The original Devil May Cry is, in a roundabout way, itself a remake – a lot of its central concepts come from an earlier prototype of Resident Evil 4, back when the Leon-led sequel was a more gothic, conventional survival horror. Released in 2001, while DMC 2 fell dramatically short of people’s expectations, every other Devil May Cry game (including and especially Ninja Theory’s DmC, which is my own personal favorite) has been a confident hit. Now, with the series’ 25th anniversary getting closer, Hideki Kamiya, the legendary developer behind some of Capcom’s greatest hits, including Resident Evil 2 and Viewtiful Joe, shares his opinions on a would-be Devil May Cry remake.
It’s strange, and, strictly speaking, grammatically incorrect to write about Devil May Cry in the past tense – it still exists; you can still play it. But nevertheless, back in 2001, it felt completely new, and unlike anything that Capcom had done before. The Resident Evil DNA was still strong – fixed camera angles, a castle filled with traps and puzzles, echoing RE 1’s Spencer mansion – but it was so fluid and fast paced. Part hack-and-slasher and part horror game, Devil May Cry was also super tough, especially the boss battles against the demonic Nelo Angelo.
In the era of Dead Space Remake, Bloober’s Silent Hill 2, the return of MGS 3, and, of course, Capcom’s own remakes of the classic Resident Evil games, it seems perfectly reasonable to imagine that the original Devil May Cry would get the treatment. Director and writer Hideki Kamiya, whose work also includes Bayonetta, and an upcoming sequel to cult Capcom hit Okami, addresses the possibility directly.
“A remake like that? Well, I would like to do that,” Kamiya says, in response to a question sent to his own YouTube channel. “I was really depressed when I was dumped by my girlfriend around 2000, so Devil May Cry is engraved in my heart with those memories.”
Kamiya, whose videos are machine translated from Japanese to English, also says that he wouldn’t want to remake Devil May Cry if it meant sacrificing the substance of the original game.
“It was a work that I made 24 years ago, and I don’t often play the games that I make myself, and I don’t play the original Devil May Cry either. I feel like it’s a game design from 24 years ago and I don’t have any desire to fully remake it with current technology and game design ideas. I wonder what I would do if I did. I don’t have anything in mind right now, and I don’t think I would unless I decide to do it.”
Between Onimusha Way of the Sword and, presumably, at some point, Resident Evil 9, plenty of Capcom’s tentpole series are coming back to life. Maybe Devil May Cry is due a victory lap. We’ll see.
In the meantime, try some of the other best single-player games, or the best old games that you can still run and enjoy today.
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