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Way Back When
Following the success of the PlayStation 2’s original Devil May Cry, with its stylish combat and fan-adored main character Dante, it was a no-brainer that Capcom would insist on keeping the demon slaying going. Everyone may have expected this to happen, but what they didn’t expect is that the 2003 sequel would go down in history as one of the most polarizing follow-ups ever. Enter: Devil May Cry 2.
Let’s get something out of the way up front: Devil May Cry 2 wasn’t a bad game. By all accounts, it was a perfectly functional hack-and-slash action title with fun combat, engaging story, and average graphics for a PS2 game. However, it’s not hard to understand why players and critics alike weren’t particularly thrilled upon release, as Dante’s second adventure (though chronologically taking place after Devil May Cry and before Devil May Cry 4) certainly made a handful of unusual changes to what made the first game such a massive success.
Dante’s lovable cockiness and humor were dialed back significantly, making him virtually silent for a good portion of the game. Meanwhile, unlike the original game, the difficulty felt severely undertuned, making for a breezy experience that required substantially less thought and strategy – something most noticeable during its simplistic boss battles. And lastly, the addition of a second playable character, Lucia, may have sounded good on paper, but playing through the game with her was a fairly dull affair. Rather than receiving her own unique story path, players were asked to essentially just replay the same missions they had already experienced with Dante with only minor variations to make them feel slightly different.
Devil May Cry 2 received mixed reviews at release, with the above reasons being just some of the grievances aired by critics and consumers. Nevertheless, it sold decently enough to warrant a third game two years later. Though most fans agree that Devil May Cry 2 remains the weakest entry in the series, it’s still an essential part of the full story and consists of enough fun ass kicking to remain worthy of your time, especially if you’re looking to see everything the franchise has to offer.
Where You Can Play It Now
The best way to play Devil May Cry 2 is in the full trilogy remaster collection release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Even better, those iterations are also playable on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, making it a cinch to experience all three classic hack-and-slash titles.
Here’s the modern platforms on which you can access Devil May Cry 2:
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
- Nintendo Switch
- PC
When you wrap up this sequel, don’t forget to that the third game is also available as part of the remastered trilogy on most modern consoles. The later games in the series are also all available on newer consoles as well, so it’s not difficult to round up the entire lineup.
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