I was excited when I read the post heading, and compelled to see what a Dante's Infernal animated film could be, but it seems they've somehow turned a really interesting story into an action flick. It could have been really interesting, but this seems to have none of the creepy introspection of Dante's Inferno. Its my fault for getting excited :-)

Steve Sargent plugged this on last week's ANNcast and Zac couldn't be bothered to feign interest or act like the project was a good idea. Gotta say I agree with him.

Game looks bad ass beyond all reason, despite raping The Divine Comedy as a whole. This seems absolutely fine and looks like it's got the style of the game down perfectly. Are we going to bitch and whine about this, too? I mean, it looks fine, but tradition and all.

EA is trying really hard to make a franchise from a game before it becomes hit, or even if it is a hit. Dead Space doesn't have a big enough install base to warrant a Rail shooter and expect it to be a hit even on a wii, because RE did the same thing with great success.

They should just focus on actually making the games as great as possible instead of trying to invent franchises that don't actually exist yet.

So stupid in concept that I couldn't even watch the whole short embedded video. What the HELL?!? WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS?

I'm not a gamer or a literature nerd, so my opinion is probably not that useful to anyone, but I'd give this a shot. I can see it's not exactly 100% faithful to the poem but it might be entertaining in its own way. Visually, at least.

Hmm...I don't remember this from Dante. Which Canto is it from?

I wonder if they will tackle the patience and contrition packed Purgatoio next!

He sure is jumping into a lot of big holes...

The Inferno was one of those books that I wish they had made us read back in high school along with Heart of Darkness and a few others. It's still on my list, I just seem to keep buying horror and sci-fi novels and it gets pushed back and back.

I'm not an anime fan, I've only seen a few of the classics, but this looks interesting, is only as an anime film, not a true representation of the book. Did anyone really think they would be faithful to it? Fuck, look at the game. Beating the shit out of demons while some giant topless chick spews babies out of her nipples. I'm sure that's what Dante envisioned.

Hmm, watching this makes me realise I want to see some Mortal Kombat anime series. You know, it would work better than this shit here.

Ok, I realize why I hate what they've done to the Divine Comedy. It reminds me too much of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfvLcozLwtE&feature=player_embedded

cool

After watching this I am left with only one general impression.

That is one fat-assed horse.

Dead Space released a prequel comic and an animated movie along with it's release and they were both excellent, complimenting the game quite well. We always hope for a situation like this but really you can never know until you experience it.

Hmmm, for some reason this reminds me of the Dragons Lair video game. Don't know why.

I am way more stoked for this than I am for the Halo anime. At least even if the story sucks I'll be entertained by the blood and guts and nudity.

I shudder to think that this starts a trend of video game adaptations of classical literature that totally butchers the source material. What next? John Milton's Paradise Lost: The Video Game? Shakespeare's A Midsummernight's Dream: the RPG?

I'll watch the entire thing before I start talking shit about it

This brings all the bitter bile up from the back of my throat. Dante Alighieri's dusty corpse must be twitching up a storm right now. What have they done? Turned Dante into some "badass" sword-wielding hero?? Dante was a pathetic coward, a sinner, that's why he needed Virgil to guide him through hell, into purgatory, and finally into paradise!!! Beatrice was a holy guide, not some frail fucking damsel in distress! Dante is NOT a badass! At the end of each canto he would faint from the horrors he had seen! I want to punch this hideous bastardization in the face, but it has no face, so instead I will use exclamation points!! This retarded project deserves to be flung into a river of flaming excrement and poked with pitchforks.

You know, I don't care one bit whether the anime or the game is an exact - or even a vague - version of the original story. What I care about is whether they kick or suck ass on their own merits in their own media. I'll leave the quibbling about closeness to source material to the purists.

I hope he getz alls the dragonballz and kikz sum major fukkn AZZ!

Because that's a premise we haven't seen adequately explored in videogame-based storytelling up to this point.

Plug: watch Sandow Birk's satirical animated film version instead.

Ya, it rapes the source material(you go EA), but what did you fucking expect? Anyways, this still looks pretty entertaining, I'd be lying if I said I wont be picking it up upon release.
Ultimately the anime fan and gorehound in me win over the literature purist in me. Sad but true.

@J.D.
A Midsummer Nights Dream R.P.G....Square Enix are you listening?...

They could have ripped off any story, any story at all. Did they have names of epic poems in a hat, and just pulled out the Inferno? Seriously, they could have chosen any other story for their hero, sword and sorcery rescue the maiden bullshit, but they picked Dante! Choose something else like King Arthur. That story has been bastardized so many times no one cares any more. But leave Dante alone! This is like trying to make a heavy metal album out of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland or something. Just Wrong, Wrong, Wrongity Wrong.

Anyone else notice they spelled samurai wrong? Yeah... typos in your trailer make me doubt the quality of your product.

Now why this remind me of 80's? Oh wait, we used Japanese animators to make all those 80's cartoons.

Might've been interested had they tried to develop a thoughtful adaptation of the actual story.

i am currently reading the poem itself and the story to this seems completely different, in the poem he never even met beatrice and was being led through hell by virgil so that he could find out what his sin was. in the poem there was no forcing his way through hell as his guide virgil was basically taking him on a guided tour. although i can see how that would not be as interesting .

GOD OF WAR GOD OF WAR GOD OF WAR...I can't possibly scream at the top of my lungs how much this game blatantly rips off God of War...