I haven't really sat down and played any of the myriad "HD Remaster" games that are about. The remastered BioShock games, and my old favourites, like Baldur's Gate, still sit on my hard disk, and other than the recent, (and exceptional) Final Fantasy VII Remake - there's nothing that I've gone back to visit that I haven't played on the original console.
Enter Devil May Cry - like I recently stated in my DMC: Devil May Cry review, visiting the origin story of a character I barely remember outside of a flurry of animation, death, and countless hours parked in front of my PlaySation 2, I had an appetite to revisit the Devil May Cry franchise.
I've now played two games in the series - the orignal (which I had done so in the past on the PS2 - but I couldn't remember much) - and the Ninja Theory developed reboot.
I have now revisited the game in total, and from a HD Remaster point of view, its .. well, playable. I feel as though the visual art and styling of this game have aged far better, given they're a full twelve years older than the prior game I played in the series, that's a feat.
The cinematics are terribly done, and no effort was made here - they look awful. They were mindblowing, at the time, however. When the in-game graphics look better than the cinematics, you've got a problem, and I really hope that this issue is abolished forever in the future - it is a trend that too many developers follow, and one that breaks immersion a lot.
Five hours is all it took me to go through the entirety of a trip down nostalgia lane into the secrets of Mallet Island, where a woman named Trish drags Dante along to help destroy some vile and elemental evil that is threatening to take over the Earth.
The game is very linear, but it is packed with secrets that you need to go hunting for. The fact that its stable, controls well, and runs butter smooth as a remaster is a boon. It does everything that it says it should do on its box.
There's a difference here though, there's more stuff in the box than just Devil May Cry, that game I remember so fondly, pulling off daring combos and slaying marionettes to pieces. There's another few remastered games, which I've not even touched. They're next.
Devil May Cry may not have the most accomplished storyline, or memorable plot, but playing them in the order I have is not something that I'm dissapointed by. The events of the "first" game are really well fleshed out by Ninja Theory's work, and as a result, I found a new appreciation for the character that I didn't really enjoy all that much at first.
That's something that is good - characters changing and growing in fiction is an important part of any story. There's... not much story here, but the fact that it is filled in by the "reboot" definitely made me appreciate this bundle of nostalgia a little bit more than I would've had I gone hunting for a second hand PlayStation 2 and a copy of this game.
Not much to see here, just a competent effort at modernising an old game. Thank you, Capcom!