History VideoGame / DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening

* CapeWings: Dante's Devil Trigger form with either Nevan or Rebellion turns his coat into wings.

-->'''Doppelganger:''' Come on, wimp.

* WolfpackBoss: The Damned Chessmen all team up in the Damned Chess Board area of Mission 18, overseen by a Damned King piece that is difficult to defeat with everything else swarming around it, but doing so will [[NoOntologicalInertia take out the whole set]].

* WolfpackBoss: The Damned Chessmen all team up in Mission 18, overseen by a king piece that is difficult to defeat with everything else swarming around it, but if you do so will [[NoOntologicalInertia take out the whole set]].

* GuideDangIt: Secret Missions need some effort or a walkthrough to find since they aren't easily indicated by cues. For example, Secret Mission 1 is accessed by entering a non-conspicuous door in the road leading to the Temen-ni-gru's entrance.

* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: In the finale, you fight [[spoiler:a blob-shaped Arkham]] in some kind of shallow pool of various shades of purple and pink with a lot of black spots thrown in (Said black spots are the eyes and mouths in the faces of the souls of the damned that make up the pool). The exploding dolphin things he summons as backups are also writhing in technicolor energy.

* SequelEscalation: [[InvertedTrope Prequel, technically]], but the moves are greatly expanded and flashier, the controls are better, and the stakes are sky-high than in the first and second games.

* SequelEscalation: Prequel, technically, but the moves are flashier, the controls are better, and the stakes are sky-high.

* StanceSystem: Dante's Styles, chosen at the beginning of missions or swapped out at Divinity Statues.

* SchizoTech: Temen-ni-Gru displays the "clockpunk" variant of {{Steampunk}} very well, having elevators and monorail trams despite having been built two millennia ago and not touched until its unsealing in the present day; then again, [[AWizardDidIt it was built by demons]].

* RankInflation: Unlike the previous games, your Style rank [[UpToEleven don't cap out at S; they now cap out at SSS]]. This gets carried over to the next games in the franchise.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: In the Netherworld, the Lost Souls Nirvana is a pristine white version of M.C. Escher's Relativity stairways. You get to walk up, down and sideways to find gateways leading to the boss battles.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Although subtle at first, the seven bells of Temen-ni-gru are meant to represent the SevenDeadlySins. This is later made obvious when the bells ring just as [[spoiler:Arkham enumerates the sins while opening the gate to the Demon World]]. Series illustrator Daigo Ikeno also explains this symbolism even further on page 207 of the ''3142 Graphic Arts'' artbook.

** In ''[=DMC2=]'', Dante's "Rain Storm" is performed by pressing the shoot button after a {{double jump}}, [[GoombaSpringboard kick jump]], or [[WallRun wall hike]]. Here, it's part of the Gunslinger Style's moveset, requiring you to press the Style button instead, and it can be performed any time as long as Dante is in the air.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Switch between ''[=DMC1=]'' and ''[=DMC3=]''. The first game had vastly different controls from the ones codified later; notably, jump was assigned to Triangle and melee attacks were done with the Circle button. Thankfully, the latter game lets you remap the controls to your liking. Better yet, try going from ''3'' back to ''1''. Again thankfully, the ''HD Collection'' remaps the controls of ''1'' to make them similar to the other games.

* AwesomeButImpractical: [[ThePowerOfRock Nevan]] is surely awesome, but ridiculously difficult to use effectively since its attacks are less straightforward or slower than all other Devil Arms; summoning bats that home in on enemies and doing singular AreaOfEffect attacks instead of having combo strings you smack them with. It is also complex and rather unclear in terms of holding and releasing buttons, and most of its attacks involve moving the left stick in a precise direction (not just forth or back as with other weapons). In the middle of a fight, Dante's position is usually compromised if he's surrounded while [[ChargedAttack charging]] Nevan, yet constantly moving around makes inputting controls quite tricky.