Years go by, but great games are able to last if they adapt to the new times. Reviews of Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition for Switch.
If one goes to a Bruce Springsteen concert in recent times, like the one he did in Barcelona in 2016, he can find a waste of energy from the Boss, who at that event was 66 years old. More than three and a half hours playing relentlessly, with total and absolute freedom to transform your successes and any others as you wish. The synthesizers that marked Born in the USA, so of the eighties and so disturbed now, but that raised Springsteen as the legend that it is, are no longer the protagonists nor the main axis of a concert of his. On that date, Springsteen played a version of Twist & Shout (original Medley and Russell, but versioned and popularized by The Beatles) totally explosive, similar but at the same time away from the mythical piece. The success and impact at the time of albums and songs as mentioned does not imply that they can not be revived in style years later. Barcelona and Donosti 2016, being two imposing concerts and a waste of energy and passion, surely they cannot be compared to the best concerts of the Boss, such as the one in Madison Square Garden in 2000 or the Capitol Theater in 78, but those moments do not prevent that today we can relive all that piece of history with new sounds and chords. And this is a little what happens to Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition on Switch.
The Capcom game was released a week ago on Nintendo Switch, and unlike the abuse that the original trilogy has received in the repeated HD remasters that have been parading on consoles of this and the previous generation, the work directed by Itsuno – also behind the Impressive Devil May Cry 5- is presented on the Nintendo hybrid console with two essential novelties: the freestyle mode and the possibility of changing weapons. The original work of 2005 is one of the great hack and slash of always: difficult, demanding, with a sense of rhythm in the essential combos and a parade of enemies and final bosses to each more complicated. But, for things of the time, I had decisions that surely today are stifled if we look at the fifth installment of the saga, so recent and fresh in our memory.
Two of them are precisely having to choose the weapon and can only change it at certain times. The same with combat styles. Some limitations similar to the unwritten norm that the synthesizers had to be in any song of the eighties to be up to date, but that in the middle of 2020 it is almost not necessary. Renewed or die. In the same way that Dancing in the Dark does not sound the same in a live today than 30 years ago, Devil May Cry 3 gives us a review in the most important: the gameplay.
The first time one arrives in Cerbero, the three-headed dog, he realizes that Devil May Cry 3 is very serious. At the time, the headache was to think what style to take, if trickster to dodge the attacks he throws at us, Swordmaster to hit much more when we break his ice shield or Royalguard to hold the shower. Now it is not so, this confrontation – quite hard to take an hour of play – takes another dimension with freestyle, being able to change according to the moment: we break the ice of the monster, we crush with swordmaster. Start to go crazy when you have little life left, we use the guard if we do not trust our elusions. We want to shoot from afar, Gunslinger. We need extra help, Doppelganger style to have assistance with our copies.
This agility of styles is a blessing for the structure of the game itself, which does not break the experience but does make it more enriching. It is in battles against bosses like Agni and Rudra, Nevan, Beowulf or Doppleganger where the change of styles is most appreciated. On the other hand, being able to change weapons (both with the triggers) multiplies the fun against the common enemies we encounter. Making an instant change between the Rebellion and the nunchakus when enemies surround us, use the ultrasonic guitar at specific times to maintain distances and then attack melee with the Agni & Ruda, it is a joy. And it also gives a greater sense to the game: if the title presents you with different enemies that intermingle in each zone, why not be able to do the same with the weapons to use.
Although it is true that at some times we notice that some bosses have patterns and behaviors that do not enjoy the complexity and variety of current hacks and slash, most continue to maintain the type and above all, they remain a challenge. And as a climax to all this, the battles with Vergil do not lose their pulse nor do they weigh the years being, in the same way that Born to Run remains one of the best songs in the world in the 70s and 2020.
In a three and a half hour concert by Bruce Springsteen, despite the multitude of albums and successes, there are always moments for that ballad that you didn't remember and that you don't feel like listening to. When we played Devil May Cry 3, we had forgotten certain pseudo-adventurous or puzzle-time moments that came from the original idea of the first Devil May Cry, which went from a Resident Evil to reinventing a subgenre. Break certain tentacles inside a giant beast, find an object on one end of the map to break through another or overcome some puzzles. Complements that today do not sound so attractive nor are they at the level reached by the combat system. And for everyone, also the youngest Dante, the years also pass.
The visual finish offers us the most lazy face of Capcom, with cinematics that have not been retouched, blurred and pixelated, an interface of the menu without any arrangement and a step to the HD that ends up leaving certain textures and visual elements worse – like the hair of the characters, without nuances or loose hair. In return, yes, 1080p and 60 frames per second, a cooperative mode of the Bloody Palace and all the extras we knew of the Special Edition version that came out later.
CONCLUSION
Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition on Switch is the best playable version of one of the best hack and slash ever. The freestyle mode and the change of weapon give you endless possibilities that make it even better to play than in its previous versions. And they are, also, reason enough to retake a game that you will surely have enjoyed at some point (if not, it is essential to try this version). But the title also suffers from Capcom's laziness with the remasters, with a visual section full of debatable elements and others that have not been directly reviewed, and we are not going to fool ourselves: there are some sections, proposals and technical elements (the camera) who have aged much worse than combat. That does not mean that the young Dante we met in 2005, following the simile and the license taken throughout the article, remains The Boss.
THE BEST
- The playable news make the combat a delight and a strong reason to revisit it
- Intense and challenging, keeps the guy years later
- All the extras of the Special Edition and a cooperative Bloody Palace as a novelty
WORST
- On a technical and visual level, the game has not been renewed as playable
- There are some sections and situations that are not at the level of combat
- The camera is still problematic in closed places
Very good
Remarkable game that we will enjoy and remember. A good purchase, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well taken care of at all levels.
