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Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

ShooterHack and slash/Beat 'em upAdventure

Time to beat: about 16 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening is a 2005 action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. The game is a prequel to the original Devil May Cry, featuring a younger Dante. Set a decade before the events of the first Devil May Cry in an enchanted tower called the Temen-ni-gru, the story follows Dante as he attempts to stop his twin brother, Vergil, from opening a portal to the Demon World. The game introduces combat mechanics with an emphasis on combos and fast-paced action. The story is told primarily in cutscenes using the game's engine, with several pre-rendered full motion videos.

Devil May Cry 3 was released in February and March 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and ported to Windows in June and October 2006. It received highly positive reviews from critics, who saw it as a return to form for the series and praised its combat, level design, music, and characters, although some criticized its high level of difficulty in the North American release. It was re‐released in 2006 as Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, featuring retooled difficulty levels, the addition of mid-mission checkpoints, "GOLD mode", and Vergil as a playable character. Combined sales of both versions were over 2.3 million. It has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It has been called the game that established the combat formula for 3D sword action games, from hack-and-slash or character action games, to action RPG games, and is credited with saving the series and establishing the Dante archetype for Capcom male leads.

A 2005 manga prequel to Devil May Cry 3's storyline was published in Japan and later the United States.