Devil May Cry HD Collection contains three classic games in the acclaimed action franchise. While the events in the titles don't necessarily follow chronological order, they're still great standalone experiences. Despite the fact that the games run at 60 FPS on Xbox One, the overall presentation still feels dated due to the aging visuals.
Devil May Cry HD Collection appears to be the same game which launched on Xbox 360 all those years ago, ported from even earlier generations. Aside from the smoother frame rate and sharper visuals, nothing seems to be any different. Capcom claims that the textures are "high-resolution" but the floor and other larger structures still appear to be blurry if you get too close. This is a great example where backward compatibility would've been more beneficial for fans than charging them again.
As expected, the Devil May Cry HD Collection contains Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. Devil May Cry begins when Dante is attacked in his office by a character named Trish. He fends off the assault, but it turns out that this was all a test to see if he was really capable of fighting demons, descended from Sparda. Apparently, the demon emperor Mundus is planning to return, and only a descendant of Sparda can destroy him. This is the plot of the first game, but it follows various twists and turns.
Devil May Cry 2 begins with a character named Lucia and Dante separately entering a museum where an important artifact known as the "Medaglia" is housed. After defeating a group of demons, Lucia invites Dante to follow her to an island where he is introduced to Matier, Lucia's mother. Matier explains that she once fought alongside Dante's father, Sparda, to defend the island against demons. She then asks Dante to help fight Arius, a businessman who is using demonic power to conquer the world. Events quickly escalate from there and you're forced to destroy hordes of enemies.
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening starts off in a small shop in an unnamed American city. A mysterious man named Arkham arrives with a deadly invitation from Dante's brother Vergil. After Dante defeats his adversaries, a huge tower erupts from the ground, and threatens to destroy everything. The clash between Dante and Vergil is the highlight of the game and the story revolves around making your way to the tower and killing everything that stands in your way.
The plot of all three games is unnecessarily convoluted, but it eventually comes together in the end. Devil May Cry 2 seems like the weakest game in the collection because instead of introducing new weapons, the developer decided to recycle existing ones and add some variants. The other two are stellar even to this day, but seem a bit clunky by modern standards. We should say that more work was needed on the control scheme than anything else. Instead of simply upgrading the visuals, Capcom should've tweaked other aspects of the game engine.
In many ways, the industry has left Devil May Cry behind, not just in terms of refining gameplay, but also in terms of story. Nowadays, titles like Nier: Automata offer similar gameplay but they take place in complex environments. Even Bayonetta 2 offers a much better experience on consoles like the Nintendo Switch.
Fans who loved the originals back in the day will find these games enjoyable, but due to the limited nature of the Xbox One upgrade, we don't see many newcomers picking this collection up. While it's a great trip down memory lane and gives you a look into one of gaming's most acclaimed franchises, the three just don't hold up that well today. For example, the title still suffers from some strange camera problems. If you love experiencing games from yesteryear, be sure to pick this one up. If not, we recommend purchasing a modern hack and slash game instead.
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