The PlayStation All-Stars Ultimate Roster Showdown Match 20: Dante vs. Kazuma Kiryu

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Round 1: Emmett Watkins Jr on behalf of Dante from Devil May Cry

This week is gonna be a special one, and not just because this is the final match up. No, this week is special because I’m writing about both games for the first time since Match 13, and I’m admittedly not an expert on either game. But that’s not gonna stop me from having a strong finish.

Speaking of finishing, a few days ago, I completed my second Devil May Cry game with DMC V. It was wonderful, but it also opened my eyes to the cries of DMC fans when the original All-Stars released. Everyone was so upset that the Dante they included was based off of the Ninja Theory game. I wasn’t, since at the time, DmC was the only game in the series I had played, and I enjoyed it.

Now that I’ve seen the insanity that is the mainline series, I know now why the original Dante was so heavily requested. His moveset is incredibly versatile, especially in his fifth game, complete with dual rocket launchers, three-tailed nunchucks, a breakaway motorcycle, and a massive shotgun. All of these could be implemented into All-Stars to great effect.

Of the remaining face buttons after atributing X to jump, Square could be his melee attack, Triangle his ranged attack, and O could switch him between different styles. Using different directional inputs, each press of the melee, ranged, and style buttons could result in the use of a different weapon or change in style. That way, you can map all four of his melee weapons and all three of his ranged items to just two buttons. The styles, which you’d switch between in the same way as you change between Toro’s costumes, would provide buffs to his melee attacks in the case of Swordmaster and to his ranged weapons in the case of Gunslinger. Of course, the buff to his melee would disable his ranged abilities, and vice versa, for the sake of balancing of course.

But what about his Dr. Faust hat? Well, that would be his level 1 super, and he’d use it not to get a quick hit for an instant kill, but it would actually drain super meter from other enemies, at the cost of being able to use ranged weapons. His level 2 super could simply be his Devil Trigger, and he’d fly around the stage similar to Jak’s level 3 super. As for Dante’s level 3? Well, the sky’s the limit. But I envision a massive team attack that brings in Nero, Nico, Lady, and the rest of the core cast to all jump in for a hit on each enemy in a screen clearing cutscene. The thought of Nero using one of his robotic arms to sock Sackboy in the mouth, or Nico driving her van right into Kratos’ face just warms my heart.

So, that’s my best pitch. It’d be a really good move to satisfy the cries of those who missed him in the original All-Stars, plus he’d play wonderfully. Hopefully, you guys will make the right choice here!

Round 2: Emmett Watkins Jr on behalf of Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza Series

Yet another game that I don’t have the deepest amount of knowledge on, but I know more than enough to sell Kiryu for this roster. Despite the popularity of this series, thanks to it reaching new audiences with games like Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 6, the series started all the way back on PlayStation 2. In fact, thanks to a Jampack demo disk that stayed in my PS2, this was actually my first introduction to the series. Now, the full release would have high profile english voice actors and an gripping story, but replaying that demo as a kid only showed me one slice of the Yakuza experience, the combat.

Even from the start of the franchise, the combat was incredibly satisfying, always stylish, and surprisingly varied thanks to the ability to pick up items off the street as weapons. His combat style would carry over effortlessly, as it already translates pretty easily to a 2D plane. Have Square be the dedicated punch button and Triangle be the dedicaked kick button, with different variations depending on directional input. But unlike Dante, I think it’d be a better idea to not use O for stance switching. For the sake of preserving a different mechanic, I don’t think we need to include the different fighting stances of more recent Yakuza games.

What is that mechanic? Picking up objects as weapons! Sure, picking up a bike to wail on thugs is always gratifying, but why stop there? What if we made Kiryu the Kirby of All-Stars, and everytime you hit O to pick up an item from the environment, it was to be something from the game stage you’re playing in? Imagine him picking up a LocoRoco and just going to town on someone with it? Or a Blast Shard from inFamous? Or a golf club from Hot Shots? The potential for hilarity is massive, which is perfect for the goofy tone of the series.

As for the supers, there’s no shortage of possibilities here as well. I mean, just look at all the gifs I’ve been embedding into this article! This series is known for its abundance of bombasic and brutal finishers. There’s so many, and any of them could be used for a potential level 1, 2, or 3 super. Especially that microwave one, like JESUS.

So, that’s my pitch, I think Kiryu would make and excellent pick and he’d certainly represent a massive portion of PlayStation history and the current fanbase. So, make the right choice here!

Round 3: Fight!

So, who are you backing? The Daddy Demon Hunter, or the Gangster with a Heart of Gold? Vote in the Twitter poll embedded below, and follow @VGU_TV for…whatever comes next!