Amazing game and gameplay, yet EXTREMELY HARD (in a good way)
("Too Lazy; Don't want to Read all that" version begins at ***).
Devil May Cry 3 was developed by Capcom and released in 2005 for the Playstation 2. It is a prequel to the original Devil May Cry and is largely considered the best in the franchise.
The game follows the journey of the half human, half demon, Dante, as he battles his way through a Gothic tower that spontaneously erected in front of his demon hunting shop. Responsible for this tower is his twin brother, Vergil who is working with a demonic human named Arkham to harness the power of Dante and Vergil's sealed demon father Sparda. Along the way Dante acquires new guns and blades via killing off bosses and light treasure hunting, and upgrades his style by killing off enemies.
The important things to know about this game are that the story, while over the top, is solid, the game play is some of the best on the ps2 and that the game is UN-MERCILESSLY HARD.
Dante himself is the man. He's cocky and brash without being a schmuck, has one-liners that are Arnold Schwarzenegger worthy, and he oozes cool. There are segments in the cut scenes where he performs over the top action like riding on a RPG blast, killing people in mid air with a motorcycle wielded like a pair of nun chucks and can even in-game jump on his enemies while on the ground and ride on them like a skateboard. In short, he is arguable the best part of the story. The rest of the cast is good, and while not mentioned in detail here, are used to round out the story well.
The game play has the player using the square button for his guns, triangle for his swords, and circle for his style based attacks (either gun-slinger, sword master, trickster and royal guard to start with). In each battle, the player has to continuous succeed each move performed with a different move to raise his style meter that is shown on screen. If the player has enough demon energy, he can use his devil trigger and go ape on everything on screen with enhanced speed and power. The game play is extremely fluid at 60 fps and quite addictive.
Devil May Cry 3 is hard, like in the top 5 hardest games of all time hard, right there with Ikaruga and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The game, while fair, does not hold back in destroying the player. This is due to the fact that the Japanese Hard setting for the game is the default US Normal setting. Meaning you're going to get you're ass handed to you a lot. Also there are no continues on death, only repeating the level from the beginning. At the same time though, the constant defeat leads to more skill, which will make you a better player. The game takes time and effort to master.
***If you're looking into this game, know that you are in for one hell of a ride. The game is a blast, has sublime game play that rivals that of 2010's Bayonetta, and one of the coolest characters in video games period. The game is really, really hard, so if daunted by the challenge and not a glutton for punishment, check out the Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition of the game that has additional easier difficulties and better check points. If you're a fan of Hack and Slash games(ex. God of War), combo based fighting games (including Super Smash Bros), Over the Top Japanese style, and aren't afraid of a challenge, it's perfect for you.Read full review
