[Home]DevilMayCry3

Okay, for all of you asking, "What happened to Devil May Cry 2?", if you didn't know, there WAS no Devil May Cry 2. Ever. So don't ask again.

Now then.


DevilMayCry3 is the prequel to DevilMayCry, featuring Dante the BadAss half-demon demon-killer. Someone who has played it extensively should actually review the game but I can tell you what I know from listening to people talk about it: it's hard.

Very, very hard.

Nope, still harder than that.

You will most likely unlock Easy Mode in a very short amount of time, as on Normal even the first level will beat the crap out of you a bunch. This causes the game to take pity on you and offer the easier difficulty level. Dante is totally BadAss in many ways, but few of those ways appear to be taking damage. Well, gee, that's a detail, isn't it?

Regardless, the game looks really, really, really cool. And you get to use cool weapons, like an Electric Guitar and the infamous tri-chucks (you kill a three-headed dog, you get three-headed nunchucks. *I* don't see the problem).


Having played through all of DevilMayCry and the first few missions of DMC3, here's my comparison of the two: DMC3 has much cleaner graphics. They've also fixed almost all of the camera angle problems. You still really want to be able to listen to the game (though not to hear Dante's shouts during his attack combos), because many of the enemy attacks signal themselves primarily via sound effects and because sometimes you can't see enemies. In an often-noisy location like the lounge, expect to be blindsided regularly by enemies dashing in.

The style system has had a much-needed overhaul. In DMC1, you could get Stylish ratings by cheesing the grenadegun and rolling regularly to avoid being hit. In DMC3, you get better ratings if you mix up your attacks, and guns tend to be very bad for ratings. This forces the player to be a lot more in-your-face in gameplay if they want good ratings (and seeing as there's twice as many weapons to buy upgrades for, you want good ratings so you can get more orbs). The game has made this slightly easier, as you can now carry any two weapons and any two guns in your inventory, and instantly switch between them at any time. Here I'm talking switching from swords to trichucks in the middle of a combo. This kind of switching is the key to good ratings, really. In general, it's a lot easier to look bad-ass in DMC3 than in DMC1. This is in large part because of the cleaner graphics and better style meter, though it doesn't hurt that there are a few random things you can do with the scenery (e.g. spin around a stripdancing pole to kick enemies).

The fighting styles are a new thing in DMC3 - you can pick one of four (to start out) styles that slightly affect your baseline stats and give you access to a variety of special techniques. For example, the Trickster style lets you run on walls and gives you a quick dash escape move, while the Swordsmaster style gives you more melee damage and a few extra melee attacks. Styles gain experience as you kill monsters, giving more and better abilities. Depending on your play style, you may or may not find them useful. I'm not a big fan of Trickster (despite the huge degree to which it makes dodging attacks easier) simply because it doesn't look nearly as cool as some of the other styles.

The difficulty is a bit harder to gauge. I'm certainly getting killed a lot in DMC3, but then, I got killed a lot in DMC1, too. I suspect that I'm a better gamer than I used to be, at least for this style of game. However, I also don't have enough patience to play through the same level over and over again when I have people waiting for the chance to play and I have work hanging over my shoulders. Ah, halcyon days of froshy youth, where have you gone? [/bittersenior]

Second impressions, having played through Normal, Easy, and Hard (in that order): I more or less got it right the first time. I think the game is, overall, easier than DevilMayCry was, because you have access to a lot more resources in 3 than in 1. Most notably, you can carry up to 30 full vital stars with you at any time, whereas in 1 you only got 1 at a time. So if you're willing to use up resources, you should be able to clear even a challenging level on the first try. For me, this greatly reduces the frustration level of the game, especially when coupled with the fact that you can always return to previous missions to gain more orbs (mission 7 is great for this, what with the infinite supply of enemies). Now, I've seen people trying to beat various bosses without using items at all, and yes, they're dying a lot. They don't have to be; they're intentionally making the game harder on themselves.

Thoughts on the weapons:

Thoughts on styles:

-ChainMaille


VideoGame


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Last edited February 20, 2008 14:30 (diff)
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