Except what is shown in cutscenes doesn't really deviate from what's possible in-game.

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Funny. Last time I let some mooks hit me, i saw my life meter drop a considerable amount, but when it happens in cut scenes it's a "walk it off" situation at the very worst. In the opening cut scene for DMC 3, all the scythes Dante takes at once would kill you unless you had multiple health upgrades, but he pretends they're not even there, and even weaponizes them. He's basically got high speed regeneration and isn't bothered by most anything unless he takes a ton of punishment over a long period of time.

Seriously, there is a definite segregation of story narrative and gameplay mechanics.

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Protip: Don't get hit. That enemy is super duper slow and doesn't have a lot of attack power. They're the punching bags given to you to practice controls on before the game starts.

Furthermore, Dante actually does have a fair bit of health. You won't have trouble tanking hits until you fight a boss, but an decent player is too SSStylish to hit.
That's the whole point of the taunt button.

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I'd say he's got a point on Cutscene Dante's durability compared to Game Dante. Their strength and speed are fairly close, but Cutscene Dante tanks a lot of stuff that would at least knock him back... like a sword to the chest.

What I think we're neglecting is that there wasn't much Antonio could have done in this situation that wasn't attacking and defeating the firing squad aiming at him quickly and efficiently. If he let down his shield, he'd be cut down quite quickly. If Gene hopped out and took the soldiers on while Antonio drew fire, I'd be arguing with you about this. The move was unusually effective, but it was used against a group of faceless, nameless thugs using things they couldn't easily block attacks with, and definitely boiled things down to the most interesting bit: a big fight between Antonio and Macbeth.

@IncredibleBee No. No it doesn't. First of all, that isn't even the problem. The cutscenes are a more cinematic that will portray information to the player, on both character and world. The gameplay is where you get to delve into that world with the preconception that you are this badass half demon ripping other demons apart thanks to those cutscenes. Gameplay is gameplay. Narrative is narrative.

They work hand in hand. Gameplay does not equal lore despite that. Sure gameplay is a huge part of DMC, but it does not equal lore. Sure, you can do some things that are shown in cutscenes, but that doesn't mean the gameplay IS the actual lore. Vergil didn't actually fight Berial, Baal, Dagon, Echidna, Agnus, or (in Fortuna at least) Dante. Neither did Trish or Lady. They were added as playable characters as fanservice and a special treat for the DMC4SE, and DMC's fans, you dolt.

When he threw the old disk at her like a frizbee, Gomory waited, still as a statue, until it came within inches of her face. Then she lashed out and bit it, shattering it into pieces

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He hasn't been ignoring the point, he's been refuting the point.

Most of the physical prowess of DMC characters is displayed in gameplay because that's where most of the fighting takes place. It's not done in most of the cutscenes because you already saw the fight.

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I'd say he's got a point on Cutscene Dante's durability compared to Game Dante. Their strength and speed are fairly close, but Cutscene Dante tanks a lot of stuff that would at least knock him back... like a sword to the chest.

What I think we're neglecting is that there wasn't much Antonio could have done in this situation that wasn't attacking and defeating the firing squad aiming at him quickly and efficiently. If he let down his shield, he'd be cut down quite quickly. If Gene hopped out and took the soldiers on while Antonio drew fire, I'd be arguing with you about this. The move was unusually effective, but it was used against a group of faceless, nameless thugs using things they couldn't easily block attacks with, and definitely boiled things down to the most interesting bit: a big fight between Antonio and Macbeth.