I'm getting really worried about the future of Devil May Cry as a series in general. I don't need to express how much I hate Devil May Cry 4 as I do it so much anyways around these forums, but that instalment and it's possible effects on the future of this series is what prompted me to start writing some blog posts in the future.

The history of DMC hasn't at all been consistent, and if you're like me one of those early fans you would understand when I say this... it sucks to love this series. The short history is this, we get the original Devil May Cry = it's fantastic, we love it; we then get Devil May Cry 2 = it's terrible, we hate it; we then get DMC3 = sigh of relief, we're back on track!; we then get Devil May Cry 4 = cheap effort by Capcom... you get the picture.

It's very clear Capcom themselves never really understood this series well. In fact we can see from the first two sequels to this game that they were struggling trying to recapture Hideki Kamiya's original vision of the series. Even Devil May Cry 3 although a very good sequel, it was still Capcom trying to understand the series and it's fanbase but this time they were able to make 'significant progress'. The problem of Devil May Cry 4 is that they decided to quit trying and instead is now willing to sacrifice certain elements that make the series what it is to appeal to the mass audience.

To make matters worse is that Devil May Cry 4 was very successful, therefore this new audience outnumber the actual fanbase which is a very niche group to begin with anyways. So which group is Capcom more willing to listen to? The minority fans who care about the series? Or this new casual audience?

Appealing to a mass audience is not a problem, but changing the series to appeal to a mass audience is a problem. The series does have it's share of elitist fans, but even they want to see the series do well and attract as many people as possible, but in the right way.

Devil May Cry 3 was successful too and it introduced many new people to the series and did it right. The one thing that stopped Devil May Cry 3 from being even more successful was a major misjudgment from the part of Capcom. As a thank you to the US for the success of the series, the difficulty was heightened for the NA version of the game as a gift. While it was a nice gesture for the existing fanbase it unfortunately turned off a large number of potential fans from finishing the game and it also put off a large number of potential fans from even trying the game out.

Capcom was struck by 'RE4 syndrome', due to the success of Resident Evil 4 in capturing the mass audience, Capcom's wanted the same with Devil May Cry 4, so they got Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who produced RE4, to take charge with his newfound mass marketing philosophy - minus the quality effort that took place in creating RE4 in the first place. A cheap and easy formula to success.

Capcom is a business and profit is what it's all about. Why should they bother to listen to a minority fan base and deliver quality when they can make big bucks with minimal effort listening to the ignorant critics and mass gamers? They shouldn't really, but I am hoping.

I'm going to try and appeal to Capcom's generosity and good faith that they will hopefully listen and understand what I have to say.

Most developers would of course know the basic elements of their series pretty well like common sense and instinct, and if they made a poor sequel it sucked not because they didn't understand the series but because the game was poor. Capcom have never had this basic understanding with Devil May Cry, therefore the purpose of my upcoming blog articles is to establish the series.

Don't confuse this as me projecting particular or specifically explicit ideas of what the series should do. No, I'm not trying to limit Capcom's creative control, nor their imaginative vision for what they want to do, more like providing a constitutional base framework of understanding for their creativity to run wild in.

Stay tuned...