Hideaki Itsuno, one of Capcom's most accomplished directors, is celebrating his 25th anniversary at the company. Itsuno has been involved in many of Capcom's beloved and high profile franchises like Rival Schools, Street Fighter 3, Darkstalkers, and Capcom vs SNK 2. Itsuno has also been heavily involved with the Devil May Cry series over the years, with the latest installment of this long-running franchise arriving later this week. If the Devil May Cry 5 director has his way, another highly requested Capcom franchise will be making a comeback.

After reflecting on his past 25 years on Capcom in a recent interview, Itsuno admitted that prior to taking on the role of director on Devil May Cry 5, he lobbied executives to either allow him to work on a new DMC or create Dragon's Dogma 2. Naturally, the feeling was that a return to the Devil May Cry franchise would be the better choice of the two for right now, but returning to Dragon's Dogma is something Itsuno would love to take on at some point.

One of the main reasons that Itsuno holds Capcom's Dragon's Dogma franchise in such high regard is that he views it as the biggest challenge he's experienced in his career that now spans a quarter of a century. Part of the struggle was that it was a completely new IP, something wholly different from what he was previously used to. The other element was the introduction of the pawn system, a feature that allowed three AI party members to accompany the player on missions. One of the party members is from the player's world, while the other two are borrowed from another online connected player or locally generated.

"I've mentioned this before, but when we started Devil May Cry 5, I'd gone to the people up top and said let me make either Devil May Cry 5 or Dragon's Dogma 2. I thought Devil May Cry 5 would be the better choice right now, so did that. If I could, I'd love to make Dragon's Dogma 2 - it'd be awesome."

While Itsuno and his team put the finishing touches on the long-awaited Devil May Cry 5, fans will be able to experience Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen next month on the Nintendo Switch. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is essentially a port of the original game, and comes with all previously released downloadable content, a revamped UI, and a lower retail price. It goes without saying that if this enhanced version sells well, it may motivate Capcom to grant Itsuno's wish for another crack at the franchise.

Devil May Cry 5 is scheduled to release on March 8, 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Eurogamer