I’m probably going to be in a small minority here, and I’ll probably take some heat for it, but Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening is only an average game. With an action-fighting system, graphics, audio and even a story that are all pretty excellent, how can that be? The game is just plain unapproachable to the average gamer. While the first missions can be beaten by almost any gamer, those that follow represent a learning curve that can only be called a “curve” in name only. It is more like walking on a sidewalk and then being expected to step up on a building wall and walk to the top. Is it possible that whoever play-balanced Devil May Cry 3 is a bitter person who loathes humanity and is working actively for the death of joy in the world?
Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening is a prequel to the first two games in Capcom’s franchise. In it we see the early days of Dante, the half-demon, half-human son of the rebellious demon Sparda who broke from the forces of evil to help mankind. Dante is continuing in his father’s footsteps, but his twin brother Vergil is just the opposite and embraces his demon side and the goals of evil. Devil May Cry 3 follows the story of their confrontation as a dark tower rises on earth. Along the way the story brings other characters, like the demon hunter Lady, into their final conflict.
Building on the earlier Devil May Cry games, Capcom has ramped up the already impressive action-fighting system of those games with a “style” system that adds a little depth and personalization to the play. The default style is Trickster, a style that emphasizes evasion of attacks through acrobatics. Swordmaster skews toward the use of close-range edged weapons. Gunslinger is all about the proficient use of guns. Royal Guard specializes in blocking attacks. Any of the styles may be chosen at the beginning of each mission, but staying with and fully developing a style is highly recommended.
Players may at first be tempted to use either the Gunslinger or Swordmaster styles right out of the gate as they probably have a preferred weapon. I strongly advise against that. Devil May Cry 3 defaults to Trickster for a reason. Change it your first time out at your peril. I’ll say more on why later.
The fighting system uses a combination of the four main face buttons, R1 shoulder button and the left analog stick for most functions. Dante will start the game with his trusty pistols, Ebony and Ivory, and with his father’s sword, Rebellion. The basic moves are left stick to move, square to shoot, triangle to swing your blade, X to jump and circle to execute a style-specific move. R1 locks onto targets. Combining buttons and pressing them at specific intervals create different moves.
As Dante defeats enemies and accumulates style ratings through improvisation of combos, he will earn red orbs of crystallized demon blood (yeah, doesn’t sound like the kind of pocket change I’d like to collect either) that can be used to buy new items and skills. Played into the game with a fighting style, the player will earn experience points in that style and level it up. Acquiring items, skills and leveling up are very important as they will allow Dante to become more powerful and allow him to survive later missions.
The biggest problem with Devil May Cry 3 is that it is unreasonably hard. There is initially no difficulty setting to select from. After the first mission, the difficulty shoots straight up to a level that will have players chucking their controllers at the screen in frustration. After failing a mission three times an easy mode will open up. Believe me, even if you are one of those people who thinks no game should be played in the easy mode, do it here. The easy mode makes it possible (though not really easy) to work through the first missions, build some skills, and level up without getting so frustrated you find yourself garroting a gerbil in insane frustration.
I also highly recommend using the default Trickster fighting style. Its emphasis on evasion of attacks allows the player to play more defensively and conservatively early in the game before they can build up Dante into the omnipotent baddie killer he will later become. I usually avoid adding any strategy hints into a review, but this is one game that almost demands it if the average player has any hope of seeing the better side of the game. Playing farther into the game, the difficulty becomes more reasonable as the fighting system becomes more intuitive and Dante earns the more powerful attacks.
The whole game is quite well executed with over-the-top fighting animations, detailed characters, interesting backgrounds, nice audio and a more fleshed-out story than has been seen in previous installments in the Devil May Cry 3 series. I have to especially commend the improvement in cutscene production values and timing as this was a significant shortcoming in previous games.
Those who preserver through the initial difficulty problems in Devil May Cry 3 will be rewarded with an excellent action/adventure game that shows what the PS2 can do when properly programmed. But at the same time I cannot really forgive a game that somehow got torqued up to the point that, for all its virtues, is near impossible for the average gamer to play without major frustration. I suppose if the decision was intentionally made to create a game targeted at the post-adolescent, hopped up on Jolt Cola, Pixie Stix with a side of crystal meth demographic, they accomplished their goal, but I’m of the opinion that video gaming should be an inclusive hobby. Therefore I stand by my rather average score on this game of 3/5 Sharks.
