If last year’s Devil May Cry 5 was your introduction to the long-running demon-slaying series, you could be forgiven for expecting a 15-year-old PS2 game to pale in comparison.
5 gave players three characters with wildly different movesets to master. The versatile, series mainstay Dante. The impulsive Nero, with a seemingly limitless supply of powered-up prosthetic arms. The brooding V, who functioned more like a poetry-reading Pokémon trainer than a traditional stylish action character. The game was approachable for newcomers, but rewarded time spent plumbing its systemic depths.
But, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition on Switch may have even more to offer.
As a prequel to the original Devil May Cry, DMC3 introduces us to a young Dante, settling in for a slice of pizza in his as-yet-unnamed business. When it’s attacked by demons, our hero has to set off for a massive tower, shrouded in clouds, to whoop his twin brother Vergil’s ass. Over the course of his adventure, he’ll beat up a jester, confront his twin and hack-and-slash through hordes of demons using a small arsenal of weapons and a suite of ability-granting styles.
Those styles are, in large part, what afford Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition its impressive depth. Trickster style grants Dante a very useful dodge. Swordmaster gives him a second attack. Gunslinger brings in another ranged move. Royalguard lets him block. All of these can be upgraded, so to have the right playstyle for every occasion, you’ll need to keep each leveled up as you progress. I stuck with Trickster for most of the game, but I’m looking forward to further exploring each of the playstyles in a subsequent playthrough.
That’s easier than ever thanks to Capcom’s decision to incorporate a feature introduced in a fan-created mod into this official release. Style-switching, which allows Dante to move seamlessly between Trickster, Swordmaster, Gunslinger and Royalguard, was first introduced in 2008’s Devil May Cry 4. Now, Capcom has officially added it as an option in Devil May Cry 3, and the game is all the richer for it. While players have the option to play the game as it originally released — with style swaps limited to checkpoints — they can also swap on the fly, if they choose, opening up potential for some gloriously lengthy combos.
The inclusion of style-switching is only the most obvious aspect of an overarching ethos that makes Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition so good: its willingness to offer players an enormous amount of different options. You play the game as Dante, but once you’ve completed the campaign, you can replay it — with additional story content — as Vergil, who has an entirely different moveset. You can alter the way that checkpointing works by playing on Gold mode (which gives you infinite continues) or Yellow (which sends you back to the beginning of a level upon death). Multiple difficulty options and the ability to go back and play previous missions to grind for currency allow you to tailor the challenge to your ability. And, most fundamentally, Dante has a ton of weapons at his disposal, and multiple styles to master. DMC3: Special Edition genuinely wants you to play this game however you want.
And, if you enjoy challenging, varied boss battles, you’ll have plenty of reason to continue playing. I’m generally pretty boss battle agnostic; I mostly only care about them when their difficulty prevents me from progressing in a game I’m enjoying. But, Devil May Cry 3 is the rare game that had me fully invested in mastering each encounter. A giant pair of headless twins. A demon who commands a legion of shadows and bats. A deathly, charging carriage. No boss battle is like another, and each demands your full attention. It was deeply satisfying, after spending an hour learning a difficult enemy’s tells, to finally exploit their weaknesses and take them down with ruthless efficiency.
The game does show its age in some ways. The re-release has added quality-of-life improvements and new features, but the graphics look the same. Additionally, the camera, which incorporates the fixed perspectives of early Resident Evil, takes some getting used to. Despite the lack of player control, though, it follows the action well. There were a few moments where the perspective shift caused me to briefly walk in the wrong direction. But, after an hour or so, I never worried about the camera in combat.
It helps that the framerate is silky smooth. I never noticed any stuttering or drops, and if you blink, you’ll miss the post-death load times. There have been a decent amount of last-gen (or last-last-gen) games that have suffered in the port to Switch. But, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition runs great. It also helps that Devil May Cry 3 holds up substantially better than other character action games of the same era. While it released just a month before the original God of War, Capcom’s action game feels miles ahead in terms of design. God of War got bogged down with bad platforming, tricky puzzles and frustrating climbing sections, but Devil May Cry 3 is laser-focused on its excellent combat and encounter design. It may look like a game from the Bush era, but after a level or two, it sure doesn’t feel like it.
If you enjoyed the excellent combat and delightful anime bullshit of Devil May Cry 5, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition has successfully brought that formula to a handheld system. Some remasters succeed on the strength of their source material alone. But, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition pairs a stellar game with an equally stellar re-release.
Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition review code for Nintendo Switch provided by the publisher.
Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition is out now on Nintendo Switch.