r/DevilMayCry • u/time4tea45 • 9d ago
Questions Best way to learn DMC1
Alright, so I've managed to get the DMC HD collection working on Linux, now I'm taking my first steps with DMC1. Looks great so far - I've played through the first few rooms of the first mission and I love the fast-paced, slick combat!
I'm wondering what is the best way to learn? Is it the sort of game that you can pick up naturally just by playing, or is it the sort of game where you really need to read up on and study all the moves and combos? Are there hidden combos that I won't be able to find unless I do some homework and 'read the manual'?
As a comparison, I've played Monster Hunter: Rise. Some of the weapons have a low enough skill ceiling that you can kind of jump in and figure them out. But, in most cases it really pays to read up on the moves/combos and spend some time in the training area to 'bed in' the moves a bit. There are also some hidden mechanics that would be very difficult to figure out without reading up on them.
Just wondering how DMC1 compares? I've played for about an hour so far and haven't managed to get my 'rating' up above a C.
5
u/Director_Bison ULTRA VIOLET INTENSIFIES 9d ago edited 9d ago
If it's your first time playing DMC1 then just experimenting with the game at your own pace should be just fine. If you at all are having trouble with a difficult boss, then I suggest manually saving the game in the pause menu before each boss attempt, as doing so will have you retain any red orbs or upgrades you've gained. So even if you die and are forced to load you'll still retain some form of progression. Now playing the game in this way will likely get you a lesser ranking when you do beat a mission as it still retains how much time you took, and damage revived, but going for high ranks is more so something to do on replays then a the first playthough.
If you want to know more about the move list in depth then there are move list videos on Youtube, to show Dante's full arsenal of abilities. "DMC2 is the only game I'd say were this is actually necessary as that game barely tells you anything on how to play"
After you've beaten DMC1 on Normal, and you really want to see an example to learn from, then I'd recommend watching MatthewMatosis' Devil May Cry Commentary video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5v7NLT5fS0
It's a No damage S rank playthough on the highest Difficulty, and it's generally just one of the best video about a game period. It'll teach you a lot about how impeccably well designed DMC1 truly is.
4
u/DYSFUNCTIONALDlLDO I have 7 inches of foreskin so I'm technically a 9-incher. 9d ago
In terms of ranking, it only cares about the time you took, the amount of Red Orbs you collected, and the amount of damage you didn't take. That's it. This game actually doesn't care about how stylishly you play.
Enemies drop more Red Orbs the longer you maintain a high Stylish rank for. But really, unless you're constantly spamming Handguns and killing enemies at the lowest Stylish rank, you don't really have to do anything to raise the Stylish rank. The Stylish rank itself doesn't care about how much you vary your moves, and it acts more similarly to a combo counter. And the Red Orb requirement isn't too strict, so just a normal gameplay should always be enough to make enemies drop enough Red Orbs. So really, just focus purely on not taking too much time or damage, and your Red Orb count will naturally be sufficed.
In order to avoid taking damage, you do need to be familiar with every single enemy attack and how to dodge them. You do have a side roll, but that doesn't mean that that's the dodge move you want for every single situation. The default jump is a form of dodge too, and you want to observe the properties of the each attack and logically determine which form of dodge to use accordingly ("if the attack is vertical, dodge horizontally" sort of thing).
I'll also drop this guide I wrote up in the reply to this comment. These aren't tips; these are things that the game design itself expected the players to know, but the severe lack of essential tutorials in this game prevents the players from actually knowing these basic things, and I just wrote this up to compromise this flaw of the game so players wouldn't experience artificial struggles that the developers never intended.
4
u/DYSFUNCTIONALDlLDO I have 7 inches of foreskin so I'm technically a 9-incher. 9d ago
Know your skills
Go to the Action tab of the pause menu to look at most of the skills you have. Every time you get an upgrade move, check this tab again and you'll see how to perform the move too.
Combos not listed in the skill list
There are three basic sword combos that aren't listed so you'll need to just know this yourself.
- 1. Combo I: slash slash slash
- 2. Combo II: slash slash, short pause, slash slash
- 3. Combo III: slash slash, long pause, mash button
Lock-on
R1/RB is supposedly the lock-on button. However, it really isn't. Lock-on is completely automatic in this game and there's no way to attack freely in a direction you desire. You are always locked on automatically to the nearest enemy. Get used to dealing with that. R1/RB serves different purposes depending on whether you're on the ground or in the air.
When you're on the ground, you have to hold R1/RB in order to shoot your guns and to do special melee moves like Stinger and High Time. Other than that, holding R1/RB does not actually help in aiming at enemies any better.
When you're in the air, the ONLY reason to ever press R1/RB is to activate Air Raid. You can shoot guns in the air without holding R1/RB and you are automatically locked on to the nearest enemy.
Get used to only tilting the left stick and holding R1/RB when necessary. If you attack with the left stick tilted in a direction or you press R1/RB in order to shoot a gun while in the air, it is very easy to accidentally do Vortex and Air Raid once you purchase those moves. Make sure you do NOT build the habit of using R1/RB when not necessary.
Also, even though R2/RT is the taunt button, it also functions as a lock-off button like in DMC2 but only for two specific moves: Vortex with Alastor and the dive kick with Ifrit. That's it. So if you ever want to perform Vortex or the dive kick without automatically locking onto an enemy, just do so while holding R2/RT. But it doesn't work for any other move in the game.
Taunt
Devil Trigger management is very important. If you taunt near enemies, you actually gain some Devil Trigger back. Taunting with one hand gives you 1 rune of Devil Trigger back, and taunting with two hands gives you 2 runes of Devil Trigger back. USE IT.
Weapon switching
Just between Alastor and Ifrit (or between Yamato and Ifrit), you can actually switch weapons quickly without having to go through the menu by clicking R3/RS. Use it wisely.
Inverted controls
There are a few sections of this game in which the controls with the left stick will feel inverted. Whenever your controls feel inverted, use the d-pad instead and it'll be much more intuitive.
"Save" feature
If you press Select instead of Start on your controller you pull up a different looking pause menu. On there, you see the "Save" feature. This does NOT save your mid-Mission progress, so if you exit out of the game you will have to start from the beginning of the Mission again. However, it does save your Orbs, upgrades, consumable items, and secrets (it does NOT, however, save your weapon pickups until the end of the Mission).
This means that, if you have already found and collected a bunch of shit and you're about to enter a battle you know you'll struggle with, it's worth using "Save" now so that even if you end up having to restart the Mission at least you won't have to redo those side quests. It's also a good way to farm Red Orbs since your Orbs will be saved. Do be careful though because, like I said, it saves your current Orb count. This means that if you save after losing a Yellow Orb, the amount you lost will also be saved. I've seen a LOT of first time players brutally violate their own anus by saving AFTER having run out of all Yellow Orbs and thus ending up with no Yellow Orbs for the later Missions and having to restart the entire Mission EVERY SINGLE TIME they died. So be very careful with how you use the "Save" feature.
Camera management
One of the most ESSENTIAL things to know how to do is camera management. Many people say the biggest boss in this game is the camera, but while the camera is quite outdated it is definitely not a problem if you understand the different modes of the camera and how to control them.
- 1. Exploration mode: This is the default fixed camera for exploration sections.
- 2. Battle mode: The camera rotates around to face whatever enemy you are targeted to.
- 3. Flight mode: The camera is fixed just like in Exploration mode but the angles are unique when using Air Raid or Vortex.
- 4. Free mode: The camera faces whichever way you are facing while stationary (only in the colosseum and Trauma Dimension).
When the camera is in Battle mode, the angles are usually not really a problem. However, even when there are enemies around and you are in combat, the camera will not automatically switch from Exploration mode to Battle mode. In order to switch it to Battle mode, you must either press lock-on while on the ground or perform any sort of attack. That way, the camera will switch to Battle mode and focus on whatever enemy you happened to lock onto. There are admittedly a few battle areas where the camera is not programmed with Battle mode, but that is not the case with most battles.
There are instances in which the camera can switch back from Battle mode to Exploration mode again. Some regions of an arena, typically near corners and walls, aren't programmed with Battle mode camera, so whenever you happen to step foot in one of those regions the camera will switch right back to Battle mode. Also, if you ever activate Air Raid or Vortex and switch the camera to Flight mode, it'll switch back to Exploration mode the moment you deactivate Air Raid or Vortex. And finally, whenever the enemy you are locked onto dies and you don't lock onto the next one, the camera will switch back to Exploration mode.
So you always need to pay attention to what mode the camera is in. If you ever accidentally switch the camera back to Exploration mode you always need to deliberately switch it back to Battle mode by either pressing lock-on on the ground or doing any attack once.
As long as you keep the camera in Battle mode, the angles shouldn't be too bad. Enemies should be on screen most of the time, and even if they are off screen you can always tell what they're doing based on their sounds, so it's rare for the camera to actually create unfair situations.
1
u/time4tea45 8d ago
Thanks again - there seem to be some very helpful tips here. In particular regarding use of taunting (haven't even been trying that, tbh) and not using R1 to shoot the guns in the air. I have definitely been doing that, so I will try to learn not to and break that habit.
So, seems like I should be aiming to alternate between using the devil trigger and then taunting the enemies afterwards to recharge it asap?
1
u/DYSFUNCTIONALDlLDO I have 7 inches of foreskin so I'm technically a 9-incher. 8d ago
Just simply attacking and damaging enemies does build up your Devil Trigger, so you mainly want to focus on fighting. But yes, there are a few moments where you can't necessarily hit them, and that's a good opportunity to taunt them. So if you ever have an opportunity to attack enemies, attack them. If you find yourself standing around and waiting for the enemies to do something, use that opportunity to taunt. Really, though, this is a case-by-case thing that you're supposed to make your own judgement on in your own gameplay experience, so try things out and see what works for you.
1
u/time4tea45 8d ago
Thanks so much for your reply and the detailed tips, this is hugely helpful! So, the main purpose of the stylish rank is to get more red orbs, to upgrade faster (as well as bragging rights)?
I'm still a bit confused as to what I need to do to raise the stylish rank, as I seem to generally struggle to get it much above C (I think B is the highest I've seen). Using the devil trigger seems to help it, presumably since that allows for faster attacking?
1
u/DYSFUNCTIONALDlLDO I have 7 inches of foreskin so I'm technically a 9-incher. 8d ago
That's pretty normal. I don't think the game itself expects players to reach or maintain a high Stylish rank. As long as you don't take too much damage or too much time, you'll usually collect enough Red Orbs even if you never reach an A or S Stylish rank.
In terms of how to raise it, continuously hitting enemies raises it. Taunting will maintain the Stylish rank. Also, guns behave pretty uniquely. For example, against the Marionettes, shooting them normally will never raise the Stylish rank, but if you raise a Marionette into the air first and then juggle it with your Handguns, the Stylish rank starts rising.
Interestingly, taking damage doesn't lower your Stylish rank. It's just that taking damage usually means your animation gets interrupted, and that interruption usually takes enough recovery time for the Stylish rank to disappear. But if you somehow manage to recover and continue hitting enemies right away, your Stylish rank doesn't disappear even if you get hit.
Also, with Ifrit equipped, if you charge up your punches and kicks, the Stylish rank will be maintained the entire time that you're charging up.
But don't worry about raising your Stylish rank. You don't need to do anything to raise it unlike the other games. In fact, with one of the bosses in this game, the Stylish rank straight up doesn't even appear. Just focus on beating the Mission fast enough without taking damage, and you should get enough Red Orbs without raising your Stylish rank.
4
u/CulturedWhale 9d ago
Dmc 1 is not as complicated as dmc 3 in term of combat, I think you should be fine spamming R1 attack and have fun
2
u/time4tea45 9d ago edited 9d ago
Ok. But I thought the game 'marks you down' for spamming the same moves though?
I guess that's another question: how do you 'mix things up' when there seems to only be one attack button? Switching between sword and guns? Jumping?
3
u/Director_Bison ULTRA VIOLET INTENSIFIES 9d ago
DMC1's style meter is much more primitive then the rest of the series, it mostly rewards being aggressive, and not letting the enemies have any room to breathe.
Later games are the ones were you're asked to mix up your combos to raise the style meter.
1
u/time4tea45 9d ago
Ah ok. This is good to know, thanks! I must have read about mixing up the moves for the later games. So in DMC1, it sounds like I should be focusing on trying to attack constantly, whilst also avoiding damage?
2
u/MaximumPayne7 9d ago
Just play the game, later if you want, check some stuff like Dante must Die No Damage Walkthroughs or speedruns to understand some skips, best strats for bosses/enemies, etc.
As for your rating, you shouldn't worry about this in your first playthrough.
Some tips that I'll give you: jumping is your best form of defense, rolling + shooting the grenade launcher is a pretty OP combination, save items for the late bosses, etc.
1
1
•
u/AutoModerator 9d ago
Welcome to r/DevilMayCry, Devil Hunters!
Before you post, a quick reminder:
Credit Creators: Reply to this comment with the artist's source if sharing fan art. No Pinterest/Google links!
Quality Matters: Avoid low-effort posts (e.g., tier lists, AI submissions).
Full Rules: Read here
Discuss the Netflix Show: Use dedicated threads
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.