I used to watch wrestling a lot more than I do
nowadays. Smackdown aired on basic cable, so I could flip it on and watch
some body slams and muscular men getting uncomfortably close together (as if
they wanted to kiss each other); I remember there was one fight between Rey
Mysterio and Batista that was more or less amazing. But when it hopped channels, I didn’t have
the will to chase after it -- and I never really watched RAW in the first
place, so I was out. And the last
wrestling game I played was Smackdown vs.
Raw 2010 (I think), which was pretty fun IMO…but my brother decided to
trade it in just ‘cause. Either that, or he hated spending most
matches unconscious and flat on his face.
I don’t know a
lot about wrestling, but I know some
stuff. I know who John Cena is, and not
just because of his
sudden memetic uprising. And it’s my
understanding that, as of the last Wrestlemania (at the very least) he’s the
WWE’s face. He’s its hero. He’s someone they’ve been pushing as a good
guy, even if that’s with the grace of a cinder block to the gut. But even if he and the WWE are way over the
top, I have a hard time ignoring the motto of “Loyalty, Hustle, Respect” --
especially in the face of Devil May Cry 4. Because the more I think about it, the more I
realize that’s part of what makes the game great. What do I mean? Well --
Oh, right.
I played WWE All-Stars,
too. Man, what a sick game.
So here’s the setup (and for those unaware, the
series chronology goes 3, 1, 4, 2). The Order of the Sword -- situated in Fortuna
-- is a religion that reveres the franchise’s esteemed demon Sparda as
something like a god. But during a holy
ceremony, Dante drops in and shoots Sanctus, the Order’s leader and totally not the pope, square in the
face. That throws everything into a
panic, and shortly after demons begin their infestation of the city and its
outskirts. Not a good situation to be
in.
Enter Nero, one of the Order’s recruits. With a crisis well in their midst and the
soldiers forced to pick up the pieces, Nero begins his pursuit of Dante to find
out the truth -- and by extension, make sure that his more-or-less girlfriend
Kyrie stays safe. What starts out as a
simple mission becomes much more complicated, though; Nero stumbles upon a plot
that threatens to unravel everything he knows and loves -- and he’ll have to deal with the awakening devil within along the
way.
So let’s start with the obvious issue. Show of hands: does anyone here actually
think that Dante is the game’s main villain?
No? Did anyone ever think that Dante was the main
villain? No? Didn’t think so.
I don’t know who Capcom was trying to fool. Anyone coming off of DMC3 knows that Dante isn’t the sort to turn heel, especially since
that game was all about his transformation into the goofy-yet-earnest demon
hunter we know today. Really, it was
patently obvious that Sanctus and/or The Order of the Sword would be full of
nasty folk, because of course they are.
Sanctus is old and wrinkly and in a position of power, and a religious
position no less -- so naturally, he’s the main villain who gets more demonic
as time passes and scoffs at the idea of love and decency. Likewise, The Order is obviously not what it appears to be, because it’s an organization full
of protocol and built on dogma.
I’m not saying that those archetypes and story
beats are forbidden (and I’ll explain why in a bit), but it’s no less
frustrating to see them so bold-faced wherever or whenever they appear. You can do a lot with a good set of villains,
and DMC3 proved that by putting
Vergil in direct opposition to Dante -- someone who not only shared his blood
and skills, but had a strong bond that created inherent tension. Meanwhile, Sanctus is evil because he’s the
pope, and clearly you can never ever trust the pope, or anyone with a fraction
of authority. It’s such a cop-out.
Also, I know that DMC4 originally came out in 2008, but it’s hard not to feel a
little uneasy in light of the discussions going on right now. To be specific: this game has a really
unnerving problem with its female characters.
Example: Gloria (an Order official who’s actually series mainstay Trish
in disguise) is introduced as someone who’s more or less a prototype of
Bayonetta, with all of the baggage that implies. But really, she only gets to have one cool
scene before she A) spends the rest of the game standing around and talking and
B) drops out of the game entirely. So
it’s easy to view her as an awkwardly jammed-in purveyor of fanservice. Also, female boss Echidna lives solely for
the sake of her children, and explains that she plans to merge with one
someday. That’s unfortunate and
unsettling.
The special edition tries to fix this by adding in
Trish and Lady as playable characters -- and let’s not think too hard about
their redesigns, Lady’s in particular -- but it still can’t do anything to
change the story. So Kyrie’s a major
missed opportunity, just as she was back then; she spends big swaths of the
game away from the action, and gets reintroduced solely to be captured; after
that, she spends the rest of the game silent and practically comatose. She’s a damsel in distress, and in a universe
where most named characters can casually defy physics, that’s a baffling issue.
At a base level, DMC4’s story is cripplingly simple.
Pared down to basics -- which the game itself does -- it’s no more
evolved than Mario’s first quest to save Princess Peach from Bowser three
decades ago. The knight has to save the
princess from the evil wizard/dragon/pope, and win her heart as well as her
freedom. Oh sure, there are extra
circumstances that put some meat on the game’s bones, but it’s hard to feel
like progress has been made.
That’s especially true, because it’s Nero’s story
-- and Dante doesn’t technically contribute that much to it. He gets the plot in motion, but disappears
for huge periods of time. And when he
does reappear to take Nero’s place, he doesn’t contribute very much besides
play cleanup crew. He gets to do some
stunts, sure, but story-wise he’s doing what everyone blasts the game for:
having the player run through levels backwards.
Gameplay-wise Dante is a substantive addition; the problem is that he
gets so little time to spread his wings that those who love the red-clad hunter
are bound to be left wanting.
So if that’s all true, then why do I still like DMC4’s story? Maybe it’s because -- much like John Cena --
the game is built on loyalty, hustle, and especially
respect.
Yeah, DMC4 isn’t
what I’d call high art, but even if it’s got an annoyingly-simple story, it
still puts up the effort. It tries to be
more than a bunch of cool action scenes strung together, and that’s made
obvious from the opening cutscene.
Nero’s slashing his way through hordes of demons, but he’s doing it to
the sound of a peaceful hymn. Likewise,
that opening doesn’t end with some goofy one-liner or high-octane finish; it
ends with Nero in his seat and smiling contently at Kyrie -- proof that he made
it to an event that mattered to her…even if it didn’t really matter to
him. The prologue is, admittedly, pretty
simple and probably not that original (I can only imagine how many times soft
songs and heavy action have been juxtaposed), but it’s effective in the sense
that A) it tells you what kind of game DMC4
is, B) it shows you what sort of person Nero is.
The game isn’t just content with saying “Kyrie’s
in trouble, so go rescue her, idiot!” It
takes time to at least try and establish the bond between this newcomer and his
main squeeze -- and honestly, I think it’s successful at that. Nero’s a sarcastic, standoffish rebel, but
he’s not without merit; there are things he genuinely cares about. Kyrie’s the obvious one -- and he goes the
distance to try and make her happy, even before
her kidnapping a ways into the game -- but he shows respect to her brother
Credo even if they don’t always get along.
He cares about the people near to him that need
saving, but he also cares about society at large; as tough as he tries to be,
he’s inherently worried about how people will respond to his gnarly-looking
Devil Bringer. And given how bashful he
gets at the end when he’s reunited with Kyrie, a part of me wonders if he’s acting tough instead of being tough.
So I have to ask again: who’s better, Dante or
Nero? DMC4 heavily skews toward Dante -- and that’s exactly the point.
The devs likely -- and rightfully -- reasoned that
no one can top Dante, especially a Dante who’s in top form. Nero gets his moments, sure, but Dante’s
scenes and character are more OTT. The
original demon hunter is clearly stronger than the new kid on the block, to the
point where he taunts and trolls Nero throughout their first battle. (Nero proves how much of a greenhorn he is by
falling prey to the trolling.) No matter
what the gameplay implies, the proof is all there: Nero isn’t Dante, can’t take
Dante’s place, and will never be Dante. Earning Dante’s respect is the best he can do
-- and he does, well before game’s end.
And in turn, Nero’s quest for respect -- his need to prove himself, and
his worth -- becomes a meta-contextual quest aimed directly at the player.
Nero has an advantage in the game that Dante
doesn’t: the struggle. In their opening fight, Dante laughs off a
sword lodged deep in his chest; that’s not to say Nero doesn’t take obscene
amounts of punishment, either, but in cutscenes or out of them, Dante’s clearly
playing by his rules. More to the point,
Dante can rely on fellow hunters who can and will take care of themselves; he doesn’t
have a stake in the conflict besides “there are baddies, so I’m gonna kick
their asses.” Okay, sure, he cares more
than he lets on -- he pays tribute to a dying Credo, and he makes sure the
people are kept safe thanks to Trish (so I guess Dante’s a better hero than Man of Steel Superman, huh?) but he
doesn’t really have a reason to get worked up.
Nero does.
Even if he’s an outcast, Nero still cares about
Fortuna. It’s his home, and it’s where
innocent people go about their day-to-day lives -- even if that means they put
stock in a religion he doesn’t buy into.
More importantly, he’s got people like Kyrie and Credo to keep in mind; Fortuna
and The Order matter WAY more to them, so it matters to him by proxy. And even beyond that, the two of them form
Nero’s impromptu family. It’s a safe bet
that they would have been a straight-up family before long, at least if the
plot hadn’t happened and Credo bit it hard.
I suppose you could say that DMC4 asks more out of its players than smokin’ sick combos, and
wants them to do more than marvel at then-cutting-edge action scenes. Back then, and now, the game asks players to
have empathy. It wants people to
understand that even if devils, religious sects, and coastal towns with a
gothic flair don’t mean anything to them, all of those things mean something to
the people in there. It’s their
world. It’s a lot to ask, sure, so the
game tries its best to make a compelling argument. As it should, the story offers up evidence as
to why anyone should care about
things that aren’t real. And at the
center of that effort? Nero and his effort -- his long, hard struggle to
see Kyrie’s smiling face.
Nero tries to play the joker, but that doesn’t
even last to the end of his first section of the game. Once Sanctus and The Order has their plans
revealed -- that they’ll take on demonic power and control the world, with
their mobile goliath The Savior as their bargaining chip -- things go from bad
to worse, and Nero has a bad time. At best, he can only make Dante back off
instead of earn a decisive win. He sees
that even a couple of peons are demons in disguise. He gives into his demonic power, even if that
means further isolation from his peers.
He has to fight Credo despite his desperate
attempts to back down…and then Kyrie sees just enough to have her faith in Nero
shaken, which in turn threatens to break Nero.
And then Nero does break when
Kyrie gets nabbed. And then he gets
nabbed in turn and shoved inside The Savior, wherein he laments that he
couldn’t save her from being used as not only a peon of the devil-pope, but a
living battery for a doomsday weapon.
And worst of all? He has to play
a stupid dice game, twice.
The poor guy handles it about as well as you’d
expect -- which involves a whole lot of rage, frustration, despair, screaming,
disgust, self-pity, and ground-punching.
It’s not the most subtle or dignified expression of emotions, but at
least he is expressing emotions. At least the player gets to see him be more
than a cocky joker. As a result of
Nero’s regularly-displayed, easily-understood turmoil, he becomes
sympathetic. He becomes someone we care
about, and someone who we want to see succeed -- and when he does succeed (in
what I think might be one of my new favorite villain defeats ever), we’re happy
for him.
But that success had to be earned. And it IS earned, because Nero’s struggle is
apparent every step of the way. He isn’t
as cool as Dante because he does ridiculous stunts whenever he’s on-camera;
he’s cool in his own right because even with all the obstacles and setbacks in
his path, he blows right through them to get what he wants most: Kyrie by his
side. He’s not a retread, and while he
may not be what everyone expected -- or even asked for -- his adventure is something
that makes the character and the game at large worthy of respect.
That really is the crux of the whole game when you
think about it. Dante doesn’t think much
of Nero when they first meet, but once the latter shows off his resolve (again
and again), the former shows some much-needed respect -- to the point where he
entrusts a family memento to a guy he just met.
Nero and Credo have a mutual respect for each other, because at the very
least they’re both out to protect Kyrie; Credo just happens to go astray
because he also has respect for
Sanctus, The Order, and its teachings.
Dante respects Trish and Lady enough to let them
go about their business, even if that’s because Trish has to put the pressure
on Dante. Kyrie gains newfound respect
and love for Nero despite the Credo clash, because she saw how far he went just
to hold her in his arms. Critically, the
bosses’ lack of respect leads them towards some pretty bad choices against Nero
and Dante -- which ends up getting them beaten and ultimately killed.
On one hand, you could accuse Sanctus of the same
lack of respect; he gives no value to human life and love, which puts yet
another target on his back. On the other
hand, Sanctus understands the concept
of respect, and uses it in a pretty interesting way. Yes, he’s out for world domination, but he
doesn’t wipe cities off the map with The Savior; his plan all along was to
create a demon infestation and then clean them out, all so he could take the
credit -- and more importantly, so that people would revere him and The Savior
as a guarantor of peace. He weaponized
respect by creating false hope; that’s pretty cool. Shame that it only comes into play way late in the game and we don’t see
the full ramifications of it, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut the idea is there. Gotta make room for Dante to blow up demon
frogs.
I don’t think that the theme of respect is an
accidental one. Like I said, the bosses
don’t exactly show respect to our leading men in this game -- but in the previous game, they did it all the time. Cerberus, Agni and Rudra, Nevan, and Lady are
all willing to give Dante their power/weapons once he’s proven himself to them;
he’s earned their respect, and they see fit to reward him. Even Vergil gets in on the action, arguably;
with lines like “Now I’m motivated” and “This may be fun” tossed out at
liberty, it’s obvious he sees Dante as a worthy opponent, albeit an errant one.
Whether it’s DMC3,
DMC4, or the series as a whole, it’s all about respect. (And as a corollary, loyalty and hustle.) No matter what the stories entail, the
gameplay is all about giving the player a chance to earn respect -- even if
it’s only self-respect by virtue of playing alone in an empty room, but
whatever. Okay, sure, you can win with the basics and the bare minimum
of what the combat system allows, but the franchise skews heavily toward giving
the player the tools to create the ultimate, stylish offense. If you want Dante and Nero (and Vergil, and
Lady, and Trish) to be cool guys, then that opportunity is there. If the story fails to let these people earn
the player’s respect, then the gameplay compensates. But I’m of the opinion that the story doesn’t fail -- and because of the
interplay of the two halves, the end result is something special.
DMC4 tried
to be something more. It tried as hard
as it could -- and that effort alone is something worth celebrating.
So why did the whole thing get rebooted?
Tune in next time for the finale -- because THAT
QUESTION WILL BE ANSWERED NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE WWE SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER
SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!
…By which I mean this blog.
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