NuDante must now face... REAL LIFE CONSEQUENCES!
Ahem
All the professional sources seem to say Inafune announced it as a reboot, yet most people keep speculating that it isn't. The old fans and player-but-complainer-unfans seem particularly in denial that it isn't just a prequel to Dante's Awakening but in a different style. :P
I intended to joke about what the new Devil May Cry would be like when Inafune first announced that they would be redesigning the franchise to appeal more to the Western market. Then this came out.
I'm glad they didn't redesign the red coat as red space marine armor with huge pauldrons, implement first-person pov with the guns, and make Dante bald.:P
Anyway, I still like the action choreography--and I normally hate when most gamers go all "They Changed It, Now It Sucks"-- but this would be one of those rare times I feel hostile toward a "new direction. "
The original series gradually shifted from tongue-in-cheek homage to full-on affectionate parody of a self-indulgent fanfic written by a rabid fan of 90s Hong Kong cinema, action anime OVAs, and American comic books (with very mild gothic leanings for flavor). DMC4 seemed like it accidentally slipped a little. This seems like, after obviously running out of ideas midway into DMC4, they just decided to to base the games directly on bad fanfic.
Interestingly I've been seeing mixed reactions to this new game everywhere(everywhere where people actually even know about it). They really do seem to be attracting those who hated or avoided the previous games because they missed the point and wished it were more serious and less anime-esque.
I'm trying to withhold judgment, but I've got a feeling that in addition to the aesthetic, "more western," means less intuitive, so I won't be able to instinctively outplay more technically-minded players simply like I could with DMC 3. :(
On the bright side, they probably won't shy away from storytelling opportunities the way DMC 4 did. Though with Dante's more cavalier "rebel" attitude replaced by a seemingly angrier, angstier, scowling-middle-finger one, I'm not so sure how much of an improvement that will be.