It’s no small secret that developer Ninja Theory has made more enemies than friends with their drastic redesign of hero Dante for their Devil May Cry prequel, DmC. But, if the developer could show the loyal Devil May Cry fans that,by blending their design sensibilities with Capcom’s franchise, they could make a compelling and thought provoking experience, then they might win over some naysayers.

To help show that there is still some of the Dante gamers know and love beneath this skinnier, dark haired kid, Ninja Theory has released a short gameplay trailer for DmC that shows Dante being Dante, and even rocking the white hair and bright red coat.

Though the trailer does carry a lot of Ninja Theory’s signature style (most recently seen in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West), the combat seems very Devil May Cry.  There’s a conscious blend between handguns, larger-than-life weapons, and the iconic sword that Dante wields -- needless to say the over-the-top combat is there.

There’s even a few interesting gameplay mechanics thrown in to break up the pace of the typical combo-based hack-n-slash.

And then comes the Devil Trigger, when Dante unleashes his devilish roots, which actually delivers a character design much closer to what fans know and love. Gamers had yet to see this Devil Trigger Dante in as much detail, although he was featured briefly in a previous trailer, and it makes us wonder if fan outcry forced Ninja Theory’s hand.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3h-XbgffNY

Nonetheless we are sticking by DmC both because of Ninja Theory’s creative vision and enthusiasm for the project, and because the most important part of Devil May Cry, the gameplay, looks solid. We may not have the white-haired, wisecracking Dante, but we can still slash demons to pieces like him.

What do you think of the combat of DmC? Do you think the Devil Trigger form is enough of a compromise for fans to start accepting this prequel?

DmC is slated for a 2012 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: YouTube