If there is any man out there who could drag me from my imaginary relationship with the Prince of Persia it might just be Dante. His shiny white hair, snazzy red coat, and ability to master martial arts, firearms, and sword play (coupled with his boyish enthusiasm and charm in DMC3 which mellows into a focused intensity by DMC1) is just about enough to melt my stony heart.

Or at least so I thought.  However I have recently discovered that there are others who may fulfill my Dante need. The tempting screen shots of DMC4 showing Dante in all his moody wonder were in-fact showing me his twin brother Nero. 

Now for those of you who do not know who Nero is, or are unfamiliar with the series, he has appeared to us many times before: firstly in DMC1 as Nelo Angleous, and then in DMC3 in his pre demon form of Vergil. Capcom are now releasing DMC4 which will go in-between 1 and 2, making the series run in the confusing order of DMC3, DMC1, DMC4 and then DMC2. So a man can have three names and four comes after one - what a mysterious world Capcom are weaving!

It has been said that this change from the beloved Dante to the lesser Nero is to prevent fans from getting bored with the series.  But I do wonder if this would ever really happen as long as the quality of DMC1 and 3 is maintained (and they burn #2 in some kind of ritual). But the decision has been made, and I can’t complain too much since Nero looks just like Dante, and has all the moves going for him too.

There does however seem to be some debate over his gun skills, but to prevent this being a problem he has a super arm instead. My mind wanders to the God Hand and Enchanted Arms and ponders the similarities.  Maybe ‘what’s happening to my arm’ will soon be the next “all your base”. We can but wait and see where this influx of possessed arms may take us.

All I can say to end this contemplation is bring on the PS3!