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Devil May Cry creator says action games are unevolved: Use a leaf stone! photo

Hideki Kamiya, creator of the flamboyant Devil May Cry series, has blasted 3D action games for not evolving since he "blazed trails" with the madcap adventures of Dante. A somewhat arrogant boast, but outspoken game creators aren't known for humility.

How have 3D action games evolved since we blazed a new trail with DMC? Can you even go so far as to say they’ve evolved? Seven years ago, we put everything we had into Devil May Cry. But since then, like the hands of time for the 3D action genre were frozen at that moment, it seems like the drive to push users further has stopped. There is so much more that should be done now. And we are the only ones who seem up to the task. This is the spark that has lit the fire within me.

I wonder if he's including Devil May Cry 4 in that group of unevolved games. Not that DMC4 is bad -- it's very fun -- but Kamiya and his team can hardly be called masters of innovation for work that was no different from the PlayStation 2 era prequels. I also can't think of what Kamiya has done in recent memory to boost the genre.

Still, if he's working on new games that break the Ten Golden Rules of action games, then that's absolutely fine, and I have no intention of discouraging him. We shall see if he can blaze further trails with the fire he claims is inside him. That could just be heartburn though.


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31 comments | showing # 1 to 31
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manta's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:00
manta
Needs to stoofoo and get to work on DMC5 IMO.
linuxguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:05
linuxguy
I never really liked the DMC games,I guess I'm a god of war guy
angry douchebag > metrosexual guy in red leather
manta's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:08
manta
I don't know...Kratos does like running around half naked most of the time. :P
EternalDeathSlayer's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:10
EternalDeathSlayer
Maybe he's just angry because God of War is a better series......

DMC4 was great, but like you said, it's the same damn game.

This guy is an asshole...
wtfblakegtfo's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:28
wtfblakegtfo
add bullet time! its groundbreaking
ParaParaKing's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:30
ParaParaKing
Wait, Kamiya did create DMC, but didn't work on the later ones. He didn't even work for Capcom anymore as DMC4 was in production.
KMCC's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:38
KMCC
Sounds like he's trying to comeback against Itagaki's recent comment.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 07:41
Jim Sterling
ParaPara: My mistake. Solved.
stafax's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 08:40
stafax
What did he do to make the genre evolve? Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage for Dreamcast came out a good 2 years before Devil May Cry. Both had great melee combat systems, both had projectiles, both even had power up modes (Berserk Mode/Devil Trigger). The only thing I can think of that was in DMC that wasn't in Berserk are air combos. I wouldn't exactly say air combos innovate the genre. As KMCC said in an above comment, it just seems like this guy is responding back to Itagaki's recent comments.
catsithx's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 08:44
catsithx
He's probly just trying to get some press case he's working on some new project and hopeshe can get somefree press from I guess. or he's just a bitter person.
Passionate Styos's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 08:45
Passionate Styos
Wow, this is the first time I see Kamiya responding in a non-modest way. But then again, I'm confident that he can pull something new and unique, after all, he did Viewtiful Joe and Okami. I dunno if he has to do with MadWorld, the next game from PlatinumGames, but damn it looks incredible.
bipolar beers's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 08:46
bipolar beers
i dont own a 360 but ninja gaiden 2 seems like a step in the right direction for 3d action games.
TurboSpaz's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 08:50
TurboSpaz
Reading this article is like CliffyB getting all angry about people using next gen brown and cliché personalities in video game characters.
chango_martinez's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 09:06
chango_martinez
Jim: wait what? what did you solve? Your post is still dissing him on work that he had nothing to do with.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 09:17
Jim Sterling
It's not dissing him, I want to know how he feels about the series he created.
zgnoud's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 10:36
zgnoud
I thought Hideki Kamiya didnt have anything to do with DMC4? didnt he leave with Mikami the Resident evil guy along with a few other ex clover capcom employees to form that platium game studio? my impression was that he was making these comments to hype up that new platium studio angel action shooter game coming up?
chango_martinez's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 10:50
chango_martinez
Jim:
"but Kamiya and his team can hardly be called masters of innovation for work that was no different from the PlayStation 2 era prequels."

ok, maybe you weren't dissing him. But I was referring to the above statement, where you judge him based on work that was not his. He only made DMC1.
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 10:54
B-Radicate
I played about 3 or 4 hours of DMC4 before mailing it back to GameFly. It was the EXACT same game I played years ago, only before it was called DMC and DMC3 (I skipped 2 and from what I hear I'm a better human being for it).

Guy should take his own advice and help the genre evolve instead of remaking the same game over and over again. Plus, I think it's shitty he says this kinda stuff weeks before Ninja Gaiden 2 comes out. Just throwing that out there.
chango_martinez's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 11:00
chango_martinez
do you see what you did Jim? now all these poor little misinformed commenters are making foolish statements.
AlucardX24's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 11:05
AlucardX24
The world needs more good megaman games. Stress good. More 2D X, Original, and Zero games.
notdryad's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 11:25
notdryad
Perhaps instead of worrying about how 3D action games haven't evolved maybe he should be helping Capcom out with Devil May Cry. I liked DMC4 but you can't tell me that it had some significant flaws for the player to overcome; absolutely no excuse for making me replay the first half of the game but with a different character.

Kamiya's probably just throwing claims around as an indirect response to Itagaki criticizing DMC4's enemies being objects to kill rather than enemies that want you dead.
Superfluous Moniker's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 12:09
Superfluous Moniker
Remember Zone of the Enders? I can't think of any other games of its like, which is a shame because there could be some potential there. Take a Devil May Cry style game and give it a flying mechanic. And maybe giant robots, those are always cool.
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 12:45
brainderailment
All I know is that I can think of a couple of Action games that I like a lot more than DMC.
zgnoud's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 14:20
zgnoud
People people people! Hideki Kamiya was NOT involved with DMC4 nor the 2nd (and i think not the 3rd either) only the first one. He doesnt even work for capcom since they closed down the Clover studio which he was a part of. Get informed.
Slaughterhouse Five's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 15:16
Slaughterhouse Five
zgnoud is correct, the only DMC game Kamiya designed was the first one. He had absolutely no involvement in any of the sequels. After DMC he went to work on Viewtiful Joe, and after that, Okami.
RJG's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 19:19
RJG
I think Ninja Gaiden did a pretty good job of evolving the genre. The enemies and bosses in that game actually want you dead, and the combat does have back and forth, instead of just whacking enemies and dodging their counter attack.

God of War, as much as I hate it, did some work too. Mostly introducing fucking stupid QTE's in to an action game. Mash square, now hit circle! Congratulations! You just pulled off some ridiculous feat using God of War's patented AutoPilot system!
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 19:29
Dexter345
Newb. Pichu doesn't evolve by any stones (and certainly not a Leaf Stone). He has to like his owner before he evolves. Come on, Jim. Journalism!
Remz's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 19:35
Remz
Kamiya was in Clover - instant redemption.


Anyone know if he was directly involved in God Hand? That game was badass.
MatCD's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/26/2008 22:55
MatCD
I know that the changes to the combo system in Devil May Cry 3 was purely superficial in that it could be completely ignored by players that didn't care about getting high ranks. But I'm just addicted to making that Style meter go up. Because of that, the way I play DMC1 is very different from DMC3 and 4.

I also really appreciate what they did with Nero's mechanics in DMC4 (Max Act Exceed Rocks!), but aside from the new character, Dante having some new moves and real time Style changing, and a few different enemies, it was pretty much the same game as DMC3.

The back-tracking and re-fighting the bosses so many times in DMC4 didn't bother me so much since I'm use to that sort of thing, but I do admit that it seems like a pretty lazy design choice (DMC 1 and 3 had it, but it was done much better in those games in that I don't remember people complaining about it).

From here I don't see very many places that Capcom can take Devil May Cry. It's been my opinion that they'll take it in the same direction that they took Mega Man in only moderately updating the formula.

And I have have no problem with that, as long as what they do add is totally awesome.

And I agree Remz, God Hand is badass (as you might notice from my avatar). I want more action games like that. Also I believe that the person most responsible for that game's awesomeness was Shinji Mikami (the guy who made Resident Evil).
SunTzu's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/27/2008 02:57
SunTzu
There's a lot that can still be done with the Action Genre, in my opinion. I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic in regards to his future project, however. Secretly, I hope he changes EVERYTHING about the current Action Game formula, but I know that's never going to happen. Most likely, he'll change one or two aspects of the genre (Controls and Camera, most likely) and then take a step back and say "GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU... INNOVATION!"

Ah, cynicism, my only friend.
Demtor's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/27/2008 10:22
Demtor
Well... it is Capcom after all. Its what they do. Rehash the same game over and over until it doesn't bleed green anymore. Then after that maybe, I say MAYBE, change up the game style. Like RE4, for example.

But if he's talking about the genre in general, yeah okay. I can kind of see where he is coming from but God of War and Ninja Gaiden will disagree with him. I just think its problem that lies with the developers and their lack of effort. Its a lot easier to rehash another 3D action clone instead of coming up with new ideas that require a level of dedication to make them work right.

Its the fear of failing in a next gen market with big money that is stifling a lot of creativity. Just look at Heavenly Sword. Anything new they tried, failed in the end and ruined a game that would have probably been better off just sticking to the formula thats worked for others.
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