CCRB RECORD No. 0016
Devil May Cry 4
Determination: Explicit — Corruption 3, Blasphemy 2
Devil May Cry 4's villain is a church: the Order of the Sword, led by “His Holiness” Sanctus, which worships the demon Sparda as a god and turns its own Holy Knights into demons.
The first review of this series recorded no concerns. That was an error, and this record corrects it. Devil May Cry 4 (2008) is set in Fortuna, a city governed by the Order of the Sword — a religious sect with a cathedral, a congregation, prayer ceremonies, Holy Knights, and a leader addressed as His Holiness. The Order venerates the demon knight Sparda as its god. Over the course of the game the Order is revealed as the antagonist: its High Priest Sanctus authorises demonological experiments, engineers an “Ascension” rite that converts his own knights into demons, and is resurrected as the final boss. The institution itself is the villain, which is what the Corruption category tests for.