The Future of Devil May Cry

 

 

As many of you may already know, Hideaki Itsuno, the longtime helm and director of the Devil May Cry series has left Capcom several months ago and his departure has created a huge question mark on the future of the iconic hack-n-slash franchise. Itsuno had been with Capcom for over 30 years with several groundbreaking and genre-redifining titles in his belt such as Devil May Cry 3 (which is widely ranked as one of the greatest action games of all time) and Devil May Cry 5 which is still the pinnacle of it's genre after more than 5 years of release, sporting perhaps the most sublime combat system in the history of Videogames. So yes it goes without saying that Hideaki Itsuno is a legend by himself as well. 

Of course this raises some serious concerns regarding the future of Devil May Cry cause if Capcom really wanted another game in the series it doesn't make any sense to let Itsuno depart from the franchise as he was an integral part of the franchise for the longest time and both DMC 3 and DMC 5 wouldn't have been what they are without him. Now it's true that other huge IP's have also seen changes in their game directors and yet have successfully continued for example Capcom's own Resident Evil series of games have been through this kind of core level changes multiple times as well.  

Devil May Cry 5 does bring a lot of things to full circle...and watching the Brothers fight side by side is one of them.

But there's a fundamental difference between the more mainstream series' such as Resident Evil and something like Devil May Cry which is a lot more niche and generally has a more limited fanbase so a drastic level change like this is far more impactful to the franchise, and not in any hopeful kind of way. Also being a character action or hack-n-slash genre, the DMC series requires a completely different level of approach and focus where a veteran like Itsuno is simply essential to ensure that it retains the same DNA that made the previous games what they are. So the departure of Itsuno is enough to make anyone doubtful regarding the future of the franchise. 

Another reason that legitimately makes a Devil May Cry 6 seem unlikely is that it's already been 5 years after the last game and if Capcom were to continue the series, they could've surely let the community know during all this time that they do have some sort of plans for the future. Because going completely silent does not bode well for a franchise, as Half Life 3 has already proved. Also it totally goes against what a franchise stands for as it's generally meant to go on so news regarding any upcoming game that's being made or at least is on the pipeline is always as vital as the games themselves cause it helps to keep the whole series alive. 

Endlessly Stylish and spectacular...Devil May Cry 5 is still untouchable by all other action titles out there.

Also if you look from a story perspective--Devil May Cry 5 already did a phenomenal job of wrapping up all the major plotlines along with the respective arcs of the main characters in a way that feels both earnest and satisfying. Both Dante and Vergil got their closure and a natural end to their individual character journeys that they have had since the first game of the series and it feels really wholesome to see the brothers somewhat united and their relationship reaching the healthiest it has ever been. True endings are pretty rare in Videogames and the end of Devil May Cry 5 certainly feels like a fitting farewell from both story possibilities and emotional growths that it's main characters have gone through all the past titles. So another potential game that might mess with all of that is surely not preferable over the way DMC 5 had tied everything up.

 

But there's another reason why we might not even need a Devil May Cry 6, at all. Cause DMC 5 is still the greatest game of it's genre (and the single greatest action game of modern times, in my viewpoint) with such an insane depth and versatility in it's gameplay that there may not even be a time when the game will start to feel 'dated' or not holding up to the times anymore. Games like these have an almost unlimited amount of replay value and Devil May Cry 5 takes it all to whole new levels altogether, to the point where I won't be surprised if even after a decade later, the game feels as fresh as it was back when it was released. As a true timeless experience, Devil May Cry 5 doesn't feel like it has aged at all. 

 

 

Adios, Dante...you'll always be one of Gaming's Greatest.

 

Anything that's made with an enormous amount of Love and Care can transcend Time itself and is not affected by the passage of Time at all, unlike most things that only decay and become gradually less with the times. And that's why Devil May Cry doesn't really need a future at all, cause the last game that has come out of the series is both Timeless and immortal. So if Devil May Cry 5 does end up being the final game in the iconic and longstanding series, the entire series still ends on a toweringly high note. 

 

Now of course as of right now it's impossible to say whether Capcom indeed makes another Devil May Cry game in the far future or not but whatever it might turn out to be, we will always have Devil May Cry 5 to go back to.