One of my personal beliefs when playing a video game franchise is that the third game should be the point where your series has fully realized itself. Where all the ideas of the previous two entries are refined upon and the flaws fixed or changed.

A few examples of this I can think of are games like Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Kingdom Hearts 2, Metal Gear Solid 3. All three are games that take follow this precedent in how they iterated on the works that came before them.

So, Director Hideaki Itsuno, rebounding with his team after working hard just to fix the mess of Devil May Cry 2 to the condition it is in after the previous Director left the project, decided that Devil May Cry 3 would bring justice back to this franchise...

And it did.

DMC3 is a game that is spectacle in both presentation and gameplay, with the combat feeling absolutely electrifying as you mix and match various combos while switching through your weapons on the spot to build up to that lauded SSS meter. I'm not even a big score guy but when I saw those big red letters and the word "SSStylish!!!", I felt incredible.

The weapons themselves are all very cool, from a triple ended nunchuck to an electric guitar that controls lighting bats. It's all fucking awesome.

But that's not all, with the various styles like Trickster and Swordmaster, you can add even more variety to your playstyle and how you handle the various combat encounters.

I stuck with Trickster for my run because I love the Trickster Dodge, as well as Air Trick, allowing you to teleport above an enemy for an attack, but Swordmaster was also pretty cool with how it adds additional moves in order to increase your combos.

This does lead into one small problem I have with the game, that being that you can only switch styles at the Statues or before a mission. It resulted in me sticking to Trickster not just because of Trickster's moveset but also because it's just a hassle to go all the way back to a Statue to switch my playstyle when I can just stick with one. I have heard the Switch version of the game does allow Style Switching on the fly, but having played the PC Version I had to experience it like this and it resulted in me not fully experimenting.

The story is great, a tale about family and the conflict that comes from that. Vergil in particular is such an amazing character, both with how the narrative handles him and in his boss fights. The way the game introduces him after Dante has fought the first boss (who is not a slouch for the record) is so phenomenally well done with showing what Vergil is all about that I believe it needs to be studied by writers for years to come.

Fighting Vergil is easily when the game is at its peak, though Vergil 2 is my personal favorite. I love Vergil 3 for the emotions it invokes but the arena does not work well around how the Vergil fights usually work and conflicts with the camera.

Each fight with Vergil truly feels like a duel between equals. In a game where you primarily charge at your opponents with lighting fury, Vergil puts you in the opposite position with you on the defensive. It's a really cool way to handle his dominance as the older brother, and only makes it more cathartic when you learn his pattern and punish him with a long chain of combos.

This game has taught me, alongside Ultrakill, that every game should have a Vergil. Characters like him truly test the player's skill and makes them master the mechanics of the game in order to come out on top.

Speaking of Vergil though, there's one other complaint I have specifically about the Special Edition which is his campaign.

I love playing as Vergil, he's cool, but the lack of variety for him with both him having only one style as well as only 3 weapons and not having the same amount of combos as Dante and going through the exact same levels as Dante with no additional cutscenes beyond the intro does make the experience feel hollow.

Also Red Vergil is a little lame compared to actually making a Dante boss fight for Vergil's campaign but in the end it is optional content and small potatoes.

This game's soundtrack is so fucking killer that even as I'm writing this I can't get the words "TO TAKE ME OUT, YOU MUST FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" "YOU'VE YET TO PROVE THAT YOU CAN!"

This game is just coolness personified and I'm glad it managed to save the franchise from the burning dumpster fire that was the last game. The voice acting is great, Reuben Langdon as Dante is incredibly iconic, when he goes up to Vergil and says "How about a kiss from this!" is just so awesome and fits the character so well. Dan Southworth as Vergil is also an amazing choice, his nasally voice fitting the more prideful and snide power-seeking older brother.

I just fucking love this game, its vibes are immaculate. It's challenging, it's engaging, it's Devil May Cry.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.