the meter just starts to slide down.  Getting hit resets it, of course.  The game is also fucking gorgeous.  It isn't perfect, and there are times when it doesn't look as hot or you sort of see through an effect or something, but there have been numerous times when I said to myself "This is one of the best-looking games I've ever played".  The cutscenes, as full of shitty dialogue and cheese as they are, are totally amazing.  The stupidity is still there, but it's just so fun to watch.  The choreography is just bloody amazing.

Check out the Gametrailers review for a pretty good look at it.  They mention the two big problems for me so far: the shadows are amazingly bad, and the non-combat stuff is a bit wonky (there's one section that really wasn't hard, but I did it like 12 times because I just hadn't figured out the way they wanted me to do it, and I had to fight about 5 guys in between each failure).

So yeah... if you ever liked a DMC game, go get this.  It's great.

[gpw11]

Hahaha any time It depends on the show, really. Have you watched Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann?

No, but I did watch Akira once when I was like 15 and smoked a lot of pot.  I do remember a lot of explosions.

Anyways, thanks for the heads up Que.  I'll probably pick this up when it comes out for PC and hope I can get past all the stupid silly shit they'll probably try to sneak in halfway through the game.

[Quemaqua]

Actually, this one isn't nearly as bad as the third one was.  It's still cheesy and such, but it isn't quite so utterly ridiculous.  They seem to be spending more time on crazy action sequences that are actually fun to watch instead of just sort of being weird for the sake of it.  Or something.  It's a bit more grounded, story seems to try a little harder.  But yeah, it's definitely good stuff, gameplay-wise.  If it gets a little stale, you can just kind of swap stuff out and try different things.  Plus later, when you play as Dante instead of Nero, you can swap between all of his different attack modes on the fly instead of having to select it before a level.  At least so I hear (not quite that far yet, only about 4 hours in).

[gpw11]

Yeah, I just watched the review and was hyped to hear about the attack mode changes on the fly.  Probably the best way they could have improved Dante's gameplay.

[Quemaqua]

Oh, also: naked lesbian ghosts.

[Pugnate]

That would be weird, not being able to touch them.

[Quemaqua]

Well, the truth of it is actually a whole lot weirder.

[Cobra951]

Oh, also: naked lesbian ghosts.

Now you have my interest.   

[Xessive]

The PC version is due around April 1st. I'm curious just to see how it looks and runs. And of course naked lesbian ghosts.

[idolminds]

Now you have my interest.   

See? Its not just me!

[Ghandi]

I seriously question the claim that ghosts can be lesbians. I'd have to see it to believe it.

[TheOtherBelmont]

There are naked lesbian ghosts, too bad you have to fight them.  I finally got around and got a PS3 along with this game a couple of days ago and god damn is it awesome.  Not only is it pretty, but they've improved the gameplay a lot since the 3rd one, most of the frustrations with the 3rd one have been taken away or lessened, but there's still a good bit of a challenge.  The gold orbs reviving you instantly where you're at is so nice, on the earlier ones you would have to start from the last checkpoint and sometimes that meant running through several rooms of enemies again and if you were on a boss you would have to start the fight over.  I also like how they improved the skill/ability leveling up system, now you refund points (proud souls are the currency to level up abilities) that you spent on a skill you didn't like or don't need and use them towards something else, respecing your character sort of.  Overall, I'm having a blast so far.

[Cobra951]

That makes it sound more palatable.  I still worry that it needs young reflexes.

[JacksRag(e)]

I was interested in playing it, so I went out and got DMC3.  Having played just a few minutes of it, I got this terrible nausea.  I don't know what it is about it, but the combat and the way it moves just gives me the worst motion sickness.  I just can't figure it out.  I have such weak constitution.  Bah.

[Quemaqua]

It definitely requires some chops, Cobra.  Although 4 is infinitely easier than 3.  It really isn't horrendous... try a demo?  Once you learn the combos it isn't that difficult to chain them together (especially in 4), but these games are definitely built to reward skill.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Well I finally got around to finishing this tonight and damn the last few levels were great, especially the last two boss fights.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out and hopefully another one is made that's even better.  My only complaint about the game is running through the levels in reverse with Dante.  While it did feel completely different since you were using Dante instead of Nero, it was still a little cheap, but the last couple of levels with Dante made up for it.  Nero was a pretty cool character to use and while he wasn't as "badass" as Dante he was still a very likeable character that didn't feel like a clone of Dante.  I loved the over the top extreme silliness of DMC 3 and while this game didn't feature it as heavily it had enough to make me laugh several times.  Some of the dialogue in the game is hilarious with both Dante and Nero and really worked well.  The normal difficulty felt just right on this one and not as ball breaking as the 3rd game's normal which was nice.  I'll probably run through it again on the new unlocked "Son of Sparda" mode which seems to be the hard mode like "Dante Must Die" in the first DMC.  Overall, I am really glad I got to play this and look forward to a 5th one, preferably with Virgil in it since the secret ending for DMC3 left something a little open.

[gpw11]

That makes it sound more palatable.  I still worry that it needs young reflexes.

I don't know about the console versions, but on the PC you can enable an 'automatic' mode that will basically pull off a lot of the difficult combos for you if you're in the right contextual position.  It seems to make it a lot easier (too easy possibly).

But beyond that, I'm really liking this.  One question: am I just an idiot or is the whole 'sword rev' thing kind of weird?  You know, when you hit that button to make the sword stronger. Is it just a matter of getting the timing down so you can do it right after you attack during battles, because it builds up too slow otherwise.

[Quemaqua]

I have no idea.  I basically never used it and never saw any reason to.

[TheOtherBelmont]

One question: am I just an idiot or is the whole 'sword rev' thing kind of weird?  You know, when you hit that button to make the sword stronger. Is it just a matter of getting the timing down so you can do it right after you attack during battles, because it builds up too slow otherwise.

I honestly never used that attack too much, the only benefit I saw it possibly having was against larger, slower enemies with shields, but the grab attacks worked much better for me.

[gpw11]

Yeah, to be perfectly honest it seems like there are a lot of moves and techs you don't really need.  For instance, Nero's "Tabletop" move (sidestep thing) seems like it would be really usefull and there are like three levels for it, but I couldn't get the timing down really and the side roll works just fine.  Thank god you can refund points you spent on upgrading skills, but this is probably why I can't get anywhere near beating the secret level which requires you to raise your style meter without attacking (I can't even get the style meter to start).

[TheOtherBelmont]

Yeah, to be perfectly honest it seems like there are a lot of moves and techs you don't really need.  For instance, Nero's "Tabletop" move (sidestep thing) seems like it would be really usefull and there are like three levels for it, but I couldn't get the timing down really and the side roll works just fine.  Thank god you can refund points you spent on upgrading skills, but this is probably why I can't get anywhere near beating the secret level which requires you to raise your style meter without attacking (I can't even get the style meter to start).

The main way to get your style meter up is to not repeat attacks over and over again, I would vary between grab moves, regular sword combos and aerial attacks with guns and swords and could get the meter up very quickly, theres an aerial sword move where Nero kind of goes up quickly and crashes down quickly in the same spot he jumped from, that move can be linked with gun attacks and you can juggle enemies in the air with it in combination with the grab attacks both on the ground and in the air, it takes some getting used to though.  I found that the grab attacks were good for linking sword and gun attacks so that the meter would go up.  The Tabletop move is also very useful on some of the bosses.

[gpw11]

Oh yeah, I'm good at getting it up normally, but there's a secret mission which requires you to do it passively, like without attacking.  That pretty much seems impossible.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I couldn't figure that one out at all either.

Also, does anybody find it way, way more fun to play with Nero than Dante?  I really liked how fluid Nero was, and Dante felt like a step backward kinda'.  I mean, it was still fun, but after getting used to Nero I think I definitely preferred him.