21 Years Ago, Capcom Released One of the Greatest Action Video Games of All Time
Capcom is arguably in its modern "Cap God" arc, fresh off the acclaimed release of Resident Evil Requiem. Then, there's the widespread appeal of Monster Hunter, the resurgence of Mega Man, a new IP in Pragmata next month, and the release of a new Onimusha later in 2026, too. Looking into the past, today also marks a special day in Capcom's impressive library of video games.
Today, March 1, 2026, marks the 21st anniversary of the North American release of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. This prequel game would go on serve as inspiration for action games for decades, due to its challenging gameplay, tight level design, and creative combat system.
According to Metacritic, the original release of DMC3 (not the Special Edition re-release that would follow in 2006) sits at a metascore of 84, with many critics praising the game's combat, difficulty, boss fights, level design, and replayability.
DMC3 is a prequel to the first two games, serving as an origin story for Dante. In this game, Dante is young, arrogant, flashy, and is just starting out in the world of demon hunting. The game also introduced another very popular character and action game antagonist--Vergil, Dante's brother, who would go on to become a recurring character in the franchise.
Expanding on the previous games' combat options, DMC 3 introduced Styles, which could be swapped between to open up new combat options for Dante, from focusing on gun skills with the Gunslinger style to rolling the dice with high-risk, high-reward blocking and parries with the Royal Guard style. The Style system would then return as a staple feature for Dante's gameplay in Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5.
In 2006, just a year after the initial release, an updated version of Devil May Cry 3, called Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, was released. The new version added new costumes, new playable characters, and, most notably, tuned down the difficulty of the normal difficulty mode. In North America, the "normal" difficulty was actually the Japanese "hard mode" of the game, which frustrated some fans.
The most recent release in the series is Devil May Cry 5, from 2019. DMC 5 is one of Capcom's best-selling games, selling over 10 million units as of June 2025, according to Capcom. It's also been reported by Capcom's own financial report that DMC 5 was the best-selling Capcom game for the first half of Capcom's 2025 fiscal year, even over modern releases like Monster Hunter Wilds.
A new Devil May Cry game has been rumored to be in development for some time, but there have been no official announcements from Capcom regarding the series' future.