Most video games are plagued by the law of diminishing returns.
In other words, it does not really matter how well a franchise starts; the more of it you get, the worse it becomes. Look at Mass Effect.
Mass Effect is probably one of the top three greatest gaming franchises ever made. I mean, where most titles struggle to follow amazing debuts with decent sequels, Mass Effect gave us three amazing games.
And then they got greedy. They decided that a trilogy was not good enough. They just had to try and squeeze one more installment out of their cash cow. The result was Mass Effect: Andromeda, a game so mediocre it does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Mass Effect.
But here is the thing. Devil May Cry does not seem to care about the law of diminishing returns. Capcom has given us five installments in the Devil May Cry franchise and they have all been great; so much so that a sixth entry in the series is currently on its way, and most of us could not be more excited.
The Devil May Cry series was initially Dante’s story. The son of a powerful demon lord and a human, Dante spent the first Devil May Cry trilogy fighting demons, gods, monsters, and fiends hell-bent on world domination.
Operating out of a small, dingy office, Dante leaped into action whenever supernatural conflict bled onto the streets. And when he was not shooting, hacking, slashing, and brawling with his paranormal foes, Dante could be found eating pizza, throwing dumb quips and riffing on his guitar.
DMC 4 changed things up somewhat, throwing Nero into the mix, a whiny punk who Capcom clearly hoped would replace Dante down the line, but who audiences did not think quite lived up to the role.
But even Nero haters will tell you they had a blast with DMC 4. Of course, things were not quite as straightforward with DMC: Devil May Cry, the fifth installment, which essentially rebooted Devil May Cry.
I loved the game. I thought the gameplay was fresh and engaging. The weapons were inventive and the villains made for an interesting challenge.
A lot of people hated the new protagonist, an angsty, teen Dante with a bad attitude and an angelic heritage. And they transferred that hate to the game as a whole.
I did not get the pessimism and some people actually believe that DMC 5, the upcoming installment, was developed partly because its predecessor failed so horribly. DMC 5 picks up with the story that DMC 4 started, bringing Nero back into the picture.
But Capcom has denied these suggestions, saying that DMC: Devil May Cry was not quite the financial failure everyone thinks it was. At the very least, they made their money back.
Honestly, while I loved DMC: Devil May Cry and wish they had followed it up with a sequel; you won’t find me throwing hate at Devil May Cry 5.
I have seen the trailers. I have seen the demos. I know Nero is back and he has a new robotic arm (Devil Breaker). I know Capcom is giving us the same old thing – giant monsters, demons with crazy designs, an endless offering of guns and swords, a reward system connected to the efficacy with which one performs impossible combos.
But for once I don’t care, because this is the Devil May Cry I want. And so long as we get Dante and his devil-may-care attitude, some Virgil action, and boss fights straight out of an anime, I will happily throw my money at DMC 5.
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