It’s $20: the price of the entire original trilogy on other platforms
You could write an entire book about how Devil May Cry was made. Originally billed as a Resident Evil project, legendary producer/director Hideki Kamiya and his team morphed it into something new entirely, and it’s taken many forms over the years, a few of which have been polarizing (or in the case of Devil May Cry 2, universally reviled).
Although its format is questionable (more on that later), it’s always a treat when a new generation gets to experience the classic that started it all.
I believe the original Devil May Cry holds up on its own merits. A lot of people don’t. But those folks are going to say the same thing about most PS2-era games: how much you can stomach some of Devil May Cry‘s antiquated action mechanics and fixed camera angles is up to your tastes. Sure it’s not nearly as impressive as Devil May Cry 3, 4, or 5 on a technical level, but those are completely different games with different narratives. Here we get our first look at a cocksure but not extremely over-the-top (he isn’t riding missiles just yet) Dante, and the pointed Gothic focus here (as well as an emphasis on a singular location) rules.
Action-wise, Devil May Cry still wipes the floor with most standard genre fare. The fighting game-inspired system is a blast, with quick gap-closers (buy Stinger quickly) and plenty of ways to rush down and juggle your foes. There’s only a few weapons (both ranged and melee) to choose from, and quick-swapping isn’t quite a thing yet, but as I noted previously, the pointed focus is welcome. Devil May Cry is just a clean game through and through. This meal is nearly all meat, with a shorter, five to six hour runtime: a brisker pace than the 10 hour plus future franchise romps. It’s something I would call a “vacation car ride” game in my youth with the portability of the Switch in tow.
You can see for yourself how it runs on Switch (docked) in the video above. I have no major complaints: I mean it still looks ancient, but it works. The PS4/Xbox One versions of the HD Collection run at 1080p60, for reference, and were chastised at launch for not bringing anything new to the table as well as the “dated” feel of the trilogy (see above, that might not be a problem for you, because good action is good action, much like old non-HD films can still be fantastic films). On PC the 60FPS collection has normalized with mostly positive reviews after a series of patches, and supports modding to bump it up to 4K resolution.
About those other versions…the last thing that needs to be mentioned in this assessment as a sort of watchdog-esque warning: this Switch release, which is digital-only, by the way, is $20. That’s $10 cheaper than the Resident Evil Switch re-releases (that’s a win), but at $20, you could get the entire original trilogy in the form of Devil May Cry HD Collection on other platforms (that’s a loss) in physical form. And Devil May Cry, in all its timelessness (I’m still playing this game nearly 20 years later), is something you do want in physical form down the line whenever the eShop closes down.
Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your cash though, as double/triple-dipping is a respectable angle if you really enjoy something, especially for a portable version of the original. Just be aware that Capcom is strangely experimenting with pricing when it comes to re-releases on Switch, and their strategy is all over the place!
