Devil May Cry (2001)
Hideki Kamiya's Gothic PS2 Hack-and-Slash That Birthed the Character-Action Genre
Devil May Cry is a 2001 hack-and-slash action-adventure directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Shinji Mikami at Capcom Production Studio 4 for the PlayStation 2. Originally conceived as an early prototype for Resident Evil 4, the project evolved into an original gothic spectacle starring demon hunter Dante on Mallet Island, codifying 60fps aerial juggling and graded Stylish Rank combat.
From Resident Evil 4 Prototype to Mallet Island
Development began in late 1999 when producer Shinji Mikami asked Resident Evil 2 director Hideki Kamiya to build a next-generation Resident Evil 4 for PlayStation 2. After reference photography trips to castles in Spain and the United Kingdom, Kamiya and scenario writer Noboru Sugimura drafted a gothic tale around a biotechnology-enhanced hero named Tony Redgrave. Recognizing that the acrobatic combat strayed too far from survival horror's vulnerability, Mikami persuaded Capcom management to turn the project into a standalone property. Rechristened Dante, son of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda, the red-coated mercenary travels with mysterious client Trish to Mallet Island to confront the resurrected demon emperor Mundus and honorable black knight Nelo Angelo.
Aerial Juggling, Stylish Ranks, and Genre Legacy
Kamiya reshaped 3D melee design around an accidental physics quirk noticed during testing of Capcom's Onimusha: Warlords, where rapid strikes briefly kept foes airborne. Turning that glitch into a core loop running at 60 frames per second, Devil May Cry let Dante launch marionettes skyward with the lightning sword Alastor, pin them aloft with rapid blasts from dual pistols Ebony and Ivory, or crush bosses using the fiery gauntlets Ifrit and Devil Trigger transformations. An on-screen Stylish meter graded combo variety from Dull to Cool, Bravo, Absolute, and Stylish, directly feeding red-orb skill upgrades and end-of-mission ranks. Selling over two million PlayStation 2 copies, the game established the blueprint later expanded by Devil May Cry 3, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, and Kamiya's Bayonetta.