GR: Could you talk a little bit about your work history and the other games you've worked on prior to Devil May Cry 4?
HI: Devil May Cry 2, 3 and 3: Special Edition. Before that, Capcom vs. SNK - basically all of them. Power Stone, Rival Schools, Street Fighter Alpha.
GR: So you started in fighting games, which aren't as big now as they once were. Do you bring anything from that fighting action to Devil May Cry - is it an evolution of that style?
HI: Of course. I like fighting so I'm bringing that element into the game. I'm bringing everything I liked about the action of fighting games into this.
GR: Now that you mention it, when you pop the guy up into the air and then you punch him in the face, it's kind of like Marvel vs. Capcom.
HI: Yes, that's true. We weren't able to do that in DMC2, but because of the new technology we're able to do that and I'm really excited.
GR: That brings us to a good point. What have you been able to do with Devil May Cry 4 that you couldn't do before with the series?
HI: The Devil Bringer. It's a lot of fun! Enemies you can't shoot, or can't slice... a third element, a third way to beat an enemy has been introduced. When you can't shoot 'em and kill 'em and you can't slice 'em and kill 'em, you can slam 'em to the ground, and that's an exciting element.
GR: The impression we're left with is that there's a lot about the Devil Bringer we haven't seen yet, even in this demo. Can you talk about this a bit?
HI: Dante doesn't have Devil Bringer, but as far as Nero is concerned, there's really a lot you can do with the Devil Bringer. [Itsuno begins to demonstrate techniques in the boss fight versus Berial. Check outour latest movieto get a taste of that fight.] See, you can stop the enemy's attack. You can not only throw enemies down, you can stop their attacks. There's all sorts of throws, too - depending on when and where you implement the throw, it'll show a different kind of throw. There's a lot of things that the Devil Bringer can do, that you'll find out in the game. In a nutshell, there's a lot you can do with the Devil Bringer.
GR: So would you say that the Devil Bringer is the most important element of the game?
HI: Yes. There's so much that you can do - you can draw enemies to you, kinda like "come here!" You'll be able to use it move you, bring enemies to you, throw enemies down - there's a lot of possibilities with the Devil Bringer.
