Grave Gamer News & Views — ninja theory

Ninja Theory’s ‘AAA Indie’ Hellblade Gets a New Trailer

Taking root in real world history, the PS4 and PC third-person adventure follows a Celtic warrior battling her own psychosis, having been left mentally scarred by a viking invasion.

From the trailer, it’s easy to mistake this as a big budget actioner developed by a hundred person team. In actuality, Ninja Theory has only 15 developers working on the game. The ideology behind production is one NT calls “Independent AAA” – in other words, a title made with all the freedoms an indie dev would enjoy except benefiting from AAA production values.

NT’s Chief Creative Director, Tameem Antoniades, explains, “Digital self-publishing means that we can offer a smaller, but high quality game at around half the price of retail games.” It’s essentially the Robert Rodriguez approach to filmmaking applied to the gaming arena. Rodriguez, if you’re unfamiliar, was once described as capable of making a $40 million movie look like a $100 million.

DmC: Definitive Edition is Launching Earlier Than Expected

This certainly doesn’t happen very often in the world of video games (though I suppose DmC already having been made helps) but Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition, the next-gen port of Ninja Theory’s goddamned sensational reboot, is no longer releasing on March 17th.

It’s coming out March 10th – a whole week beforehand! See? For every ten games that are delayed, we get at least one bumped up (never mind that it already came out in 2013; just focus on the positive).

Plus, you don’t have to fork over the MSRP this time around. DmC: Definitive is releasing on PS4 and Xbox One at a cool $40. Besides collecting all of the game’s DLC, fans can also don Dante and Vergil’s original threads from DMC1 and DMC3 respectively. So there you go, his hair is white. Now you crybabies can adjust your scores to a 2/10 instead of a 1/10.

Put on Your Hater Blockers — DmC: Devil May Cry is Coming to PS4/Xbone

When Ninja Theory’s bold, stylish reworking of the Devil May Cry mythos released in 2013, there was an avalanche sized disparity between critical reception, which deemed the game a phenomenal treat for the hack n’ slash genre, and fan opinion, which assessed that Dante’s lack of white hair and excision of anime-flavored over-the-topness made DmC fucking trash, and NT the worst developer in the world.

If you let the haters dissuade you from this radical reboot last year, allow The Herb to set you straight: DmC is my favorite Devil May Cry game. I have played each and all, repeatedly. But I love this one the best. Maybe now you’ll get to see why in next-gen.

Releasing both digitally and retail-ally for PS4 and Xbox One (is everyone cool if we just start abbreviating that as ‘XO’?), DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition packs the original game, every piece of DLC from costumes to the trippy side-campaign, Vergil’s Downfall, and blends it with a shitload of new modes and features.

The already fluid game now runs at 60fps in 1080p. The gameplay has been tweaked and tinkered to max efficiency — bugs have been squashed, uneven AI has been rebalanced, the Style system can now be made harder to master, and thanks to player demand, a manual lock-on can be implemented a la DMC1.

A new Hardcore Mode has been added for those craving old school ass-walloping; Turbo Mode has returned, featuring 20% more speed; a new difficulty, Gods Must Die, starts enemies in Devil Trigger, gives them increased damage, and denies you item use (masochists wanted); and now Mr. Vergil has his own Bloody Palace to eviscerate demons in.

DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition re-drops March 17th, 2015. I’m hoping against all hope that a renewed interest in this reboot might push Capcom into greenlighting a direct sequel. It would be the ultimate crime if Ninja Theory’s vibrant, vivid world only gets one chance; a worse crime than no white hair.

(‘Course, if you’re really hard up for the two-dimensional, walked-straight-out-of-a-manga Dante, Capcom is also releasing a Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition onto next-gen platforms sometime in the summer.)

Official Trailer Hereabouts!

“Vergil’s Downfall, the first substantial story DLC produced for DmC, gives  gamers the chance to again command the other Son of Sparda, wielding Yamato against Hell’s legion, in his own post-campaign narrative.  For those of you that lit up at seeing Vergil’s playable inclusion to DMC3 back when the Special Edition released in 2006…Stow your excitement.”

DmC UPDATE: Bloody Palace Mode and Vergil’s Downfall Hitting This Month

Having effectively driven a rail spike between the critics that dote over it (Hiya) and the jilted gaming public that’s shit on it (check out this hilarious disparity), Ninja Theory’s month-old DmC, regardless of the confusing hate/love surrounding it, is pumping out new content steadfast.

Beginning with the return of the beloved Bloody Palace – Devil May Cry’s horde mode before there was such a thing – players can look forward to a gauntlet of punishment befitting a true Son of Sparda as soon as next week.  The mode comes way of a title update filled with tweaks and fixes including, but not limited to, boss AI adjustment and increased enemy damage for some of the higher difficulties (yikes).  The 360 receives the update Tuesday and the PS3 scores it Wednesday.

The first dose of story DLC, Vergil’s Downfall, is also arriving sometime before February’s out.  As the name suggests, players take control of the other Son of Sparda in his own three to five hour quest.  Fans will be pleased to know Vergil’s mini-campaign wisely opts not to recycle levels or events from Dante’s story and instead offers up completely new environments for you to tear through.

Sadly, the main game’s dynamically choreographed cutscenes are replaced with motion-comic style animations that progress the story a la Castlevania: Lords of Shadow’s so-so DLC.  Guess a penny only stretches so far when it comes to reboots.  Vergil’s Downfall will set you back $7.99/720 Points to download or, better yet, free if you pre-ordered the game.  Give us a visit when we review the add-on in all its hack n’ slashing glory.