Hello to Devil May Cry 3 and Kingdom Hearts 2

I suppose I shouldn't be blogging as hard since my computer is currently being opened up and prodded by people who aren't me, but the germ of an idea came, and those never wait, so you have to strike while the iron is hot. The piece of idea being stuck? The introductions, or you could say, the "Hello"s of Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition and Kingdom Hearts 2. Why these games? Well, since my computer is being repaired, I have to spend time somehow, and it's been raining for a while. (Right now, the sky is grey. All of it.)

Both games take a similar approach to their introductions: The introduction to the universe is done through a opening cutscene of some length. Many games do this, that's not the issue, the point is how well the two opening cutscenes show off their respective game's style.

I'll first talk about the Disney/Square-Enix collaboration, Kingdom Hearts 2. That game's opening, unsurprisingly, is an expensive looking FMV masterpiece that looks like a million bucks, (It may in fact, have cost that much money to produce...) complete with an absurdly catchy and somehow driving piece of J-Pop. (If anyone has this song, do let me know what it is and where I can find it...) The character, Sora, is seen falling down, headfirst, for quite a bit of time, then catching up with his friends, watch them turn evil, turn good again, slip through his fingers, and so on. It is above all, serious. When Goofy and Donald appear, it is to battle by Sora's side, and nary a quack is heard out of Donald, perhaps for fear it might ruin the atmosphere. And that, is one of Disney's primary concerns.

What is for sure is that Disney was sure that none of the three main characters to wield bladed weapons or anything that looks real. Good brand management (thank you, Websnark) dictates that the cognitive dissonance of Goofy in Disney World bouncing and happy without a care in the world juxtaposed with Goofy swinging a sword, knife in his teeth screaming "I'll take on all you brigands!" in a lisenced videogame is not going to go over well with the consumer, so Goofy's weapon of choice is a shield. Is Goofy serious about his adventures from Twilight Town to whichever mighty jungle the lion sleeps in? Hel..Heck yes he is. But is he ever without the lacksidaisical, slouching grin? Heavens, no. So. Goofy is still Goofy, even in his new-ish digs and Disney's kid-friendly stamp remains.

The obscenely high production values, serious demeanor and kid-friendly vibe all reassure me it's going to be like the first Kingdom Hearts, except with a couple cosmetic changes, better graphics and a mode of travel or planet hopping that's a lot easier.




Capcom's Devil May Cry 3 SE, on the other hand, takes another route entirely. It's Capcom, so the opening mission video (I'm discounting the actual opening since the scrolling credits take you out of the experience) is in the games graphic engine, which is admittedly, pretty impressive.

It makes me smile a wide, meat eating grin. The main character, Dante is opening up a music shop. He is the kind of half-demon that answers the phone by pounding on the table to have the reciever spring into his hands. In comes a visitor, who is not looking for the bathroom, as Dante finds out, but is instead muscle of his half-brother demon brother Vergil, who has just arrived, by standing atop a mile-high castle that quite recently sprung up from the earth and devalues real estate for a couple square miles. After an unsuccessful intimidation attempt, the muscle leaves and Dante goes back to eating his pizza. This is until a good 6 or 7 demons appear out of the air around our main character and use Dante's body to insert the business ends of their scythes.

Dante is unfazed.

He doesn't even put on his (trademark?) red jacket. He, instead, gets up and walks over to the old jukebox, in the far corner of the room (blades still in his body) where tries to put on a song. It doesn't play. Dante, visibly annoyed, smashes the jukebox , and still no sound eminates. He sighs, accepts that he's going to have to kill these demons without music. Having now shaken off the blades, he turns and faces the assembeled crew of malevolent spirits, and defeats them by using whatever is lying around, including pool balls, and using one unfortunate soul as a skateboard while firing both of his pistols. After clearing the room, but finding still more enemies, Dante looks around and asks "The end?". More enemies show up. "Don't bet on it." Here is where the player gets control.

As you can tell, the entire entreprise is incredibly stylish, but done with a wink and a grin. That is to say, Devil May Cry 3 is serious and as self-aware as any of the new Ocean's movies. The game's m.o. is simple: you want to devastate your enemies with the variety of weapons in your arsenal, and you are given more in game currency the more you use your arsenal. (Your starting weapons are Dante's sword, Rebellion, and his dual pistols, Ebony and Ivory. Yes, one pistol is black, the other is white. Yes, that is how the game rolls.)

For example, you could just stand 20 feet away from an enemy and pour lead into their somehow corpeal forms with Ebony and Ivory, and that would get you a small amount of points. But, if you ran up to them slashed them with Rebellion, then launched the demon with an uppercut with the weapon, only to keep them in the air with fire from Ebony and Ivory, you'd get a hell of a lot more points, as shown when your onscreen point meter goes to Crazy!. You later get a guitar to use as a weapon. To get that weapon, you have to defeat the rock singer boss. It's pretty awesome.


It is that kind of style, the pardon the pun, devil may care sense of fun, that the introduction of Devil May Cry 3 embodies perfectly. Unlike Kingdom Hearts 2 where you get the distinct impression that you are someone else's oyster, Devil May Cry 3 gives you a knife and says get to it.

And that's, probably why ultimately, I'm spending a lot more time with Dante and not Sora...