So... a trailer for this has been screened at E3, and let me share with you my live reaction now, straight from a message board where somebody posted it:

"D-D-DANTE?? Dante in another game?? HolyShitHolyShitHolyShitHolyShitHolySHIT... DOWN adrenaline rush... ARGH LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!! Can't... think straight... now... >.<"

WOW that just hit me out of NOWHERE!! Jeez, just when I think I have my Dante obsession under control, something like this comes up and triggers an orgasmic chain reaction that makes my brain go haywire and my heart feel like it's about to explode... Must breathe... *deeeeeep breeeaaath* Oh. My. God. Dante's finally going to be in a one on one fighting game!! I've been waiting on this for YEARS!! Starting 2nd quarter of 2011, Deadpool is about to get deader. =D

I'm seeing some people saying that Dante can't really carry the Devil May Cry series anymore because he's "getting old." And not getting old as in getting boring, but getting old as in old age. Perhaps this is simply a disagreement on the nature of aging, but I really don't understand this line of reasoning. If you're half demon-lord, chances are you will not age like a human. I'm betting you'd live to be several hundred years, and probably not show it for a long time. Dante has centuries of peak physical condition yet to go. That is all.

Well, Reuben Langdon is Dante's voice actor in Devil May Cry 3, and here's him doing gravity-defying live action moves for motion capture:

And here's a live action Devil May Cry 3 commercial he did:

I am... sooo... turned on... right now.....

Less than a month ago, nobody knew anything about this mystery boy. I thought he was pretty. Not as pretty as Dante, but still very pretty. Now that I've seen the Devil May Cry 4 trailer, I feel I could share my opinion about this newcomer to the series. But no essay I write could possibly convey the feelings foremost in my mind, so instead I shall copy paste an actual conversation I had on this subject:

Me: NERO MUST DIE!
CaT: lol, when I'm done with my site, you can vote for that. I'm gonna make a new poll. But... that'll be a few days from now.
Me: ahh... what are the options? I need a choice of creative, slow deaths.
CaT: well, the options are straightforward, and the question is this: "your impression of Nero: 1) positive, 2) negative, 3) in between, 4) dunno."
Me: I missed the "KILL HIM!!!" option. Can there be a "KILL HIM!!!" option? pretty pleeeeze?
CaT: lol, that's negative. That's a surprise coming from you. I thought you'd like him, lol.
Me: no, negative is "hm, I don't like Nero"... doesn't quite capture the "I don't like Nero... AND I WANT TO RIP OUT HIS EYEBALLS, BREAK HIS LEGS, AND STAB HIM THROUGH THE HEART WITH HIS OWN BONES!!!"
CaT: why? Cause he kicked Dante in the face? lol.
Me: THAT'S WHY HE SHOULD BE FORCE FED HIS OWN INTESTINES!!
CaT: lol, that's the only reason?
Me: yes.
CaT: hahahaha, that's very like you. You should blame Dante too, you know, for being so clumsy, lol.
Me: Dante is not clumsy ever!
CaT: sure... that scene is priceless, lol
Me: priceless? It will cost him HIS LIFE!!
CaT: lol relax, hon.
Me: *hyperventilates*

In summation, I do not like Nero. I hate him very much. He is a mere human with none of Dante's epic past, style, or attitude. He has no precedent in the games (unlike, say, Vergil/Nelo-Angelo) to justify being cast as the main character. And yes, he kicked Dante in the face.

Wow, where to begin... This is more of a retrospect of my impressions of information that has been released about Devil May Cry 4 in the past year.

The first thing we were given were a vague teaser featuring scenes from Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3, ending with Dante standing in a filed of snow overlooking a castle. From here there circulated screencaps of Dante in the snow, his face looking awfully stretched out. It was a little worrying, but I told myself it was just a test render.

Next came an even more vague teaser that had Dante do a few stylish moves against the backdrop of a city street. Dante looked hideous, but I stayed calm, telling myself it was yet another test render and its sole purpose was to show the capabilities of the Playstation 3.

Nothing could have prepared me for the ultimate revelation: Dante was not the main character. Also, he had a beard. I was not sure which was worse.

Ok, it wasn't exactly a beard, more like dark stubble. You could barely see it in the grainy screencaps that were available at the time. Nevertheless, my mind was swirling with shock and denial. Dante with a beard? This can not be happening. Dante does NOT have a beard. Absolute blasphemy! I was ready to cry as my hopes for enjoying Dante's divine likeness through PS3 graphics were crushed beyond repair. Does that make me superficial? Maybe, maybe not. Honestly, I would love Dante no matter what he looked like. But now there was question as to whether you would be able to play as Dante at all.

Dante was expressedly not the main character of Devil May Cry 4. That role was assigned to Nero, a human youth with a festering demonic arm. He moves like Dante, uses guns and swords like Dante, fights demons like Dante, has a trenchcoat like Dante, and has white hair like Dante... but he's not Dante. What gives? Who the hell is this guy? Why bother switching Dante's longstanding title role for somebody who is essentially his clone? If Capcom released a game centered around Vergil or Sparda, that would be understandable (and very welcome), but Nero has no links to any of the previous three Devil May Cry games.

After watching the official trailer, I got a better idea of what was going on. Nero and Dante don't like each other. Dante seems to be after the demonic influence controlling Nero's arm and Nero isn't being cooperative. Nero and Dante even fight. I've heard from unofficial sources that Nero is involved in a Sparda-worshipping cult that is trying to bring about his resurrection, but don't quote me on that. Despite his limited appearance in the trailer, Dante dominates it with his presence. He makes his entrance by crashing through the roof of a church, beard stubble and all.

I really enjoyed the trailer and Dante's style in it. He looked amazing with blood splashed on his face! My mind learned to block out his beard. As far as I'm concerned it's shadows, demonic ashes, fairy dust, what have you, but not a beard! Given time, I'm sure it'll be wiped from my vision entirely. The gameplay and graphics look absolutely breathtaking, and I'm looking forward to playing it... as long as I can play Dante.

1) You have Dante as your wallpaper on both your computer and your MP3 Player.
2) You have the soundtracks for all the Devil May Cry games on your MP3 Player.
3) You have numerous Devil May Cry music videos on your MP3 Player.
4) You have all the Devil May Cry cinematics from all three games on your MP3 Player.
5) You have cool gameplay videos of Devil May Cry on your MP3 Player.
6) You have complete gameplay videos of every single mission in the game on your MP3 Player.
7) Your Devil May Cry computer folder is approaching 5 gigabytes.
8) You have Dante's picture in your wallet instead of friends and family.
9) You go to movies calling your Dante action figure your date.
10) You fall asleep to the Demo Digest almost every night.
11) You have over 200 hours into Devil May Cry 3.
12) Your ideal partner would have perfect mastery over Dante.
13) You slave away making a costume of Vergil...
14) ...just so you could find a cosplay Dante and kiss him.



DISCLAIMER: All artwork, characters, stories, music, video, and books are Copyright CAPCOM and ATLUS. They are NOT of my making. No copyright infringement is intended.