Nitro
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- Joined: Dec 30, 2005
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RE: Devil May Cry 4
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Sep 20, 2006 05:58
Ok, TGS is (very nearly) upon us and this will obviously be one of the biggest games at the show. I propose that BIG games like this, Metal Gears Solid 4, Heavenly Sword etc get their own specific threads to keep everything nice and tidy, especially seeing as during these conventions the forum gets really busy, and TGS runs for like 9 days (alltogether).    Devil May Cry 4 Notable Points: Devil May Cry 4 will be Playstation 3 EXCLUSIVE -
All the event cutscenes in DMC4 will be realtime -
Devil May Cry 4 will be playable at TGS with an on-stage demo and accompanying trailer -
The main starting character of DMC4 will be Nero, not Dante. Dante' s playable status as of yet is unconfirmed in DMC4 but Kobayashi greatly hinted at it in Famitsu -
Devil May Cry 4 takes place after the original Devil May Cry making it the first direct " sequel" to the first game -
Devil May Cry 4 is slated for a Winter 2007 release, despite what Sony wants Capcom to do, which is release it before summer -
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What follows is s run down of features and changes that we know about already thanks to information given out by Kobayashi to both Famitsu and Gameinformer. Kobayashi' s quotes are shown in underlined bold.
Even though he doesn' t post here i need to thank ChaosAptom for sorting out a very good translation of the Famitsu interview.
Story
Nero (main DMC4 character) lives in a remote island city called Fortuna (the setting of most of DMC4). He belongs to an ancient group of religious crusaders known as the Order of the Sword who worship Sparda and fight demons in his name. Prior to the beginning of the game, Nero' s life involves doing special jobs for the Order, cleaning up " messy" situations. All of that changes one day when a white-haired man in a long red coat starts slaying the clergyman at the Order. Kobayashi ends that with, " Just because Nero' s in the game doesn' t mean that Dante disappears from the game completely."
Nero
Kobayashi' s reason for not putting Dante in the starring role: " The reason we switched to Nero is, when you consider how we want to open new avenues for the core user and that we' re switching harware to the PS3, the easiest way to have these new game play mechanics ... was to introduce a new character," he clarifies.. " If we gave Dante [Nero' s abilities], it wouldn' t be Dante anymore."
Kobayashi insists that unlike Dante and Vergil' s connection, there is no story-based reason why Nero bears resemblance to the sons of Sparda. Nero' s look is about finding a design that is different YET familiar. He ends with the quote: " Devil May Cry is about guns and swords, and we want people to be able to see and understand that."
There is an event/cutscene before the starting of the game where Nero' s arm is possessed by an evil force - an occurence he works hard to conceal, going as far as to wear his arm in a sling to keep it from sight. Of course, the time comes when it can no longer be hidden and Nero discovers, along with the player, the immense combat possibilities of this demonic appendage.
There' s been a lot of confusion over who Nero actually is. It was originally though that Nero was Nelo (Vergils alter-ego) but Capcom have clarified that Nero is a new character and not related to the Sons of Sparda.
Kobayashi sort of touches upon the unavailability of Vergil in DMC4 stating that Vergil is an integral part of the DMC' s franchise, as proven by DMC3SE, and they believe that Vergil still has a part to play in DMC4. Kobayashi has this to say, " We are not ready to say what role Vergil himself plays in the story, but the existence of Vergil as a character is something very important to the story of the DMC games. That' s something that I don' t think is going to end!"
Enemies
The new basic enemies in DMC4 are a nod to the original DMC enemies where were a group of very large wooden Marionettes. Going on that design, DMC4 keeps the tradition alives and features a variety of Marionette-type enemes from the start. The new enemies feature twisted body parts that are stitched together. The enemies have scythe protroding out of their limbs as their standard weapons. So far 3 types have been identified including one humongous version that combines all form and is able to breathe fire.
Kobayashi stated that while they are easy to start off, enemies will get gradually more aggressive/stronger when you get further into the game. The (TGS) demo features enemies that could be dispatched by standard DMC shoot/slash tactics + combos. Kobayashi then makes a remarkable statement about a VERY FAMILIAR enemy, " We are definitely experimenting with enemies like the Shadow Cats."
Combat
The Red Queen (sword)
Kobayashi states that the Red Queen (Nero' s default sword) is a " tricked out" version of a " standard-issue" sword given to the Order of Knights (meaning others will have swords of similar designs as well). Kobayashi refuses to comment on the game play aspects of the Red Queen and the whole motorcycle lever thing but bear in mind that it DOES have game play application (it' s not just for decoration).
The Red Queen, Nero’s sword, has a sort of will of its own, and Nero has “tuned†it himself, turning it into a very powerful weapon. The Red Queen has been confirmed to feature a special system called “Acceleration.†“Equipped with this magical sword, Nero can surpass human limits and have enough strength to deal with even the strongest demons. However, this strength depends on the speed of the strikes: the hilt of the sword works just like a motorcycle' s handle, and as it is pushed harder, the force of the delivered strikes will also be greater†In the HUD featured in the screens, the circular meter thing beside the stamina gauge is based on a motorcycle' s speedometer, no doubt linked to the new Acceleration system.
Nero' s Possessed Arm
Initially the arm manuevers will only set enemies up (throw them up in the air for juggles, via single button input) but later in the game they will do damage as well.
The arm is not just another weapon added to the DMC arsenal, it completely changes the way DMC is played. It' s about positioning as well as damaging enemies, crowd controlling and crowd destroying. The way that the new Arm game play is managed is sort of the anti-thesis of Vergil' s Dark Slayer. After leveling it up, you are able to manuever it a variety of ways, including pulling enemies towards you, throwing them away, bringing down enemies from the sky and smacking them, or tossing them up in the air for juggles. Instead of you going towards/away from the enemy or you manipulating yourself, you are manipulating the enemy and moving them towards/away from you.
An example of how the arm works in practical application a Stinger example was used for the fans (this more or less confirms that Nero has a Stinger type move for Red Queen). The quickness of the Devil Arm allows the player to completely negate the Stinger knockback, meaning as soon as you pull off Stinger, you can pull out the Devil Arm to bring the enemy back to you! Stinger is now changed from a combo finisher to a combo starter.
Kobayashi states that Devil May Cry has mostly been about the binary relationship between guns and swords, but DMC4 takes it one step forward by forming a triangular relationship among the Devil arms + Abilities, the guns and the swords. Kobayashi has this to say, " The DMC3 battle system is very good but it feels split up, I wish there was a more cohesive system. [The Devil Arm] is not about replacing the Style system. What we want to do is increase the number of ways you can go about battling. You have your sword, your gun and now you have the arm."
Devil Trigger
Kobayashi' s comment about the Devil Trigger or lack there of for Nero, " Since Nero isn' t of Sparda progeny, he probably won' t be able to undergo a full tranformation, but that doesn' t mean the mechanic will vanish completely from DMC4." Unfortunately this is the aspect of DMC4 that is still under work, and Kobayashi only teases with, " The key word on Devil Trigger is ' Devil' - but that' s something - as far as its relationship to Nero - we' re not ready to explore just yet..."
So, with a year left in development and a year left to work with PS3, the visuals we' ve seen so far are obviously going to get FAR better. This game is going to be awesome and It' s just a shame it' s PS3 exclusive because like Lost Planet we may have gotten it in demo form via XBL.
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