20 Years Ago, the Most Radical Action Game Changed the Genre Forever
Slick and stylish.
Dante is one of the most infamous bad boys in gaming, but he didn’t always have that lovable rebel image. While Devil May Cry 1 and 2 helped create the character action genre, it wasn’t until Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening that the franchise really hit its big moment, and created one of the most beloved gaming characters in the process. Devil May Cry 3 is a simply superb action game that’s still at the very peak of Capcom’s best, and set a golden standard that few games have been able to match ever since.
Devil May Cry 3 is technically a prequel to the entire series, showing a much younger, and admittedly edgier, version of the demon hunter Dante. But I don’t use the word edgy negatively, as this Dante is a smarmy, cocksure, and foul-mouthed hero who’s undeniably lovable, simply because he’s such a punk. A lot like Marvel’s Deadpool, honestly.
While Dante wasn’t a boring character before, he was a bit stoic and fell more on the side of having a dry humor, much like Leon from Resident Evil. But this game gave us a drastically more energetic version of Dante, turning him into a rockstar who commands your attention whenever he’s on-screen. That’s clear from the very first scene of the game, where he uses a demon as a surfboard while spinning around and gunning down a dozen others. This is the version of Dante that fans would come to know and love, and the version of the character that’d carry forward into every game since.
That brasher version of Dante gives the entire game an irreverent tone that’s all about cranking up the fun and absurdity, making sure that every moment feels like a dose of adrenaline. Surprisingly, though, despite that tone, there still manages to be an emotional core to the game, with the story focusing on the moral struggle between Dane and his long-lost brother Vergil — who’s also his polar opposite.
The stark difference between the two is part of what makes the story so much fun, seeing the two constantly but heads before the final showdown. But it’s on the gameplay front that DMC 3 really innovated, in that same rebellious punk way. This isn’t some hack-and-slash game where you’re just mowing down enemy after enemy, it’s a complex experience that gives you dozens of different combos, weapons, and styles to use — integrating the button commands of a fighting game into an action experience.
Devil May Cry 1 essentially created the combo-heavy action game, but Devil May Cry 3 refined it to something definitive. A big part of this was the four different combat styles that Dante can choose from — with each style giving you different strengths and abilities that focus on specific aspects of combat. Trickster ups your dodging and agility, Swordmaster gives you extra sword combos and attack power, Gunglinger unlocks new firearm techniques, and Royal Guard focuses on defense and parries. Each of these styles gives you a different approach to combat, and that’s before you layer in the game’s various different weapons on top of that.
The single best word to describe DMC 3’s combat is stylish, it’s a system that just looks and feels incredibly good. It takes a bit of learning the different combos and styles, but once you’ve got some practice everything just flows together impeccably well — before long you’ll be pulling off combos with dozens of attacks, juggling enemies in the air with your handguns, and seeing your “Style” rating explode with colors. There’s a real visceral sense of satisfaction as you mow down demons by the hundreds. DMC 3 does such a good job of making you feel empowered — whether that’s through an over-the-top cutscene or a nail-biting boss battle.
Devil May Cry 3 is really the game that perfected combo action games, and there are so many examples that took inspiration from it — from God of War and Dante’s Inferno to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Action games as we know them simply wouldn’t exist without Capcom’s efforts, and it’s staggering to think that in 20 years the only came that’s come close to this is another Devil May Cry.
