Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry's central mechanic grew out of a bug. Hideki Kamiya found a bug in Onimusha: Warlords that let players juggle enemies in the air by repeatedly slashing them. It was fixed in Onimusha, but Kamiya developed it into the central mechanic of Devil May Cry.

Game Maker's Toolkit uses it as an example of bugs, glitches and accidents in development being turned into features. The lesson is that a bug can be a lead worth following.

Devil May Cry gets a deep move list from one attack button. Holding back with the attack button gives an uppercut and holding forward gives a stinger. Holding the button charges an attack.

Game Maker's Toolkit cites it as the example of a fast game feel and of getting loads of unique moves from one main attack button. Combos add a reward for memory and timing on top. Yakuza's environmental finishers and Dark Souls' backstab use context in a similar way.

Heavy and area attacks in Devil May Cry trade power for a cost. A strong attack is slow, and a wide crowd-control sweep does little damage. Other moves leave you vulnerable, cost a resource or sit on a cooldown.

Game Maker's Toolkit groups Devil May Cry with God of War and Monster Hunter here. These trade-offs make choosing an attack a real decision.

Devil May Cry pulls the camera wide because it is a crowd combat game. Close cameras suit deliberate combat against one enemy at a time, as in Hellblade and Dark Souls. Devil May Cry uses a much wider perspective so the player can see many enemies at once.

The rule of thumb is to pick camera distance by how many enemies the player fights at once.

Devil May Cry's camera and combat settings all support its fast pace. Its fast, free-flowing fighting is contrasted with the deliberate pace of Dark Souls and the scrappy street fights of Yakuza.

There is no universal combat recipe. Camera, stickiness, cancelling and parry generosity should all fit the game's intended feel and flow.