Antoniades’ opinion is ”irrelevant” as to the reboot because it was Capcom’s call. They went with a ”bold step” to reinvent the IP but also to ”give it to a non-Japanese dev.”
Ninja Theory answered the call and set about reinterpreting Devil May Cry. The series was ”a little stuck in its ways.” It needed to be set loose again, notes boss Antoniades.
”Nothing needs a reboot unless that reboot works. Look at Batman. The parallel to the Batman reboot was Catwoman. Nobody needed that, but when it works it can change the course of a franchise in a positive way. It can make it survive,” he told CVG in an interview.
”The decision as to whether DMC needed a reboot or not: it’s irrelevant what my opinion is because that decision was Capcom’s. They felt it needed something, which is why they not only decided to take a bold step and reinvent it, but to give it to a non-Japanese dev. They had their reasons and that was our mandate. They wanted a reinvention - a reinterpretation - and that’s what we went ahead and did.”
When DMC was first unveiled the fan base went nuts that suddenly the Dante they knew wasn’t the very Dante they knew - he didn’t even have white hair! However Ninja Theory and Capcom have stressed this is more about how the demon fighter came to be. Plus he does get some white streaks in his hair, so calm down.
”There was a feeling from some of the guys at Capcom that it could continue the way it was, but that there were certain tropes that were being - I don’t know how to put this… I think when you compare it to where a lot of games have arrived at - Western games in particular, where levels feel more open and the world feels more grounded - it felt like DMC was a little stuck in its ways. It needed to be let loose. That’s what we were told as part of our mandate to reinvent it.”
”At the time, Inafune-san was at Capcom and suggested an idea that we should hold on to - that if it was a movie released here in the UK, or in America, what would that movie look like? That defined the approach we took. Because if you took DMC the game and literally translated that into a movie, it wouldn’t really work,” continued Antoniades.
The studio is having to take the blasts from some rather vocal fans on the chin.
”When we announced the game, all we released was the trailer and a 2D portrait art of Dante. That’s when the bulk of the criticism came in. We hadn’t actually demonstrated any in-game video at all. So a lot of that’s just hot air at that point. You can’t steer the game project based on that,” he reasoned.
”People form a relationship with a series, and if that gets broken or bastardised, people get upset. That’s understandable. So I don’t dismiss it. We’ve all been there: the new Star Wars stuff, it’s changed a lot but not added anything. I think we’ve added stuff. We’ve added interesting things to the series that you wouldn’t have got from Capcom Japan.”
”If we do our jobs right, you’ll get a good, fun game with interesting angles that bring something fresh to DMC.”
Check out the full interview between Tameem Antoniades and CVG discussing his own ‘demonization’.
DmC: Devil May Cry releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 at an undisclosed date.
