Has anyone ever thought about how truly beautiful the meaning behind the name of this series is? It originally just referred to the name of Dante's shop which yeah cool but then in 3 we find out that Dante got the name from what Lady told him at the end that "even a devil may cry when he loses a loved one." Which yeah can mean "Even evil has love ones." or "Nobody can truly be called a demon if they have someone they care for." But then you remember that Lady was specifically referring to Dante crying after he lost Vergil, which means that the very title of the series itself (and by extension Dante's shop) is referring to the fact that even though they where enemies and opposed each other Dante truly loved and cared for his brother Vergil and he never wanted to lose him. If that's not one of the most beautiful deeper meanings to a video game title ever then I don't know what is.
Another great meaning that I've found in DMC3 just this month. After playing this game multiple times since it came out, way back when. Is finally coming to understand why I hated Lady so much. This was a fine video essay, my friend. But for the longest time. I absolutely loathed and hated Lady. She's lucky that I wasn't in Dante's coat. Because I would have killed the bitch, the first time she pointed one of her guns at me! But it wasn't until just recently. 10 plus years after I originally played DMC3. That I realized why I hated her so much. Its because she is just like Dante... She is racist, hostile and violent towards all demons, on sight. Just as he is. Just as Blade is towards all vampires. And its not right! Even though I am very fond of Blade & Dante. This is their fatal flaw. And for all Dante talks about how he realizes that he and Lady has something in common. What with having dysfunctional families and all. He fails to see that what they really have in common. Is that Lady treats him, just like he treats all demons. And if he should have learned anything from her. Its that maybe he shouldn't be as hateful and spiteful of another race as she was. Hell! Dante started an entire buisness, specifically designed to slay demons. Like some KKK Member!He decided to hunt and kill, demons that he doesn't know or seek to understand. Who had nothing to do with his mother's death. Just like Blade does with vampires. If there is anything that I would have added to Dante in DMC2. It would have been his reason for choosing to remain in the Demon Realm for awhile. It wouldn't be to slay as many demons as possible. It would be to find out if there are more demons like his father was. Who are outliers amongst their kind. How fucked up is it, that after all this time. Dante has no full-blooded demon allies or friends. Because he's never tried making any. Now what does that remind you of? A half-breed who rejects 50% of who they are. There is so much potential depth that could be explored in the DMC franchise. I would explore it. If it was in my care. The what goes around, comes around relationship of Lady & Dante. Is to me the true subtle narrative brilliance of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition! That I've never seen anyone address...
@@ScarletTsubasa this is a great vid that goes into more detail about Dante & Lady. And how Dante learned to recognize, "The difference between demons and devils." You should check it out! czcams.com/video/Ft4UM3le4sc/video.html
Lady isn't any more Dante's mentor than Dante is Lady's mentor imo. Or put another way each character has something to teach and play off of the other. Quite a well written story; far more than the casual player would give it credit for.
Pretty much the whole thing that happened in 3 formed Dante who he is today. Also if it wasn't for Lady he probably couldn't have realised what was important and defeat Vergil. Also seeing how Vergil got corrupted, made him watch out for Nero and stopped him from going too far.
The reason I like virgil as a villain is that he wanted the power so he can kill the demon who murdered his mother but his drive for said power blinded him and he lost his way. He still cares deeply for his brother but refuses to let anyone stand in his way, even Dante. At least that's how I see him.
if you hear the prologue of dmc 3 you can see that he wasnt blind regarding fighting dante he actually enjoyed it they both did no one was on par with them in term of power
Actually, Vergil’s thirst for power derive from his memory of being “abandoned” by his mother during the mansion attack. There’s a manga that talks about V and in the manga, V reflected on his past as being left to feign for himself, which awakened his demon power much earlier than Dante’s, and shaped his ideology into thinking he must be the strongest because no one will protect him. In truth, Eva did try to find him but she was killed by demons during the search (a very gruesome death). Dante revealed the truth to Urizen before their final duel.
kazuma kaneko designed the iconic dmc3 devil triggers and a lot of mainline smt demons, but not arsene. in fact, he hasn't done any new art for the actual persona games, they just reuse his old art for demons
Lady is the mentor. "Because of you, I know what's important. I know what I have to do." She didn't go out of her way to teach him something, so she's not a mentor in the traditional sense, and she also learned from him, but Dante's interactions with Lady helped structure who he became later. That's why he named his shop, a symbol of his personal progress in the game, after something she said. Also, you meet her after killing cerberus, before Crossing the Threshold.
I was a big fan of the demonic chess piece enemies, it was just a really interesting idea for a set of enemies. I had not expected to run into chess pieces as enemies in a stylish action game, especially where they each attack in a manner very much like how each actual chess piece does. The pawns swing their swords towards just the 2 forward diagonals at a range like "one space away", the knights jump up and move in an L shape then stomp down on you. And that culminates in the full chessboard, where they replicate even more chess rules, like pawns who advance far enough forward without you killing them get to transform into more powerful pieces, if any rooks are still left and you attack the king, the king uses the rook to "castle" to safety, and the chess match ends whenever you kill the king specifically. I thought they did a great job expressing chess as an action game.
Did you know that if you have a second controller hooked up, you can play the game in a two-player mode while using Doppelgänger and during the fight against Arkham with Vergil?
"...none really embody their sin in their design" ... Excuse me, what? Sloth are lazy so they teleport around instead of moving to you. Greed have a giant coffin it clings to like it's the greatest thing in the world. Gluttony absorb sand like it's eating it before blasting at you. Envy, Pride and Lust though, yeah nothing really stands out. Lust is red I guess which is the colour often associated with lust, and Envy have some green on it. But even then not great.
If you haven't been told they were representing the seven deadly sins, would you ever have come up with those rationalisations? Teleporting is moving instantly, far from lazy really (it's better to point out that Sloth can't actually attack most of the tine), and it's not really greedy to swallow something just to spit it back out again. I do feel enemy design was the one place DMC 3 really dropped the ball and a lot of enemies like Dullahans and Fallen just flat-out aren't fun to fight.
@@electroshock1021 Um, and Plasmas, Frosts, Nobodies, Kyklopses, Shadows... The main point though is that all of DMC 1's enemies were designed to be fought alone because the game couldn't load more than one type in RAM at once (only exception is it can dual-load Marionettes and Fetishes), so they all (aside from Sargassos) have a lot of things they can do and a couple of moves for each range. Look at what a Marionette in DMC 1 is actually able to do: there's four "costumes" that govern how much HP they have, they have three weapons which alter their projectile and melee attacks, they have a melee move, grapple, AOE grapple, a high-speed slide to close range, a projectile attack (slow arcing blades, direct daggers, or hitscan shotgun that can damage their allies), and the move where they spin around if they don't have a shotgun. This and they're so big their swipes are sometimes the entire width of a corridor and they deal surprisingly high damage. Now compare this to the Seven Sins, which typically have a scythe swipe or equivalent plus one special attack, save for the one that just explodes.
I think he meant visually, like gluttony isnt fat or lust isnt sexy ect, they all work from the same archetype, but I would say they do differ gameplay wise well enough, even in regards to the sins inspiration, even tho some are a strench
These are probably a reach, but: Having too much pride is the crux of the sin, and Prides are by far the most common/abundant enemy in the game. Lusts are not only red, but they make the most noise and lunge at you with vigorous passion... Lol. Like I said, probably a reach, but... I've always loved how DMC3's enemies were themed after things like chess and the seven deadly sins.
You forgot to mention how Vergil is looking for power not for himself but to protect what he loves even if he's cold at times while arkham is trying to get power purely for himself making Vergil more like a antihero then a real villain and making arkham the real villain.
One of my favorite games of all time. I didn't even play it until maybe a year before the HD collection came out. I got the original PS2 version, and tried playing it on normal mode (as you've said, actually hard mode on the original US ver.) and I just couldn't get that far so I gave up. Once the HD collection came out, I decided I really wanted to play it again so I bought it and low and behold. I had finally realized it was and is one of favorite games of all time. It's weird, I liked DMC4, DMC1, and even the reboot to an extent, but none of them compare to DMC3 to me for one reason or another. DMC3 for life.
Bitpawp there is because Devil may cry 3 is unique (but unlike bayonetta which you have to learn a hundred or thousand of combo skill to enjoy go through the game , but the problem is how many skills you would kept in mind when you play through and is it really important or worth for you to learn those skill to kill one enemy or a bunch of them ???🙄 I guarantee after you finish Bayonette you'll never want to play it again , its fun to play at fisrt time but it also the game that you will very quick to forget about , but Devil may cry 3 is different , its skill is very easy to learn but you have to be clever to put out these skill onto a battle , the skills is easy to perform and every moves is stunning to play again and again , you'll never get bore). This is why Devil may cry 3 still is the KING untill today. 😉
Why didn't you just play the game one easy mode then on the original version? It's not like easy was all that easy either, considering it's actually the normal mode.
I remember playing this over and over as a kid. I completely fell in love with the character of Dante that he is still till this day my favorite character in fiction.
I was also originally disappointed by Arkham's blob final form. I thought it was so lack-luster and outright lame. However, I then started to realize that was the whole point. Arkham isn't supposed to have this grandiose form or fight because just as Vergil said, "You should come to realize you cannot control the power of Sparda." That's what ultimately leads to Arkham's downfall. Instead of staying in the background he decided to take center stage the moment Dante and Vergil were weakened. He could never understand that he was born completely human, and no amount of scheming, manipulation, and stolen power will change that. That is why his form is distorted and shapeless, to show that it doesn't matter how far he is willing to go, he cannot weild the power of the most legendary demon in history.
Vergil also outright mocks him in an almost 4th wall love tap when he remarks "you can't possibly believe that _he_ deserves to be our main event now do you".
I’m wholeheartedly surprised by the amount of deep and constructive arguments and comments being made about this awesome game. Glad to know others appreciate it for the great game that it is
You know we could have just had no boss fight rather than a crap one. This is like saying "well I know Dullahans are fucking shit, but it makes sense for something to be in that room." Either make it good or take the room out.
@Edward Jaquez Eh, you could move it a bit earlier and make it a better boss, nobody complained that Nightmare 3 overshadowed Mundus in the first game, despite Nightmare being the only good blob boss ever, probably the only good tank boss in any hack and slash game, and one of the most complex bosses in the series.
I been hearing so many good things about DMC for years upon years and always wanted to understand the series. I found out an anime exsisted earlier this year and finally got around to watching it last week so now i wanna know about the history of the games (Plus DMC 5 Hype from E3 is still fresh). This Retro series is literally the best thing i could have found with out playing the games myself. DMC 3 Truly sounds like an Awakening as the best game in the series I still have to see the story of DMC 4 and the Controversial Reboot but i had to leave my thanks for making this series cuz this video was outstanding. Thank you so much.
@@OmarFeliciano it's best on the switch It feels as had good as DMC 5 when it comes to weapon output and style Being able to swap all three simultaneously is awesome
DMC3 on the switch makes this masterpiece an absolute gift from god, and capcom needs to bring that version onto every system that has DMC3, and it has to be free for those who already own the HD collection, that means for PS3/PS4/Xbox360/PC/XboxOne, hell even release it on the PS2, I will buy a PS2 physical release of the Switch Edition of DMC3, I will do it.
Any possible way you can add to this video or do another video pertaining to its new features for Switch? I'm curious about what you have to say due to how well you have done retrospectives for all 5 games so far. I'd like to hear your opinions at some point
actually the style switching was been created already in the DMC3 period. But the PS2 was not able to handle it hardware wise, so they went for a more simplified version. When PS3 released, DMC4 was able to implement the style switching due to the much stronger hardware. @@WednesdayMan
For me the hardest wall in DMC3 was the second encounter with Vergil, I was stuck at him for 3 days straight, nothing working, even when I used that one Holy Water the game gives you I couldn't beat him, I finally managed to do it on the last day after finally learning his patterns and getting used to his constant teleportation
13:12 Jokes on you. I double jumped on one of the walls and then used trickster. That made the enemies disappeare. You are right on the Nevan Flying Secret mission though.
DMC3 is also my most favor action game of all time - excellent design & character development, fun & deep combat engine, well executed story & plot. What not to love about this game?
+Sertan4K Whoops, my bad. I'll make sure to keep an eye on that in future videos. I'm usually good at fact changing that stuff but I must have slipped up on that one
16:55 >"devil may cry 3 actually has a PRETTY STRONG plot" >goes on to talk about how well constructed it is for 20 minutes Yeah, I would say DMC3's plot goes way above just "PRETTY strong", the story is great no matter how you look at it - composition, progression, pacing, characters, action setpieces and strong emotional scenes. There's no shame in calling things for what they are.
"A katana requires more speed and precision then a regular broadsword." I got what you were going for there, I really do. But the moment you said "Historically" is where you lost me. Jesus Christ.
@@Mr.Foxhat If a weapon must be used faster and more precisely than another to be effective, it's not the superior weapon. Fox didn't overhype the katana. He said you have to put in extra effort to use it as well as a regular sword
I know, the music is awesome. I'm not well versed in music terminology though, so I always think my analysis of the score will basically be "the music is good because ... it is good"
I got this game as a still new to action games. I played through the spacial edition, and had my ass handed my the "boss" of the second mission, so much so that the game changed the difficult to easy for me. Easy mode help me finish the game, but you know what? I loved it for that. Easy mode was _just_ easy enough that it didn't felt like it robbed me of the challenge (the Vergil fights were just as intense) Also, a great retrospective. Loved your style and the depth you went through about the info on the game. And, can you link the CZcamsr you mentioned?
In my opinion, easy mode in DMC3 is comparable to modern normal mode in most games, so you can definitely still find challenge in it, especially if your new to the genre. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! czcams.com/users/Saur
"Lady is best DMC girl." couldn't agree more You know I hear everyone say DMC3 is the best(which isn't shocking) in the series but i enjoyed DMC4 the most and never hear anyone even mention it was it not considered good to people. Also a small nitpick for myself I always heard people say DMC3 was one of the hardest games you could play but I found it just as difficult as 4 and in both I beat every difficulty and I'm not great at the games like I have seen people can be. Now Fox says Vergil is considered a very hard video game boss but I found him an enjoyably average difficulty final boss it felt like the game said "congrats on making it through everything now here is just a fun simple end fight to finish off on."
DMC4 is good, its just got some rather large flaws that people focus in on, specifically the repeating levels and bosses. I still think its got some great qualities too though. You must be the first I've heard that from, as most people seem to have a lot of struggles with 3 and 4, especially on certain bosses. I think the reason some struggle with the bosses of DMC3/4 is lack of patience. They get too greedy when an opening comes up and then end up getting punished for it I'm pretty good at dealing with a majority of bosses in these games, but Vergil 3 is always the one I seem to have issues with, mostly because of his DT form.
Foxcade I guess if you put the bosses that way I suppose I am decent at timing mostly I switch between focus on evasion while dealing small chip damage to full on attack when their in a vulnerable stage but I would rather be safe then sorry so I usually back out before their vulnerable stage is actually done.
I think I have never disliked the back track part of the fourth game cause I felt like two characters stories were truly interweaved unlike DMC3SE'S play through the exact same full game with Vergil after Dante or DMC2'S play through more or less the same full game with Lucia after Dante because those felt like two characters went on the same journey as each other so they were interchangeable. But 4 it was like the characters were in it together since it just transitioned from one to the other it was "their story " not "his story now his\her story". Also yes I'm aware DMC4SE basically reintroduced what I just critiqued but when I think of 4 I think of the standard one since SE is kind of new.
+Drew Ward in that way DMC bosses are very much like Dark Souls boss fights, except DMC incentives speed, so that's why people get greedy trying to do more damage in an opening
Hmm, I think the distinction between the Vergil play through and the backtracking in DMC4 is that Vergil is extra content that's on the side, like DLC, where as the DMC4 backtracking is half of the complete game. Dante being playable does allow for a contrast between him and Nero, but playing the entire game again without any real difference, even in the boss fights, does feel like padding for the game.
@@WednesdayMan If you look at speedruns both Vergil and Dante players use repeated dive-kicks as their highest DPS output. Except Vergil can do them from the start of the game and he can also shoots sword projectiles while doing them. So he out-damages Dante and have better speedrun records.
You mentioned how it's impressive that the game still holds up over two generations later, but I don't think that will ever really change. So long as there are video games, many games after certain points will remain timeless. It makes it so that games that released on the ps2 like DMC 3, or even games as far back as consoles like the NES, will always remain fun and classic to the world, probably no matter how much time passes, which is honestly pretty amazing
The thing is that there are countless great games in the past which aged horribly, especially in terms of mechanics. Meanwhile DMC3 is 16 years old now and it still claps most recent action games.
19:20 You mention that at that point of the Hero's Journey we should Meet the Mentor but propose that Dante has no mentor aside from maybe Cerberus. I'd propose instead that the mentor would be either Vergil or Lady, perhaps both. Both of them directly explain valuable lessons to Dante that become the basis for who he is by the end of the story and directly grant him new powers that strengthen his individual halves. The duality of the twins as half human and half demon is a major concept in the story, and Dante's dual pistols Ebony and Ivory and his tendency to use weapons crafted by humans with his guns and weapons crafted from demons with his devil arms represnt his embrace of both halves. Vergil and Lady each embrace one of those halves, both by making heavy use of the respective weapon type and by displaying outright scorn towards the opposite half (Lady violently hates demons, Vergil scorns humanity and chooses to see himself as only a demon). In the end, each of them impart some sort of lesson and power to the half of Dante they "mentor", represented through giving him the last weapon of their respective type. Lady shows Dante the importance of family and caring about how his brother's actions affect the rest of the world. She also grants him his strongest firearm, which is even named for a human (and in memory of her dead mom, which parallels the human part of Dante's heritage). Vergil pushes him to accept his demon half, something its implied Dante isnt fully embracing when he says things like "I never had a father". After his first encounter with Vergil, Dante is pushed to finally use his Devil Trigger and afterwards can make full use of his Devil Arms through it. After your rematch with Vergil, you win your final Devil Arm. Because of this, I feel they make much better "mentor" characters to Dante. Around the point you mention meeting the mentor in the hero's journey with Cerberus, we the player are also given our first glimpse of Vergil and Lady. So i believe they are the actual mentors we meet instead of Cerberus.
I like how the original DMC had a Resident Evil vibe to it. And yes, I'm aware that it was originally supposed to be Resident Evil 4. Love the atmosphere of it.
Well, the stigma about the swords is actually down to a martial art matter, in which matters to the individual ultimately. And really this game series one of my favorites, is a release of energy of all means. But for an overall picture of the swords, Japan was warring itself, being that the certain types weapons they used barely made to many changes, mean while in Europe, you have vast amount of countries going against eachother, promoting vast more ideas of weapons and well the swords drastically changed in many ways. In some sword documents, it is interesting to note to take with broad swords depending on the location, the amazement of seeing how some of the strikes can be similar in appearence, but a true eyes sees how a shape of a weapon can change per say strike.
It's also worth noting that Japan is an island nation with limited access to resources. It was probably easier to get your hands on good iron ore in Europe (you either had better resources or easier access to trading routes), contributing to better steel quality and sturdier blades, while in Japan you had to forge something out of a low-quality "pig iron".
Will you do devil may cry 4? I feel like it was such a beautiful ending to the original series, it deserves more respect than it got, I like the story almost as much as I like DMC3's story
After the batch of videos I currently have lined up, I do plan on doing DMC4 and the reboot, possibly back to back.I do have things to say about both, good and bad, and already have some bits thought up for them
One of my favorite games of all time. I actually caught feels when watching the ending with Dante & Lady talking about how Devils Never Cry. I fucking hate capcom.
Thanks, I honestly felt I could have made it better but if I worked on it until it was absolutely perfect to me, it would have would likely not be out until next year!
I don't think most players really understand how huge a statement "a devil may cry" is in the DMC universe. With possibly the only known exceptions being Sparda and Trish, ALL full-blooded devils who've ever existed are, by their nature, cruel, power-hungry, and utterly devoid of empathy. Thus, the notion that a "devil may cry" is a one in a trillion possibility that borders on absurdity, and Dante doesn't really count as he's only half devil, a fact that Lady isn't even aware of when she makes her statement. Trish, on the other hand, is a galactic miracle.
Dante has a bad habit of meeting potential love interests that are women created by the main villain and then teaming up with them. (DMC1: Trish, DMC2: Lucia, DMC3: Lady)
I'll never forget when I decided to beat dmc 3 on DMD difficulty. I looked up a couple of guides from a guy called seraphim117 or something and I blared a scarykidsscaringkids album on repeat. It took around a month of playing on my free time but I remember beating it was the best feeling ever, I messaged all my friends lmao
I love these long retrospective type videos and was so glad to see them on your channel. This game was a huge part of my childhood and my love for games in general I really enjoyed this video ! I never noticed how Arkham contrasted Dante’s arc. Really really great content looking forward for more!
I've had some problems with this game, but I always kept believing that if I had played the second game, then this would feel much more refreshing, cause I do recall the reviews for it being very positive. Your review helped me understand some of the huge appreciation that this game got, so even if I much prefer the first game.
I did it without swordmaster,it is easy. Triangle,jump triangle,forward triangle,backward triangle,triangle triangle pause triangle smash,same without smash. So there are certain move,that you can combine. Every forth move can be the same as the first move.
Adam J. Harper There is no special combination that boost the meter, you only have to do,is use different moves,but you can reuse every forth or third attack.
Really enjoying your retrospective videos, man. I'll admit, you've triggered me a few times with your pronunciation of "Mundus", your pic of Suda 51 as Itsuno in this vid, and most of all the term "Character Action", lol. It's "Hack&Slash" for me and always will be. Hearing Character Action bothers me more than it should. 😄 Anyways, great vids, man.
Ya, I wasn't paying attention to the suda pic when I used it, don't know how I didn't notice that, but I use the term character action/stylish action because these games are distinct from other hack n slash games like Dynasty Warrior, but that's a discussion for another day.
So funny story. One weekend I was visiting my uncle when I was 15 and brought my Xbox one but his internet was out so I couldn’t play any games but he had a 360 and the HD trilogy of DMC. I beat the whole trilogy that weekend and beat 2 in like 6 hours and hated it. Then I started 3 and that’s when I fell in love with the series. As soon as o got home I got the special edition of DMC4 and played the shit out of it and have been a fan of all the game, yes even DmC, except 2
I remember beating DmC 3 to get super Vergil. And then you turn into my favorite boss of the First. Couldn’t be more rewarding when I beat the shit out of Vergil in the tower mode.
I died soo much against Agni and Rudra when first playing years ago before realizing you could essentially parry the sword blows causing the bodies to drop the swords after a few shots, also that last Vergil fight *shudders*
Exactly! This game got me into challenging games. I fell in love with the test of skills when I was a kid. I played the 1st PS2 version so many times and beat the hardest mode too, "Dante must die - mode". The soundtrack was awesome!
I feel like the difficulty 'mistake' (where the Japan hard mode became our normal mode) was a great point for the series. DMC games are SUPPOSED to take effort, their supposed to be challenging (DMC1 was no slouch). DMC3 had such good graphics and tight controls for the time that players that would normally never played for the challenge were forced too step out their game to experience DMC3. And in that experience they finally figured out that being challenged was fun.
To be honest even the original version of DMC3's difficulty was overhyped. A lot of it came from game journalists who just want to quickly finish a game in a weekend and write a review. I think while it could be frustrating at times, I think the truest of DMC fans would rather have a devil may cry game be too hard than for it to be too easy. Also, in DMC3 you could always farm for red orbs and yellow orbs. I remember the kid version of me replaying mission 1 for like 30 minutes - then buying like 15 yellow orbs. I was mostly set with that for most of the game.
14:30 huh, gradually is a nice word to use... especially regarding that triple S rank Rebellion Statue in the Elevator Room in Mission 7. That thing kicked my ass back when I played DMC 3 the first time (probably 7) years ago. Surely took me about half an hour because cocky stuborn me couldn't possibly let it be and move on.
Secret Mission 4 can be completed when you first get to it if you happen to be using Royal Guard. On each wave of Prides, just block 2 attacks from each of them, then do a normal Release, and they'll all be so close to you that they all get hit and it one-shots all of them. Repeat for each wave and they'll die too fast to weigh down the elevator.
The difference, I should think, is that a broadsword can be used as a crushing weapon, especially as armor improved, while a katana cannot, necessitating more precise cuts striking at gaps in armor
13:10 You can also cheese Secret Mission 4 by spamming fully charged Volcanos from Beowulf which you can get from Mission 11. You're gonna need Swordmaster to do it though.
I loved DMC3 when i played it. I played it in the devil may cry collection on ps3. Idk if it made it easier or something. But out of all 4 devil may cry's i've played (i don't count DMC:devil may cry,) i go back to DMC3 the most often. Its so fun and SO satisfying to beat a boss i bash my head against. For example, Cerberus was difficult but nothing i couldn't handle, i had more difficulty with Agni and Rudra mostly because your fighting two at the same time. Plus i love the music so much. Also i got so hype when i could play as Virgil and go through it with him.
My eyes roll out of their sockets every time someone brings up Campbell's "The Hero's Journey." Don't get me wrong, not saying that it doesn't apply to this game, but it feels like such a... safe thing to include in a retrospective such as this.
"Character Action Game" Why do some people call them that? It's just an Action Game. No point in trying to differentiate it from whatever else, just because current action games aren't as difficult or "actiony". It's no ones fault or problem that modern games can't live up to them, so instead of trying to devalue them as action games by trying to call them something else, we should just let them be what they are.
It's not being used to devalue other games in the slightest. It's used to differentiate the games from games like Musou titles or Dark Siders. Character Action games, or whatever you want to call them, are defined by more than just being action games with really good combat.
I will agree the title is a bit odd, though that is the most common colloqialism for it which is why I use it. Darksiders is an action game, but so is Dark Souls, Kingdom Hearts, and Dynasty Warriors but none of those games play similarly or intend to, hence the purpose for subgenres like Chracter action to better diferentiate them.
And on the note of what is character action, I intend to do a video about that to better define it after I finish with part 2 of the DmC Retrospective I'm doing
Well, Dark Souls and Kingdom Hearts are both Action RPGs (pretty obvious though, I guess), but idk about Dynasty Warriors, because I haven't played any of them. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make, is similar to why RPGs suddenly got divided. If you remember, the PS2 era and before used to call Japanese RPGs simply 'RPG', but for some reason, people now call them 'JRPG'. In this case, Devil May Cry is a pure Action Game through and through. It defined the genre, so suddenly calling it 'Character Action Game' devalues what it created. Similarly, after all these years of great RPG titles we got from Japan that helped define the genre, suddenly people refer to those games as 'JRPG', and it also devalues what they created. Instead of trying to come up with something else (hell, even you all don't know what to call them. "Character Action", "Stylish Action" and so on, and that alone should tell you that trying to come up with something else to call them is quite stupid to be perfectly blunt), they should remain what they are. Action Games. There is absolutely no reason to change that.
For bosses I use Royal guard like normal, with cancels, but for normal enemies I barely do so, mainly just use as an easy cancel, especially for Nevan.
Can we agree that Lady was amazing in 3 and later games made her almost into a completlt difrenr charater? She just doesent feel herself, spcially in V
Arkham gradually devolves as the game progresses, eventually being driven mad by power he didn't deserve and couldn't control. It's a parallel to Vergil and what could eventually become of him, losing all his charm and honour. It's very deliberate that he becomes a big blob thing.
The fight against him is still garbage. Only boss I cheesed with items on dmd because I just wasn't arsed spending 15 minutes fighting his 2nd phase everytime his rape tentacles killed me.
You can easily beat secret mission four on your first playthrough if you use trickster style. Took me a lot of style but it made me so efficient with trickster that I just stuck with it the whole game and basically dodged everything and kept pulling off some sick wall run + air attacks combos. The way you experience with everything and git gut is even more satisfying than say, Darksouls.
i was so happy to beat hardmode after a whole night stuck on the last Vergil boss fight,but then the menu said there were two harder modes. *my soul died a little that day*
DMC3 is a perfect example of devs making up for past wrongs. 2 disappointed a lot of people. Sure, it did some things good. I liked certain parts of 3. But 3 took everything it learned from 1 and 2 and made everything better. I loved 3 so much. I knew from the opening scene this game was gonna be top notch. and it didn't disappoint. And the characters! I finally loved almost all of the characters in this one.
Has anyone ever thought about how truly beautiful the meaning behind the name of this series is? It originally just referred to the name of Dante's shop which yeah cool but then in 3 we find out that Dante got the name from what Lady told him at the end that "even a devil may cry when he loses a loved one." Which yeah can mean "Even evil has love ones." or "Nobody can truly be called a demon if they have someone they care for." But then you remember that Lady was specifically referring to Dante crying after he lost Vergil, which means that the very title of the series itself (and by extension Dante's shop) is referring to the fact that even though they where enemies and opposed each other Dante truly loved and cared for his brother Vergil and he never wanted to lose him. If that's not one of the most beautiful deeper meanings to a video game title ever then I don't know what is.
Brooooooo.. Where's the ♥ button
the first game already had a slight reason. the manual says that dante's power is so fearsome "even a devil may cry out for mercy"
Can I like this forever? You couldn't have explained that better if you tried. I love this series and look forward to DMC5.
Another great meaning that I've found in DMC3 just this month. After playing this game multiple times since it came out, way back when.
Is finally coming to understand why I hated Lady so much. This was a fine video essay, my friend. But for the longest time. I absolutely loathed and hated Lady. She's lucky that I wasn't in Dante's coat. Because I would have killed the bitch, the first time she pointed one of her guns at me!
But it wasn't until just recently. 10 plus years after I originally played DMC3. That I realized why I hated her so much.
Its because she is just like Dante... She is racist, hostile and violent towards all demons, on sight. Just as he is. Just as Blade is towards all vampires. And its not right! Even though I am very fond of Blade & Dante. This is their fatal flaw.
And for all Dante talks about how he realizes that he and Lady has something in common. What with having dysfunctional families and all.
He fails to see that what they really have in common. Is that Lady treats him, just like he treats all demons. And if he should have learned anything from her. Its that maybe he shouldn't be as hateful and spiteful of another race as she was.
Hell! Dante started an entire buisness, specifically designed to slay demons. Like some KKK Member!He decided to hunt and kill, demons that he doesn't know or seek to understand. Who had nothing to do with his mother's death. Just like Blade does with vampires.
If there is anything that I would have added to Dante in DMC2. It would have been his reason for choosing to remain in the Demon Realm for awhile. It wouldn't be to slay as many demons as possible. It would be to find out if there are more demons like his father was. Who are outliers amongst their kind. How fucked up is it, that after all this time. Dante has no full-blooded demon allies or friends. Because he's never tried making any.
Now what does that remind you of? A half-breed who rejects 50% of who they are. There is so much potential depth that could be explored in the DMC franchise. I would explore it. If it was in my care.
The what goes around, comes around relationship of Lady & Dante. Is to me the true subtle narrative brilliance of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition! That I've never seen anyone address...
@@ScarletTsubasa this is a great vid that goes into more detail about Dante & Lady. And how Dante learned to recognize, "The difference between demons and devils." You should check it out! czcams.com/video/Ft4UM3le4sc/video.html
The Steam achievement for defeating Arkham is called "Asylum".
/nod
Jadaya Indigo so is PlayStation
And Xbox
"So, it is written"
"Only Link can defeat Ganon"
“Ok great”
Lady is his mentor. She sets the standard of cleaning up her family's mess that Dante eventually adopts.
The easy mode is aviable now
Lady isn't any more Dante's mentor than Dante is Lady's mentor imo. Or put another way each character has something to teach and play off of the other. Quite a well written story; far more than the casual player would give it credit for.
I'd rather think that Virgil is Dante's mentor, even though it may not appear as so. Sometimes the trial itself can be the mentor.
Pretty much the whole thing that happened in 3 formed Dante who he is today.
Also if it wasn't for Lady he probably couldn't have realised what was important and defeat Vergil.
Also seeing how Vergil got corrupted, made him watch out for Nero and stopped him from going too far.
@@nawraskhalil2712 If Vergil's the mentor then he's the "this is how not to" type.
The reason I like virgil as a villain is that he wanted the power so he can kill the demon who murdered his mother but his drive for said power blinded him and he lost his way. He still cares deeply for his brother but refuses to let anyone stand in his way, even Dante. At least that's how I see him.
if you hear the prologue of dmc 3 you can see that he wasnt blind regarding fighting dante he actually enjoyed it they both did no one was on par with them in term of power
Actually, Vergil’s thirst for power derive from his memory of being “abandoned” by his mother during the mansion attack. There’s a manga that talks about V and in the manga, V reflected on his past as being left to feign for himself, which awakened his demon power much earlier than Dante’s, and shaped his ideology into thinking he must be the strongest because no one will protect him. In truth, Eva did try to find him but she was killed by demons during the search (a very gruesome death). Dante revealed the truth to Urizen before their final duel.
@@bluesyrupgc4224 That was something added in DMC5s poorly written story
@@jayomega2717 it was hinted in DMC3 that Vergil shaped his ideology during the mansion attack
@@jayomega2717 can u elaborate on why it’s poorly written?
fun fact, in return for using dante (DMC2 version) in shin megami tensei nocturne, atlus made the devil trigger forms in DMC3
ZeroTheHeartlessKing
Ooooooohhhh, no wonder they looked so familiar.
thanks for reminding me, I really thought Arsene looked a lot like Dante's DMC3 devil trigger
Kinda wish they would collab again to make the most badass duo of persona shit and Dante shit
Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
kazuma kaneko designed the iconic dmc3 devil triggers and a lot of mainline smt demons, but not arsene. in fact, he hasn't done any new art for the actual persona games, they just reuse his old art for demons
I’m disappointed that the Dante Impaled Counter didn’t count every one of the sythes the enemies have.
Terry R. Yeah I agree it should have
Those damn laughing scythe bastards that rush you!!!! I can’t play this game high I’m too damn slow with my inputs
And in previos retrospective video he misses a few impales.
Lady is the mentor. "Because of you, I know what's important. I know what I have to do." She didn't go out of her way to teach him something, so she's not a mentor in the traditional sense, and she also learned from him, but Dante's interactions with Lady helped structure who he became later. That's why he named his shop, a symbol of his personal progress in the game, after something she said. Also, you meet her after killing cerberus, before Crossing the Threshold.
I was a big fan of the demonic chess piece enemies, it was just a really interesting idea for a set of enemies. I had not expected to run into chess pieces as enemies in a stylish action game, especially where they each attack in a manner very much like how each actual chess piece does. The pawns swing their swords towards just the 2 forward diagonals at a range like "one space away", the knights jump up and move in an L shape then stomp down on you. And that culminates in the full chessboard, where they replicate even more chess rules, like pawns who advance far enough forward without you killing them get to transform into more powerful pieces, if any rooks are still left and you attack the king, the king uses the rook to "castle" to safety, and the chess match ends whenever you kill the king specifically. I thought they did a great job expressing chess as an action game.
Did you know that if you have a second controller hooked up, you can play the game in a two-player mode while using Doppelgänger and during the fight against Arkham with Vergil?
SonicPanther698 MIND BLOWN
Same with the doppelganger skill
Even for the special edition? Yes?
@@umjustash Yep! It works with the HD Collection as well, last I checked.
Yamamoto
Gameslayer 9000 I don't think you got the joke buddy
It hurt my soul.
Combat “Adjuctors”
Mitsubishi
karate judo samurai
"...none really embody their sin in their design"
... Excuse me, what? Sloth are lazy so they teleport around instead of moving to you. Greed have a giant coffin it clings to like it's the greatest thing in the world. Gluttony absorb sand like it's eating it before blasting at you. Envy, Pride and Lust though, yeah nothing really stands out. Lust is red I guess which is the colour often associated with lust, and Envy have some green on it. But even then not great.
If you haven't been told they were representing the seven deadly sins, would you ever have come up with those rationalisations? Teleporting is moving instantly, far from lazy really (it's better to point out that Sloth can't actually attack most of the tine), and it's not really greedy to swallow something just to spit it back out again.
I do feel enemy design was the one place DMC 3 really dropped the ball and a lot of enemies like Dullahans and Fallen just flat-out aren't fun to fight.
@@CruelestChris not like dmc 1 had lots of enemies. You have muppets, the sin/death enemies and bugs
@@electroshock1021
Um, and Plasmas, Frosts, Nobodies, Kyklopses, Shadows...
The main point though is that all of DMC 1's enemies were designed to be fought alone because the game couldn't load more than one type in RAM at once (only exception is it can dual-load Marionettes and Fetishes), so they all (aside from Sargassos) have a lot of things they can do and a couple of moves for each range. Look at what a Marionette in DMC 1 is actually able to do: there's four "costumes" that govern how much HP they have, they have three weapons which alter their projectile and melee attacks, they have a melee move, grapple, AOE grapple, a high-speed slide to close range, a projectile attack (slow arcing blades, direct daggers, or hitscan shotgun that can damage their allies), and the move where they spin around if they don't have a shotgun. This and they're so big their swipes are sometimes the entire width of a corridor and they deal surprisingly high damage. Now compare this to the Seven Sins, which typically have a scythe swipe or equivalent plus one special attack, save for the one that just explodes.
I think he meant visually, like gluttony isnt fat or lust isnt sexy ect, they all work from the same archetype, but I would say they do differ gameplay wise well enough, even in regards to the sins inspiration, even tho some are a strench
These are probably a reach, but:
Having too much pride is the crux of the sin, and Prides are by far the most common/abundant enemy in the game.
Lusts are not only red, but they make the most noise and lunge at you with vigorous passion... Lol.
Like I said, probably a reach, but... I've always loved how DMC3's enemies were themed after things like chess and the seven deadly sins.
You forgot to mention how Vergil is looking for power not for himself but to protect what he loves even if he's cold at times while arkham is trying to get power purely for himself making Vergil more like a antihero then a real villain and making arkham the real villain.
Capcom should've have a unique storyline while playing Vergil.
Then he cuts his own sons arm and become the demon king
@@jantran5349 That doesn't make any sense.
GhostCell47 the cloaked man who cut off Nero's arm in the DMC5 E3 trailer is theorized to be Vergil
@@jonnysac77 But Vergil's dead.
One of my favorite games of all time. I didn't even play it until maybe a year before the HD collection came out. I got the original PS2 version, and tried playing it on normal mode (as you've said, actually hard mode on the original US ver.) and I just couldn't get that far so I gave up. Once the HD collection came out, I decided I really wanted to play it again so I bought it and low and behold. I had finally realized it was and is one of favorite games of all time. It's weird, I liked DMC4, DMC1, and even the reboot to an extent, but none of them compare to DMC3 to me for one reason or another.
DMC3 for life.
They have the Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition for the PS2
Bitpawp there is because Devil may cry 3 is unique (but unlike bayonetta which you have to learn a hundred or thousand of combo skill to enjoy go through the game , but the problem is how many skills you would kept in mind when you play through and is it really important or worth for you to learn those skill to kill one enemy or a bunch of them ???🙄
I guarantee after you finish Bayonette you'll never want to play it again , its fun to play at fisrt time but it also the game that you will very quick to forget about , but Devil may cry 3 is different , its skill is very easy to learn but you have to be clever to put out these skill onto a battle , the skills is easy to perform and every moves is stunning to play again and again , you'll never get bore).
This is why Devil may cry 3 still is the KING untill today. 😉
Why didn't you just play the game one easy mode then on the original version? It's not like easy was all that easy either, considering it's actually the normal mode.
DMC1 one was unpolished, DMC4 was unfinished, reboot... maybe if the story was cut out would have been nice?
@@wayneteo7871 Git gud
I remember playing this over and over as a kid. I completely fell in love with the character of Dante that he is still till this day my favorite character in fiction.
I was also originally disappointed by Arkham's blob final form. I thought it was so lack-luster and outright lame. However, I then started to realize that was the whole point. Arkham isn't supposed to have this grandiose form or fight because just as Vergil said, "You should come to realize you cannot control the power of Sparda." That's what ultimately leads to Arkham's downfall. Instead of staying in the background he decided to take center stage the moment Dante and Vergil were weakened. He could never understand that he was born completely human, and no amount of scheming, manipulation, and stolen power will change that. That is why his form is distorted and shapeless, to show that it doesn't matter how far he is willing to go, he cannot weild the power of the most legendary demon in history.
Vergil also outright mocks him in an almost 4th wall love tap when he remarks "you can't possibly believe that _he_ deserves to be our main event now do you".
I agree, but he is still the worst boss of the game by far.
I’m wholeheartedly surprised by the amount of deep and constructive arguments and comments being made about this awesome game. Glad to know others appreciate it for the great game that it is
You know we could have just had no boss fight rather than a crap one. This is like saying "well I know Dullahans are fucking shit, but it makes sense for something to be in that room." Either make it good or take the room out.
@Edward Jaquez
Eh, you could move it a bit earlier and make it a better boss, nobody complained that Nightmare 3 overshadowed Mundus in the first game, despite Nightmare being the only good blob boss ever, probably the only good tank boss in any hack and slash game, and one of the most complex bosses in the series.
I been hearing so many good things about DMC for years upon years and always wanted to understand the series. I found out an anime exsisted earlier this year and finally got around to watching it last week so now i wanna know about the history of the games (Plus DMC 5 Hype from E3 is still fresh). This Retro series is literally the best thing i could have found with out playing the games myself. DMC 3 Truly sounds like an Awakening as the best game in the series I still have to see the story of DMC 4 and the Controversial Reboot but i had to leave my thanks for making this series cuz this video was outstanding. Thank you so much.
Love your continuity of the Dante getting stabbed meter!
That is gonna come back with the final DmC video ;)
DMC3 SE was the first dmc game I played and I consider it a masterpiece
And you're not wrong. It's a gem 💎
@@OmarFeliciano it's best on the switch
It feels as had good as DMC 5 when it comes to weapon output and style
Being able to swap all three simultaneously is awesome
DMC3 on the switch makes this masterpiece an absolute gift from god, and capcom needs to bring that version onto every system that has DMC3, and it has to be free for those who already own the HD collection, that means for PS3/PS4/Xbox360/PC/XboxOne, hell even release it on the PS2, I will buy a PS2 physical release of the Switch Edition of DMC3, I will do it.
Any possible way you can add to this video or do another video pertaining to its new features for Switch? I'm curious about what you have to say due to how well you have done retrospectives for all 5 games so far. I'd like to hear your opinions at some point
actually the style switching was been created already in the DMC3 period. But the PS2 was not able to handle it hardware wise, so they went for a more simplified version. When PS3 released, DMC4 was able to implement the style switching due to the much stronger hardware. @@WednesdayMan
For me the hardest wall in DMC3 was the second encounter with Vergil, I was stuck at him for 3 days straight, nothing working, even when I used that one Holy Water the game gives you I couldn't beat him, I finally managed to do it on the last day after finally learning his patterns and getting used to his constant teleportation
Vergil and Dante saying jackpot together as Brothers to stop a shared enemy made me have a straight smile on face for a full week
13:12 Jokes on you. I double jumped on one of the walls and then used trickster. That made the enemies disappeare. You are right on the Nevan Flying Secret mission though.
You can grind red orbs in secret mission 5 to complete it on a first play through if you really want to.
DMC3 is also my most favor action game of all time - excellent design & character development, fun & deep combat engine, well executed story & plot. What not to love about this game?
Agree
0:58 that guy isnt itsuno, thats Suda51
+Sertan4K Whoops, my bad. I'll make sure to keep an eye on that in future videos. I'm usually good at fact changing that stuff but I must have slipped up on that one
Foxcade still very well made and informative vid tho. subbed.
I would love a suda 51 directed DMC
I'm just playing through killer 7
I scrolled through to make sure someone had said it, lol. I was about to type it out at the top.
killer is dead
16:55
>"devil may cry 3 actually has a PRETTY STRONG plot"
>goes on to talk about how well constructed it is for 20 minutes
Yeah, I would say DMC3's plot goes way above just "PRETTY strong", the story is great no matter how you look at it - composition, progression, pacing, characters, action setpieces and strong emotional scenes. There's no shame in calling things for what they are.
Dmc 3 arguably is the definitive way to fix a franchise, go.back to what made the first so great and turn the awesomeness up to 11
"A katana requires more speed and precision then a regular broadsword."
I got what you were going for there, I really do. But the moment you said "Historically" is where you lost me. Jesus Christ.
Tbh, I'd usually pick on this shit, but speaking in fictional, especially japanese video game, terms, it makes sense
@@MCDMarsgodihatehandles It's just long to say "historically in fiction" :)
You lost him there and you lost me with "then" bro it's Than* thanks. Anyway a gree with you.
I was thinking the same thing. It drives me insane when people overhype the Katana in real world history.
@@Mr.Foxhat If a weapon must be used faster and more precisely than another to be effective, it's not the superior weapon. Fox didn't overhype the katana. He said you have to put in extra effort to use it as well as a regular sword
Ride To Hell: Retribution is one of your favorite games?
Kirbonic Pikmin I was so incredibly confused
Probably a Zero Punctuation joke.
It has to be a joke,that game is something else man. :D
It's prob his fave cuz it's one of those so bad it's good things
it isn't one of yours?
The music, you had to say something about the music dude
I know, the music is awesome. I'm not well versed in music terminology though, so I always think my analysis of the score will basically be "the music is good because ... it is good"
Foxcade that's all i needed lol I'm not a music expert either but that combat music so sets the mood, it'll always deserve a mention
THE TIME HAS COME AND SO HAVE I
I like the music in 3 but a minor nitpick I have is that Beowulf and Cerberus have the same boss theme
@@cyan_2169 make you scream and the devil cry
I got this game as a still new to action games. I played through the spacial edition, and had my ass handed my the "boss" of the second mission, so much so that the game changed the difficult to easy for me.
Easy mode help me finish the game, but you know what? I loved it for that. Easy mode was _just_ easy enough that it didn't felt like it robbed me of the challenge (the Vergil fights were just as intense)
Also, a great retrospective. Loved your style and the depth you went through about the info on the game.
And, can you link the CZcamsr you mentioned?
In my opinion, easy mode in DMC3 is comparable to modern normal mode in most games, so you can definitely still find challenge in it, especially if your new to the genre.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
czcams.com/users/Saur
"Lady is best DMC girl." couldn't agree more
You know I hear everyone say DMC3 is the best(which isn't shocking) in the series but i enjoyed DMC4 the most and never hear anyone even mention it was it not considered good to people.
Also a small nitpick for myself I always heard people say DMC3 was one of the hardest games you could play but I found it just as difficult as 4 and in both I beat every difficulty and I'm not great at the games like I have seen people can be. Now Fox says Vergil is considered a very hard video game boss but I found him an enjoyably average difficulty final boss it felt like the game said "congrats on making it through everything now here is just a fun simple end fight to finish off on."
DMC4 is good, its just got some rather large flaws that people focus in on, specifically the repeating levels and bosses. I still think its got some great qualities too though.
You must be the first I've heard that from, as most people seem to have a lot of struggles with 3 and 4, especially on certain bosses. I think the reason some struggle with the bosses of DMC3/4 is lack of patience. They get too greedy when an opening comes up and then end up getting punished for it I'm pretty good at dealing with a majority of bosses in these games, but Vergil 3 is always the one I seem to have issues with, mostly because of his DT form.
Foxcade I guess if you put the bosses that way I suppose I am decent at timing mostly I switch between focus on evasion while dealing small chip damage to full on attack when their in a vulnerable stage but I would rather be safe then sorry so I usually back out before their vulnerable stage is actually done.
I think I have never disliked the back track part of the fourth game cause I felt like two characters stories were truly interweaved unlike DMC3SE'S play through the exact same full game with Vergil after Dante or DMC2'S play through more or less the same full game with Lucia after Dante because those felt like two characters went on the same journey as each other so they were interchangeable. But 4 it was like the characters were in it together since it just transitioned from one to the other it was "their story " not "his story now his\her story".
Also yes I'm aware DMC4SE basically reintroduced what I just critiqued but when I think of 4 I think of the standard one since SE is kind of new.
+Drew Ward in that way DMC bosses are very much like Dark Souls boss fights, except DMC incentives speed, so that's why people get greedy trying to do more damage in an opening
Hmm, I think the distinction between the Vergil play through and the backtracking in DMC4 is that Vergil is extra content that's on the side, like DLC, where as the DMC4 backtracking is half of the complete game. Dante being playable does allow for a contrast between him and Nero, but playing the entire game again without any real difference, even in the boss fights, does feel like padding for the game.
It could technically be said that Arkam/Jester fulfills the mentor roll even though he doesn't show up until a little later in the story.
You mentioned nothing about playing as the ridiculously OP, Vergil.
Vergil Ridiculously op?
you haven't played DMC3 HD with Freestyle on the Switch have you? or the DDMK mod for Devil May Cry HD Collection on PC.
@@WednesdayMan If you look at speedruns both Vergil and Dante players use repeated dive-kicks as their highest DPS output. Except Vergil can do them from the start of the game and he can also shoots sword projectiles while doing them. So he out-damages Dante and have better speedrun records.
You mentioned how it's impressive that the game still holds up over two generations later, but I don't think that will ever really change. So long as there are video games, many games after certain points will remain timeless. It makes it so that games that released on the ps2 like DMC 3, or even games as far back as consoles like the NES, will always remain fun and classic to the world, probably no matter how much time passes, which is honestly pretty amazing
The thing is that there are countless great games in the past which aged horribly, especially in terms of mechanics.
Meanwhile DMC3 is 16 years old now and it still claps most recent action games.
19:20
You mention that at that point of the Hero's Journey we should Meet the Mentor but propose that Dante has no mentor aside from maybe Cerberus. I'd propose instead that the mentor would be either Vergil or Lady, perhaps both.
Both of them directly explain valuable lessons to Dante that become the basis for who he is by the end of the story and directly grant him new powers that strengthen his individual halves. The duality of the twins as half human and half demon is a major concept in the story, and Dante's dual pistols Ebony and Ivory and his tendency to use weapons crafted by humans with his guns and weapons crafted from demons with his devil arms represnt his embrace of both halves. Vergil and Lady each embrace one of those halves, both by making heavy use of the respective weapon type and by displaying outright scorn towards the opposite half (Lady violently hates demons, Vergil scorns humanity and chooses to see himself as only a demon).
In the end, each of them impart some sort of lesson and power to the half of Dante they "mentor", represented through giving him the last weapon of their respective type. Lady shows Dante the importance of family and caring about how his brother's actions affect the rest of the world. She also grants him his strongest firearm, which is even named for a human (and in memory of her dead mom, which parallels the human part of Dante's heritage). Vergil pushes him to accept his demon half, something its implied Dante isnt fully embracing when he says things like "I never had a father". After his first encounter with Vergil, Dante is pushed to finally use his Devil Trigger and afterwards can make full use of his Devil Arms through it. After your rematch with Vergil, you win your final Devil Arm.
Because of this, I feel they make much better "mentor" characters to Dante. Around the point you mention meeting the mentor in the hero's journey with Cerberus, we the player are also given our first glimpse of Vergil and Lady. So i believe they are the actual mentors we meet instead of Cerberus.
I like how the original DMC had a Resident Evil vibe to it. And yes, I'm aware that it was originally supposed to be Resident Evil 4. Love the atmosphere of it.
Well, the stigma about the swords is actually down to a martial art matter, in which matters to the individual ultimately. And really this game series one of my favorites, is a release of energy of all means. But for an overall picture of the swords, Japan was warring itself, being that the certain types weapons they used barely made to many changes, mean while in Europe, you have vast amount of countries going against eachother, promoting vast more ideas of weapons and well the swords drastically changed in many ways. In some sword documents, it is interesting to note to take with broad swords depending on the location, the amazement of seeing how some of the strikes can be similar in appearence, but a true eyes sees how a shape of a weapon can change per say strike.
It's also worth noting that Japan is an island nation with limited access to resources. It was probably easier to get your hands on good iron ore in Europe (you either had better resources or easier access to trading routes), contributing to better steel quality and sturdier blades, while in Japan you had to forge something out of a low-quality "pig iron".
2:03 Ride to Hell Retribution???!!! Seriously?
bro its not yamamoto its yamato LOL 26:25
Will you do devil may cry 4? I feel like it was such a beautiful ending to the original series, it deserves more respect than it got, I like the story almost as much as I like DMC3's story
After the batch of videos I currently have lined up, I do plan on doing DMC4 and the reboot, possibly back to back.I do have things to say about both, good and bad, and already have some bits thought up for them
It got no respects cuz u did the same 10 missions twice , and fought the same bosses 2 times
Yes but the gameplay is gold, having all the weapons and styles with Dante is amazing, i think the only flaws are the story and the backtracking
Story was okay backtracking was shit
you like half a story as an ending?
One of my favorite games of all time. I actually caught feels when watching the ending with Dante & Lady talking about how Devils Never Cry.
I fucking hate capcom.
The cool thing about doppelganger was if you had the super costumes you and a friend could play the entire game together
"Die a few times"
*Yea, a FEW...*
I totally agree. DMC3 is one of my favorite games ever as well. Awesome analysis of what makes it great. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, I honestly felt I could have made it better but if I worked on it until it was absolutely perfect to me, it would have would likely not be out until next year!
19:18 if you think about it the tally should be saying 7 since he was impaled 4 times in rapid succession
I don't think most players really understand how huge a statement "a devil may cry" is in the DMC universe. With possibly the only known exceptions being Sparda and Trish, ALL full-blooded devils who've ever existed are, by their nature, cruel, power-hungry, and utterly devoid of empathy. Thus, the notion that a "devil may cry" is a one in a trillion possibility that borders on absurdity, and Dante doesn't really count as he's only half devil, a fact that Lady isn't even aware of when she makes her statement.
Trish, on the other hand, is a galactic miracle.
Dante has a bad habit of meeting potential love interests that are women created by the main villain and then teaming up with them. (DMC1: Trish, DMC2: Lucia, DMC3: Lady)
I'll never forget when I decided to beat dmc 3 on DMD difficulty. I looked up a couple of guides from a guy called seraphim117 or something and I blared a scarykidsscaringkids album on repeat. It took around a month of playing on my free time but I remember beating it was the best feeling ever, I messaged all my friends lmao
I love these long retrospective type videos and was so glad to see them on your channel. This game was a huge part of my childhood and my love for games in general I really enjoyed this video ! I never noticed how Arkham contrasted Dante’s arc. Really really great content looking forward for more!
A little secret i found on ps2 for dmc 3, if you have 2nd controller in and press start while useing doppelganger it controls the doppelganger
cerberus is literally and figuratively the guard dog protecting the gate to enter the game
I've had some problems with this game, but I always kept believing that if I had played the second game, then this would feel much more refreshing, cause I do recall the reviews for it being very positive.
Your review helped me understand some of the huge appreciation that this game got, so even if I much prefer the first game.
Ok I just realized Lady has a blue and red eyes the same color as Dante and Vergil.
The Beowulf SSS combat adjudicator almost made my thumb fall off since I only had 3 moves for Beowulf and wasn't using Sword master xd
I did it without swordmaster,it is easy. Triangle,jump triangle,forward triangle,backward triangle,triangle triangle pause triangle smash,same without smash. So there are certain move,that you can combine. Every forth move can be the same as the first move.
Adam J. Harper There is no special combination that boost the meter, you only have to do,is use different moves,but you can reuse every forth or third attack.
Really enjoying your retrospective videos, man. I'll admit, you've triggered me a few times with your pronunciation of "Mundus", your pic of Suda 51 as Itsuno in this vid, and most of all the term "Character Action", lol. It's "Hack&Slash" for me and always will be. Hearing Character Action bothers me more than it should. 😄 Anyways, great vids, man.
Ya, I wasn't paying attention to the suda pic when I used it, don't know how I didn't notice that, but I use the term character action/stylish action because these games are distinct from other hack n slash games like Dynasty Warrior, but that's a discussion for another day.
So funny story. One weekend I was visiting my uncle when I was 15 and brought my Xbox one but his internet was out so I couldn’t play any games but he had a 360 and the HD trilogy of DMC. I beat the whole trilogy that weekend and beat 2 in like 6 hours and hated it. Then I started 3 and that’s when I fell in love with the series. As soon as o got home I got the special edition of DMC4 and played the shit out of it and have been a fan of all the game, yes even DmC, except 2
My brother played it at home on a borrowed P2. Impressed me into buying DMC4 and I wasn't taken to the same heights.
I remember beating DmC 3 to get super Vergil.
And then you turn into my favorite boss of the First. Couldn’t be more rewarding when I beat the shit out of Vergil in the tower mode.
Un Homme DmC usually refers to the reboot, be careful so you don't trigger hardcore fans ^^
(Just DMC or dmc can refer to the original series)
you can cheese secret mission 4 by using tricksters wall run as when the camera leaves the elevator the enemies despawn
2:04 hold on? Is that ride to hell retribution you have on your personal favorite list!!!
2:03 Ah yes, Ride to Hell, a fellow intellectual I see
After loving the game from a distance, I'm actually playing Devil May Cry 3.
I still have the original DMC 3 on my PS2 and this is the first I'm hearing of the difficulty mix up.
Arkham: *Exist*
Me, an intillectual: "Fuck this boss fight, fuck this boss fight in particular"
My favorite trivia is that the number of the chapter shows up somewhere in the cutscenes.
I love that devil may cry 5 has plenty of callbacks to devil may cry 3.
No it doesn't
I died soo much against Agni and Rudra when first playing years ago before realizing you could essentially parry the sword blows causing the bodies to drop the swords after a few shots, also that last Vergil fight *shudders*
Exactly! This game got me into challenging games. I fell in love with the test of skills when I was a kid. I played the 1st PS2 version so many times and beat the hardest mode too, "Dante must die - mode". The soundtrack was awesome!
That jukebox scene still makes me chuckle.
You know the one
I feel like the difficulty 'mistake' (where the Japan hard mode became our normal mode) was a great point for the series. DMC games are SUPPOSED to take effort, their supposed to be challenging (DMC1 was no slouch). DMC3 had such good graphics and tight controls for the time that players that would normally never played for the challenge were forced too step out their game to experience DMC3.
And in that experience they finally figured out that being challenged was fun.
I definitely agree. I had difficulties finishing DMC1 when I was young, but DMC3 is where the idea that challenge can be fun started to click for me.
To be honest even the original version of DMC3's difficulty was overhyped. A lot of it came from game journalists who just want to quickly finish a game in a weekend and write a review. I think while it could be frustrating at times, I think the truest of DMC fans would rather have a devil may cry game be too hard than for it to be too easy. Also, in DMC3 you could always farm for red orbs and yellow orbs. I remember the kid version of me replaying mission 1 for like 30 minutes - then buying like 15 yellow orbs. I was mostly set with that for most of the game.
Fun fact: if you activate doppelgänger & have a second controller, you can play 2 player
Quicksilver and super Dante was op.
14:30 huh, gradually is a nice word to use... especially regarding that triple S rank Rebellion Statue in the Elevator Room in Mission 7.
That thing kicked my ass back when I played DMC 3 the first time (probably 7) years ago. Surely took me about half an hour because cocky stuborn me couldn't possibly let it be and move on.
Secret Mission 4 can be completed when you first get to it if you happen to be using Royal Guard. On each wave of Prides, just block 2 attacks from each of them, then do a normal Release, and they'll all be so close to you that they all get hit and it one-shots all of them. Repeat for each wave and they'll die too fast to weigh down the elevator.
Jackpot.
Oh by the way the Combat Adjudicators that guard treasure you need to get by raising your style meter on them? It's pronounced ad-joo-dee-cay-tor.
Damn, I knew I was going to miss pronounce that haha thanks
"Historically katanas required more speed and precision than western broadswords" oh my god, you are sooo wrong! XD
Ben L because any sword western or Japanese require speed an precision to be used properly
The difference, I should think, is that a broadsword can be used as a crushing weapon, especially as armor improved, while a katana cannot, necessitating more precise cuts striking at gaps in armor
Force Edge is the true Dante Devil Arm.
no, its not. Rebellion is
Two player doppelgänger was so fun
I use the nunchucks, and guitar with swordmaster. I like the shield moves.
13:10 You can also cheese Secret Mission 4 by spamming fully charged Volcanos from Beowulf which you can get from Mission 11. You're gonna need Swordmaster to do it though.
Better way is Trickster wall run and then air hike. Makes the enemies disappear.
but, in 4 you can change style and all weapon mid action.
That is simply awesome.
Yep
I cannot say how much i love the game, my absolute favorite, and how much i agree with you with the rant
I loved DMC3 when i played it. I played it in the devil may cry collection on ps3. Idk if it made it easier or something. But out of all 4 devil may cry's i've played (i don't count DMC:devil may cry,) i go back to DMC3 the most often. Its so fun and SO satisfying to beat a boss i bash my head against. For example, Cerberus was difficult but nothing i couldn't handle, i had more difficulty with Agni and Rudra mostly because your fighting two at the same time. Plus i love the music so much. Also i got so hype when i could play as Virgil and go through it with him.
Did you or are you doing a DMC 5 retrospective?
My eyes roll out of their sockets every time someone brings up Campbell's "The Hero's Journey." Don't get me wrong, not saying that it doesn't apply to this game, but it feels like such a... safe thing to include in a retrospective such as this.
"Character Action Game"
Why do some people call them that? It's just an Action Game. No point in trying to differentiate it from whatever else, just because current action games aren't as difficult or "actiony". It's no ones fault or problem that modern games can't live up to them, so instead of trying to devalue them as action games by trying to call them something else, we should just let them be what they are.
It's not being used to devalue other games in the slightest. It's used to differentiate the games from games like Musou titles or Dark Siders. Character Action games, or whatever you want to call them, are defined by more than just being action games with really good combat.
I don't get it. Darksiders is an action game too... What even is "character action"? There's characters in action in Darksiders too :\
I will agree the title is a bit odd, though that is the most common colloqialism for it which is why I use it. Darksiders is an action game, but so is Dark Souls, Kingdom Hearts, and Dynasty Warriors but none of those games play similarly or intend to, hence the purpose for subgenres like Chracter action to better diferentiate them.
And on the note of what is character action, I intend to do a video about that to better define it after I finish with part 2 of the DmC Retrospective I'm doing
Well, Dark Souls and Kingdom Hearts are both Action RPGs (pretty obvious though, I guess), but idk about Dynasty Warriors, because I haven't played any of them.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make, is similar to why RPGs suddenly got divided. If you remember, the PS2 era and before used to call Japanese RPGs simply 'RPG', but for some reason, people now call them 'JRPG'. In this case, Devil May Cry is a pure Action Game through and through. It defined the genre, so suddenly calling it 'Character Action Game' devalues what it created.
Similarly, after all these years of great RPG titles we got from Japan that helped define the genre, suddenly people refer to those games as 'JRPG', and it also devalues what they created.
Instead of trying to come up with something else (hell, even you all don't know what to call them. "Character Action", "Stylish Action" and so on, and that alone should tell you that trying to come up with something else to call them is quite stupid to be perfectly blunt), they should remain what they are. Action Games. There is absolutely no reason to change that.
Ahh, the Dead Souls of 2005...
For bosses I use Royal guard like normal, with cancels, but for normal enemies I barely do so, mainly just use as an easy cancel, especially for Nevan.
"I can already tell, looks like this is gonna be on hell of A PARTY!!!!"
_Vergil's Yamamoto_
Aside from jokes, great video and analysis man
For me though this is the darksouls in my childhood
Can we agree that Lady was amazing in 3 and later games made her almost into a completlt difrenr charater? She just doesent feel herself, spcially in V
What a great video essay.
"Yamamoto"
Devil may cry 3 is a mega man game in disguise.
Arkham gradually devolves as the game progresses, eventually being driven mad by power he didn't deserve and couldn't control.
It's a parallel to Vergil and what could eventually become of him, losing all his charm and honour.
It's very deliberate that he becomes a big blob thing.
The fight against him is still garbage. Only boss I cheesed with items on dmd because I just wasn't arsed spending 15 minutes fighting his 2nd phase everytime his rape tentacles killed me.
You can easily beat secret mission four on your first playthrough if you use trickster style. Took me a lot of style but it made me so efficient with trickster that I just stuck with it the whole game and basically dodged everything and kept pulling off some sick wall run + air attacks combos. The way you experience with everything and git gut is even more satisfying than say, Darksouls.
i was so happy to beat hardmode after a whole night stuck on the last Vergil boss fight,but then the menu said there were two harder modes. *my soul died a little that day*
DMC3 is a perfect example of devs making up for past wrongs. 2 disappointed a lot of people. Sure, it did some things good. I liked certain parts of 3. But 3 took everything it learned from 1 and 2 and made everything better. I loved 3 so much. I knew from the opening scene this game was gonna be top notch. and it didn't disappoint. And the characters! I finally loved almost all of the characters in this one.
DMC 3's Dante is RMX 4's Zero, change my mind