WARNING: Long, rambling tirade approaching.
Uhh, guys?
[img src="http://www.infoaddict.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/superman1.jpg" /]
For your consideration. A character design that's more than 80 years old and still in circulation. This was never fashionable to begin with, but the iconography outweighs the realism or trendiness of any alternatives and thus no matter how many times they've tried to give old Sups an "update," DC always returns to this design--usually after no small amount of bashing from... well, everybody, fan and non-fan alike. You don't just change an image that's cemented into peoples' minds because you don't think it's "with it." In fact, the most certain way to make something feel incredibly dated is to try and "update" it instead of remain true to its original spirit. Changing the look and music to something that feels more "modern" means grounding it in stuff that will be completely out-of-style in less than five years.
All those general arguments aside, I've voiced my argument against this character design many a time, and it has nothing to do with whether or not it's the original Dante or not. This guy looks sickly and mangy, like he's been living in a dumpster. Devil May Cry--and Dante himself, in fact--is about stylishness. He's all about being a vain, showboating jackass. The FIRST THING the old Dante would say, looking at this guy? "Dude. it's called a COMB. Ya might wanna try one sometime. Phew! And a shower."
This is a guy who, facing a villain who had taken on the visage of his father--and then subsequently a giant blob, claiming that he had attained the power of "the REAL Sparda," simply replied, "Dude! My father wasn't so hideous! Ain't you ever gotten a look at me?" and proceeded to casually admire himself in the reflection of his sword before continuing to taunt him. He'd never stand for this getup. The fact that Ninja Theory can't hone in on that characterization is very concerning for fans, because that characterization is very closely linked to the style-based game mechanics--which means they could easily screw those up as well as the tone of the story.
I'm going to try and keep an open mind. Best-case scenario says that this western developer has a lot to offer and can give the DMC series better environments than it's had in a while. On the other hand I'm also a firm believer in Murphy's Law, and this is the same group responsible for Heavenly Sword, which illustrates very clearly how poor a grasp they've got on both storytelling and mechanics. Frankly if I can't trust them with their own IP, I'm not sure I can trust them with an entry in a major game franchise, either.
Furthermore, their attitude per this column suggests that of all the games to be handling they shouldn't be doing this one. They've got a strong sense of film envy; the original game was more arcadey in nature, which is something they'll miss or ignore in their attempts to imitate movies that DMC has nothing to do with. They're a western developer--based in England, in fact--and don't seem to have a good sense of Japanese pop culture; anybody who knows anything about it knows that DMC 1 or 3's Dante is pretty tame compared with some of the things people wear in downtown Tokyo.
Hey, Ninja Theory. Ever seen Gackt?
Yeah, that guy Square's based every character design they've made since 1998 on? News flash: Peak of fashion. Seriously, the guy's one of the biggest rock stars in Japan. You wanna tell me how THIS...
... is honestly any worse? And this isn't even taking into account the fact that people flounce around in Victorian-inspired dresses in public down there, among other absurd fashion trends. Seriously, Ninja Theory, you'd be so much more credible if you left the Tokyo fashion argument out of this. It just says to me that you don't know anything about Japanese pop culture and therefore don't understand a lot of the roots of the series--not just action films like Blade, but all the manga that Hideki Kamiya referenced in developing the original character concept as well. Two more things while we're on this track. First, it's at this time I want to draw to your attention that I'm an UNPAID FAN and I've done more research than they have. Second. Well.
If the Gackt argument didn't win you over, here's Wesley Snipes. And you know what? He still looks damn good like that. What's the problem with Dante's old character design again? I wouldn't go out on the streets like that myself, but that's the thing--Blade's not a normal person. Gackt isn't a normal person. Most of all, Dante isn't a normal person. He's a freaking rock star, as are many heroes of this kind.
Okay. Rambling like hell, getting back on track.
They talk about this being an "origin story;" what origin? Dante was born to a human woman and a demon-turned-hero called Sparda, with an identical twin brother named Vergil. Shit hits the fan, all hell literally breaks loose. Who you gonna call? Devil May Cry. Dante at your service. That's the origin! There honestly ain't a lot to it, and most of it was told in DMC3. How many origins can the guy have? Or is it that Ninja Theory just wasn't paying attention and doesn't care? Being the pessimist, I'd lean more towards the latter. Remember, explaining shit that doesn't need to be explained often spoils a story. The Star Wars prequels taught us that much. Even if there is room to say more about Dante's backstory, that doesn't mean you should, because like with so many rogues and scoundrels a lot of the charm in him is the mystery.
Finally, they talk about Dante having to be cool, but they define "cool," visually, with a mangy, incredibly sickly-looking zombie raver man who looks like he got rejected from the set of "The Crow." Yeah. Arms like sticks, gaunt skin, sunken eyes, and hair that looks like it's recovering from leukemia treatment is totally cool. Meanwhile he's got that voice. That gravely-sounding, smouldering voice, like a volcano. Hold on, wasn't Dante in DMC3 and 4 voiced by the guy who played Adam from the original Power Rangers? Why the hell can't I have that? Was he too fun to listen to? Were the table scraps of Cole McGrath from inFamous 1 really more appealing? You notice Sucker Punch did that once and are changing his voice to something more normal for the second game. Gee, I wonder why. Could it be that gravely, ten-pack-a-day voices are trite, irritating, and distracting, and not cool in the slightest? Could it be that some of your creative choices are actually detracting from the credibility of your story rather than adding to it?
Like, say... Dante fighting the government? Really. The government? This is officially a 90's Image comic (for those who don't know about Image: just do an image search on "Rob Liefeld," and get the eye-wash ready). At least I assume that's the government. Somehow this actually takes the theme of rebellion throughout the series and makes it even more trite, turning it into a juvenile quest to stick it to the man rather than a tale about responsibility and family ties. I'm being unfair, though--we don't know all that much about the story yet. It's just a teaser, after all. Still, it does have that 90's "grim and gritty" comic book tone to it. Kind of reminds me more of inFamous, Prototype, and the Incredible Hulk than Devil May Cry. Maybe that's just me, though.
Suppose you look past all this. Keep an open mind about the character design and have some faith that if they've got pre-packaged mechanics to work with then maybe they won't mess up the game design or try to needlessly fix what ain't broke.
It still doesn't bode well at all that the very first thing that Ninja Theory had to do after releasing their first teaser was IMMEDIATELY rush to defend the character design. From a PR standpoint, that's either like admitting it's bad but saying "we don't care, we like it better anyway because we made it," or like telling all the fans that they're wrong and what they like is stupid. If that's what you think, what does that say about your interest in doing this game justice? Any way you slice it they're in a bad situation trying to sell this game to begin with and are at this point digging themselves into a hole.
Me? I'll be happy if the game doesn't suck, but I'll be bracing myself for the worst...
