Sealed Doors

Sealed Door

A red barrier in Devil May Cry 4

In the Devil May Cry series, sealed doors are used to prevent the player from progressing in an area or obtaining a necessary key item until certain tasks have been completed. In the first two games, a red or white seal is used to force the player into combat, to solve a puzzle, or to offer up the required number of Red Orbs in order to progress (for example, in Devil May Cry, Mission 1: Curse of the Bloody Puppets, in which the player is trapped in the first castle chamber until he or she collects 45 orbs and approaches the sealed door). However, in the third and fourth games, one was no longer required to offer orbs as payment, and doors requiring puzzle completion were replaced with blue seals. White seals were eliminated entirely.

In the first game, seals of any type all appear as skulls moving in a wave over the door. If the player approaches the door, a large phantom hand reaches out and attempts to grab him/her, resulting in moderate damage if successful. In the second game, only the white seal retains this form and function, while its red counterpart is instead a featureless glowing barrier. Devil May Cry 4 replaces the design with something similar to the appearance of a spider web. Also, the door no longer attacks players; instead, it merely raises another denser area of the barrier to signify that one cannot not pass.

Trivia

• The final door in Mission 21: Living Cave (Devil May Cry) has multiple seals over it that all break after activating the final switch.
• On the second level of the main hall of Fortuna Castle in Devil May Cry 4, there is initially a barrier which is similar in appearance to the red barrier from the second game. However, if approached, it reacts like the other barriers in the game, raising a denser area in the form of blue squares, which fall a moment later. It is the only barrier of this type in the series.