Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, released in Japan as Devil May Cry 3 (Japanese: デビル メイ クライ 3 Hepburn: Debiru Mei Kurai Surī), is an action-adventure hack and slash video game directed by Hideaki Itsuno, developed and published by Capcom, released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and ported to Microsoft Windows in 2006. The game is a reboot and prequel to the original Devil May Cry, with a younger Dante.[3] It introduces new combat mechanics with an emphasis on combos and fast paced action. The story is told primarily in cutscenes using the game’s engine, with several pre-rendered full motion videos.
Set several years before the events of the first Devil May Cry in an enchanted tower, Temen-ni-gru, the story centers on the dysfunctional relationship between Dante and his brother Vergil.
Devil May Cry 3 was praised by critics yet received some criticisms for it’s high level of difficulty in the North American version. This was rectified by the release of the easier and rebalanced Special Edition of DMC3.[4][5]. The game was re‐released in 2006 as Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, Special Edition (デビル メイ クライ 3 Special Edition) with a recalibrated difficulty curve, the addition of a more friendly checkpoint system “GOLD mode” and Vergil as a playable character. Combined sales of both versions were over 2.3 million, and a 2005 manga prequel to the game was published in Japan and later the United States