Finished DmC and absolutely loved it. A very early runner up for my Game of the Year. I want to play the rest of the series now but not sure whether to start with DMC1 or DMC3 (since it's a prequel to DMC1). DMC3 seems to follow some of the plotlines set up by DmC(2013) -- though I realize it's a reboot of sorts.

So my question is: Does DMC3 stand up on its own, narratively, or should I start with DMC1 first to better appreciate DMC3's prequel story?

3 is better than 1, If you play that one first DMC 1 will feel like a step back. Play them in order of release. And maybe skip 2 altogether.

1, 3, and if you're really jonesing for more after that, 4.

If you have to play all of them I'd say go with 1 first. It hasn't aged well. If you went from 3 to 1 you'd have a terrible time since the combat isn't as advanced as it was in 3.

If you're just going to play one or the other than I'd say just play 3.

with all the hoohar about DmC and how beloved the franchise is i expect this thread to be inundated with people scream just play all of them as all over them are amazing and dante with white hair is in all of them.

or somthing

I say play 3 and if you really want to play 1 after that. One I found hard to go back to after playing 3, you may feel the same after having played DmC. I am betting 3 still holds up well.

should I start with DMC1 first to better appreciate DMC3's prequel story?

You'll be fine just playing 3 probably.

DMC 3 did a much better job of telling a story than 1, for what it's worth. I can't think of anything brought up in 1 that'll give you a better appreciation of what happens in 3 aside from knowing beforehand how things eventually end up.

1 and 3 I can attest are good games. You have to play 3 at some point. 1 is good. You'll probably get use to the age after about an hour. I don't think it controls bad other than there isn't as much depth, there are like 3 melee weapons you get and about 3 guns you get. Also 1 has a really strange jump button, It's been a while but I think it was either triangle or circle for jumping. That always threw me off.

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

I say go !,3 then 4. In that order for the sake of seeing how the series got better as time went on. Their all good games on their own, they all have their issues, like all games do, but their fun.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND YOU PLAY DMC2!

UNLESS!

You want to do it as a sort of learning experience on how the tone and art style of a game can ruin it. DMC2 is so depressing in the worst way. Like, Fallout 3 is kind of a downer, but it works. DMC2 is just sad :<

I'd say you're fine just playing DMC3 then 4. You can go back to 1 to see where the series started, but there's not much story in 1, and what little of it there is might actually make a little more sense after playing 3.

Narrative wise, they all stand on their own but DMC3 is the best the series has to offer and the second best beat em up combat in video games, the first being Bayonetta of course. I'd recommend getting the HD collection, DMC2 is total garbage but DMC1 and 3 are great. DMC1 is great to see where the series started and as a historical significant game as it sort of catapulted this style of action game.

dmc3 is the best game in the series. It is however hard as nails. Hard mode became normal for the western release. Easy remained easy and normal dissappeared. The pc version is the way to go because the difficulty was tweaked. Very Japanese in its cheesy cutscenes tho. Motorbikes driving up buildings etc etc

dmc4 is a good entry to the old series, still looks good and plays well. Best thing is its only £1.60 on Green man right now. At that price you're losing money if you don't buy it. lol.

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

If they play the special edition of 3, which I would assume is the case seeing how that is the version on the HD collection. Then the difficulty is not too bad.

My attempts to play the first one didn't go so well, but DMC 3 is totally fantastic and still holds up just fine. 4 is also not bad, despite it being half a game that you play twice.

@I_smell said:

Guys here's a CRAZY IDEA: If DMC 1 is a step down and hasn't aged well, maybe don't play it.
@RainVillain said:

should I start with DMC1 first to better appreciate DMC3's prequel story?

You already got the story. Dante is the son of Sparda, who's like the king of all demons or whatever. So is Vergil. That's it.Play 3 and play 4! I've actually been playing 4 this week and wow, jesus, why are these games so full of puzzles? I'd assume the new reboot got rid of this, but get ready for a lot of weird, annoying "FIND THE BLUE KEY" puzzles in the older games. It had way more than I remembered.

I imagine it's the resident evil pedigree that they for some reason felt the need to continue past the first game.

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

I agree with this. I liked some elements of DMC3 story. I enjoyed the story much more than in DmC purely because of the ludicrous action in the cutscenes. I'm a sucker for that stuff, the first mission cutscene alone sold me on that game. It is incredible.

Edit: I also much prefer the Dante of DMC3 over the new one. Who i'm not fond of.

I'd say 4. It's the next easiest to get into after the reboot plus Nero will feel more similar to new Dante in gameplay. Then 3 which is the best and finally 1 just to complete the series. They never made a DMC2, yep that game sure doesn't exist

I would say 3, 1, and 2.

Go with DMC then DMC3 . You don't need to play DMC 2 or 4 .

This is my opinion on the series so far ...

1. DmC

2. DMC3

3. DMC

4. DMC4

5. DMC2

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

I agree with this. I liked some elements of DMC3 story. I enjoyed the story much more than in DmC purely because of the ludicrous action in the cutscenes. I'm a sucker for that stuff, the first mission cutscene alone sold me on that game. It is incredible.

Edit: I also much prefer the Dante of DMC3 over the new one. Who i'm not fond of.

I much prefer what they did with Vergil in DmC he is never depicted as a maniacal madman. His whole plight in DMC 3 is simply to gain more power. Effectively its the same thing in DmC however he is much more subtly played. Hell, even Mundus at the end makes a flurry of valiant points to Dante about humans tearing themselves apart without order. I can enjoy ridiculous stuff (Bayonetta especially) but I just vastly prefer the more subtle way they played off Vergil in DmC.

3 is a masterpiece. You'd do fine just playing 3. 1 hasn't aged well, 2 is terrible and 4 is fine but tedious and playing as Nero is lame.

I'd play in release order, 1, 3, then 4. DMC1 is a very good game, but it's controls are so archaic compared to what DMC3 pioneered, so I don't imagine you'd like going back to them after playing the best game in the series. Then again, you've played DmC already, so there might be issues going back already. 3 is amazing and probably the only game in the entire genre that can trade blows with Bayonetta for the title of best title in character action. It's fun, it's deep, it's insanely stylish, and it's absolutely crazy. The story is actually pretty good too, I'd say it's better than what DmC had to offer, but that's a personal preference. Everyone who loves video games needs to playthrough DMC3 at least once, not doing so is a sin to the medium, because this was easily one of the top 10 games on the PS2, if not one of the top 3.

4 is where things start to get tricky. The combat is fun, but Nero has some balance issues thanks to how overwhelmingly overpowered the Devil Buster is. Dante is better than ever though, it's just a shame you don't get to play as him until halfway through the game. Style-switching on the fly makes the combat so incredibly deep that it's almost impossible to master it and it's one of the most fun things they could have done with the series. There are some issues though, weapon selection is limited, having to backtrack through the entire game sucks, and Nero takes some warming up to, both in a narrative and a gameplay sense. Still, Uncle Dante is best Dante (What other character will act out a small play with an enemy before effortlessly shaming him in battle?) and this is still a very good looking game thanks to the magic engine that is MT Framework, so I consider this a good game, even if Capcom was rather lazy about making it.

DMC2, well, don't play it unless you want to know why everyone hates it. It's slow, it's boring, and Dante is a dull brooding anti-hero who barely speaks at all. It's a travesty and I can't even motivate myself to beat it once on the HD collection.

@Brighty said:

The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

The plot twist was heavily foreshadowed throughout the entire game. So much so, in fact, that after beating Mundus when I started thinking about the possibility of a sequel (this is before I had started the final mission), the first thing that popped into my head was a scene capturing all the broader strokes of what turned out to be the actual ending.

EDIT: On topic, I'd say give 1 a try first. Even if you can't stick with it, it's good to know your roots. Then go on to 3. If you still want more play 4 then if you're really curious, play 2 just so you can understand the vitriol.

Bayonetta and you're done.

@Demoskinos said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

I agree with this. I liked some elements of DMC3 story. I enjoyed the story much more than in DmC purely because of the ludicrous action in the cutscenes. I'm a sucker for that stuff, the first mission cutscene alone sold me on that game. It is incredible.

Edit: I also much prefer the Dante of DMC3 over the new one. Who i'm not fond of.

I much prefer what they did with Vergil in DmC he is never depicted as a maniacal madman. His whole plight in DMC 3 is simply to gain more power. Effectively its the same thing in DmC however he is much more subtly played. Hell, even Mundus at the end makes a flurry of valiant points to Dante about humans tearing themselves apart without order. I can enjoy ridiculous stuff (Bayonetta especially) but I just vastly prefer the more subtle way they played off Vergil in DmC.

Yup. I only liked Vergil as a character design in DMC3, and I found him to be a much better character in DmC. There was actually some depth there, instead of just ''Evil twin vying for power''.

@Yummylee said:

@Demoskinos said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

I agree with this. I liked some elements of DMC3 story. I enjoyed the story much more than in DmC purely because of the ludicrous action in the cutscenes. I'm a sucker for that stuff, the first mission cutscene alone sold me on that game. It is incredible.

Edit: I also much prefer the Dante of DMC3 over the new one. Who i'm not fond of.

I much prefer what they did with Vergil in DmC he is never depicted as a maniacal madman. His whole plight in DMC 3 is simply to gain more power. Effectively its the same thing in DmC however he is much more subtly played. Hell, even Mundus at the end makes a flurry of valiant points to Dante about humans tearing themselves apart without order. I can enjoy ridiculous stuff (Bayonetta especially) but I just vastly prefer the more subtle way they played off Vergil in DmC.

Yup. I only liked Vergil as a character design in DMC3, and I found him to be a much better character in DmC. There was actually some depth there, instead of just ''Evil twin vying for power''.

I liked Vergil in DmC too. Don't get me wrong. He was my favorite character in the game and I do overall prefer him to the old Vergil. I am looking forward to him hopefully getting played up as the main villain in a sequel. Now that Dante has grown as well I'd really like to see that.

@Demoskinos said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty said:

Just play DMC3 and appreciate the pinnacle of the series. The story between Dante and Vergil is arguably much better told in DMC3 than in DmC (especially the plottwist out of no where at the end of DmC).

Be warned though, if you're used to the difficulty in DmC, Normal mode DMC3 is going to kick your ass. But stay with it, hang in there, and the sense of accomplishment after overcoming it will be the sweetest reward.

As much as I love DMC 3 the story is utter nonsense. Vergil comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon villain with his motives.

How so? I thought the story of DMC3 was pretty wishy-washy but I thought the dynamic between Vergil and Dante was the only redeeming quality. It was done a lot better than in DmC, which aside from that, had a better story than any previous DMCs.

I agree with this. I liked some elements of DMC3 story. I enjoyed the story much more than in DmC purely because of the ludicrous action in the cutscenes. I'm a sucker for that stuff, the first mission cutscene alone sold me on that game. It is incredible.

Edit: I also much prefer the Dante of DMC3 over the new one. Who i'm not fond of.

I much prefer what they did with Vergil in DmC he is never depicted as a maniacal madman. His whole plight in DMC 3 is simply to gain more power. Effectively its the same thing in DmC however he is much more subtly played. Hell, even Mundus at the end makes a flurry of valiant points to Dante about humans tearing themselves apart without order. I can enjoy ridiculous stuff (Bayonetta especially) but I just vastly prefer the more subtle way they played off Vergil in DmC.

The fact that you think Vergil is little more than a maniacal madman is extremely telling that either you've never played DMC3 or it has been a severely long time since you had. Vergil's mother died when he was a kid and wasn't strong enough to protect her, and that eats away at him and drives him to become stronger like his father. He wants to be strong so he can protect those he cares about, like his father. That obsession to emulate Sparda motivates him throughout the entire game despite Dante trying to steer him away from it, so much so that it consumes him. That morally gray area that Vergil resides in throughout DMC3 makes you want him to come around - because you see the humanity in him throughout the game and you see a lighter side to him. He spares Lady's life, he shows remorse in the library with Arkham, he never once kills an innocent, you see the foreshadowing that he's not evil at heart and that he just has different goals. It all culminates to him coming out of no where to save Dante's life against Arkham's fight and the two share a crowning moment of awesome double team, yet when all is said and done, you realize that he's forever destined to be a tragic character. Even at the very end, he's so enraptured with the idea of becoming his father that even after being defeated by Dante he chooses to fall to hell to try and become more like Sparda, which leads to his eventual death against Mundus.

If you want to talk about subtly, compare the ending of DmC to the ending of DMC3:

Never once does Vergil have to look Dante in the eye with a pained and vulnerable expression on his face and tell him how much he's always loved him so the audience understands that they still care for each other, yet it's inherently understood in DMC3 by their actions and that's what makes it so effective. Show don't tell. Basic writing fundamentals. DmC excels at its story in all other areas compared to DMC3, I agree completely with that, but it drops the ball heavily when it comes to the relationship between Dante and Vergil and how its depicted in the game, which by comparison DMC3 achieves masterfully. You never really get a sense that Vergil is even a threat in DmC, he needs to rely on Dante for almost everything and has to beg him to join the Order to help him.

I'm interested in seeing OP's thoughts on this after he completes DMC3 with DmC fresh in his mind, though.

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

I recommend not skipping the cutscenes next time you play through it then, I think you'll be in for a pleasant surprise

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

I recommend not skipping the cutscenes next time you play through it then, I think you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

You don't need to be patronizing, now. I bet Demoskinos has seen all the cutscenes but just disagrees with you.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

I recommend not skipping the cutscenes next time you play through it then, I think you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

You don't need to be patronizing, now. I bet Demoskinos has seen all the cutscenes but just disagrees with you.

Hey, some people do that. I played DMC3 back in 2005 and ate up the story, but whenever I play through it now I skip most every cutscene, so naturally some aspects of the story would get a little foggy (I couldn't tell you what happened to Arkham before Mission 13). Maybe revisiting it now when he's older might be eye-opening for him at some aspects he just didn't pick up on before. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me (MGS3, for example)

But if he disagrees with me, I would be very interested to hear how he's interpreted Vergil's character in DMC3 as a one dimensional maniacal madman.

@Brighty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

I recommend not skipping the cutscenes next time you play through it then, I think you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

You don't need to be patronizing, now. I bet Demoskinos has seen all the cutscenes but just disagrees with you.

Hey, some people do that. I played DMC3 back in 2005 and ate up the story, but whenever I play through it now I skip most every cutscene, so naturally some aspects of the story would get a little foggy (I couldn't tell you what happened to Arkham before Mission 13). Maybe revisiting it now when he's older might be eye-opening for him at some aspects he just didn't pick up on before. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me (MGS3, for example)

But if he disagrees with me, I would be very interested to hear how he's interpreted Vergil's character in DMC3 as a one dimensional maniacal madman.

That is fair enough I am would be in that boat. Having played the game years ago when it was fairly new. Were I to play it now surely i'd feel differently. The issue I took was with your assumption that Demoskinos. It may not be the case.

I say go chronological. DMC3, DMC1, DMC4, DMC2.

I was playing DMC1 a little bit before starting DmC. I had finished it back in the PS2 days and loved it. I never made it far in DMC3 (I played the original edition that was way hard, for me anyways). From my couple of hours with DMC1 in HD, I would say, it is very different, but I definitely will go back and play through all of them after DmC. It looks great too (other than some non-HD menus/cutscenes). I will say, as others in here have already, either play DMC1 then the others in order or DMC3. Don't play DMC3 then go back. They are very different games. DMC1 is very much like a Resident Evil game.

@Brighty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Brighty said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Brighty: Er...I've finished DMC 3 many times. In fact If you look at my list I made of my top 25 games DMC 3 is sitting pretty at #5

I recommend not skipping the cutscenes next time you play through it then, I think you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

You don't need to be patronizing, now. I bet Demoskinos has seen all the cutscenes but just disagrees with you.

Hey, some people do that. I played DMC3 back in 2005 and ate up the story, but whenever I play through it now I skip most every cutscene, so naturally some aspects of the story would get a little foggy (I couldn't tell you what happened to Arkham before Mission 13). Maybe revisiting it now when he's older might be eye-opening for him at some aspects he just didn't pick up on before. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me (MGS3, for example)

But if he disagrees with me, I would be very interested to hear how he's interpreted Vergil's character in DMC3 as a one dimensional maniacal madman.

I'm not going to argue against you that all of what you're saying. I guess my point is the games up until DmC did a horrible job at grabbing my attention and making me want to find that stuff out. I've been a fan of DMC all these years because and first foremost because of the combat. The reason I'm showing such affinity to DmC is because the acting is so good in DmC that it makes me want to pay attention for the first time. And while you could probably throw stats and figures at the wall and come up with some facts proving that the combat variety in DMC 3 is greater than DmC for me personally they strike a fine enough balance on both sides the coin that honestly, its quickly becoming my favorite one of the franchise. Simply because its finally giving me that other piece that I never cared about.