Thanks to AShadowLink for helping with edits.
I’m not good at “stylish action” video games. When the sub-genre was born during the Aughts, I basically avoided it in favor of platformers and adventure games, titles that are more my speed. Still, I could admire Devil May Cry from afar: a handful of my friends were fans, and watching them play the first, third, and fourth entries was exciting. None of them revered the second one, though. And the distaste for that game extends well beyond my high school clique—virtually all discussion of Devil May Cry 2 on- and offline decries its subpar quality. My colleague and avowed DMC fan, AShadowLink, strongly advised me to skip it.
AShadowLink’s also covered the game’s troubled development. Honestly, the fact that Devil May Cry 2 is even functional is probably a small miracle considering how turbulent things were behind the scenes. (Image: Capcom)
Although I acquired a taste for stylish action games through Bayonetta a decade ago, the genre’s pioneer has eluded me… until last year, when I went through and enjoyed the original Devil May Cry via the HD Collection. As if possessed by the rebellious spirit of franchise frontman Dante, though, I decided to try Devil May Cry 2. I finished his first mission, which eventually led to me finishing his campaign, which led to me finishing newcomer Lucia’s campaign, which led to me dabbling in Devil May Cry 2’s bonus content, and… yeah. Everyone is right; the game’s bad.
Superficially, Devil May Cry 2 retains its predecessor’s setup: you roam dusty corridors and fight monsters with your swords, guns, and “Devil Trigger” state. Activating or deactivating the stat-boosting transformation can be done on the fly, though using it depletes your Devil Trigger Gauge. Filling it up is simple, however: wailing on foes or getting wailed on does the trick (a few glowing magic platforms also automatically refill it). Challenge rooms, new weapons, and various items are hidden throughout each stage, giving you reason to explore.
Unsurprisingly, Devil May Cry 2 includes tougher difficulty modes and an easier one, adding some replay value. While I don’t intend to touch it, I hear the scoring system in “Dante Must Die” is rather strict. (Image: Capcom)
Other Devil May Cry hallmarks endure, too. You can incrementally increase your health and Devil Trigger Gauges by finding special orbs. Occasionally, you must use Red Orbs (which are found in the open and spawn from defeated enemies) to open locked gates, but the rest can be spent at God of Time statues on items or upgrades. There’s some light platforming here and there. Missions usually span ten or so minutes, and your performance is ranked upon completion. Dante and Lucia can carry items that restore their health or magic, although using one adversely affects your ranking.
Now, I should stress that I struggled through Devil May Cry; I had to move down to its easy difficulty. Not once did its sequel challenge me, though—Devil May Cry 2 is toothless. And it wastes no time communicating that: Dante’s first mission was shockingly boring. A quick cutscene covers his backstory as demon deity Sparta’s offspring, and that’s followed up with some of the most brainless fights I’ve ever powered through in a game. Demons appear and approach Dante, of course, but their behavior is… off. They’re not aggressive, don’t sync up with each other in interesting ways, and shooting them is the safest, easiest way to dispatch them. It’s so… nothing, so hollow.
Lucia’s campaign recycles a lot from Dante’s. They try mixing it up a little by making her go through some levels in reverse, but you’re effectively going through the same game twice. (Image: Capcom)
The issues with Devil May Cry 2‘s combat run deeper than that, though: sword attacks are ineffective. Dante’s slashes are clunky and you frustratingly still need to go through the menu to swap swords, so chaining moves together in a flashy, satisfying way is nigh impossible. And the game’s auto lock mechanic, despite trying to help, becomes a liability if you’re surrounded by a hoard of demons; Dante or Lucia will automatically flail at whichever monster has their attention (though a reticule now tells you which enemy they’re eyeing, thankfully). Dante’s four swords have different properties, apparently, but nothing particularly perceptible. After a while I gave up on his blades altogether and, lackluster combat rankings aside, was not punished for it.
Devil May Cry 2 rewards you for sticking to Dante’s guns—you can kindly now switch between them on the fly, and they trivialize most “threats.” See, Dante automatically aims at enemies when they approach him, and gunning them down will stun lock them—often in midair, comically—rendering them helpless. Any monsters Dante isn’t shooting usually just… stand around, patiently waiting their turns. You will never see most enemies finish their lethargic attack animations, since the gunslinger will lock onto and paralyze them long before they can. Some enemies might gesture towards retaliation; a few, like the durable golems, will employ their ineffective, short ranged attacks. A few later enemies are also more proactive and might even successfully hit you, but still. You’re never asked to master—or, really, even learn—any of the game’s mechanics. Just waltz in guns blazing!
Lucia’s slightly faster with her swords and kicks than Dante is, making her melee moves slightly more fun. While she favors projectile daggers over firearms, they function very similarly. (Image: Capcom)
Sadly, the boss fights, which should always be a highlight, fall just as flat. One of them, the speedy swordsman Bolverk, fights alongside his two wolves and is probably the most challenging boss DMC2 has. His less impressive, slower contemporaries just… toss chained balls, lasers, or other projectiles, usually while remaining fairly stationary. Unholy spider Phantom of the previous game returns, except he’s way less interesting: he’ll still protect his vulnerable head, but he’s weaker and you’re given much more room to maneuver around him.
Both heroes score an exclusive final boss. A shapeless blob acts as the first phase of Dante’s, and if any tension had been building up by this point, it would’ve been lost here. It fires attacks it inherited from prior bosses, which you’ll easily dodge, and since it can’t move, it’s basically at the mercy of you and your rocket launcher. At least its next phase, the flame-yielding deity Argosax, is kinda cool, if only for adding some color to this mostly drab affair. Lucia, meanwhile, faces a possessed version of Arius, the game’s main villain and her father, whose generic attack patterns let down his grotesque transformation.
DMC2’s camera is never used as artfully as, say, the pre-rendered stills in Resident Evil, but occasionally it helps guide you forward or towards hidden goodies. The cinematography during the game’s cutscenes, however, ranges from boring to bizarre. (Image: Capcom)
Elements like spacing never matter, especially considering how barren Devil May Cry 2’s landscapes are. Generally, stage design is straightforward: you run through linear, wide alleyways and buildings. Invisible walls ensure you won’t kill yourself by accidentally jumping off a level. The game’s quick platforming segments aren’t exactly challenging, considering Dante and Lucia’s double and wall jumping abilities, but they do break up the monotony, so I welcome them whenever they crop up.
A few missions are more ambitious, employing more labyrinthine setups. One of Dante and Lucia’s later chapters is a return to the city, where they must circle it in search of magical artifacts, and another’s a romp through the villain’s office that warps as you progress. They also nicely convey the impending arrival of a world-ending cataclysm, the former through the subtle, surreal way the city is warped and the latter by literally corrupting the skyscraper. Neither are fun stages, but they do stand out amongst the boring, beige backdrops DMC2 otherwise forces you through. Oh, and Lucia inherits the awkward swimming sections of the last game, even facing a boss underwater. Thankfully, they aren’t set in a first-person perspective, so they are an improvement.
Overall, the game’s voice cast sounds exceptionally bored. Devil May Cry 2’s score fares a little better, at least. (Image: Capcom)
Unfortunately, the game’s narrative matches its uniform blandness. Now, the first and third Devil May Cry games deal with the ramifications of Dante’s familial baggage; they mark big events in his life. DMC2, however, deals with the uncharacteristically stoic son of Sparta fighting a guy who knew his dad because some stranger asks him. She vaguely promises Dante a story about his pops for the trouble, which he ultimately doesn’t even stick around for. Greenhorn Lucia, conversely, is one of the village’s guardians and the spawn of Arius; she has a personal stake in this crusade. She’s even the only character aside from her demonic dad to convey any emotion, but her arc of coming to terms with her unholy heritage just… adds nothing; everything’s so passionless (Lucia was actually the original subject of this article, but she simply wasn’t meaty enough a topic. I hope to cover other Devil May Cry characters in the future, though).
Devil May Cry 2 does offer a decent smorgasbord of extras to reward dedicated players. Dante and Lucia can earn extra costumes, Devil May Cry mainstay Trish is an unlockable character (and her moveset more faithfully resembles Dante’s from the previous game, making her the game’s most fun character by default), and DMC2 marks the debut of a franchise staple, the “Bloody Palace” mode. It’s an evolution of sorts of the game’s bonus room challenges, forcing you through an endless gauntlet of them. As with the main game, the baddies gradually rise in number and complexity. Honestly, while DMC2’s lackluster combat and enemy design lets it down, the idea itself is sound and I’m eager to try its incarnations in later games.
Really, Devil May Cry 2 is one of those notoriously bad games whose issues are well-documented. But I wanted to review a game a bit outside my wheelhouse and it was a good subject for that, so… thanks for that, Capcom? (Image: Capcom)
Yup, all the complaints you’ve probably heard about Devil May Cry 2 are accurate. Consequently, it occupies an uncomfortable place within the franchise. It’s reliably re-released alongside the other PlayStation 2-era entries, even if no one celebrates its widespread availability. Among the series’ fanbase, it’s unanimously agreed to be the worst Devil May Cry, a consensus Capcom is surely aware of and agrees with. Yes, it’s not without some merit; it has a few quality of life improvements, what’s arguably Dante’s best design (his guest appearance in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne even uses it), and its failure led to the beloved Devil May Cry 3. On a personal level, at least I know the worst of the series is now behind me. Surely even Ninja Theory’s questionable 2013 reboot doesn’t reach these subterranean depths, right…?
This is the first Capcom game I’ve covered in “Beat the Backlog,” surprisingly. Onwards and upwards, right? (Image: Capcom)
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