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 >30fps (DMC3 and DMC4 ran at 60)
 >No lock on
 >no taunt
 >two evade buttons
 >Heavy/light combat system
 >Stinger is now forward+forward+combo button
 >grapple + heavy attack will instakill most mooks (or send them flying; grapple will bring them right back)
 >heavy attacks ramp up style gauge because it works off damage (more damage you do, higher your rank rises)
 >style ranking does not depreciate unless you get hit
 >dedicated launcher button (devil mode + special button = high time)
 >Donte uses Nero's combos and moves; Streak, Roulette Spin, grapple
 >First boss has only 4 attacks (Right/left swipe, spit, scream)
 >parrying a swipe enters a mini-cutscene where Donte stuns the boss and you can wail on it
 >parrying is done by pressing the attack button at the right time so you can auto-parry while mashing
 >Stinger/Streak auto-parries if you send it into an oncoming attack
 >parry window is 1 second
 >Devil Trigger causes an explosion which knocks normal enemies up into the air
 >it also causes bullet time
 >it also regenerates your health during all this
 >the long you stay in the air using the floaty air combat, the slower the DT bar drains
 >you can stay in the air indefinitely as long as you have an enemy to wail on
 >grapple and slow motion ensures this
 >Tameem admits that we've already seen at least 70% of the game, and two extremely major boss fights.The first of which takes place 1/3 of the way through the game
 
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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuoUfyMUQTc
 
 >Rhianna Pratchett wrote Heavenly Sword
 >Alex Garland wrote Enslaved
 >Ninja Theory's internal writers are doing DmC
 
 >My job was to brainstorm the story, characters, relationship, themes, etc. with Tameem Antoniades (creative director) and Andy Serkis (dramatic director) and then write up profiles, revise story documents, and completely rewrite the script (without changing the basic spine of the story too much) with those ideas in mind. From that the cutscenes were drawn and visually scoped out.
 
 http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2007/09/rhianna-pratchett-talks-heavenly-sword-sony-and-andy-serkis/
 
 >Rhianna Pratchett had to COMPLETELY REWRITE THE SCRIPT when she joined the project
 
 >"I guess if I were to make a criticism it would relate to character and consistency. Making sure characters are true to themselves, and true to some kind of larger truth, which relates to the recipients of the narrative. That is to say, the player. Us. For example, I think the first serious discussion we had about the narrative was on the very first day that I, Tameem and the level designers all sat down together. We got to a section where Monkey was walking down a walkway, and he sees an escaping slave trying to pull himself up to the walkway. And instead of helping the guy up, Monkey kicked him in the face and sent him to his death. They thought that projected the idea that Monkey was a badass. Whereas, to me, it projected the idea that Monkey was a bit of a cunt."
 
 http://www.edge-online.com/features/interview-alex-garland-part-two
 
 >Ninja Theory's writers think being a massive dick is being badass
 >this is reflected in Donte.
 
 
 
 -----
 
 
 I guess you can only appreciate some stuff when its taken away.
 
 I remember hack and slash games without lockon systems like God of War and Dante's Inferno. Don't get me wrong i love those games but the fact that the skill ceiling for performing combos is easily attained makes it somehow blander in terms of gameplay. Those games relied on subsequent button presses and interchanging light attack and strong attack to get to different kinds of moves. But the problem with those kinds of dial-a-combo mechanics is that you don't have access to the later moves without performing the prerequisite moves.
 
 In fighting games you can access a myriad of moves because your character is ALWAYS facing against the opposing character. This meant that a constant facing direction can create different moves with only a single button but with different directional inputs or motions. Down, Forward A will always be different from Down, Back A.
 
 In hack and slash games with lock-on systems, you can artificially simulate this constant facing with the lock on. When locked on to an enemy, you are artificially locking a 2d axis between you and the enemy, which distinguishes a certain orientation of back and forward (Nevan from DMC3 even utilized left and right)
 
 Bayonetta had both a lock on system and dial-a-combos which meant she had a fuckton of options at anytime.
 
 DmC removing lock on in favor of soft lock for the closest enemy meant that there were essentially less moves that could be mapped onto practical button layouts or motions.
 
 One of the biggest gripes i have with this game is the exceedingly retarded Royalguard/Parry/Blocking system they have.
 
 From what i've seen, you block attacks in this game by clashing your attacks at the same time with the enemy's. This is an absolute step down from previous games because you had both Weapon Clashes and different kinds of parries that were different from each other.
 
 In DmC, because some attacks have a retarded amount of active frames (frames where the attack can register) like the axe, it is pretty easy to parry bosses. In one of the Hardmode runs of DmC on CapcomUnity's video channel, i saw the stinger-like rush attack of the angel scythe (which looked a lot like Nero's Streak) completely parry all of the projectiles launched by an ice mook. I thought that that was probably a fluke and was a pretty cool maneuver until he did it again a few seconds after. tl;dr rushing towards the enemy with angel stinger has full parry frames
 
 In the FUCK YOU boss fight, the demon axe is used to easily bring down the boss to a crumple state (made famous by the SSSensational! gifs and videos). Players have repeatedly stated that the parry window for the axe was RETARDEDLY HUGE. Like at least a second.
 
 In the previous series, clash frames were few and far between and the parry window for royal guard was VERY PUNISHINGLY SMALL. You get a silver parry/release if you parry within 5-8 frames of the parry animation. You get a little chip damage and if you opted for a release you only travelled a short distance. The gold parry/release probably only 1-5 frames because of how fucking hard it is to pull off. Mastering Royalguard is quite a fulfilling achievement in itself.
 
 Not to mention the terrible names they have for the parries in DmC
 
 >cool parry
 >EPIC PARRY
 
 DMC3 and 4 sent a message to the player. The gameplay tutorial outright states that you can block ANY attack in the game provided that you are skilled enough to perform it, let alone ATTEMPT to try it.
 
 Royalguard's release system is also probably one of the most badass and hardest mechanics to exist in all vidya. It is one of the coolest counterattack mechanic there is because of the sheer skill gate that exists to even use it.
 
 Nothing is more satisfying than seeing an enemy/boss charging up their ultimate attack only to be nullified like it was nothing.
 
 And then taunting afterward.
 
 The difficulty of pulling off a Just Frame Royalguard in Devil May Cry games meant that players had to develop different kinds of technology to reliably execute it every time.
 
 See in fighting games they have this term called 'Technology'. It basically meant in-game mechanics that were used in either an enhanced or a different way as to give it more utility.
 
 Naked parrying is very hard to do. You have to guard at nearly the same time the attack hits you. But because Devil May Cry games had such a great combat engine that allowed for all kinds of bullshit, people found out that there were other ways off pulling off Gold Parries using clever Option Selects and creative use of cancelling.
 
 The easiest of which was abusing the Invincibility frames of certain moves and then cancelling it into a Guard (reminiscent of Roll Cancelling in Capcom vs. SNK 2)
 
 Because Parries/Guards were active on its very first frame, rolling through enemy attacks (which was possible due to the invincibility of the roll) and then abruptly performing a Parry meant that you had inputted the Parry in the middle of an enemy's attack, thereby resulting in a Gold Parry because it was within the 5 frame window (in the first frame even). This technique could even be used to pull off Gold Releases because you are in a grounded state during a roll and rolls could be cancelled into Release attempts.
 
 The easiest way to abuse Royalguard was with jumping. Jumping has an ample amount of invincibility (all the way to the top) and at any time you can cancel into a Parry, taking on its invincible property and Parrying at the very first frame of an attack you were jumping through.
 
 This is why i love DMC and Bayonetta. Their combat mechanics are so well made and have so many interesting quirks and intricacies that you can do so much shit in them.
 
 The Devil May Cry series has always had a tradition of trying out new stuff and retaining the good mechanics
 
 DMC
 >pretty much started the genre
 >had jump cancelling for some reason
 
 DMC2
 >was a bad game but it had a ton of shit
 >introduced a dedicated dodge button, could do crazy stuff like wall runs
 >put in aerial raves
 >put in streamlined in-game weapon switching
 >Bloody Palace
 >playable Trish and Lucia
 
 DMC3
 >introduced the Style system
 >best combat engine of all DMCs
 >CUHHRAAYZZIEE
 >playable Vergil and Nelo Angelo
 
 DMC4
 >added on the fly style switching (which expanded what Dante can do in game EXPONENTIALLY)
 >New character Nero to pander to grabby (12 year old button mashers, not superior patrician /v/ players that play both GoW type games and Stylish Fast Paced Action Games) audience
 >redeemed by awesome Exceed system, Countergrabs and fuck awesome parries
 
 So forgive me if i had very high expectations for DMC5. Knowing the dev team that makes DMC games i was sure that they would keep all the good stuff and add even more crazy stuff if that was even humanly possible.
 
 Instead we get Heavenly Sword 2: Electric FUCK YOU edition
 
 DmC
 >removed lock on, thereby removing so many button input combinations resulting in a game with even LESS moves to utilize
 >floaty slow air combat, each air attack has retarded amounts of float and you can demon grapple in the air indefinitely
 >jump cancelling is still in but only for sword normals, fancy specials in the air are locked in frame
 >with the removal of lock on, basic moves have been given either their own buttons on the pad or awkward motions that make it hard to pull off a flowing, coherent combo with mash buffering (eg. forward forward stinger, dedicated launcher button)
 >no taunts (seriously come on)
 >style system removed in favor of demon and angel mode, which is basically a rip-off of Heavenly Sword's Heavy/Light stance system
 
 
 what a fucking step backwards for the series
 
 -----
 
 >people saying they beat DMC games and it wasn't hard
 >on Normal
 
 Hell even if you say Hard or Very Hard it still doesn't mean anything. The real DMC experience starts at DMD.
 
 >Very Hard - This difficulty is only available in the Special Edition version of the game. It is unlocked by beating the game on Hard. Bosses attack even more frequently. The player deals less damage and takes more damage from enemies.
 >Lesser demons and bosses health: 200%
 >Lesser demons and bosses damage: 200%
 
 >Dante Must Die - This difficulty is unlocked by beating the game on Hard.
 >Enemies are hostile and deal more damage.
 >They also have access to Devil Trigger and activates it after a certain period of time.
 >Enemies now have access to all of their moves
 >Lesser demons and bosses health: 250%
 >Lesser demons and bosses damage: 250%
 
 >Cerberus spamming icicles and floor freeze
 >Hell vanguard triple teleport slash
 >Agni and Rudra tempest
 >Leviathan double laser at all times
 >double Geryon missiles and spears
 >Beowulf throwing 5 barrels instead of 3 and jumping around like a motherfuck
 >Lady zipping around and shitting mines and grenades with whatever thing she does
 >Vergil getting PISS DICK CUNT SUMMONED SWORDS
 
 Have you guys ever fought Vergil? But on DMD? Because he gets this bullshit move in DMD called summoned/spiral swords. This single fucking move catapulted him to S tier in Ultimate Marvel Versus Capcom 3 because it was CHEAPER THAN FUCKING STRIDER HIRYU'S OUROBOUROS.
 
 Fighting Vergil is pretty hard right? On DMD even harder sure but that is not what makes him so fucking cheap its those swords. Imagine fighting him, but he had a fucking hulahoop of death around him, about 50% of the time. They were fucking durable and took 3 hits of Kalina Ann to break them and they can perma stun you once you get hit. Oh yeah he also puts them into formation when he gets tired of having that FANCY GAY SKIRT OF RAPE
 
 DMC3's Quicksilver Style also has some interesting tech.
 
 Quicksilver is a style that you get after beating that flaming blue ponyfuck Geryon. Quicksilver allows you to slow down time and basically get tons of hitstun of off attacks and enemies drop slower in juggles, wallbounces are also affected that you can actually stinger and then run behind enemies to continue combos. Quicksilver has a ton of uses and a bunch of people better than i can use them so skillfully that all sorts of crazy shit can be done with it.
 
 But one interesting property of Quicksilver is that when you activate it, you become invincible for at LEAST 2 SECONDS. THAT'S RIGHT FUCKER. 120 FRAMES OF FUCKING INVINCIBILITY. YOU CAN ACTIVATE QUICKSILVER AT ANY TIME AS LONG AS YOU ARE NOT BEING KNOCKED DOWN OR IN HITSTUN.
 
 Essentially once you equip Quicksilver there are no excuses. If you get hit, it just means you are a slow witted fuck who should probably stick to playing fucking enslaved.
 
 Hell you can even buffer the invincibility during taunts.
 
 >fighting against Beowulf
 >He attempts to use his biggest, meanest Volcano light pillar attack
 >he winds his arm back and says CRUSH SPARDA
 >turn your back against him and taunt
 >"HEY! DO YOUR JOB!"
 >Volcano explodes
 >activate and deactivate Quicksilver while taunting
 >light pillar dissipates
 >beowulf is in recovery frames after his massive attack
 >you are still taunting him
 >no fucks are given
 
 ---
 This is some stuff that i've been fooling around for the past few years. Its kind of a pet project of mine. I read once on a developer interview for DMC3 that every unique enemy attack in the game had a specific audio cue to it. The timing was always constant which meant that Royalguarding an enemy attack purely based on hearing is extremely viable.
 
 I tried it and holy shit i did work. Eventually i tried fighting bosses with my eyes closed or with a blindfold. For some enemies (like the flaming blue horse chariot) it was really hard to fight them because you had to see where they were to get on top of them (but the volume of its hooves clopping meant that you could gauge the distance of where it is)
 
 But some enemies like the Hell Vanguard, it became easier to fight them because all of their audio cues telegraphed their attack in advance that you could be able to dodge or parry simply by listening. It even got to the point that i could kill HVGs with my eyes closed with only royal guard.
 
 But the real prize was Mission 20 Vergil. Vergil on lower difficulties than DMD is a total cakewalk while blindfolded. His attacks are very easily telegraphed and punished (while blindfolded) with the tracking killer bee dive kick of beowulf.
 
 The thing that separates regular Vergil from DMD Vergil is his access to Summoned Swords. Yes you can hear him say 'Don't get so cocky' and you know the swords are out but it is very hard to tell what action he does next because he is covered in constant active frames of the swords and you can't option select your way out of it. I've tried guard cancelling rolls or simply running away at the sound of his teleport with swords but it is still really difficult to do because of the constant active frames he has around him. Normal option selects just don't cut it (unless you can reliably parry his swords while standing next to him.)
 
 I can't bear to think how badly NT will rape new Vorgin's boss fight, i bet they'll fill it with HURR CINEMATIC VISCERAL shit and all sorts of environmental bullshit of some kind.