So Devil May Cry 3. Yeah, I bet wewe all were expecting it to be high on the list. After the disappointment that was 2, we needed a real good one. And a damn good one we got, so let's talk about it right no-
Smooth Criminal has already stolen this review
Today I'm taking over to review what is probably my inayopendelewa Devil May Cry game, Devil May Cry 3 Dante's Awakening.
For those not aware, Devil May Cry is a character action series developed kwa Capcom, created kwa the director of Resident Evil 2 and who would later go on to create the Bayonetta series, Hideki Kamiya. The original title, which was simply Devil May Cry, was originally concieved as the 4th installment into the Resident Evil franchise, but was deemed too action focused to be considered a Resident Evil game. How ironic.... anyway, the story for the series is that two thousand mwaka ago, there was a war being waged between mankind and those of demonkind. The demons were lead kwa a malicious emperor known as Mundus, the Prince of Darkness. The one responsible for finishing the war was a demon who turned on his own kind for the sake of humanity and sealed them in the demon world, this demon would come to be known as the legendary Dark Knight, Sparda. Sparda would then settle down and raise a family with a human woman named Eva, who would give birth to his two twin sons, Dante and Vergil. Sparda passed away, leaving Dante and Vergil without a father to raise them, and it only got worse once Mundus decided to enact his revenge on Sparda kwa sending demons to take the life of them all, though Dante, and, unbekownst to everyone including Dante, Vergil survived the attack. That brings us to the 3rd game in the series, which acts as a prequel to the first game in the series and allowing players to experience what Vergil is like.
A little backstory on how I got introduced to this series and this game specifically: I had always heard of this series throughout my childhood, but since I never had a PS2, shocker, I know, I never got to experience this game series until recently. It was a few years zamani that I finally was introduced to the series through Devil May Cry 4. I eventually got the HD Collection of the original trilogy for the Xbox 360 and the rest is history. I like every entry in the original series, even 2, since I can see the merits of it upon playing it, but the last game in the original series I got to play that I hadn't already was 3, and boy, was there a lot of hype around this game, it's widely regarded the best game in the series and I can see why. Warning! There will be spoilers!
The story of DMC 3 is that the previously mentioned Vergil and a man kwa the name of Arkham are working together to open a portal to the demon world through a giant tower known as the Temen-Ni-Gru, and Dante, who has started a demon hunting duka that remains unnamed, which would later be named Devil May Cry kwa the end of the game, is scaling the tower in hopes of fighting his brother and stopping the insidious plan that's being hatched kwa the duo. Meanwhile a woman kwa the name of Mary, who Dante calls Lady, is also scaling the tower in efforts to kill Arkham, who turns out to be her father who sacrificed her mother in an attempt to become a demon. The story surrounds how Dante awakens, in the sense that he awakens his demonic power passed down from his father Sparda, but also awakens to the reasons as to why Sparda wanted to protect humanity and what he saw that was worth protecting. kwa the end it's revealed that Arkham has been pulling the strings behind everything in the story, manipulating every other character in the game in order to obtain the power of Sparda, which was used to muhuri the demon world away all those years ago, and Dante and Vergil must work together in order to take back their father's power, but then they must fight at the edge between the human world and the demon world over ownership of the halves of the Perfect Amulet, which was used as the key to open the portal to the demon world.
The main nyota of the series, Dante, is a cocky, brash, and inexperienced devil hunter at the time of the events of this game, he's not as powerful as he later becomes down the line. Outfitted with the giant sword Rebellion, a sword passed down from his father, and his twin pistols Ebony and Ivory, custom-made kwa Nell Goldstein, Dante definitely has the tools necessary to take on the demons of the Temen-Ni-Gru and his brother Vergil. This is the version of Dante that every game since has been inpired by, his joking demeanor towards his enemies is downright hysterical and the relationship with his twin brother Vergil has been well-documented throughout the series. While he may not be as powerful as he is in the rest of the games, he's zaidi than capable of handling the demons within the tower. His mocking attitude is one of my inayopendelewa attributes of him because it shows how much of the situation he has under control in regards to his enemies. Not only is his attitude towards enemies a sight to behold, but his character developed in a natural and mature way, starting out just wanting to fight Vergil simply because he didn't like him to eventually fighting to protect the humanity that Sparda sacrificed so much to protect.
Upon losing his first duel with Vergil and being stabbed kwa his own sword, he awakens to his demonic power and is now able to keep up with his older brother, finally embracing the power that has laid dormant for years. He also develops to the point that he acknowledges his relationship with his father to and feels that he can't let his brother go down this route, and would even go so far as to kill him to keep him from attaining power he would use for his reasons. Not that he had much of a choice really, Vergil was going to take the amulet with him to the demon world just for the pursuit of power. Despite teaming up moments prior, he's forced to defeat Vergil in combat, who then falls into the demon world with his half of the amulet and leaving behind Sparda's sword, to which Dante is shown to be crying after meeting back up with Lady, to which he says it's just the rain. From his hilarious interactions with his enemies to his relationship with his brother and father, Dante is zaidi than just a wisecracking demon hunter.
The twin brother to Dante, Vergil definitely stands out zaidi than just an evil twin trope, with his incredibly powerful sword he inherited from his father, Yamato, to his ujumla, jumla demeanor and attitude to those around him, there's quite a lot about him that makes him so impactful. Vergil values power zaidi than anything and he'll do whatever it takes to get it, he'll discard wewe as soon as you've served your purpose to him. Aside from his purpose to the story, another aspect to him is that really lends to the game and how it benefits from other mediums is the rival aspect to him. To elaborate, Vergil is fought 3 times throughout the story, mirroring the 3 act structure at which wewe fight him at the end of each act to the story, and also gets stronger and zaidi abilities as wewe do. Not to mention he takes out a boss wewe had trouble with in just one strike, which helps in getting the intimidation across quite clearly, plus he finishes off a boss wewe fought and gained the weapon that wewe were supposed to get from it, adding another layer of brilliance and difficulty to his sekunde encounter with Dante. Another benefit to Vergil is that he's the model of what a rival character should be for character action games, from Jetstream Sam of Metal Gear Rising Revengeance to Jeanne of Bayonetta, there are several rivals that take after Vergil in their own unique ways. Vergil being the proud son of Sparda feels that it's his birthright to wield his father's power and will stomp on anyone to get to the power he seeks.
Can wewe believe I went this whole time and haven't even gotten to the gamplay yet? That's a true testament to how well written this story really is, but enough about the story, the gameplay itself is fantastic as well. wewe play as Dante and after beating the game wewe can unlock Vergil as a playable character, along with his own unique cutscenes that each has their own inherent abilities and fighting styles that feel unique to one another, but I'll cover Dante for the moment. His main weapons are yours to use from the start, using the sword for close range attacks and pistols for long range attacks, though they're not as powerful, and as wewe make your way through the game and beat the difficult bosses that await you, wewe gain zaidi weapons in your arsenal, from ice nunchucks to dual swords of moto and wind to a literal electric demon guitar, gitaa that turns into a scythe, Dante has the weapons necessary to take out demons in effecient ways. Each weapon is strong against specific types of enemies, and even bosses too. What I feel does need to be expressed is how difficult these games are, especially this one, if wewe aren't experienced in character action game like this, this game will beat wewe into the ground until wewe get better at it.There is no way of getting around it, the only way to do it is to do it, and do it well enough that wewe can make it through. Bosses are pretty difficult for the most part, especially the Vergil bosses, which will probably give wewe the most trouble since he's your rival and equal in terms of power and skill. Throughout the game, you're making your way up the tower, defeating demons along the way, with some puzzles to slow the pace a little. When wewe defeat the bosses and get further in the story, it's utterly satisfying, as wewe might spend a long time just working on that boss and getting just that little bit closer to the end of the game.