Redemption: Replaying ‘Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening’ 20 Years Later

Capcom clearly had hit a brick wall after the misfire that was Devil May Cry 2 was released in 2003. The game sold well, but sales were still lower than expected. That, and they couldn’t ignore the negative criticism from fans and critics. So, what do you do? Capcom decided to go back to what made the original game such a blast to play, and use that as the basis for Devil May Cry 3. The end result righted many of the wrongs of the first sequel, and gave players a more developed mechanic of the flashy over-the-top combat that has been a mainstay with the series ever since. And, with the new Netflix adaptation on the way this April, it only makes sense now to revisit this SSStylish PlayStation 2 gem.

Taking place a decade before the events of the first Devil May Cry, Dante is just about to open his as-yet-unnamed shop. A mysterious man named Arkham arrives inquiring about Dante being the son of Sparda. Arkham reveals himself to be working for Dante’s older twin brother, Vergil, and hopes that Dante can accept his “invitation.” That invitation turns out to be an onslaught of demons. After defeating the demons, Dante leaves his shop to see an enormous tower, the Temen-ni-gru, emerge in the background. Dante then heads off to the tower to stop whatever Vergil is planning.

Right away, DMC3 strove to rectify the previous game’s mistakes. Devil May Cry 2 director Hideaki Itsuno sought to redeem himself and his team, and went to work bringing back what made the original game so much fun. That included Dante’s cocky attitude, which was on full display even before the game began as he booted the advisory warning screen during the game’s startup. From there, we’re treated to the previously-mentioned cutscene of the onslaught, and Dante dispatching members of the group of demons in an over-the-top but oh-so-cool style. In fact, that’s probably the best way of summing up Devil May Cry 3, as everything has taken up this “cool” style that dances so close to the line of ridiculousness, but still manages to be awesome.

The cutscenes are the most evident example of this, from the opening scene of Dante and Vergil squaring off, to the first meeting of Dante and Lady (and Lady’s rocket launcher). It’s all done to get across Dante’s arrogant attitude and coolness (if being bare-chested under his coat wasn’t your first clue), but also contrasting him with Vergil and his no-nonsense approach. It’s probably also a part of the reason why even after 20 years, the look and feel of these cutscenes don’t feel as dated as one might expect. There are admittedly some weird expressions from the characters at certain points that come off as goofy than emotional, but they’re not that prevalent, and they’re also tempered by the acting.

The music has also been kicked up a notch, with Tetsuya Shibata returning to compose, but also marking Devil May Cry 3 as being the first in the series to have lyrics with some of its songs. While the lyrics for songs like “Battle Music 1” and “Cerberus Battle” aren’t exactly deep, they sound cool, which is really the whole point. And really, when you’re trying to defeat a three-headed hellhound that spits ice, it’s not time to be analysing lyrics like “You got nothin’ and nothin’s got you.”

But the cutscenes and the music obviously take a backseat when it comes to the gameplay, which is the most notable and welcome revamp in the sequel. Dante has been granted a choice this time around when it comes to his “build” of gameplay, referred to as a Style. Instead of just one combat system as in the previous two games, Dante now has four, with each Style having a different focus and techniques: Trickster focuses on evasion techniques and enhanced maneuverability; Swordmaster focuses on close quarters combat with Dante’s melee weapons; in contrast, Gunslinger focuses on guns and distance attacks; and Royal Guard focuses on counterattacks, but is also the hardest to master.

If that’s not enough, throughout the course of the game, Dante will unlock two additional Styles: Quicksilver, which slows down time while allowing Dante to move at normal speed, and Doppelganger, which creates copies of Dante to assist him in battle.

Obviously, the depth of combat in Devil May Cry 3 was increased solely based on the Style System, almost giving the game the mechanics similar to what you might find in a fighting game. This in turn gave players a variety of styles to learn and level up, creating your own playstyle in the process. Mastering each of the styles ranges in difficulty, but each one is balanced with the others to make each one useful to players, given the situation. It’s also worth noting the emphasis on melee attacks in DMC3 in comparison with the previous games, which favoured guns. That said, Dante’s firearms are still useful for crowd control and in combos, but you’ll get much further in later battles (notably boss fights) with your melee attacks.

As DMC fans already know, the way to level up your weapons (and now styles) is to accumulate red orbs, with the best way to do so by defeating enemies with combos. The higher the combo, the higher your Stylish Rank goes, and the more orbs you obtain once enemies are defeated. For DMC3, the Stylish Rank switched to being represented by a gauge, where as you land successful hits and dodge attacks, the gauge increases. Once filled up, it will go up a rank. It’s here where another aspect of Devil May Cry 3 has been greatly improved: the control. Compared to how Dante flies around the environment in DMC3, he felt downright stiff in the first game, and the less said about DMC2‘s sedate combos, the better. It’s also made much easier to vary up your combos by now being able to switch your weapons on the fly rather than a menu, allowing you to switch to your guns to maintain/extend your combos until you get into a position to lay into enemies.

Speaking of your foes, Capcom also fixed up the difficulty from the previous game (at least for Western audiences), though in doing so, Devil May Cry 3 became something that was downright punishing to players. The reason for this was, according to Itsuno, Capcom USA’s decision to make the Western version of DMC3 significantly harder than the Japanese original, due to players in the North America being able to return their games within 30 days (beating a game so quickly meant you could return it faster). As a result, Western versions of DMC3‘s normal difficulty was the Japanese version’s hard difficulty. The easy mode for the Western version (the Japanese normal) was unlocked after you died three times.

This might not seem so bad (the whole “get good” attitude and all), but Devil May Cry 3 also went back to the original way of continuing in Devil May Cry. In the first game, you needed to use a consumable, which became increasingly expensive to buy, and allowed you to continue from anywhere besides the start of a mission. Devil May Cry 2 changed this allow you to continue from the last room you entered, with the consumable letting you respawn exactly where you died. Meanwhile, Japanese players kept the DMC2 system.

Granted, it seems a moot point to be complaining about difficulty these days when you have titles like Dark Souls, but to ignore DMC3‘s difficulty is a glaring oversight. Especially when Capcom went out of their way to purposefully make it harder for Western audiences.

Luckily, Western gamers didn’t have to bang their heads against the wall for very long, as Capcom released a Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3 in early 2006. This new version shifted the difficulty modes down, so that the Western and Japanese settings were equal. The Special Edition also gave players a choice between the DMC and DMC2 continue systems. Those who were suckers for punishment could still access the original Western hard mode and then some, with the hardest setting, Heaven Or Hell, making it so both players and enemies to die in one hit.

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition didn’t just stop at difficulty tweaks. Vergil was now a fully playable character, complete with his own move set and Style. Bloody Palace mode from Devil May Cry 2 made its return, allowing players to tackle 9,999 waves of enemies, with your reward being the Super Legendary Dark Knight costume that granted players unlimited Devil Trigger. You also had three additional boss fights with the Jester character added, though only one fight is mandatory.

It’s safe to say that Capcom redeemed themselves to fans with Devil May Cry 3, establishing the blueprint for what players could expect from the series from then on. The depth of the expanded combat in DMC3 is still a marvel to behold, and Dante got his swagger back. And once you got past the difficulty spike (or went with the Special Edition), there was a lot of fun to be had with this entry, trying to maximize your combos for the greatest amount of damage while looking cool doing it. Plus, it gave Dante a proper rival with Vergil, who himself has been fleshed out in subsequent entries, and has become a popular character in his own right. There are plenty of titles in the PlayStation 2 library that are must-owns, and Devil May Cry 3 still remains one of them.

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