The Director Decided Between Both Games
We are about a month away from Devil May Cry 5, so Director Hideaki Itsuno is in a press tour to talk about his latest production. But since the man, the legend, rarely comes out of his workshop, he took some time to talk about Dragon’s Dogma 2.
In an interview with VG247, Itsuno received a question about why he chose to develop DMC 5 over Dragon’s Dogma 2. Speaking via a translator, he claimed that the latter was always on his mind.
“So, when the discussion came up for Devil May Cry 5, I went to Kenzo [Kenzo Tsujimoto, Capcom founder] and I said…look, I want to make either Devil May Cry 5 or Dragon’s Dogma 2 next. He said ‘okay, do whatever you want. Do whichever one you want.’ So I thought, alright, y’know what…let’s do DMC5. So we did that.”
Dragon’s Dogma is an RPG that arrived during the tail end of the last console generation, back in 2012. Devil May Cry 4, our last installment in the series, came all the way back in 2008. It’s no surprise then that Itsuno wanted a true sequel. “Here we are – we’re now finishing up DMC5,” he continued. But I had ideas for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the time as well. So here we are, it’s the end of this project. Apparently, he grinned at this point in the interview.
“I’ve always got maybe around four different titles in mind, maybe about four different ideas that I’d love to make. But there’s a difference between the titles that I’d love to make and the titles that I think I should make next. But here we are, we’re here, and…I’m already gearing up for my next project. We can’t say what it is, but we’re looking forward to getting to work on it.”
Long before Capcom announced Devil May Cry 5, I speculated that Itsuno was working on either that or the next Dragon’s Dogma. Clearly, the Fantasy adventure has a special place in his heart. “Whenever I make a game, I make specifically what I want to play, what I’ve always wanted to play. Dragon’s Dogma is one of those things where ever since I was a kid this is the kind of experience I wanted from a game,” said the director. “I think about that and then I work towards creating that experience.”The interview may be a hint at what comes next. Since the next game has yet to arrive, however, let’s focus on that.
“The one that was kind of the biggest success in my mind, the one I’m most proud of – that’s probably Dragon’s Dogma. The one that was the hardest to work on, that took the most effort – that’s this one. That’s DMC5.”
Devil May Cry 5 launches for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 8, 2019.