Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition - or why I might buy the same game twice

Capcom announced today that Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition will be released June 2015 for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. It's interesting to see the company go back to the franchise pre-reboot, especially hot on the heels of DMC: Definitive Edition, which debuted earlier this month.  Normally I don't pay attention to "remastered" releases, even of my favorite games.  However, after seeing the announcement trailer, this game should be cited as an example of a "special edition" done right.

Players may recognize some of Virgil's moves from Dante's "Dark Slayer" style in the original game.

Devil May Cry was once one of my all time favorite video game series, and will always hold a special place in my heart - because I'm sentimental like that.  I purchased Devil May Cry 4 when it first came out back in 2008, having just started my freshman year of college.  It had come out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and at the time I had neither, so was eagerly awaiting the PC release.  I even bought my new computer for college primarily with the game's recommended system specs in mind.  Much school work was done on that computer, to be sure.

Virgil looks to have plenty of new tricks up his sleeve.

The overall tone of the game was right up my alley - demons, smart mouth heroes and various locales, including a satanic Vatican, and the whole time being graded on how stylishly I dispatched my foes.  While I didn't dislike the new DMC reboot and could appreciate the developer's satire on consumer culture with demons being behind all of society's ills from unhealthy soft drinks to biased news, it was hard not to miss the comparatively high fantasy element of the rest of the series.

Flaming centaur demons will always be more epic than demonic newscasters.

So you can imagine how pleased I am that Capcom hasn't totally discarded the original version of the franchise, which is often the case following a reboot.  The addition of brand new content (like a certain katana wielding twin brother) is a pleasant surprise when it could simply have been the same game released for the next-gen consoles.

Not only Virgil but Lady (Mary?) and Trish make a return as well.  Since the original story mode is designed to follow two characters, Virgil is likely to replace either Nero or Dante's portion of the game, rather than all the way through, while Lady and Trish will similarly trade off mid-game.

As in DMC 2, Trish wield the sword Sparda.

Lady retains her signature bladed rocket launcher.

Obviously I'm not expecting a new story of any kind but the trailer and images like the one below imply there will be at least a cut scene at the beginning to provide some context, similar to Devil May Cry 3's Virgil mode.  It's not a major stretch to expect something similar for Lady/Trish mode as well.  With all the hype surrounding the return of Virgil though, I wouldn't mind being proved wrong with the inclusion of more story content.  

A cloaked figure, likely Virgil, approaches the city.

The game will also feature the series' signature multiple levels of difficulty, including "Legendary Dark Knight mode" which was initially exclusive to the PC version (even that has been taken from me *sigh*).  

Overall, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition may very well be one of the few re-releases I'll ever buy, and one of the many reasons to upgrade my computer.