DmC - Story thoughts
Jan. 15th, 2013 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkYeah...
I was one of the many who were worried when news broke that Capcom was rebooting Devil May with Ninja Theory. I can't speak about the gameplay (so obviously this isn't a review of the game), but I can talk about the cutscenes and story.
And no, people don't usually play DMC for the story (even though I would argue that DMC3 actually had a surprisingly well-done story), but Ninja Theory is explicitly known for its "cinematic" experiences and "good" storytelling. Not having followed NT's previous games, Heavenly Sword or Enslaved, I can't comment on whether those epithets are well deserved or not, although I do know that a number of reviews for DmC praised its story. So that piqued my curiosity, against my better judgement.
I was pretty disappointed.
My first reaction upon finishing the cutscene tour: "What the hell kind of misogynistic crap did I just watch??"
Yeah, video games have problems with sexism; that's nothing new. And it's true that I usually avoid the kind of games in which these problems are most blatant, and I went into DmC aware of its M rating and the abundance of swears and sex that apparently the creators thought were enough to make the game "edgy" and "mature".
But come on.
Every female character in the game besides Kat and Eva are either prostitutes or evil or both at the same time. We're treated to gratuitous shots from the male gaze, especially the beginning part and a weird flashback that showed Dante surrounded by mostly-naked strippers wearing fake wings. "Gross" was the word that described my reaction.
And then there's Kat. Even though she's the one positive female character (not counting dead Eva), her low-cut top + short-short shorts + "sexy" walking animation made her definitely a sexualized character. Speaking of which, I'm sick of the "sexy" walk as the default walk for female characters in video games, because it's so freaking unrealistic. No, women do not walk like runway models on a daily basis, for crying out loud. Also, she (characteristically) gets injured/beat up and has to be rescued. How typical.
Then there's dead Eva, who's not sexualized (although she's called a "whore" many times, which made me want to punch the screen), although probably because that would've been very squicky. She's still a prime example of a Woman in the Fridge, but then again that's an element from the original stories. However, while in the previous mythos Eva is only stated to be "killed," DmC describes her death in horrifically graphic detail: her heart is ripped out from her chest.
Lilith...Jesus Christ... Lilith characters are generally not treated well in video games (at least, not in this game or in Darksiders II), but this reached new levels of insanity. First, she's not pretty once she takes off her disguise...which I suppose is because all demons in DmC are butt-ugly (hell, even the "Succubus" was pure Nightmare Fuel), but it never made sense to me, maybe because I'm used to thinking of succubi/biblical-Lilith-characters as seductresses. But Lilith's side-plot is seriously f-ed up. She says she's of no importance to Mundus without carrying his child--so that's all women are valued for in this game, bearing children? And Mundus flips his top because his unborn kid is dead, but shows NO remorse for Lilith's death, even after she's shot in the head.
No, game. Just no.
I mean, DMC3 and DMC4 also had sexualization of female characters (though in DMC3 it was only with Nevan, a succubus boss; Lady was treated pretty respectfully and was very badass; DMC4 was more flagrant with Lady's new costume, Trish, and "Gloria"). But they never reached DmC's level of fail.
.
Treatment of female characters wasn't the only thing I disliked about this game's story, although it certainly left a very sour taste in my mouth.
On a writing level, the game suffered from a lot of narm (don't get me started on the pre-boss dialogue between Dante and the Succubus: "F*** you!" "F** you!" "F*** YOUUUUU!") and a lot of telling rather than showing at certain parts. Some scenes, I'll admit, were cleverly done; I particularly liked when Vergil was explaining to Dante about their history, the way the graffiti on the wall reflected what he was saying. Other parts, like Dante's magical regaining of his childhood memories, were rushed infodumps.
There are a few plotholes as well. If Vergil's hair is white, doesn't that mean he's already awakened his demonic side? Or something?? I didn't like that artistic choice; I thought it worked better in DMC3 when Dante and Vergil looked identical (especially when Vergil's slicked-back hairdo began to fail), which emphasized how different they were in spite of their common background. And I could've sworn I read somewhere that in DmC, Vergil got adopted into a wealthy family while Dante got kicked around from foster home to foster home, but the game itself never mentions this (leaving Vergil's expensive fashion sense a question mark). If Vergil and Dante's memories were wiped, how did they acquire their swords from Sparda? Why does Dante's sword appear and disappear whenever he feels like it??
The swearing in this game is pretty off the rails. Which is not to say that I'm opposed to swearing in games in general, but I definitely had the sense that the creators were adding swears all over the place just to make the game "mature." Some of them don't even make sense. And Vergil? He's supposed to be classy and refined, and while he certainly dresses the part, his swearing detracts from that image.
One of the things I loved about DMC3 was the way it focused on Dante and Vergil's relationship, which this game totally botched. In DMC3, Dante and Vergil already hated each other, but there were a number of scenes that began to unpack some of the remnants of brotherly affection that lay underneath all the hatred (at least on Dante's part). In DmC, Dante and Vergil were raised separately and had their memories wiped--so, okay, they don't have a history of happybrofuntimes. But considering neither grew up with a family, wouldn't they, I don't know, make more of an effort to learn about each other and be loyal to each other? The game had a lot of opportunities to focus on their relationship, particularly with the betrayal "twist" at the end, but instead their relationship was largely ignored. The way Vergil left for destinations unknown at the end, after being bested by Dante, was completely devoid of emotion (compare that to DMC3's Vergil throwing himself into the demon realm and cutting Dante's hand as Dante tries to reach out for him). And Vergil's sudden heel face turn at the end, while more or less predictable for everyone who's familiar with the original series, was...weird. From the standpoint of the story itself, there was no foreshadowing whatsoever; from the standpoint of series continuity, the defining aspects of Vergil have always been (1) that he's obsessed with power, and (2) he hates humans because he thinks they're weak. DmC inverted that on its head.
DMC has always been known for its (oftentimes) cheesy humor; DmC had no humor whatsoever (except Dante showing the middle finger). I particularly missed the stylish action cutscenes from DMC3 and DMC4; DmC had none of that, except the cringe-worthy scene with pizza-crotch Dante (has that been turned into a meme yet?).
I was one of the many who were worried when news broke that Capcom was rebooting Devil May with Ninja Theory. I can't speak about the gameplay (so obviously this isn't a review of the game), but I can talk about the cutscenes and story.
And no, people don't usually play DMC for the story (even though I would argue that DMC3 actually had a surprisingly well-done story), but Ninja Theory is explicitly known for its "cinematic" experiences and "good" storytelling. Not having followed NT's previous games, Heavenly Sword or Enslaved, I can't comment on whether those epithets are well deserved or not, although I do know that a number of reviews for DmC praised its story. So that piqued my curiosity, against my better judgement.
I was pretty disappointed.
My first reaction upon finishing the cutscene tour: "What the hell kind of misogynistic crap did I just watch??"
Yeah, video games have problems with sexism; that's nothing new. And it's true that I usually avoid the kind of games in which these problems are most blatant, and I went into DmC aware of its M rating and the abundance of swears and sex that apparently the creators thought were enough to make the game "edgy" and "mature".
But come on.
Every female character in the game besides Kat and Eva are either prostitutes or evil or both at the same time. We're treated to gratuitous shots from the male gaze, especially the beginning part and a weird flashback that showed Dante surrounded by mostly-naked strippers wearing fake wings. "Gross" was the word that described my reaction.
And then there's Kat. Even though she's the one positive female character (not counting dead Eva), her low-cut top + short-short shorts + "sexy" walking animation made her definitely a sexualized character. Speaking of which, I'm sick of the "sexy" walk as the default walk for female characters in video games, because it's so freaking unrealistic. No, women do not walk like runway models on a daily basis, for crying out loud. Also, she (characteristically) gets injured/beat up and has to be rescued. How typical.
Then there's dead Eva, who's not sexualized (although she's called a "whore" many times, which made me want to punch the screen), although probably because that would've been very squicky. She's still a prime example of a Woman in the Fridge, but then again that's an element from the original stories. However, while in the previous mythos Eva is only stated to be "killed," DmC describes her death in horrifically graphic detail: her heart is ripped out from her chest.
Lilith...Jesus Christ... Lilith characters are generally not treated well in video games (at least, not in this game or in Darksiders II), but this reached new levels of insanity. First, she's not pretty once she takes off her disguise...which I suppose is because all demons in DmC are butt-ugly (hell, even the "Succubus" was pure Nightmare Fuel), but it never made sense to me, maybe because I'm used to thinking of succubi/biblical-Lilith-characters as seductresses. But Lilith's side-plot is seriously f-ed up. She says she's of no importance to Mundus without carrying his child--so that's all women are valued for in this game, bearing children? And Mundus flips his top because his unborn kid is dead, but shows NO remorse for Lilith's death, even after she's shot in the head.
No, game. Just no.
I mean, DMC3 and DMC4 also had sexualization of female characters (though in DMC3 it was only with Nevan, a succubus boss; Lady was treated pretty respectfully and was very badass; DMC4 was more flagrant with Lady's new costume, Trish, and "Gloria"). But they never reached DmC's level of fail.
.
Treatment of female characters wasn't the only thing I disliked about this game's story, although it certainly left a very sour taste in my mouth.
On a writing level, the game suffered from a lot of narm (don't get me started on the pre-boss dialogue between Dante and the Succubus: "F*** you!" "F** you!" "F*** YOUUUUU!") and a lot of telling rather than showing at certain parts. Some scenes, I'll admit, were cleverly done; I particularly liked when Vergil was explaining to Dante about their history, the way the graffiti on the wall reflected what he was saying. Other parts, like Dante's magical regaining of his childhood memories, were rushed infodumps.
There are a few plotholes as well. If Vergil's hair is white, doesn't that mean he's already awakened his demonic side? Or something?? I didn't like that artistic choice; I thought it worked better in DMC3 when Dante and Vergil looked identical (especially when Vergil's slicked-back hairdo began to fail), which emphasized how different they were in spite of their common background. And I could've sworn I read somewhere that in DmC, Vergil got adopted into a wealthy family while Dante got kicked around from foster home to foster home, but the game itself never mentions this (leaving Vergil's expensive fashion sense a question mark). If Vergil and Dante's memories were wiped, how did they acquire their swords from Sparda? Why does Dante's sword appear and disappear whenever he feels like it??
The swearing in this game is pretty off the rails. Which is not to say that I'm opposed to swearing in games in general, but I definitely had the sense that the creators were adding swears all over the place just to make the game "mature." Some of them don't even make sense. And Vergil? He's supposed to be classy and refined, and while he certainly dresses the part, his swearing detracts from that image.
One of the things I loved about DMC3 was the way it focused on Dante and Vergil's relationship, which this game totally botched. In DMC3, Dante and Vergil already hated each other, but there were a number of scenes that began to unpack some of the remnants of brotherly affection that lay underneath all the hatred (at least on Dante's part). In DmC, Dante and Vergil were raised separately and had their memories wiped--so, okay, they don't have a history of happybrofuntimes. But considering neither grew up with a family, wouldn't they, I don't know, make more of an effort to learn about each other and be loyal to each other? The game had a lot of opportunities to focus on their relationship, particularly with the betrayal "twist" at the end, but instead their relationship was largely ignored. The way Vergil left for destinations unknown at the end, after being bested by Dante, was completely devoid of emotion (compare that to DMC3's Vergil throwing himself into the demon realm and cutting Dante's hand as Dante tries to reach out for him). And Vergil's sudden heel face turn at the end, while more or less predictable for everyone who's familiar with the original series, was...weird. From the standpoint of the story itself, there was no foreshadowing whatsoever; from the standpoint of series continuity, the defining aspects of Vergil have always been (1) that he's obsessed with power, and (2) he hates humans because he thinks they're weak. DmC inverted that on its head.
DMC has always been known for its (oftentimes) cheesy humor; DmC had no humor whatsoever (except Dante showing the middle finger). I particularly missed the stylish action cutscenes from DMC3 and DMC4; DmC had none of that, except the cringe-worthy scene with pizza-crotch Dante (has that been turned into a meme yet?).
