Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

Dante firing Ebony and Ivory at an opponent

The gameplay in Devil May Cry 3 consists of levels, missions, in which players battle enemies, carry out platforming tasks and solve puzzles to progress through the story. The player's performance in each mission is graded from D through C, B and A, with top marks of S and SS. Grades are based on time taken to complete a mission, the number of red orbs (currency obtained from defeated enemies) gathered, "stylish" combat, item usage and damage received.[5] The games tracks stylish combat by an on-screen gauge, which is the performance of a series of attacks ("combos") while avoiding damage. The longer a player attacks without repetition and evades damage, the higher the score.[5] The gauge registers "Dope" after a few attacks, progressing through "Crazy", "Blast", "Alright", "Sweet", "SShowtime" to peak at "SSStylish". If Dante receives damage, the style rating falls; if the gauge is "Crazy" or below, it will reset. Devil May Cry 3's battle system allows a player to link attacks, with each weapon having a set number of attacks.

Devil Trigger is a mechanic which enables the player's character to assume a demonic form. This alters the character's appearance, increases attack and defense, restores health and enables special attacks. This is a departure from the previous titles, where Dante draws power from weapons and items he procures throughout the game. The Devil Trigger state lasts as long as there is energy in the Devil Trigger gauge; the gauge rises by attacking or taunting enemies in normal mode, and falls when using the Devil Trigger transformation or other abilities using Devil Trigger power.[5] The Devil Trigger mode is not available to Dante until one-third of the way through the game, while Vergil, playable in the special edition, has the ability at the outset.

The other major difference from previous Devil May Cry games is Devil May Cry 3's combat system, which allows a player to choose one of Dante's four combat styles; each style has a different focus and techniques. Dante can switch between all four equipped weapons (two guns, two melees) on the fly, allowing for far greater combat freedom and variety than in previous Devil May Cry games. Style selection is available at checkpoints and at the beginning of each level.[3] The styles are "Trickster", for dodging and agility; "Swordmaster", with abilities for swords and other weapons; "Gunslinger", with firearms techniques; and "Royal Guard", which allows a player to repel attacks with a button press (storing energy for retaliation). Later in the game, two additional styles become unlocked: "Quicksilver", slowing enemies, while the character attacks at normal speed; and "Doppelgänger", which creates a shadow double who fights alongside Dante. A second player may control the shadow double by pressing "Start" on a second controller. A two-player mode, similar to the Doppelgänger style, is accessible while Dante and Vergil battle Arkham.[6] In the special edition Vergil has another style, "Dark Slayer", which is similar to Trickster.

The Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition version of the game makes some changes to the gameplay. Along with making Vergil a playable character, other changes included an additional survival mode called "Bloody Palace" (which originally appeared in the second game) with 9,999 levels; a Jester fight early in the game, with optional fights later; a "Turbo Mode", increasing game speed by 20 percent; an easier GOLD mode "continue" feature, allowing a player to revive a character or restart a lost fight, and rebalanced difficulty levels. Vergil's gameplay differed from Dante's; although Dante was weaker than Vergil in terms of skills and combos, he was easier to control. Because of the game's space limitations, not all of Vergil's moves were included in the special edition.[7]

Vergil has one style, "Dark Slayer" (similar to Dante's "Trickster" style), with evasive maneuvers which can be leveled-up twice like Dante's four styles. He has three weapons: a katana known as Yamato, Beowulf gauntlets and greaves and the Force Edge broadsword. Vergil has two ranges of attack: "Summoned Swords" (creating magical swords for a variety of effects)[8] and "Judgment Cut" (creating spheres of force).[9] The new boss is Jester, a character encountered several times in first-edition cutscenes but not fought. In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, he is a boss who may be fought three times.

The Nintendo Switch version of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition added the ability to switch between styles at any point during combat.[10]

Devil May Cry 3 starts with Dante's yet-unnamed shop in the early 1990s. A mysterious man, Arkham, arrives with an invitation from Dante's brother Vergil in the form of a demonic attack.[11][12] After Dante defeats a group of demons, a huge tower erupts from the ground nearby, eclipsing the sprawling city of Angels (Los Angeles) surrounding it.[2][13] Sensing that Vergil is on top of the structure, Dante interprets this as a challenge.[14] He begins fighting more demons during his journey, some of which become his weapons once defeated.[15] Dante is attacked by a woman on a motorcycle who turns out to be Mary, Arkham's daughter, who wants revenge on her father for causing her mother's death.[16][17] It is revealed that Arkham works for Vergil; they plan to take Dante's half of their mother's amulet and use its power on the tower to connect the human and demonic worlds.[18]

After a number of battles and an encounter with a being named Jester,[19] Dante reaches the tower's summit and battles Vergil. Vergil defeats Dante by stabbing him with his own sword, Rebellion, steals his amulet and leaves. Dante's blood releases a seal on Rebellion, causing Dante's dormant demonic powers to emerge, and he sets out in pursuit,[20] only to be swallowed by a giant whale-like demon. After escaping from the beast, Dante catches Vergil in a control room in the tower's basement, where Vergil cannot reactivate the tower. The brothers fight again, until they are interrupted by Mary and Jester. Jester reveals himself to be Arkham, who has manipulated them all to reactivate the tower in order to reach the demonic world. There he plans to steal the Force Edge, the dormant form of Sparda's sword with his power, using it to rule a demon-infested Earth.[21][22] The tower transforms as the spell is broken; Arkham is carried to the summit, and Vergil disappears in the confusion.

Dante battles his way back up the tower, fighting Mary for the right to pursue Arkham. He is victorious, and Mary lends him her most powerful weapon. Reaching the summit, Dante crosses to the demonic world and catches Arkham, who has by now assumed Sparda's demonic form. Overwhelmed by power, Arkham transforms into a blob-like creature and attacks Dante. During their fight, Vergil reappears, and the brothers work together to expel Arkham from the demonic world. Weakened, Arkham lands on the tower where Mary finds him. She renounces her name and calls herself Lady, a nickname given to her by Dante because she refused to tell him her name, before killing him. In the demonic world, Dante and Vergil fight for ownership of the Force Edge and the amulet halves. After Vergil's defeat, he remains as the portal closes, vanishing with his half of the amulet.[23]

Dante meets Lady outside the tower. They become friends and begin a partnership as demon-slayers; Dante ends up naming his shop "Devil May Cry".[24][25] A scene after the credits shows Vergil in the demonic world, weak but determined, as he charges into battle against his father's old foe Mundus.[26]

A comparison between the motion capture and the results in the game. Reuben Langdon and Daniel Southworth provided their voice and moves for Dante and Vergil, respectively.

After the mixed reception of Devil May Cry 2, Capcom developed Devil May Cry 3 in a similar manner to the series' more critically acclaimed first game Devil May Cry; its gameplay elements, such as environment size and battle engine, were reexamined. Other aspects of Devil May Cry 2, such as the toning-down of Dante's cockiness and the game's lack of difficulty, were brought back in line with Devil May Cry.[27] According to a pre-release interview with the game's producer, Tsuyoshi Tanaka, the focus of the game's design was a battle system which allowed a player to control weapons in new, "stylish" ways. This coincided with the design of a new type of in-game camera which kept the character in focus, avoiding disorientation in crowded battle scenes. Devil May Cry 2's difficulty was reduced for greater acceptance in the Japanese market, but this move cost the game support elsewhere. To remedy this, the Japanese release of Devil May Cry 3 had a lower degree of difficulty than the North American and European releases and Dante was a younger, more arrogant character than he was in the previous games.[28][29]

Capcom promoted Devil May Cry 3's release with a multi-million dollar television campaign and extensive advertising in video game magazines; both emphasized the game's plot and number of fighting styles.[27] The company produced a second, "special" edition, released in North America on January 24, 2006. A Windows version, with minor graphics changes, was developed by SourceNext; it was released by Ubisoft on June 28, 2006 in Europe and October 16, 2006 in North America. The Devil Trigger versions of Dante and Vergil were designed by Kazuma Kaneko from Atlus, who previously collaborated on Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, and the Persona series.[30][31] The Capcom staff was impressed with Kaneko's work, and Ikeno felt that it was not difficult to model.[32]

In the original Devil May Cry Vergil was said to have been killed by demons early and had his soul under the control of Mundus, thus Bingo Morihashi wanted to create an alternate universe in which Vergil was alive. However, Hideki Kamiya gave Morihashi the freedom to retcon Vergil's backstory and make him a living teenager for the events of Devil May Cry 3.[33] One of the key themes of Devil May Cry 3 is familial conflict, with Dante being in conflict with his brother Vergil. Itsuno said he did not like the idea of Lady killing Arkham, as he believed a child should never kill their parent. Morihashi wanted this scene in the final product, along with Dante defeating Vergil, as themes of the game. To balance this, Morihashi wrote a scene leading up to Arkham's death, where Lady said that Arkham was her responsibility.[34] While the characters were designed by Daigo Ikeno for Devil May Cry 3, Dante and Vergil's Devil Triggers form was created by Kazuma Kaneko from Atlus.[31] Because no design for Vergil except that of his alter ego Nelo Angelo existed, Morihashi was put in charge of designing his appearance. Most of Capcom's staff believed Vergil was Morihashi's favorite character because he became appealing. Morihashi stated that the idea of Vergil wielding a Japanese sword, called a Yamato, existed in a previous design. Vergil does not wield guns in contrast to Dante; Morihashi said that making Vergil's characterization was challenging because, being the older twin brother, he was intended to be more likable than Dante.[35] Jester was designed to contrast his human persona, Arkham, with Nara and Ikeno believing the clown's form worked well thanks due to how the twist that they are same person surprised gamers.[36] His final form provided by Sparda's powers was designed to resemble previous villain Arius due to how inhuman he became after becoming a demon to the point of lacking a face.[37]

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening was released in Japan on February 17, 2005 for the PlayStation 2.[45] It was followed by releases in North America and elsewhere in the world in 2005. It was a commercial success, and sold 1.3 million copies.[46][47]

After Devil May Cry 3's release Capcom introduced merchandise based on the game, including a manga (written by Suguro Chayamachi and published by Tokyopop in North America) and a Dante action figure manufactured by Revoltech. A 2006 sourcebook, Devil May Cry 3 Material Archive - Note of Naught, featured previously unreleased production and CG artwork, storyboards and a UMD video disc for the PSP with trailers and videos (region 2 only).[48] A three-disc Devil May Cry 3 soundtrack was released on March 31, 2005 (shortly after the game's release), produced by Tetsuya Shibata and Kento Hasegawa[49] with lyrics and vocals by Shawn McPherson.[50]

The review aggregator website Metacritic gave the original PlayStation 2 release an 84 out of 100, and the Special Edition an 87 out of 100.[58] It was included on Game Informer's list of the top 50 games of 2005, and the special edition received a "Game of the Month" award.[63] In 2010 IGN ranked it 18th on its list of the top 100 PlayStation 2 games,[67] and a GamePro retrospective that year rated it the 28th-best game for the PS2.[68]

Reviews typically praised the game for avoiding its predecessor's mistakes and for customization options, gameplay, combat engine and the musical score despite the contradicting plot lines and character arcs. The style-based combat engine was considered to produce fighting sequences superior to games such as Ninja Gaiden and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones,[69] and the camera and controls were praised.[4][64][70][71][72] Devil May Cry 3 was included in the 2010 book, 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[73]

The high level of difficulty of the North American version of the initial release was criticized in otherwise-positive reviews. Critics disagreed with Capcom's decision to make the Japanese version's "hard" mode the North American "normal" mode,[62][66] and the European version of Devil May Cry 3 had the same normal mode as the Japanese version, but maintained the yellow orb continue system of the North American version.[74]

Vergil attacking with his sword, Yamato. His addition as a playable character in the special edition was well received by critics.

The PC version was considered vastly inferior to the PlayStation 2 version due to the poor porting process. Issues included its game engine (thought rough and underpowered), its controls and the inability to save the game and exit, a feature of most PC games.[75] Jeremy Dunham of IGN gave the PC version a score of 5.8 out of 10 (compared to the PS2 version's 9.6),[66] citing its "awful performance" and "craptacular controls".[76] In 2021, PC Gamer listed the PC version as one of the worst PC ports.[77]

The special edition PlayStation 2 release ranked ninth on GameSpy's 2006 "Game of the Year" list; it was commended for recalibrating its difficulty, a survival mode known as "Bloody Palace" returning from the second game and making Vergil a playable character.[70] Play as Vergil was cited for the character's difference from Dante, although the reuse of Dante's bosses and the lack of cutscenes was criticized.[78][79]

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• Official website at Capcom Japan (in Japanese)