Game Description
Face your demons -- both old and new -- in this follow-up to Capcom's 2001 genre-bending hit. The original Devil May Cry, released just over a year before this sequel, brought fast action and fluid combat to the traditionally slower paced survival-horror genre. This sequel continues down the same gruesome path as players resume the role of Dante to wield sword and pistols against vicious demonic monstrosities. The agile demon huntress Lucia, deadly with her blades, is also a playable character in this second effort, and each hero offers players a different storyline. Devil May Cry 2 boasts twice the gameplay of the first release and features larger levels, self-adjusting difficulty levels, and many new moves, including wall-scaling, the ability to aim and shoot in different directions, and more, all brought to life in the style that helped make the original game a success.~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
This sequel toThe first PS2 title to ship on two discs, Devil May Cry 2 contains two separate, but very similar adventures. Regardless of whether you select Disc One (which is Dante's) or Disc Two (which belongs to Lucia), the hacking, slashing, shoot-'em-up action is roughly the same. Lucia is given a couple of new-to-the-series underwater levels (which are frankly quite dull), the boss at the end of the game is unique to each adventure, and there are certain other, more subtle differences, including a few slightly altered missions. Still, there's a lot of repetition involved in completing both discs, especially in terms of level design, enemies, and basic objectives.
The most disappointing aspect of DMC2 is its lack of difficulty, especially when compared to the original game, which was challenging in terms of both action and puzzle-solving. Unlike the bosses in the first Devil May Cry, which required strategy (they had specific weak points) as well as agility (they were quick and tough to defeat), the pushovers in this game can usually be defeated by simply hopping around in safe areas while using the targeting system (which is now visible, by the way) to volley off round after round of shots until the enemy dies.
The puzzles in this game are obvious, and there are a number of wasted opportunities throughout the levels, such as the potentially interesting station room in the third mission, where all you have to do is grab a key. The weapons system has been dumbed down as well. In DMC, players could purchase different weapons (such as a grenade gun and flame gauntlets) and it was sometimes crucial to equip your character with the proper weapon against a specific enemy. Here, however, the standard-issue weapons usually suffice. (By the way, what happened to Dante's story-crucial "Sparda" sword from the original game?)
Although both lead characters are smoothly animated, have super cool weapons and moves, and look fantastic, much of the action consists of the following: wander around, collect a few orbs, fight some easy-to-kill bad guys, open a few doors, collect some more orbs, fight more easy-to-kill bad guys, wander around some more, then bingo -- end of mission. Dante's new abilities (such as double jumps and two-fisted gun fighting) are great, and Lucia's prodigious talents are fun to exploit, but the characters' powerful moves are not used to full effect since the enemies are so simple to dispatch.
Despite these observations, Devil May Cry 2 is not a bad game overall -- it simply pales in comparison to its predecessor. It makes few leaps forward in terms of originality or depth. There are certain improvements: firing no longer requires holding down an additional button, demon power will sometimes let you fly, and the new character and the new moves are awesome. Also, the controls are as slick and as tight as ever. This game is certainly worth a rental. However, the expanded areas, the lack of creatively designed missions, and the confounding ease of play may leave the devil laughing, and fans of the original game crying for more.
~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
This game is enjoyable to a degree the first couple of times through, but it could have been much better, especially considering its progenitor. The design team is different, but they should have aped the first game's strategies and tactics in terms of enemy battles and level configuration.~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
The expansive outdoor areas in DMC2 are less interesting than the more atmospheric castle from DMC, but the animation is smooth, the character models are great, and the texturing and graphical detail is above average (though lacking when compared to Rygar). The camera frequently seems further away than in the original game (probably in an attempt to de-confuse the battles), but the larger battle arenas and stubborn camera angles will nevertheless cause gamers to sometimes fire at unseen enemies and shake their heads in frustration at the fixed perspectives.~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Dante's wisecracking nature from DMC has, disappointingly, been toned down, the rock music during the fight scenes is depressingly generic (as in any number of nondescript racing games), and the sound effects could use more variety.~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
Beating the game with both characters unlocks a mindless, 700-plus-level bash-athon and a harder difficulty level, but the standard missions are too easy to accomplish (even on the harder skill level) and the bosses are pushovers.~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
The black-and-white manual lists all the essentials.~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Devil May Cry 2 is an action game developed and published by Capcom in 2003 exclusively for the PlayStation 2. The game serves as a sequel to Devil May Cry and is, chronologically the fourth game in the Devil May Cry series with Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Devil May Cry, and Devil May Cry 4 taking place before it.Set in modern times, in the fictional city of Vie de Marli,[8] the story centers on Dante and Lucia in their fight to stop a businessman named Arius from raising the demon Argosax and achieving supreme power. The story is told primarily through a mixture of cutscenes using the game's engine with several pre-rendered full motion videos.
Unlike the previous title, Devil May Cry 2 received mostly mixed reviews and has been criticized for a variety of development decisions, which made the game considerably different from its predecessor; chief among these decisions was the lowered difficulty.[9] Nevertheless, it was a commercial success.
Gameplay
In-game screenshot showing Dante swinging his sword, Rebellion, towards a Goatling.
In Devil May Cry 2, the player guides either Dante or Lucia (the protagonists) through an urban environment, fighting groups of demons in fast-paced combat. The game itself consists of missions with specific goals in the play area of the game itself. Like the first Devil May Cry, the player's performance in each mission is ranked from D (poor/Don't Worry) to S (excellent/Showtime) based on the time taken to complete the mission, the amount of Red Orbs collected, the overall "style" displayed during fights which occurred, item usage, and damage taken.[10] In contrast to the rest of the gameplay, the style judging system used in the game has been cited as being the most harsh in terms of how it judges the player's performance.[9][11]
Combat itself is based on the "style" the player demonstrates during a fight. The rating the player gains for style is improved by hitting enemies continuously while avoiding damage. This ranges from "Don't Worry", progressing to "Come On!", "Bingo", "Are You Ready?" and peaking at "Showtime". If the character takes damage, the style rating falls to "Don't Worry".[10]
The game's controls are simple, converting short sequences of button presses into complex on-screen actions.[10] New to the series is an evasion button, which allows Dante or Lucia to roll, dodge enemy attacks, or run along walls. Another new feature is a weapon-change button, which allows the player to cycle through ranged weapons without switching to the inventory screen.
In-game screenshot showing Dante flying while in the Devil Trigger state
The game also features puzzle-solving and exploration elements.[12] Gameplay involves the player examining their surroundings to find items and orbs. Red Orbs are used to acquire new combat powers and abilities for the characters. These Red Orbs are "the blood of demons"; enemies drop them when they are defeated. Dante and Lucia can also opt to instead purchase items, which allow them to restore their damaged health or even instantly revive should they be killed by an enemy's attack.[10]
The Devil Trigger ability enables Dante and Lucia to transform into a devil form. This changes their appearance, increases their strength and defense, slowly restores health, and enables them to use special attacks. The Devil Trigger state lasts as long as there is power in the Devil Trigger Gauge, which increases by attacking or taunting enemies in the normal state and decreases by attacking in the Devil Trigger state or using Devil Trigger-only attacks.[10] Unique to this game is the Desperation Devil Trigger — an enhanced form of the Devil Trigger — available to Dante when he is low on health.
Devil May Cry 2 begins with Lucia and Dante separately entering a museum where an important item called the Medaglia is stored. After defeating a group of demons in the museum, Lucia invites Dante to follow her to the Dumary Island, where he is introduced to Matier, her mother. Matier explains that she once fought alongside Dante's father, Sparda, to defend the island against demons. She asks Dante to help fight Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world.[13] Dante flips a coin in answer, and decides to help when the coin lands on heads.[14] After Dante leaves Matier and Lucia discuss the Arcana, the items required for Arius to raise Argosax.
Lucia eventually confronts Arius, who reveals that she was his creation.[15] When Lucia moves to strike Arius, he uses his magic to blast her away. Shortly afterward, Dante meets up with Lucia, who gives him the last of the Arcana before leaving.[16] Dante then encounters Matier and tries to pass the Arcana to her. Matier, in turn, asks Dante to take the Arcana to save Lucia, who has gone to fight Arius again.[17] Dante flips the coin again to decide if he will help; it lands on heads, and he departs to aid Lucia.[18] Meanwhile, Lucia enters the Uroboros tower and attacks Arius, who captures her. Dante arrives and trades the Arcana for Lucia, then attacks Arius. To escape, Arius forces Dante to decide between saving Lucia or killing him.[19]
Lucia, worried about the ritual and conflicted about herself, wonders how they will stop Arius. Dante waves her off, stating he will find a way.[20] Dante leaves Lucia to think as he departs to defeat Arius. Matier arrives a short time later, sets Lucia's mind at ease, and decides to rejoin the fight against Arius.[21] Dante arrives to find Arius in the middle of his immortality-inducing ritual. Apparently not at all fazed by the completion of the ceremony due to the fact that he switched one of the Arcana with a false coin, Dante stands confident.[22] Another fight ensues, in which Dante finishes Arius off with his pistols. Outside, Lucia confronts Dante and demands that he kill her because she fears she will become a demon herself.[23] Before the issue can be resolved, a large stream of energy strikes the tower and a portal to the demon world is opened. Dante and Lucia argue over who will enter and close it from the inside; Dante offers to leave the issue up to fate. He flips the coin and it once again lands on heads, leaving Dante to enter the portal to deal with Argosax after leaving the coin with Lucia.[24]
After Dante departs, Arius returns to life bearing demonic power.[25] While Lucia fights Arius, he finds himself injured and attempts to distract her, a tactic which fails; Lucia goes on to defeat him.[26] Within the portal, Dante fights and defeats the partially summoned Argosax. Finding the portal closed, Dante instead drives further into the demon realm on a motorcycle. In the aftermath of the battle, Matier attempts to reassure Lucia about Dante's fate, insisting that Sparda returned from a similar trip. Lucia examines the coin Dante left with her and discovers that both sides are identical.[27] Sometime later in Dante's shop, Lucia muses about Dante. Outside the sound of a motorcycle echoes, and Lucia leaves to investigate.
Development
Despite the success of the original Devil May Cry, the sequel was not created by Hideki Kamiya or Capcom Production Studio 4. The first notice Kamiya's team was given about any sort of sequel occurred during localization of Devil May Cry in North America and Europe, a move which greatly surprised Kamiya. Since the game's release, Kamiya has expressed disappointment that he was not called on by his superiors at Capcom to direct Devil May Cry 2.[28]
Instead, the sequel was granted to Capcom Production Studio 1 and Hideaki Itsuno, the team responsible for Capcom VS SNK 2.[1][2] According to producer Tsuyoshi Tanaka, the thrust of the design was to make Devil May Cry 2 bigger than its predecessor; Tanaka estimated that the game's environments were approximately nine times as large as the first.[3] The emphasis on puzzles was also downplayed, with the camera system revamped to allow for better action scenes. Changes from the first game were influenced by surveys distributed by the development team, allowing them to patch any areas identified as weak by the people surveyed. The addition of Lucia as a playable character was a response to player complaints that Trish was not playable in the first Devil May Cry.[29]
Marketing
Dante and Lucia in Diesel-designed clothing
Due to the focus of Devil May Cry 2's action on style, Capcom decided to partner with the Diesel clothing company, which has a history of working with game developers. Dante and Lucia were modeled with specially designed costumes featuring the Diesel brand name and were featured in promotional material in Diesel stores across Japan.[30][31]
Within the game, Dante features one unlockable costume with the Diesel brand name. Lucia features two separate outfits: one is the costume depicted on the right, and another is a white shirt with a brown coat and blue jeans. The Diesel logo is featured in several screens during the game, and a special edition Devil May Cry 2 bullet featuring the Diesel name was planned for inclusion.[32]
Initially, Capcom was very reluctant to release an officially sanctioned soundtrack for Devil May Cry 2.[33] After a test period during which Capcom sought 1,000 pre-orders as a proof of demand, the Devil May Cry 2 soundtrack was released to the public on October 15, 2004, as a 2-disc set, with Masato Koda, Tetsuya Shibata and Satoshi Ise credited as producers.[34]
In Europe there was a small print of Limited Edition copies released as promotional copies of Devil May Cry 2 that came with a different box art and a card sleeve. There was also a limited edition promtional 4-pack of artcards (2 of Dante and 2 of Lucia) available upon its release, each packet containing the cards was numbered on the back.
Reception
Upon release, Devil May Cry 2 achieved a great deal of sales, including being one of the top ten best-selling games in the United Kingdom for the first half of 2003.[35] By March 2003 Capcom reported selling a total of 1.4 million copies worldwide,[36] and as of September 2006 has shipped over 1.6 million copies.[37]
Many fans of Devil May Cry were disappointed with this sequel;[38] however, the game still received mixed scores from professional reviewers.[39] Chief among the complaints was that the difficulty was lower than it was in the original game.[40] The combat system is considered less refined, with individual weapons being weaker or stronger variants of the same weapon instead of different weapons with their own advantages and disadvantages. Boss battles are criticized for requiring less strategy than the original. The environment was also considered less detailed than the environments of the first game, trading detail for open space.[41] Furthermore, Dante received a change in his personality which did not go well with reviewers[42] who enjoyed his trash-talking in the first game. The addition of a second disc was seen as a cheap way for the developers to increase replay value since Lucia's missions are simply recycled material from Dante's own missions, with only minor variations.[12] GameSpot chose Devil May Cry 2 as the "Most Disappointing Game of 2003".[43]
PSXextreme countered arguments by many critics, stating that the environments only looked worse to reviewers due to the range of environments in the game, and that the only reason Devil May Cry 2 failed to surpass its origins was due to the lack of challenge.[44] Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's control scheme and new ideas, as well as the idea of featuring the two protagonists on separate discs.[45] Play Magazine called Lucia's side of the story a "a cruel sonnet of self-realization wrapped in a story steeped in religious overtones",[46] further stating that the story alone was reason to purchase the game.
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