is a 2008 action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platforms. It is the fourth installment in the Devil May Cry series and is written by Bingo Morihashi and directed by Hideaki Itsuno. The story follows Nero, a young man possessing demonic powers who is on a mission to stop the series' main character, Dante, after he assassinates the leader of the Order of the Sword. The player assumes the role of both Nero and Dante as they fight enemies using their demonic powers and a variety of weapons.
Devil May Cry 4 is the first entry in the series to be released simultaneously for multiple consoles. During its development, Capcom focused on each version achieving the same visual quality using the MT Framework game engine. Around eighty people formed the team that created the game. Nero was introduced to attract the new gamers. Dante's popularity with gamers proved challenging because the developers needed to use him as a supporting character in the story.
Critical reception to Devil May Cry 4 was positive. It was praised for its challenging difficulty, its visuals and Nero's characterization as a new protagonist. However, it was criticized for its backtracking in Dante's stages and a troublesome camera. The game sold over three million units worldwide, becoming the series' best-selling title before the release of its sequel. Bingo Morihashi adapted it into a two-volume light novel.
It was released on iOS as Devil May Cry 4: Refrain in February 2011. A remastered version of the game was released in June 2015 as Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition which adds the option to switch between English and Japanese voice tracks in the Japanese release, improved visual effects and textures, in-game re-balancing, additional costumes, and three bonus playable characters: Vergil, Lady and Trish. A sequel, Devil May Cry 5, was released on March 8, 2019.
Gameplay Gameplay in Devil May Cry 4 is like previous games in the series. The player must fight through a linear sequence of levels called "missions", occasionally solving puzzles or gathering items. Performance in a mission is graded from "D", the lowest grade, to "A" then "S", "SS", and "SSS", the highest grade. Grades are based on items used, Red Orbs gathered, time taken, and the number of Style Points accumulated. Each Style Point grade has its own tag-word. The stylish grade shows up on the side of the screen and begins at "Deadly" (D); progresses through "Carnage" (C), "Brutal" (B), and "Atomic" (A); then, advances through one last bar of grades containing the phrases "Smokin'" (S), "Smokin' Style" (SS), and lastly "Smokin' Sick Style" (SSS). Stylish combat is the focus of the game, conveyed through unbroken combos of varied attacks while avoiding damage. The player must avoid enemy attacks to continue performing combos, often by memorizing attack patterns. The player can perform taunts in combat, with different animations for the character based on the current stylish grade. Taunting enemies without being hit rewards the player with a slight increase in Style Points and the energy in the Devil Trigger gauge. The Devil Trigger is a temporary super-powered state that changes the animations of some of the player character´s attacks and increases damage done, while adding a slow but steady health regeneration. Devil Trigger can be activated by pressing the corresponding button when the gauge is filled.
Some changes introduced in Devil May Cry 4 are the presence of two playable characters, Dante and Nero, and a slight modification to the shop system. A new currency, Proud Souls, is used to buy new abilities while Red Orbs are used to buy consumable items and some upgrades. Red Orbs are obtained mainly by defeating enemies, based on the player´s stylish grade at that time, and destroying environmental objects during missions. Proud Souls are awarded at the end of missions; the amount varies depending on how well the player performed. The cost of abilities increases with the purchase of other abilities, though all abilities can be refunded for their original price.
The player plays as Nero throughout most of the game. He is equipped with the Red Queen sword, Blue Rose revolver, and the powers of his Devil Bringer. The Red Queen features an Exceed Gauge that can be charged up to 3 stages, allowing for subsequent attacks that are more powerful than regular slashes, until the gauge empties; and with precise timing, the gauge can be charged after each attack. Nero also has the powers of his Devil Bringer and can use it to pull himself towards enemies or vice versa. The Devil Bringer may also be used for context-sensitive throw attacks, leading to high damage and various effects depending on the enemy. Nero's Devil Bringer also gains new abilities during the game, including being able to detect secret missions or caches of Red Orbs. Nero eventually gains the ability to use Devil Trigger after getting the katana known as Yamato. This increases his Devil Bringer's power changing its attacks into more powerful versions with different animations.
The player plays as Dante through seven missions, taking over halfway through the game. His gameplay is like that in Devil May Cry 3. He has access to multiple melee and ranged weapons which he gains after boss battles. He is able to cycle through them freely in combat and is no longer limited to equipping two weapons of each type as he was in the previous game. Dante also begins with his four combat styles, each of which grants him different abilities. But, unlike in Devil May Cry 3, the player may now switch between Dante´s styles at will with buttons or pads on the controller. Dante also gains the Dark Slayer style near the end of his appearance, which only has one style level. Styles do not level up through experience as in the previous game, but instead must be upgraded like other skills in the shop screen in between missions or at statues. Dante can also enter Devil Trigger where he gains most of the benefits that Nero's Devil Trigger has. Since he does not have the Devil Bringer, the animations and properties of some of his normal attacks change instead.
Plot
Nero is a young demon hunter who lives on the isolated island of Fortuna and is also a member of the Order of the Sword: a religious sect of knights who worship the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda as a God. Dante arrives, and murders The Order's leader, the High Priest Sanctus, in front of the entire congregation. At the same time, an army of demons invades the city, putting everyone, including Nero's love interest Kyrie, in danger. Tasked with stopping Dante by Kyrie's brother Credo, the Captain of the Holy Knights, Nero's journey leads him to discover that he is in fact a descendant of Sparda himself, and Dante is not his enemy. Under orders from Sanctus, Agnus has been siphoning the power of the long lost Devil Arm Yamato, the sword of Dante's brother Vergil, to create a demonic army and imbue high-ranking members of the Order with demonic power. To Agnus' shock, the shattered Yamato restores itself in Nero's presence and flies to Nero's aid. With The Order's plans revealed, Agnus flees to inform the newly resurrected Sanctus.
As Nero sets his sights on The Order, he discovers to his dismay that Credo is part of the conspiracy, until he ends up being deceived as well when they witness Kyrie being kidnapped by Sanctus. He intends to use a gargantuan statue-like creature known as the Savior to defeat the demon army he's created, as a means of strengthening the people's worship of Sparda. With the Sparda Sword already in his possession and needing the blood of a descendant of Sparda along with the Yamato, Sanctus captures Nero to power the Savior's core. Dante arrives with Trish, who was revealed to be a spy within The Order, and makes a promise to the dying Credo to save Nero and Kyrie. Splitting up, Trish evacuates Fortuna's human residents, while Dante destroys all the Hell Gates scattered over Fortuna and defeats Agnus, reclaiming the Yamato sword for the last time. Confronting the Savior in a sky battle above Fortuna, Dante drives the Yamato through the Savior's chest, where Nero recovers it inside, freeing himself and Kyrie as well as defeating Sanctus.
Nero is able to make peace with the demonic power he possesses, resolving to use it to protect those he cares about. Before Dante leaves, he decides to entrust Nero with the Yamato, and Kyrie and Nero share their first kiss in the ruins of Fortuna. Meanwhile, back at Dante's shop, Lady pays Dante and Trish for a job well done. Trish answers Dante's phone and lets him know it's a customer with a password. Sharing in the excitement, Trish and Lady tag along with Dante on another mission.
Development
Development of Devil May Cry 4 began shortly after its predecessor was a success. A total of eighty people formed the development team. The first teaser was that of Dante on a snowy peak shown at E3 2005, while the Tokyo Game Show 2005 trailer showed Dante doing multiple moves in front of a camera, both containing elements that were not included in the finished product. Capcom only made the E3 2005 video to confirm their staff had begun work on the game. Since they had just finished Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, the developers initially were confused in regards to what they had to do in order to innovate the gameplay mechanics they developed previously. The team wanted to introduce new gameplay elements and a new character allowed them to do this. This was the first Devil May Cry not to be released for PlayStation 2, because it was designed for the next generation of hardware. This allowed the team to try new play mechanics and expand the series' plot. While not intending to send a religious message, members from the Capcom team did research in Vatican City and Istanbul.
On September 6, 2006, Japanese video game magazine Famitsu reported that the previous games' main character, Dante, would not be the protagonist in Devil May Cry 4. Instead, a new character named Nero, voiced and motion captured by Johnny Yong Bosch, took the lead. The use of a new protagonist was discussed many times at Capcom but was not approved until producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said that the Dante character had to be in the game. Fearing negative feedback, as happened when Konami's stealth game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty introduced a new character, replacing protagonist Solid Snake with newcomer Raiden, producer Kobayashi said Capcom aimed to make Nero fun to play like Dante and intended to make him stronger at some point.
Two of the game's PC exclusive features are Turbo Mode (previously used only in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition) giving the game a twenty percent speed boost, and a new difficulty mode called Legendary Dark Knight Mode which can display over 100 enemies in some missions at once. Both features returned in the Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition release.
The PC version also has both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 mode. It is labeled Games for Windows and runs on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It assumes a gamepad is present and only uses the mouse in the menus, providing the same interface as the Xbox 360 version.
Engine Hiroyuki Kobayashi noted the production team began working with the game using a PC-based engine. He said that this was the first PlayStation 3 game developed by Capcom, and making this transition was a "hard step", particularly because no member of the production team was familiar with the console's capabilities.