Quick Clicklist of Matthew's Rambling 0:40 DMC Backstory and Influence 4:17 DMC's Camera 6:19 Marionettes and Juggling 8:54 The Combo System 9:56 Barriers of Progress 10:46 NG+ Changes to Enemies 12:00 Weapon Swapping 13:47 Using Stinger for Speed 15:00 Ruined "No Damage" Run :( 15:44 Sound Balancing 16:33 Phantom & Boss Longevity 19:24 Secret Missions 20:18 Swapping Enemies in NG+ 21:26 Audio Cues 23:10 "Nelo" Angelo and Mistranslation 24:39 Taunting 26:14 Dante Must Die? 27:33 Shadows 29:49 Dealing with Plasmas and Bat Form? 31:45 Enemy Variety 33:05 Alastor's Pause Combos 35:54 Phantom Instant Kill 37:45 Items as Keys 39:17 Ifrit Gloves 40:42 Satisfying and Stylish Gunplay 45:46 Tension Affects Play 47:17 Inspired by Games 49:22 No Combinations of Enemy Types 50:40 Be Still 51:45 Grenades vs Blades 53:00 Building Devil Trigger 53:57 Music Talk 56:50 Level Design for Action Games 58:45 Swimming... 59:26 Animation Talk 01:02:31 Exploiting Enemy Weaknesses=Depth 01:04:42 Split Missions 01:07:11 Slash Cancelling and canonized mechanics 01:09:44 Honoring Players with a Fair Challenge 01:11:50 Measuring Fairness by Metrics 01:16:45 Learning Through Extremes 01:19:00 Great bosses despite repetition 01:22:17 Matthew's Favorite Cutscene 01:23:41 Matthew's Strategies to Stay Cool 01:24:45 Dante's Platforming Skills 01:25:48 Absolute Zero isn't low enough + Shop 01:29:19 Intricate Nightmare 01:32:27 Distinct Enemy Design 01:35:01 Gotta Go Fast! 01:35:46 Jump Cancelling 01:37:21 Cutscene Transitions 01:39:42 Training for later playthroughs 01:41:27 Final Virgil 01:43:50 Maximizing Devil Trigger 01:46:39 Story Speculations 01:48:32 Bosses' Irregular Pacing and Emotion 01:50:13 HD Re-releases and Preservation 01:55:05 Charging Gunshots 01:57:02 Dodge Cancelling (Depth in Decisions) 02:01:36 Benefits of Offline Ranking System 02:06:22 Letting Dante be Dante 02:08:40 Dante's Inferno 02:09:48 Juggling Nobodies and Random Dodges 02:11:29 Round Trip 02:11:57 Length vs Price 02:14:34 Inverted Controls 02:16:16 Rail Shooters and Challenge by Varied Game Types 02:18:39 Mundus 02:24:25 Dante's Melodramatic Scream 02:27:03 Victory Lap 02:29:20 Demonic Climax 02:30:35 It's what you do that counts 02:32:10 Plane Bit 02:32:54 The Devil in the Details 02:34:46 Bonus Trivia! 02:38:35 Difficulty is Your Friend :')
Two and a half hours of non-stop commentary with no unnecessary repeats or ramblings, consistently interesting analysis of the game's design, trivia of the game's development (with sources in the description), good audio balancing/editing on the commentary track itself, AND it's all on top of a near flawless playthrough on the hardest difficulty. There are very, very few people who can complete an S-Rank/No Hit/Dante Must Die run of Devil May Cry, but there's even fewer people that could have this video itself, let alone made it this well. I thoroughly enjoyed this Matt, thank you for taking the time to make it.
What are you talking about? Don't you remember how Capcom infamously named the second game DMC 3, totally skipping over the number 2? And also had an unusually long gap between releases? Luckily 3 was great and 4 too so they have a great trilogy without any bad games.
"Yes but you do realise that the DMC video was entirely scripted, right? It was by far the biggest, most involved project I've done so far which is why you haven't seen another one yet. When I do another commentary I want it to be on par with that video." The answer was taken from his ASKfm feed. This is his most ambitious project yet just so you guys have some context.
Me: Aww man! Awesome! I wonder why it took him so long this time? Matthew: " S Rank, No Damage, No Items, Dante Must Die playthrough." Me: Ah, y-yeah that'll do it.
@KivaNChips Which should be expected as it came out 7 years and a generation later. Still in terms of overall originality and design DMC1 is still best in the series.
One thing I remember was that someone once asked Kamiya why did he make players search for red orbs at the beginning to open the gate and Kamiya said it was to make players get used to playing 3D game. People nowadays probably had no idea the significance of this tiny design at the beginning of the game as it was a transition between 2D and 3D games with platforming and jumping starting to be implemented into 3D games back then. I'm always impressed by how thoughtful Kamiya is as a game designer.
That makes a lot of sense. The outside section and the castle hall is a cleverly designed tutorial level. The way the orbs are scattered requires coming to grips with platforming somewhat so you'll be somewhat prepared movement wise when you encounter your first enemy. Also I like how there is a quick way to grab the orbs for subsequent playthroughs, so you don't have to go through the tutorial each time you play. A lot of thought and care went into this game
I always thought of Matt as a respectable and worthwhile voice on the vidya in general but I had no idea he was this fucking good at video games. The mere thought of doing a no damage DMD run on DMC1 makes me reach for the bottle.
I'm a pretty average gamer and I think DMC 1's DMD with no damage is more doable than you think. It's only way harder in the later games that become more action heavy .
@@holynarwhale8729 what is he supposed to do? make a short and precise guide how to no damage dmc1 dmd in a youtube comment? anyway i agree with him after doing a hard mode run of dmc1 recently, you can no damage this game pretty easily until griffon and its very doable until nightmare. nightmare and mundus are bastards though and they make me hesitate to do the no damage dmd run, its possible but tedious.
So to the best of my ability I've done my best to slow down that bit of sped-up cutscene at 2:14:49 and make it somewhat legible, and this is the closest interpretation from what I could hear: "Apologies to the people who [created?] this cutscene and anyone else who wanted to see it, although you were supposed to have played the game before watching this video anyway so you should already know what happens, I don't want to hear any complaints. Hopefully nobody will slow down the audio for this part and actually make out what I'm saying or they might find out that I'm already working on a Viewtiful Joe commentary. Let's keep that between you and me, eh? I hope the Joe video sees the light of day but I gotta admit I have my doubts. I figured this one would be easier but apparently it's incredibly difficult because of how compact everything is. Turns out blasting through the game as quickly as possible doesn't leave much room for commentary. At least I had some fun along the way." Sorry for betraying our little secret, but it's been long enough since this videos release and I'm probably not the first person in your comments to do this anyway. At least I had some fun along the way too.
It was actually the standard of Let's Plays back then. The concept spawned from the Something Awful forums and the aim was for people to showcase games they loved, similarly to this video. It's a shame the concept was taken by idiotic teenagers that don't even know shit about the game they're filming themselves, screeching as they play.
Check out the TV tropes page on Let's plays. It links to a ton of let's plays in this style, most notably the Jurassic Park Trespasser playthrough by ResearchIndicates.
This is not a Let's Play. It's a commentary. I learned more about it than I ever could from a Let's Play. Most people who do Let's Plays often go off on tangents that don't even have anything to do with the games in question.
So just to touch on why we react to audio faster than visuals: As we all know, light waves travel much faster than sound waves. The reason we don't respond to light stimuli first when its from the same source as the audio is because of the way our neuron system works. The neurons that are receptive to sound actually transmit the signal to the brain a lot faster than those in our eyes, completely mitigating the differences in wave speed. I forget the exact distance, but if you sit a few meters~(perhaps more, I forget) from the source, then the difference in wave speed is greater than the offset created by your neurons and you would actually begin to respond to visual stimuli before audio stimuli. Hope that made sense and my apologies for any inconsistencies, it's been a while since I read up on the subject. Great video as always Matty.
Yeah the speed difference between light and sound would eventually close the gap. It's a surprisingly small distance since light is so much faster but it doesn't seem relevant for games unless you're playing on a cinema screen or something.
+Matthewmatosis I'm not a specialist by any means but if I had to guess why we react faster to sound from an evolutionary point of view, it could be that it's more important to react faster to a danger that's coming from anywhere around you since we perceive sound from any angle, while it's a bit less important to react to something that is already in front of you and which you don't need to turn around to confront or analyse. Not sure if that makes sense
I come back to this video at least once a month. It's just that good. The level of detail put into this video is honestly mindboggling and deserves all the praise it receives.
That mindset of looking stylish to impress an audience in the arcades would later evolve into a similar aspect where players now create combo mads and style tournaments for other players to watch online. Hideki Kamiya was truly ahead of our time.
People think DMC is too short? It gives you two higher difficulties that are balanced for NG+ and some good incentives to beat those. Replay value trumps length in action games IMO.
These days, if your game isn't open world with dozens of sidequests then your game is too short. Gamers are ignorant of replay value and are more concerned with the dollar per hour of guarenteed gameplay. Hence why UbisoftEavision are still in buisness.
I don't really get that either, if the game is hard then...theoretically...it would take a lot longer than 20 hours to beat even if its technically "short" or whatever...
Alienrun Yeah, plus if the gameplay is fun it doesn't matter how long the actual story is because you'll keep playing them. There's many long games that have sub par gameplay and you just get bored halfway, even if the story is amazing.
Yeah, people today would maybe complain about Mario 3 being shit because it's "too short". I still play the classic Mario games most days, beating them over and over and over, because they're endlessly repayable, even if the hour length of one play through is very short People complained about the recent Switch platinumgames game Astral Chain because it's only 20 hours for 1 playthrough, despite the ENTIRE point of their games being to play them over and over and get better ranks and new characters to play through. The games get better and better the better you get at them. It's also like the classic sonic games, if you never played them as a kid and tried them decades later, you might not get the big deal about them, because they only get truly fun once you're good at them, having played them over and over to learn the stage layouts and momentum and physics based controls. In classic sonic speed is not just handed to you on a plate, you have to EARN speed, earn the right to go fast, which in a sonic game is the whole point. It's not like modern sonic games where to go fast you just press the boost button. Once you're good at sonic you'll understand why they're so popular
To be fair this game was very short you could beat this in a hour or 2 but imo had alot of replay value due to the unlockables and difficult but most people especially casual don't care for that mess
Matthew talks about how leaderboards can be discouraging because they show the absolute elite of a particular game's players. A player may look at it and think that it isn't worth it to attempt a good run because you'll never be as good as that person on the top of the leaderboards. If you take a look at the leaderboards for the HD remaster of the RE1 Remake, you'll see that the fastest clear time is 00:00:00, obviously through the use of hacking, mods, or glitches. You literally can't compete with those, only use them yourself. But then you already lost the point. More discouraging than attempting a difficult challenge, is attempting one that is literally impossible, at least in my opinion.
"I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with liiiight!" - Dante ...goes right up there with... "Some motherf***ers are always trying to ice skate uphill." - Blade
I feel the same way about game decisions. In MGS games, I love learning about the main characters by seeing what they would do instead of forcing them to do what I would do in their situation. I would rather learn about an interesting character than ruin it with all of these choices that ultimately result in the devs trying to stitch the pieces together of an incomplete and inconsistent character.
43:08 "All the special effects in the world can't save poor gameplay" if only that were true and people stopped buying and hyping up shit games based on the bells and whistles
Inspired by your speech at the end I gave DMC a playthrough on Dante Must Die difficulty, going for all S ranks (not a no damage run I'm not that hardcore). After weeks of playing the game I finally managed it! Can't put into words the satisfaction I had after beating the likes of Nero Angelo or Mundus.
You clearly don't follow his twitter as closely as a lot of us if you think this was random haha. A lot of us were patiently waiting for this project, even though he only revealed it to be DMC 2 weeks ago.
Nick F I try to follow Twitter accounts, I really do but most of the time my mind never thinks to open up Twitter and see what's going on. It's probably why I'm so behind on everything on the Internet :P Congrats to you though for knowing about this and I do hope you enjoy what you've been waiting for :)
+Nick F Not all of us follow twitter/social media--so it was very Michael random (and awesome) surprise to see this pop up in my sub box when he has only uploaded one video in the last ~6 months :). (No complaints about that, though, as I'm well aware top notch quality content takes time--I'm simply making the point that not all viewers follow content creators on social media, and Matthew's upload schedule is far from routine)
I finally learned how to deal with all of the enemies properly by watching this video. I know the point was to make commentary and analysis but not even the walkthroughs that I've seen have these good of no damage strats.
I think game designers should definitely playtest their own games on the hard difficulties, because if that's fun for them, then the other difficulties will probably be fun for regular players.
Indeed. You can always tell when a game was playtested on Normal. Honestly, usually even Normal sucks in those games, too. (not in a hard way, but in a bad way)
I agree. That's one of the reasons I love Daniel Remar. For example, he did a video beating all of the bosses of his game, Iji, on the highest difficulty (of the ones that are meant to be possible).
Your final thoughts at 2:38:34 really motivated me to finish my first playthrough. I thought I was going to give up at the final Nightmare fight but I persisted and tried a bunch of other tactics to get through to the final boss. Even though I will live to the end of my days thinking that fight is really unfair, I live with no regrets. Thank you for this video!
I really love these deep reviews; so many secrets revealed and overlooked aspects carefully combed through. I hope that subsequent entries are also looked into.
1:01:27 that is actually called overlapping action but the 12 principles of animation are often frustratingly vague and unhelpful so it is an easy mistake to make. Secondary action is an extra flair a character adds to their movement. If a character is angrily walking, the walking is the main action and the angry arm motions are the SE. It is very easy to get them confused. We really need an animation book for the modern day.
The camera never bothered me too much, it would only be bothersome when you were trying to jump around or jump somewhere you couldn't see, but they used that to their advantage too because there were secret areas you were rewarded with if you explored beyond your camera's view. Love this.
This is fantastic work and a great way to analyze and literally "review" a game. I love it. Would watch this for later installments as well, in particular 3 and 5!
You could also assume that Mundu's design was an inspiration for the enemy design of Bayonetta, in that his angelic looking form cracked apart to reveal his true grotesque form
"This is would turn the simple act of attacking into 3 button presses" and 18 years later we got DMC5 Nero who, between exceed and buster punches, has turned the simple act of attacking into 3 button presses :)
That second Phantom fight with the glass floor blew my mind. I played this game extensively as a kid but never did I discover that. It's a real Metal Gear moment.
I havent played this game but I played the 3rd one and the 3rd one goes full on dante's divina commedia refferences. The tower is the purgatory, the entrance of the tower is guarded by a 3 headed dog (the entrance of purgatory is guarded by 3 different beasts) and a lot more
Bearing in mind this game wasn't originally THIS game (it was going to be res evil 4), it hasn't done too badly to set the scene. Story is lax, but the later titles, especially 3, do better there.
The stinger camera transition trick is probably my favorite bit demonstrating how well you know the game. You’ve mentioned elsewhere that you prefer figuring these things out yerself and I think it shows here.
I loved dmc prior to this video, but it is a testament to Matt's ability as a commentator that I love it even more now and every time I put this video on on the background, I itch for a quick play and getting that S rank.
No way I'd have gotten into DMC if not for this video. DMC1 is really fun but I'd dropped it so many times in the past because I didn't really know how to play it
I've beaten God Hand once a year since like 2011 and this video inspired me to try beating it on the hard mode, but I really doubt I'd have any insightful commentary to add, but here's hoping he does something like that for God Hand, I'm obsessed with that one.
Because its a fantastic game under the guise of a terrible one, and it'd be fascinating to dissect. Everything about it: the limited peripheral vision of the camera, the minimal ost, the garbage graphics, should make it a terrible game - maybe one of the worst - but the sum of its parts form the complete opposite. It's one of the best games I've ever played and it's not a tottering self-parody, it's great because it's great, and it's fucking bizarre.
Wow this video is old, but this is genuinely one of my new favorite videos on the internet! Despite being not very good at games, I’ve always loved more difficult games like Touhou and Devil May Cry. However, because of my own lack of skill, I’ve never ventured far beyond easy or normal mode on many of the games I like- mostly because of how daunting it is. Seeing this video though, I feel really motivated to try to push myself to play on harder difficulty modes! Thank you for this behemoth of a video!
Dude. Dude, I need to congratulate you. I’m a game design student in Brazil, and I really wanted to study this game more deeply, but it’s very hard to find anything that goes beyond the basic trivia like “Devil May Cry started as Resident Evil 4” up until today. Your video is a masterpiece of analysis, not just for this series but for game design in general. One thing I’d like to comment on is the Roll Canceling of the Grenadegun, which, despite offering a somewhat “unbalanced” and non-stylish advantage, has another interesting detail: it teaches the player to use dodging with a reward. I’ve played other games in the series, including 4, DmC, and other hack ‘n slash games, and I never managed to dodge properly. This was my first time playing with such dedication, and I finally understood how to use the roll. I don’t doubt that even this detail was planned. Anyway, congratulations again. All the best to you :)
Something interesting i noticed, Dante's light that he gives off is very obviously shaped as if it was coming from an RE flashlight, they likely just left in their original character light and dropped the flashlight model.
Oh my days I've been waiting for a new review/commentary for so long. To see it's based on one of my favourite franchises is even better. Very insightful, very enjoyable
If you're playing on Hard or Dante Must Die mode and go to the fountain room in mission 5 or the interlude between missions 7 and 8, there's actually another exclusive Phantom fight
@@moonraven6145 your comment also just happened to me but with that one mini boss in MegaMan Zero 2 from the forest stages where I didn't know that you could pull its "nose" towards you with the Chain Rod
I'm stuck on Mundus second phase on DMD which as we all know extremely difficult. I hope i can overcome this final battle by learning from this amazing guide/commentary!
"I think the more challenging a part of a game is, the more care needs to be taken to ensure its completely fair to the player at all times. Players should always have a chance to react or at least plan ahead so they're not relying on luck to get them through" shit, you could be a game designer, also i'm subbing for that
I really enjoyed your insightful commentary and respect the time and effort it took for you into making this video. Devil May Cry is one of my favourite games out there and having you cover it was everything and more I could have hoped for, so thank you. Hope to see more of you in the future.
Matthew, your videos are some of the most in-depth on this site, and I really appreciate all of the insightful analysis you've given us over the years.
This is the first upload I've seen since I subscribed to the channel months ago. I'm very glad I did - I'm only ten minutes in but this is great. Well researched, passionate delivery - it really makes me want to go back and play DMC. Right, back to the video.
Dude, this is awesome! Fucking two-and-a-half hours of interesting commentary on the design of one of my favorite 3D melee action games. Would absolutely love to see similar commentary videos for other games. Great job!
I’m working through Kamiyas games right now, and just today finished my own S-Rank DMD run. I couldn’t have done it without this video. Thanks for the great content, & and on to Viewtiful Joe!
This was the first video game I ever played that got me interested in video games. I played with my then boyfriend at the time on PS2. I was hooked on video games since. We had a blast playing it all night until we finally beat the game. It's one of my fondest memory's with my then boyfriend. I was so against video games until I played this game. Been hooked on video games since. I think the next game we played was Onimusha.
I've waited until I've finally played Devil May Cry to actually watch this, as I thought I had to experience it for myself first, but also to truly understand the finer points I assumed you'd bring. And, as always, I was not disappointed by the quality of Matthew's work. It also helped me appreciate a few things the game did that I just didn't even think about.
The rewind and fast forward stuff made me immediately think of Viewtiful Joe. Mat has shown how much he loves Kamiya games already in various ways. Could just be a reference... or foreshadowing. Either way, while I do love 3 a LOT more, I can see why this game would be chosen for sure. It's influential. It started not just the DMC series, but the entire 3D hack-n-slash genre. It was a huge historical landmark, so of course DMC1 deserves the spotlight. Loved it. Can't wait for the next.
Congratulations on this awesome playthrough. This has always been my favorite game in the series because of its closer relation to the RE franchise and the tone it evokes. In later releases the focus was always more on Dante's attitude and feeling like a badass, especially 3, and that has its merits, but the experience of this game always stuck with me more because Dante felt more relatable, even with the cheesy dialogue. The tension was accomplished with both atmosphere and difficulty in mind, rather than just the latter. I hope to see plenty more from you. Well done!
I know this comment is almost 5 years late to the party, but I think I might have a theory for what's happening in 1:30:06. I've noticed doing my own Hard mode and DMD playthroughs that a few of Nightmare's attacks, like the one where it strikes with its side appendage, can be deflected with Rolling Blaze. When done successfully, this results in Nightmare getting stuck for a few seconds, allowing you to do a full charge 4-hit combo with Ifrit. I believe this is what's happening here: the game likely counts the lightning as an attack and, by jumping just at the right time, you managed to deflect the attack and stun Nightmare. Hope this is of help to anyone stumbling through this comment!
You are the only TH-camr I’ve watched that truly understand all the intricacies of this game. Nobody understands me when I say this is the best game in the series but you clearly do. Subscribed. Also love your director commentary style too, it’s something I thought about doing as well. Tired of let’s plays being labeled as “commentary”.
Agreed. While DMC1 doesn't have a whole lot of interesting tools in Dante's kit for him to seamlessly transition into, it makes up for it with nearly everything else. It's got a great lineup of bosses, tightly designed arenas for interesting fights, near flawless pacing, and an extremely smooth difficulty curve. This doesn't mean that the other DMC's (3, half of 4, and 5) don't have these things, but DMC1 juggles them the most consistently.
@@Kullen64 I think it would be cool for him to return to the series. He always keeps referencing Dante in Bayonetta, whether it be dialogue like "Flock off, feather-face!" him showing up in concept art, or just the existence of Enzo. With all of these references, its almost like he's been waving his hands at Capcom to bring him on board for a collaboration. I think it'd be cool, as long as he keeps those two universes seperate.
Kullen64 yeah man I want Kamiya and Itsuno to work together Kamiya was done dirty with DMC2 (well for the best actually) since they didn’t get permission nor did they ask advice or consultation; not only that even Itsuno was done dirty with DMC2 he was brought in as their producer months before release and he had to make due with the shit the American team left behind and by sweet fortune he got inspired and made 3,4 & 5
I can't state how happy you made me with this video. I watched it after I was starting the game for the first time, but had to take a long break. My hands needed all the rest they can get from a work-intensive animation job. So I could sit back and enjoy the game in another form. You give so many varied insights in this game, how it came to be, all the details of the mechanics... especially the parts about the Nero Angelo music track, the animation of Ifrits attacks, and the feedback of firing the two guns stuck with me. It is really rewarding for me to put a lot of effort into something an see beautiful things happen as a result. This is what got me into Dark Souls, and now DMC, and it is why I can draw frame by frame animation, I suppose ;-) You encouraged me to continue playing, even if it is only the occasional game session. I can't play longer than an hour at a time, but I have finally beaten Vergil in the last fight. It took me more than three hours to do so (that was more than half the playtime up to that point) but i loved every second of it. And this was on normal mode... you have my high respects for showing off such an amazing Dmd run! You produce my favourite content on youtube. Never change, please.
Just finished watching this. I gotta say, this is probably my favorite video you've done yet! Extremely entertaining from start to finish, and not really because of your skillful playthrough, but rather because of your always informative and in-depth look at a games' mechanics, presentation, and history, in order to give the best game reviews on the internet!
Metal Gear Rising on Revengance difficulty is perhaps the most satisfying way to complete that game. It ended up being that when I reached Sam's boss fight the game completely floored me with its ability to deliver satisfying gameplay. Knowing that I could only survive two attacks from him (without healing items) before having to retry it made that boss fight in particular really special to me. It made me *feel* like the badass ninja/samurai Raiden is purported to be, fighting tooth and claw to win at all costs in a one on one stand-off with who is essentially your main rival... And then the music starts, and all hell breaks loose, it was the best test of all of my skills and absolutely the most satisfying in the end. You really feel the moment when realizing that it really is all or nothing.
this is probably the best gameplay commentary I have ever seen that is not from the creators. edit: I just finished watching this and I gotta say thank you for doing this fantastic and informative bit on the best action game of all time!
I love the fixed camera in this game. It’s caused me a lot of unnecessary deaths and it’s constantly a problem, but you adapt to it eventually. In a game that emphasizes styles much, I think the fixed camera is kind of fitting even if it clashes with the game’s design. It gives it a cinematic look that I immediately associate with this series just as strongly as I do Resident Evil and I’ve always appreciated it’s inclusion despite it’s countless drawbacks.
I've been playing Devil May Cry 1 since I was 8 when it first came out back in 2001, now i'm 28 and I've revisited and fully completed the game probably over 20 times, I've also made a very wide variety of Wallpapers through the years, discussed theories, details, lore, artbook, comics, anime, and of course the same with all the games of this franchise. - My point is, this video commentary is hitting pure golden right information data about the game. Matthew, did an impeccable work, this can simply go as the ultimate documentary of devil may cry with an outstanding gameplay too. - hats off.
Dude, these commentaries gave really grown on me, even more than your critique videos, even when I know they obviously take up much more time. And about the arenas, the only thing I could say is that back then I really enjoyed the boss areas, because they were really interesting compared to the "big open space that screams boss" areas in other games (even later entries in the Devil May Cry series), I know that when they go wrong it can come by as artificial difficulty if the point was to get the player stuck, but I never found some areas tiresome in the game even when I completed it in Dante Must Die difficulty (even if I didn't go for the S rank; I'm too casual for DMD S run). A boss design should be focused in movement and techniques, alongside some gimmick that they sometimes put in, but this game showed me at that time that an irregular arena could also be implemented, although the boss design should be established with it in time. Good video as always, keep up the good work!
Am I the only one who has this video playing as background noise? Seriously, it's so relaxing and interesting hearing someone's ruminations on game design, player value, etc.
Great commentary about game difficulty. Spot on where games seem to be created on easy mode and then developers make it harder with enemies that have bigger health pools and more damage, but they are still easier to kill than when you started playing on an earlier difficulty. It seems like the solution to most games would be to design it for the hardest difficulty and allow players to work their way up to that skill level on modes that are made easier for them.
Quick Clicklist of Matthew's Rambling
0:40 DMC Backstory and Influence
4:17 DMC's Camera
6:19 Marionettes and Juggling
8:54 The Combo System
9:56 Barriers of Progress
10:46 NG+ Changes to Enemies
12:00 Weapon Swapping
13:47 Using Stinger for Speed
15:00 Ruined "No Damage" Run :(
15:44 Sound Balancing
16:33 Phantom & Boss Longevity
19:24 Secret Missions
20:18 Swapping Enemies in NG+
21:26 Audio Cues
23:10 "Nelo" Angelo and Mistranslation
24:39 Taunting
26:14 Dante Must Die?
27:33 Shadows
29:49 Dealing with Plasmas and Bat Form?
31:45 Enemy Variety
33:05 Alastor's Pause Combos
35:54 Phantom Instant Kill
37:45 Items as Keys
39:17 Ifrit Gloves
40:42 Satisfying and Stylish Gunplay
45:46 Tension Affects Play
47:17 Inspired by Games
49:22 No Combinations of Enemy Types
50:40 Be Still
51:45 Grenades vs Blades
53:00 Building Devil Trigger
53:57 Music Talk
56:50 Level Design for Action Games
58:45 Swimming...
59:26 Animation Talk
01:02:31 Exploiting Enemy Weaknesses=Depth
01:04:42 Split Missions
01:07:11 Slash Cancelling and canonized mechanics
01:09:44 Honoring Players with a Fair Challenge
01:11:50 Measuring Fairness by Metrics
01:16:45 Learning Through Extremes
01:19:00 Great bosses despite repetition
01:22:17 Matthew's Favorite Cutscene
01:23:41 Matthew's Strategies to Stay Cool
01:24:45 Dante's Platforming Skills
01:25:48 Absolute Zero isn't low enough + Shop
01:29:19 Intricate Nightmare
01:32:27 Distinct Enemy Design
01:35:01 Gotta Go Fast!
01:35:46 Jump Cancelling
01:37:21 Cutscene Transitions
01:39:42 Training for later playthroughs
01:41:27 Final Virgil
01:43:50 Maximizing Devil Trigger
01:46:39 Story Speculations
01:48:32 Bosses' Irregular Pacing and Emotion
01:50:13 HD Re-releases and Preservation
01:55:05 Charging Gunshots
01:57:02 Dodge Cancelling (Depth in Decisions)
02:01:36 Benefits of Offline Ranking System
02:06:22 Letting Dante be Dante
02:08:40 Dante's Inferno
02:09:48 Juggling Nobodies and Random Dodges
02:11:29 Round Trip
02:11:57 Length vs Price
02:14:34 Inverted Controls
02:16:16 Rail Shooters and Challenge by Varied Game Types
02:18:39 Mundus
02:24:25 Dante's Melodramatic Scream
02:27:03 Victory Lap
02:29:20 Demonic Climax
02:30:35 It's what you do that counts
02:32:10 Plane Bit
02:32:54 The Devil in the Details
02:34:46 Bonus Trivia!
02:38:35 Difficulty is Your Friend :')
:)
U badass
Thanks for this!
Yyyyy
This really shows how deeply informative the entire video is. So many different topics covered
Two and a half hours of non-stop commentary with no unnecessary repeats or ramblings, consistently interesting analysis of the game's design, trivia of the game's development (with sources in the description), good audio balancing/editing on the commentary track itself, AND it's all on top of a near flawless playthrough on the hardest difficulty.
There are very, very few people who can complete an S-Rank/No Hit/Dante Must Die run of Devil May Cry, but there's even fewer people that could have this video itself, let alone made it this well. I thoroughly enjoyed this Matt, thank you for taking the time to make it.
Zaranell TB he edited his voice over perfected 50th try runs
@@bboykiddblack You said that as if he wasn't aware.
this is fucking amazing
Came to say the same thing but you already put it better than I could :)
It kinda feels like a nature documentary
I love how when he mentioned you can get DMC1 packaged with DMC3 he didn't even mention 2.
Yeah. Funny how most fans have completely erased that game from memory.
As it should be.
What are you talking about? Don't you remember how Capcom infamously named the second game DMC 3, totally skipping over the number 2? And also had an unusually long gap between releases? Luckily 3 was great and 4 too so they have a great trilogy without any bad games.
MiddleClasshole345 4 was an unfinished game, but it's gameplay was the best, so it kind of worked out I guess.
+MiddleClasshole345
To be fair, Capcom's done this before. Remember when they released Street Fighter 2? No one even asked about Street Fighter.
"Yes but you do realise that the DMC video was entirely scripted, right? It was by far the biggest, most involved project I've done so far which is why you haven't seen another one yet. When I do another commentary I want it to be on par with that video."
The answer was taken from his ASKfm feed. This is his most ambitious project yet just so you guys have some context.
Me: Aww man! Awesome! I wonder why it took him so long this time?
Matthew: " S Rank, No Damage, No Items, Dante Must Die playthrough."
Me: Ah, y-yeah that'll do it.
>Pauses commentary for "Flock Off, Feather Face!"
King.
1:20:00
"if Nero Angelo had less health maybe he could just be a regular encounter"
cue DMCV in which he's a regular encounter.
Heh, yeah, thankfully they don't teleport everywhere, that would be a pain.
Talks about how Griffin and Dante could have been friends. They punk on eachother in V. The man is prescient as fuck.
@KivaNChips Which should be expected as it came out 7 years and a generation later. Still in terms of overall originality and design DMC1 is still best in the series.
One thing I remember was that someone once asked Kamiya why did he make players search for red orbs at the beginning to open the gate and Kamiya said it was to make players get used to playing 3D game. People nowadays probably had no idea the significance of this tiny design at the beginning of the game as it was a transition between 2D and 3D games with platforming and jumping starting to be implemented into 3D games back then. I'm always impressed by how thoughtful Kamiya is as a game designer.
That’s pretty cool
That makes a lot of sense. The outside section and the castle hall is a cleverly designed tutorial level. The way the orbs are scattered requires coming to grips with platforming somewhat so you'll be somewhat prepared movement wise when you encounter your first enemy. Also I like how there is a quick way to grab the orbs for subsequent playthroughs, so you don't have to go through the tutorial each time you play. A lot of thought and care went into this game
Q
I always thought of Matt as a respectable and worthwhile voice on the vidya in general but I had no idea he was this fucking good at video games. The mere thought of doing a no damage DMD run on DMC1 makes me reach for the bottle.
I'm a pretty average gamer and I think DMC 1's DMD with no damage is more doable than you think. It's only way harder in the later games that become more action heavy .
Not only that but he's not even using the supposed optimal strats, choosing style first.
@@dazitmane8905 you can go online and find anyone saying how this “isn’t that hard” your words mean nothing
@@holynarwhale8729 what is he supposed to do? make a short and precise guide how to no damage dmc1 dmd in a youtube comment?
anyway i agree with him after doing a hard mode run of dmc1 recently, you can no damage this game pretty easily until griffon and its very doable until nightmare.
nightmare and mundus are bastards though and they make me hesitate to do the no damage dmd run, its possible but tedious.
@@bambu7031the final fight with Nelo Angelo can also sometimes fuck you over if you're unlucky
So to the best of my ability I've done my best to slow down that bit of sped-up cutscene at 2:14:49 and make it somewhat legible, and this is the closest interpretation from what I could hear:
"Apologies to the people who [created?] this cutscene and anyone else who wanted to see it, although you were supposed to have played the game before watching this video anyway so you should already know what happens, I don't want to hear any complaints. Hopefully nobody will slow down the audio for this part and actually make out what I'm saying or they might find out that I'm already working on a Viewtiful Joe commentary. Let's keep that between you and me, eh? I hope the Joe video sees the light of day but I gotta admit I have my doubts. I figured this one would be easier but apparently it's incredibly difficult because of how compact everything is. Turns out blasting through the game as quickly as possible doesn't leave much room for commentary. At least I had some fun along the way."
Sorry for betraying our little secret, but it's been long enough since this videos release and I'm probably not the first person in your comments to do this anyway. At least I had some fun along the way too.
The real friends we made was the fun we had along the way.
I love this, and all of you people in the comments. Matt can be proud of his fans. Goes to show how quality really goes deep
i wish this could be the new standard for let's plays. You actually learn something.
It was actually the standard of Let's Plays back then. The concept spawned from the Something Awful forums and the aim was for people to showcase games they loved, similarly to this video.
It's a shame the concept was taken by idiotic teenagers that don't even know shit about the game they're filming themselves, screeching as they play.
Check out the TV tropes page on Let's plays. It links to a ton of let's plays in this style, most notably the Jurassic Park Trespasser playthrough by ResearchIndicates.
This is not a Let's Play. It's a commentary. I learned more about it than I ever could from a Let's Play. Most people who do Let's Plays often go off on tangents that don't even have anything to do with the games in question.
Read comments.
Fenrick Marlowe I did. Nothing refutes the fact that you're comparing Let's Plays to a commentary.
So just to touch on why we react to audio faster than visuals: As we all know, light waves travel much faster than sound waves. The reason we don't respond to light stimuli first when its from the same source as the audio is because of the way our neuron system works. The neurons that are receptive to sound actually transmit the signal to the brain a lot faster than those in our eyes, completely mitigating the differences in wave speed. I forget the exact distance, but if you sit a few meters~(perhaps more, I forget) from the source, then the difference in wave speed is greater than the offset created by your neurons and you would actually begin to respond to visual stimuli before audio stimuli.
Hope that made sense and my apologies for any inconsistencies, it's been a while since I read up on the subject. Great video as always Matty.
Yeah the speed difference between light and sound would eventually close the gap. It's a surprisingly small distance since light is so much faster but it doesn't seem relevant for games unless you're playing on a cinema screen or something.
+Matthewmatosis I'm not a specialist by any means but if I had to guess why we react faster to sound from an evolutionary point of view, it could be that it's more important to react faster to a danger that's coming from anywhere around you since we perceive sound from any angle, while it's a bit less important to react to something that is already in front of you and which you don't need to turn around to confront or analyse. Not sure if that makes sense
Do you makes notes of where to save enough devil trigger for the next area or boss?
***** thanks !
I come back to this video at least once a month. It's just that good. The level of detail put into this video is honestly mindboggling and deserves all the praise it receives.
You still come back to this once a month?
@@descendantofartorias2067 Did I stutter?
@@rcurl44 Legend
Me too.
That mindset of looking stylish to impress an audience in the arcades would later evolve into a similar aspect where players now create combo mads and style tournaments for other players to watch online. Hideki Kamiya was truly ahead of our time.
Ayy when's the next Combo Mad my dood?
I never knew about Phantom being able to get insta killed by breaking through the glass...I love small details like that in games.
People think DMC is too short? It gives you two higher difficulties that are balanced for NG+ and some good incentives to beat those. Replay value trumps length in action games IMO.
These days, if your game isn't open world with dozens of sidequests then your game is too short. Gamers are ignorant of replay value and are more concerned with the dollar per hour of guarenteed gameplay. Hence why UbisoftEavision are still in buisness.
I don't really get that either, if the game is hard then...theoretically...it would take a lot longer than 20 hours to beat even if its technically "short" or whatever...
Alienrun Yeah, plus if the gameplay is fun it doesn't matter how long the actual story is because you'll keep playing them. There's many long games that have sub par gameplay and you just get bored halfway, even if the story is amazing.
Yeah, people today would maybe complain about Mario 3 being shit because it's "too short". I still play the classic Mario games most days, beating them over and over and over, because they're endlessly repayable, even if the hour length of one play through is very short
People complained about the recent Switch platinumgames game Astral Chain because it's only 20 hours for 1 playthrough, despite the ENTIRE point of their games being to play them over and over and get better ranks and new characters to play through. The games get better and better the better you get at them. It's also like the classic sonic games, if you never played them as a kid and tried them decades later, you might not get the big deal about them, because they only get truly fun once you're good at them, having played them over and over to learn the stage layouts and momentum and physics based controls. In classic sonic speed is not just handed to you on a plate, you have to EARN speed, earn the right to go fast, which in a sonic game is the whole point. It's not like modern sonic games where to go fast you just press the boost button. Once you're good at sonic you'll understand why they're so popular
To be fair this game was very short you could beat this in a hour or 2 but imo had alot of replay value due to the unlockables and difficult but most people especially casual don't care for that mess
Been doing a DMCV no damage playthrough as vergil and what matt says at the end about learning things you wouldnt expect holds absolutely true
"Leaderboards can be discouraging to players"
Especially when the fastest clear time in Resident Evil 1 is 00:00:00.
i want the context for this please
Matthew talks about how leaderboards can be discouraging because they show the absolute elite of a particular game's players. A player may look at it and think that it isn't worth it to attempt a good run because you'll never be as good as that person on the top of the leaderboards.
If you take a look at the leaderboards for the HD remaster of the RE1 Remake, you'll see that the fastest clear time is 00:00:00, obviously through the use of hacking, mods, or glitches. You literally can't compete with those, only use them yourself. But then you already lost the point. More discouraging than attempting a difficult challenge, is attempting one that is literally impossible, at least in my opinion.
@@Sorrelhas thanks broski
Ok but you should know it’s achieved by cheating and shouldn’t judge any of your performances based on that fake time
@@Sorrelhas Its called any %. There are other segments of speedruns, not all speedruns are like this.
This is one of the best gaming videos on TH-cam. Not only is the gameplay highly skilled but the commentary is top notch too.
This might be my favorite youtube video, thanks so much for making this ❤
I was just wondering when Matt's new video would arrive, and then I find out it's two in-depth hours of DMC.
When he delivers, he _really_ delivers.
Almost three hours, actually!
Clearly, we are not worthy.
It's so strange I was wondering the same the other day!
"I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with liiiight!" - Dante
...goes right up there with...
"Some motherf***ers are always trying to ice skate uphill." - Blade
Dante: side-roll dodging
Blade: tax evasion
It's spelled "motherfuckers."
I feel the same way about game decisions. In MGS games, I love learning about the main characters by seeing what they would do instead of forcing them to do what I would do in their situation. I would rather learn about an interesting character than ruin it with all of these choices that ultimately result in the devs trying to stitch the pieces together of an incomplete and inconsistent character.
Have to say again that this guys work is on another level compared to everyone else on youtube!
you mean you didnt know thats games are made?
43:08 "All the special effects in the world can't save poor gameplay"
if only that were true and people stopped buying and hyping up shit games based on the bells and whistles
Matthew, this is by far my favorite video of yours.
The amount of work put into this is insane. Thank you.
It's great man, such a gem. I agree.
Inspired by your speech at the end I gave DMC a playthrough on Dante
Must Die difficulty, going for all S ranks (not a no damage run I'm not
that hardcore). After weeks of playing the game I finally managed it!
Can't put into words the satisfaction I had after beating the likes of
Nero Angelo or Mundus.
Matthew's random uploads are the best random uploads.
You clearly don't follow his twitter as closely as a lot of us if you think this was random haha. A lot of us were patiently waiting for this project, even though he only revealed it to be DMC 2 weeks ago.
Nick F I try to follow Twitter accounts, I really do but most of the time my mind never thinks to open up Twitter and see what's going on. It's probably why I'm so behind on everything on the Internet :P Congrats to you though for knowing about this and I do hope you enjoy what you've been waiting for :)
+Nick F Not all of us follow twitter/social media--so it was very Michael random (and awesome) surprise to see this pop up in my sub box when he has only uploaded one video in the last ~6 months :). (No complaints about that, though, as I'm well aware top notch quality content takes time--I'm simply making the point that not all viewers follow content creators on social media, and Matthew's upload schedule is far from routine)
I finally learned how to deal with all of the enemies properly by watching this video. I know the point was to make commentary and analysis but not even the walkthroughs that I've seen have these good of no damage strats.
This game is an absolute nostalgia bomb. Thanks for doing these videos, Matt!
Also, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO FILL YOUR DARK SOUL WITH LIGHT!!!
+DrTheKay No, you are, because you people have ironically bastardized that word.
The game that started my favorite genre and is one of my favorite games of all time. Thank you for making this video, can't wait to see what's next!
I'm not even a fan of DMC but I still thought the video was interesting. Guess he just makes a good presenter.
Ummmmm, "Onimusha warlords" came out months before Devil may cry
so no, DMC did not start the hack n slash genre
@@videogamessports7778 I think he means character action
To think that he's gone forever only to have him reappear out of nowhere like the Sun at dawn is going to be a new constant in my life.
I think game designers should definitely playtest their own games on the hard difficulties, because if that's fun for them, then the other difficulties will probably be fun for regular players.
Indeed. You can always tell when a game was playtested on Normal.
Honestly, usually even Normal sucks in those games, too. (not in a hard way, but in a bad way)
I agree. That's one of the reasons I love Daniel Remar. For example, he did a video beating all of the bosses of his game, Iji, on the highest difficulty (of the ones that are meant to be possible).
Your final thoughts at 2:38:34 really motivated me to finish my first playthrough. I thought I was going to give up at the final Nightmare fight but I persisted and tried a bunch of other tactics to get through to the final boss. Even though I will live to the end of my days thinking that fight is really unfair, I live with no regrets. Thank you for this video!
Your reviews really do make me appreciate games more
I really love these deep reviews; so many secrets revealed and overlooked aspects carefully combed through.
I hope that subsequent entries are also looked into.
1:01:27 that is actually called overlapping action but the 12 principles of animation are often frustratingly vague and unhelpful so it is an easy mistake to make. Secondary action is an extra flair a character adds to their movement. If a character is angrily walking, the walking is the main action and the angry arm motions are the SE. It is very easy to get them confused. We really need an animation book for the modern day.
The camera never bothered me too much, it would only be bothersome when you were trying to jump around or jump somewhere you couldn't see, but they used that to their advantage too because there were secret areas you were rewarded with if you explored beyond your camera's view. Love this.
No one expects the Mitosis' inquisition.
The original DMC is one of the greatest action games ever created
Matthew: "What do you normally do when I'm gone?"
Me: "Wait for you to get back!"
This is fantastic work and a great way to analyze and literally "review" a game. I love it. Would watch this for later installments as well, in particular 3 and 5!
Matt isn't much of a DMC fan, he's more of a Kamiya fan.
You could also assume that Mundu's design was an inspiration for the enemy design of Bayonetta, in that his angelic looking form cracked apart to reveal his true grotesque form
"This is would turn the simple act of attacking into 3 button presses" and 18 years later we got DMC5 Nero who, between exceed and buster punches, has turned the simple act of attacking into 3 button presses :)
That second Phantom fight with the glass floor blew my mind. I played this game extensively as a kid but never did I discover that. It's a real Metal Gear moment.
I havent played this game but I played the 3rd one and the 3rd one goes full on dante's divina commedia refferences. The tower is the purgatory, the entrance of the tower is guarded by a 3 headed dog (the entrance of purgatory is guarded by 3 different beasts) and a lot more
Bearing in mind this game wasn't originally THIS game (it was going to be res evil 4), it hasn't done too badly to set the scene. Story is lax, but the later titles, especially 3, do better there.
The stinger camera transition trick is probably my favorite bit demonstrating how well you know the game. You’ve mentioned elsewhere that you prefer figuring these things out yerself and I think it shows here.
I loved dmc prior to this video, but it is a testament to Matt's ability as a commentator that I love it even more now and every time I put this video on on the background, I itch for a quick play and getting that S rank.
No way I'd have gotten into DMC if not for this video. DMC1 is really fun but I'd dropped it so many times in the past because I didn't really know how to play it
Fantastic commentary as usual
A god hand commentary from you would be real neat
I've beaten God Hand once a year since like 2011 and this video inspired me to try beating it on the hard mode, but I really doubt I'd have any insightful commentary to add, but here's hoping he does something like that for God Hand, I'm obsessed with that one.
why?
Because its a fantastic game under the guise of a terrible one, and it'd be fascinating to dissect. Everything about it: the limited peripheral vision of the camera, the minimal ost, the garbage graphics, should make it a terrible game - maybe one of the worst - but the sum of its parts form the complete opposite. It's one of the best games I've ever played and it's not a tottering self-parody, it's great because it's great, and it's fucking bizarre.
I thought the game looked really good graphically for PS2. Particularly the character models were rich in detail.
Fingers crossed for a ninja gaiden and bayonetta commentary in the future (after the devil may cry 3 commentary of course)
Wow this video is old, but this is genuinely one of my new favorite videos on the internet! Despite being not very good at games, I’ve always loved more difficult games like Touhou and Devil May Cry. However, because of my own lack of skill, I’ve never ventured far beyond easy or normal mode on many of the games I like- mostly because of how daunting it is. Seeing this video though, I feel really motivated to try to push myself to play on harder difficulty modes! Thank you for this behemoth of a video!
Dude. Dude, I need to congratulate you. I’m a game design student in Brazil, and I really wanted to study this game more deeply, but it’s very hard to find anything that goes beyond the basic trivia like “Devil May Cry started as Resident Evil 4” up until today.
Your video is a masterpiece of analysis, not just for this series but for game design in general.
One thing I’d like to comment on is the Roll Canceling of the Grenadegun, which, despite offering a somewhat “unbalanced” and non-stylish advantage, has another interesting detail: it teaches the player to use dodging with a reward. I’ve played other games in the series, including 4, DmC, and other hack ‘n slash games, and I never managed to dodge properly. This was my first time playing with such dedication, and I finally understood how to use the roll. I don’t doubt that even this detail was planned.
Anyway, congratulations again. All the best to you :)
One of the best videos I've watched explaining a video game.
36:12 Duuuuude! :o 16 years later and I STILL learn new things about this game!
Something interesting i noticed, Dante's light that he gives off is very obviously shaped as if it was coming from an RE flashlight, they likely just left in their original character light and dropped the flashlight model.
This is still my favorite action game of all time, and this is your best video since Demon's Souls. Very impressive commentary.
THIS is how you do a let's play. I love how your videos are few and far between, but they're so in depth and detailed. Keep up the stellar work!
Trish is also a reference to Beatrice, which was Dante's lover in the Divine Comedy
Oh my days I've been waiting for a new review/commentary for so long. To see it's based on one of my favourite franchises is even better. Very insightful, very enjoyable
Now this is the kind of commentary that deserves millions of views.
If you're playing on Hard or Dante Must Die mode and go to the fountain room in mission 5 or the interlude between missions 7 and 8, there's actually another exclusive Phantom fight
I never knew that tbh, pretty cool learning about a new thing from a game I've "apparently" played to death xD
@@moonraven6145 your comment also just happened to me but with that one mini boss in MegaMan Zero 2 from the forest stages where I didn't know that you could pull its "nose" towards you with the Chain Rod
You can also farm him there. That's how I got all the skills and a ton of yorbs on Hard.
I'm stuck on Mundus second phase on DMD which as we all know extremely difficult. I hope i can overcome this final battle by learning from this amazing guide/commentary!
nice profile pic
Couple of untouchables and shotgun twitching were crucial for me to beat him
This is probably the best walkthrough I've seen for a game in a long time
"I think the more challenging a part of a game is, the more care needs to be taken to ensure its completely fair to the player at all times. Players should always have a chance to react or at least plan ahead so they're not relying on luck to get them through"
shit, you could be a game designer, also i'm subbing for that
I really enjoyed your insightful commentary and respect the time and effort it took for you into making this video. Devil May Cry is one of my favourite games out there and having you cover it was everything and more I could have hoped for, so thank you. Hope to see more of you in the future.
This is such a well-made commentary. Respect!
Matthew, your videos are some of the most in-depth on this site, and I really appreciate all of the insightful analysis you've given us over the years.
This is the first upload I've seen since I subscribed to the channel months ago. I'm very glad I did - I'm only ten minutes in but this is great. Well researched, passionate delivery - it really makes me want to go back and play DMC. Right, back to the video.
I'm four years too late. This is rad, and you're awesome.
@@JustAJauneArc im four years and three months late. But this is awesome, he is awesome, you are awesome, and dmc is awesome!
@@bimboskimbo4994 I’m five years and two months too late and I have nothing to add to this conversation.
Dude, this is awesome! Fucking two-and-a-half hours of interesting commentary on the design of one of my favorite 3D melee action games. Would absolutely love to see similar commentary videos for other games. Great job!
I can't believe how awesome this video is! Great job!
I’m working through Kamiyas games right now, and just today finished my own S-Rank DMD run.
I couldn’t have done it without this video. Thanks for the great content, & and on to Viewtiful Joe!
This was the first video game I ever played that got me interested in video games. I played with my then boyfriend at the time on PS2. I was hooked on video games since. We had a blast playing it all night until we finally beat the game. It's one of my fondest memory's with my then boyfriend. I was so against video games until I played this game. Been hooked on video games since. I think the next game we played was Onimusha.
I've waited until I've finally played Devil May Cry to actually watch this, as I thought I had to experience it for myself first, but also to truly understand the finer points I assumed you'd bring. And, as always, I was not disappointed by the quality of Matthew's work. It also helped me appreciate a few things the game did that I just didn't even think about.
The rewind and fast forward stuff made me immediately think of Viewtiful Joe. Mat has shown how much he loves Kamiya games already in various ways. Could just be a reference... or foreshadowing.
Either way, while I do love 3 a LOT more, I can see why this game would be chosen for sure. It's influential. It started not just the DMC series, but the entire 3D hack-n-slash genre. It was a huge historical landmark, so of course DMC1 deserves the spotlight.
Loved it. Can't wait for the next.
Congratulations on this awesome playthrough. This has always been my favorite game in the series because of its closer relation to the RE franchise and the tone it evokes. In later releases the focus was always more on Dante's attitude and feeling like a badass, especially 3, and that has its merits, but the experience of this game always stuck with me more because Dante felt more relatable, even with the cheesy dialogue. The tension was accomplished with both atmosphere and difficulty in mind, rather than just the latter. I hope to see plenty more from you. Well done!
Gods be praised, our savior is here!
....and I jizzed.
Praise the Mattew.
🖕🏻
He'll fill our dark souls with liiiiiiiiiight!
THE SAVIOR IS COMING!!!
This is perfect, one of my all time favorite games. Thank you!
I know this comment is almost 5 years late to the party, but I think I might have a theory for what's happening in 1:30:06. I've noticed doing my own Hard mode and DMD playthroughs that a few of Nightmare's attacks, like the one where it strikes with its side appendage, can be deflected with Rolling Blaze. When done successfully, this results in Nightmare getting stuck for a few seconds, allowing you to do a full charge 4-hit combo with Ifrit. I believe this is what's happening here: the game likely counts the lightning as an attack and, by jumping just at the right time, you managed to deflect the attack and stun Nightmare.
Hope this is of help to anyone stumbling through this comment!
Better late then never, haha. Thanks!
Excellent. I loved your brief on impact/aesthetic during the Griffon fight.
DMC 1 was and still is my favorite game. Been playing it since 2002
You are the only TH-camr I’ve watched that truly understand all the intricacies of this game. Nobody understands me when I say this is the best game in the series but you clearly do. Subscribed. Also love your director commentary style too, it’s something I thought about doing as well. Tired of let’s plays being labeled as “commentary”.
Agreed. While DMC1 doesn't have a whole lot of interesting tools in Dante's kit for him to seamlessly transition into, it makes up for it with nearly everything else. It's got a great lineup of bosses, tightly designed arenas for interesting fights, near flawless pacing, and an extremely smooth difficulty curve.
This doesn't mean that the other DMC's (3, half of 4, and 5) don't have these things, but DMC1 juggles them the most consistently.
The Rent Pursuer
Totally! Hideki Kamiya is a great game designer. Seems to work well with diverse teams of people too.
@@Kullen64 I think it would be cool for him to return to the series. He always keeps referencing Dante in Bayonetta, whether it be dialogue like "Flock off, feather-face!" him showing up in concept art, or just the existence of Enzo. With all of these references, its almost like he's been waving his hands at Capcom to bring him on board for a collaboration.
I think it'd be cool, as long as he keeps those two universes seperate.
The Rent Pursuer
I agree. I’d play the hell out of another Kamiya DMC game. And yeah I’ve noticed the references haha.
Kullen64 yeah man I want Kamiya and Itsuno to work together Kamiya was done dirty with DMC2 (well for the best actually) since they didn’t get permission nor did they ask advice or consultation; not only that even Itsuno was done dirty with DMC2 he was brought in as their producer months before release and he had to make due with the shit the American team left behind and by sweet fortune he got inspired and made 3,4 & 5
I can't state how happy you made me with this video. I watched it after I was starting the game for the first time, but had to take a long break. My hands needed all the rest they can get from a work-intensive animation job. So I could sit back and enjoy the game in another form. You give so many varied insights in this game, how it came to be, all the details of the mechanics... especially the parts about the Nero Angelo music track, the animation of Ifrits attacks, and the feedback of firing the two guns stuck with me. It is really rewarding for me to put a lot of effort into something an see beautiful things happen as a result. This is what got me into Dark Souls, and now DMC, and it is why I can draw frame by frame animation, I suppose ;-)
You encouraged me to continue playing, even if it is only the occasional game session. I can't play longer than an hour at a time, but I have finally beaten Vergil in the last fight. It took me more than three hours to do so (that was more than half the playtime up to that point) but i loved every second of it. And this was on normal mode... you have my high respects for showing off such an amazing Dmd run! You produce my favourite content on youtube.
Never change, please.
Just finished watching this. I gotta say, this is probably my favorite video you've done yet! Extremely entertaining from start to finish, and not really because of your skillful playthrough, but rather because of your always informative and in-depth look at a games' mechanics, presentation, and history, in order to give the best game reviews on the internet!
Metal Gear Rising on Revengance difficulty is perhaps the most satisfying way to complete that game. It ended up being that when I reached Sam's boss fight the game completely floored me with its ability to deliver satisfying gameplay. Knowing that I could only survive two attacks from him (without healing items) before having to retry it made that boss fight in particular really special to me. It made me *feel* like the badass ninja/samurai Raiden is purported to be, fighting tooth and claw to win at all costs in a one on one stand-off with who is essentially your main rival... And then the music starts, and all hell breaks loose, it was the best test of all of my skills and absolutely the most satisfying in the end. You really feel the moment when realizing that it really is all or nothing.
I agree MGR is really fun to play and challenging
this is probably the best gameplay commentary I have ever seen that is not from the creators.
edit: I just finished watching this and I gotta say thank you for doing this fantastic and informative bit on the best action game of all time!
I love the fixed camera in this game. It’s caused me a lot of unnecessary deaths and it’s constantly a problem, but you adapt to it eventually. In a game that emphasizes styles much, I think the fixed camera is kind of fitting even if it clashes with the game’s design. It gives it a cinematic look that I immediately associate with this series just as strongly as I do Resident Evil and I’ve always appreciated it’s inclusion despite it’s countless drawbacks.
I've been playing Devil May Cry 1 since I was 8 when it first came out back in 2001, now i'm 28 and I've revisited and fully completed the game probably over 20 times, I've also made a very wide variety of Wallpapers through the years, discussed theories, details, lore, artbook, comics, anime, and of course the same with all the games of this franchise.
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My point is, this video commentary is hitting pure golden right information data about the game. Matthew, did an impeccable work, this can simply go as the ultimate documentary of devil may cry with an outstanding gameplay too.
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hats off.
Dude, these commentaries gave really grown on me, even more than your critique videos, even when I know they obviously take up much more time. And about the arenas, the only thing I could say is that back then I really enjoyed the boss areas, because they were really interesting compared to the "big open space that screams boss" areas in other games (even later entries in the Devil May Cry series), I know that when they go wrong it can come by as artificial difficulty if the point was to get the player stuck, but I never found some areas tiresome in the game even when I completed it in Dante Must Die difficulty (even if I didn't go for the S rank; I'm too casual for DMD S run). A boss design should be focused in movement and techniques, alongside some gimmick that they sometimes put in, but this game showed me at that time that an irregular arena could also be implemented, although the boss design should be established with it in time.
Good video as always, keep up the good work!
With it in mind*
Alongside some typos; cellphone keyboards still troll me smh
Aiko ;-;
Amsa 2 years later but...is that Aiko in your profile pic?
How does this guy not have more subs?
ratherbill Infrequent uploads.
He doesn't have tits or scream at the top of his lungs
Holy crap I was about to go sleep... not anymore!
I just finished fapping at 3am and went on YT for my post orgasm view and saw this holy fuck time to fap again
+RealMasterChief117 I'm glad I'm not the only one who post orgasm TH-cam views in the wee hours of the night. I feel like we're soul brothers.
Armando Fernandez
Hell yeah brotha
Daniel Dahl I listen as I lay to sleep
This game still looks absolutely stunning, and has still by far the best atmosphere in any game ever.
Things are about to get absolutely CUH-RAYZEE
TAXI!
...wait, wrong game.
Now we're getting motivated!
Looks like this is gonna be one hell of a party!
Chikin Nuggits let's rock!
Am I the only one who has this video playing as background noise? Seriously, it's so relaxing and interesting hearing someone's ruminations on game design, player value, etc.
"Who watches a Matthewmatosis video at 3 in the morning?"
"Oh boy it's 3AM!"
TempuS 6:00 am
Would you look at the time...4:00 on the dot
2:45 AM for me. 3AM is WAY too late to start watching.
I sleep to this, i win
Just found out about this channel. This guy is so on point, it's refreshing to see.
Great commentary about game difficulty. Spot on where games seem to be created on easy mode and then developers make it harder with enemies that have bigger health pools and more damage, but they are still easier to kill than when you started playing on an earlier difficulty. It seems like the solution to most games would be to design it for the hardest difficulty and allow players to work their way up to that skill level on modes that are made easier for them.
Time actually goes by so fucking fast dude, I do not remember this review being 4 fucking years old.
lol the bit at 12:41 actually became a mechanic in dmc 5 with v lol
I know how daunting of a task this must be for you, so please take your time if you decide to do another. This was outstanding, dude.