Line #76 YMMV/DevilMayCry2


1	* AntiClimaxBoss:
2	** The last two missions of Dante's disc consist of [[BossOnlyLevel Boss-Only Levels]], going from a rematch against [[FlunkyBoss Arius]] (now with [[SerialEscalation even more]] {{Mooks}}) to [[MarathonBoss Argosax the Chaos]], [[SequentialBoss followed immediately by]] a fast-paced showdown against [[OneWingedAngel The Despair Embodied]] that keeps players on their toes and is fondly remembered as the best part of the entire game. By comparison, Lucia's significantly shorter campaign ends on a much lower note. Her final mission begins with [[spoiler:Possessed Arius]], who can pack quite a wallop and [[ImmuneToFlinching is difficult to stagger]] but is generally [[ClippedWingAngel a clumsy, lumbering oaf]] players can easily run circles around thanks to Lucia's speed and mobility. If that wasn't breezy enough, the next boss, [[spoiler:Arius-Argosax]], is an EldritchAbomination that's [[NightmareRetardant so surprisingly easy]] it's considered a ZeroEffortBoss. Even with Lucia confined to a very narrow space, what few attacks the boss does have are highly telegraphed and easily dodged.
3	** Lucia's final Secret Room fight against [[spoiler:Possessed Arius]], then [[DualBoss two of them]] after the first one is down, is a letdown compared to Dante's final Secret Room. The latter has Dante fight [[FinalBoss The Despair Embodied]], and once he kills it, the game ups the stakes by having him fight ''[[OhCrap TWO]]'' [[OhCrap of those]]. It's challenging on the lower difficulties and is easily the hardest fight in the game if you do it on Dante Must Die. On its own merits, Lucia's final Secret Room is not the easiest fight in the game, but it just doesn't keep up with the craziness of fighting two Despair Embodied at once, and it can be easier than Lucia's Secret Room 15 (which has ''her'' fight The Despair Embodied, with some mooks to assist it).
4	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Phantom's]] reappearance towards the end of both scenarios (Mission 14 for Dante and Mission 10 for Lucia). [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere He just randomly pops out of nowhere]], despite (in his last appearance) ''melting after being impaled on a spiked pillar''. It doesn't help that he's inexplicably [[TheVoiceless mute]], although the description for Dante's mission hints that TimeTravel may be involved -- an aspect with interesting ramifications that ''also'' isn't touched upon in any capacity.
5	-->Four lights will open the door to the future and the past.
6	-->-- [[FictionalDocument "Guidepost for the Hunters"]] Chapter 11, Clause 7
7	* BreatherBoss: The Infested Tank. Even if both its main cannon and its flamethrower are highly damaging and the machinegun fire is hard to dodge, when you get right next to one, it will no longer be able to hit you with a cannon/flamethrower, and the tanks never use the machine gun unless you try to climb on top of them. They don't have any other offensive attacks whatsoever. The only things that make them difficult depend on the character: as Dante, you fight [[WolfpackBoss three tanks at once]], whereas for Lucia there's one tank [[FlunkyBoss supported by infinitely respawning Msiras]].
8	* CameraScrew: You'll often find yourself shooting away at enemies the camera seems to have no intention of showing you.
9	* CheeseStrategy:
10	** In some areas, enemy waves can respawn just by having your character walk back and forth into their spawn point even if you don't have to leave the room. This allows you to grind Red Orbs over and over again to purchase upgrades faster than intended.
11	** Several bosses such as Jokatgulm, Furiataurus, Plutonian and [[spoiler:Arius-Argosax]] can be safely cheesed by shooting at them from a distance (usually at a corner of their arena) with Dante's Ebony & Ivory or Lucia's Throwing Daggers. Most of their attacks won't reach Dante or Lucia from afar and [[ArtificialStupidity they usually get stuck on doing the same attack patterns]].
12	* CommonKnowledge: Much like ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', it's not uncommon for people to believe that the game was [[CanonDiscontinuity officially taken out of continuity]] because of its abysmal reception. This was never the case. It's true that the subsequent games and Creator/{{Capcom}} [[ElephantInTheLivingRoom went out of their way to avoid acknowledging this installment]] but both ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 5]]'' briefly reference it in their story recaps and Lucia returned in the ''Before the Nightmare'' novel.
13	* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
14	** Players just mostly stick to the default ranged weapons (Dante's Ebony & Ivory handguns, Lucia's Throwing Daggers) and upgrade them first because they deal substantial damage and easily stunlock lesser demons from a long distance. Dante's ranged attack in [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] form is also easily abused as it essentially works just like the handguns but on a faster rate-of-fire. The {{Mooks}} aren't aggressive enough to constantly approach or attack you and they don't do much to break away from your ranged attacks when they're stunlocked anyway, so spamming the gun button is a strategy that works well even if it's not spectacular. It helps that many bosses can be [[CheeseStrategy cheesed]], or are deliberately meant to be defeated by your ranged attacks.
15	** Lucia's Bowgun is the more preferred weapon in her underwater sections because the other alternative weapon that can be used there, the Cranky Bombs, are considered {{Scrappy Weapon}}s.
16	* ContestedSequel: ''[=DMC2=]'' isn't as technically polished as the other games, but some think that [[SoOkayItsAverage it still holds up fine]] because it contains some memorable concepts [[note]]the game's intro is slick, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic the OST is pretty damn good]], Dante's outfit is highly regarded and considered to be one of his best designs, his Majin Form is interesting, The Despair Embodied is the best boss fight of the game, and ''[=DMC2=]'' is [[OlderThanTheyThink the first game]] that made Trish [[PromotedToPlayable playable]][[/note]] in spite of the game having a TroubledProduction. Others [[FanonDiscontinuity swear off its existence and events entirely]].
17	* DifficultySpike: Bloody Palace gradually increases in difficulty the higher you go; the first 100 levels are set in Normal Mode, Levels 101 to 1000 are set in Hard Mode, then all other levels past that are set in the "[[HarderThanHard Must Die]]" difficulty mode, all without prior warning.
18	* EventObscuringCamera:
19	** The FixedCamera angles can be confusing depending on where they are placed, but usually, the camera faces the door where you just came from, so you have to walk several steps further when you enter a room before knowing what you're about to deal with.
20	** There are some sections where the camera is so far away your character becomes a little figure almost indistinguishable from the similarly-colored objects in the environment, or is hidden by a foreground object. Fortunately, moving your character around reveals their position or shifts the camera to a nearer perspective.
21	* FanNickname: [[FanNickname/DevilMayCry See here]].
22	* FanonDiscontinuity: Many skip or forget ''[=DMC2=]'' entirely because of its questionable gameplay and plot relevance ([[GaidenGame or lack thereof]]), and later installments barely [[ContinuityNod reference]] it at all; it's only mentioned briefly in the [[PreviouslyOn story recap]] of both the fourth and fifth installments, while female lead Lucia only made one other appearance outside of ''2'' in the ''Before the Nightmare'' novel that serves as a prequel to ''5''. From that novel, Argosax was also deemed inconsequential to the point where Dante ''[[ButForMeItWasTuesday forgot the demon king's name]]'' even though in-universe lore paints the entity as being on par with [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Mundus]]. Even the [=PS2=] version of ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' has Dante [[DiscontinuityNod fail to remember what happened at Dumary Island]] when crossing paths with Alastor. [[note]]Though given both ''Devil May Cry'' and ''Viewtiful Joe'' were directed by Creator/HidekiKamiya, this could also be seen as BitingTheHandHumor regarding Kamiya's lack of involvement with this entry.[[/note]] ''[=DMC2=]'' being last in the games' original AnachronicOrder also retroactively created conflict with later games and their greater emphasis on narrative and continuity, such as Dante being more mellow here than in any other classic game (a stark contrast to his cheerful personality in ''4'', which originally took place before ''2'') and the lack of references to [[IconicSequelCharacter major characters introduced later on]] (i.e. Lady and Nero). Very little from the first game is brought up either (likely on account of ''[=DMC2=]'' being greenlit before ''[=DMC1=]'' even finished production), and [[SecretCharacter Trish]] doesn't have a role in the story of ''2'' despite being playable. The timeline was [[{{Retcon}} later revised]] to move ''2'' between [[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries the anime]] and ''4'', a decision that was [[SalvagedStory better received]] because Dante's personality here is [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation more cohesive]] if it follows the anime, though it can be argued a few plot holes still exist.[[note]]The biggest one likely being why Dante didn't use the Ultimate Devil Trigger in ''4'' if he already had access to it in ''2''. However, a "Double Devil Trigger" was conceptualized for ''4'' before being scrapped, while neither ''2'' nor ''4'' depict Dante activating his regular Devil Trigger for combat purposes as opposed to the first and third games. (The closest he comes is when he partially transforms after his first fight with Nero in ''4'', seemingly an involuntary reaction to Nero's Devil Bringer.) This suggests he was at a level of power where the threat of either game didn't necessitate his full strength, which would be in line with ''4''[='s=] claim that [[SuperiorSuccessor Dante had surpassed Sparda]]. To wit, this game sees Dante kill the FinalBoss while in his human form.[[/note]] As noted above, the prequel novel to ''2'' actually does explain Dante's drastic shift in personality ([[spoiler:he regrets killing an AlternateUniverse Trish]]), but not everyone is aware of the side materials anyway.
23	* FranchiseOriginalSin: The melee mechanics of this game are criticized in part because Dante's {{BFS}}es Rebellion, Vendetta and Merciless [[AllSwordsAreTheSame all share the exact same combos, only the look and damage differ]]. The same goes for Lucia's [[DualWielding blades]]. ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 DMC1]]'' also had this in effect; the Force Edge, Alastor and [[spoiler:Sparda]] share some similar attacks even if they differ in their appearance and damage output, but the implementation was more acceptable back then because the swords from the first game still had some unique mechanics to spice things up instead of playing the AllSwordsAreTheSame trope straight; the starting weapon Force Edge has few basic combos, Alastor retains them but adds more purchasable combos and its [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] allows Dante to fly. And then in the late-game, the Force Edge gains some plot relevance as it [[spoiler:transforms into the Sparda, which adapts Alastor's combos and can further transform into other weapon types (albeit at the cost of Devil Trigger, which the player is locked out of until the second phase of the FinalBoss)]].
24	* GameBreaker:
25	** Devil Trigger was strong in the first game, but it's just ridiculous here. Unless you're playing on [[HarderThanHard Dante Must Die/Lucia Must Die]], most bosses are trivialised by the ability to just charge up Devil Trigger and then unload an insane amount of non-stop damage (enough to melt through most bosses in one or two goes). You're also ([[ImmuneToFlinching practically]]) invincible and [[RegeneratingHealth heal from the damage you deal]] (though unlike most ''DMC'' titles, this is not a default passive ability of Devil Trigger, instead tied to the collectible Devil Hearts used to customize the Amulet). Devil Trigger is the main reason the game was considered [[ItsEasySoItSucks disappointingly easy]] by critics. It applies further for Dante because his Devil Trigger has more perks than Lucia's:
26	*** Dante's Devil Trigger replaces his firearms with [[RevolversAreJustBetter three-barreled revolvers]] [[HandCannon embedded into his palms]], which have a very efficient, rapid rate of fire just like the Submachine Guns... but with increased power on top. Because of this, boss fights tend to [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome boil down to]] accumulating enough DT Gauge and [[MoreDakka riddling the target with bullets]], as Dante's projectiles eclipse all other options in terms of DPS. Comparatively, Lucia's throwing knives are fired as a SpreadShot with longer start-up and recovery, meaning she can't abuse this tactic to the same extent and thus has a tougher time against bosses Dante can more easily shred through.
27	*** [[DesperationAttack If Dante's health is low enough]] (signified by his lifebar turning red), he can unleash a more powerful "Ultimate Devil Mode" better known to fans as the "Majin Form". Its only drawbacks are its single use per life and its tendency to burn through the Devil Trigger Gauge in seconds, but it's PurposelyOverpowered anyway. It can kill ''anything'' in the game (including the FinalBoss) with minimal effort; Dante's fireball projectiles alone deal immense damage in a short amount of time. If that wasn't overkill enough, Dante can also use two lethal {{Secret Art}}s that expend his remaining meter: an [=AoE=] shockwave of demonic energy or a YinYangBomb KamehameHadoken. Both attacks can and ''will'' eradicate most on-screen enemies, even if used standalone instead of as post-fireball volley finishers. [[note]]Curiously, the former attack has no effect on Argosax the Chaos.[[/note]] And unlike the regular Devil Trigger, Dante is '''[[TheJuggernaut completely]]''' [[NighInvulnerability invincible]] in Majin Form, giving the player impunity to destroy everything in sight.
28	** [[SecretCharacter Trish]]. She is playable in both Dante's and Lucia's campaigns (only requiring the player to beat Dante's campaign on Hard as opposed to being a BraggingRightsReward), her sword Sparda combines the immense reach of Dante's Merciless with Vendetta's damage, her Luce & Ombra deal damage comparable to Dante's Ebony & Ivory while firing faster (both weapons also start at maximum level and don't need to be upgraded), and her moveset is incredible in general: her Stinger has greater range unlike Dante's, [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Round Trip]] is easily the best non-DT move in the entire game, and her DT is only slightly less damaging compared to Dante's Majin Form without having any of its drawbacks. Trish only struggles during the underwater levels, as Nightmare-γ [[ScrappyWeapon is nowhere near as effective as Lucia's Bowgun]].
29	* GoddamnedBoss:
30	** The [[HellishCopter Infested Chopper]]. Not only does the damn thing chase you through half the level, but once you actually face it, the "fight" mostly consists of mashing the shoot button, occasionally dodging homing missiles, and trying not to fall off a skyscraper.
31	** [[MacabreMothMotif Noctpteran]]. The challenge comes not from the moth itself (it's completely harmless) but the eggs it constantly lays, which hatch into hard-to-avoid larvae that try to eat Dante and Lucia after they burrow out from underground. If they succeed, you're left helpless for a moment until Dante/Lucia breaks free (though rotating the analog stick speeds up the process). Being a flying boss also means close-range combat is out of the question -- it's simply too high up for even Aerial Heart/Air Raid to reach at most times and is only briefly vulnerable when it descends to lay eggs. And since you have to defeat every single larva before the battle actually ends, the battle ends up far longer than it should be.
32	** [[UnderwaterBossBattle Tateobesu]] is not that dangerous, but fighting it is quite annoying on difficulties lower than Lucia Must Die, as swords are useless, guns are occasionally turned useless by the boss becoming invisible, and the Devil Trigger Gauge is hard to recover without melee attacks. On Lucia Must Die, though, it becomes ThatOneBoss, as Tateobesu is now ''permanently'' invisible.
33	** [[MultipleHeadCase Trismagia]] hovers somewhere between this trope and ThatOneBoss due to how the fight is structured. The usual strategy has players slowly filling their DT Gauge (either by attacking Trismagia directly or slicing up the icicles [[BossArenaIdiocy occasionally spawned by one of the three heads]]) and then using it to unload on Trismagia between his attacks. Unfortunately, only one of the three heads is vulnerable at a time and [[GetBackHereBoss the heads tend to stay out of your firearms' range]] (let alone your melee weapons'), all while [[BulletHell Dante/Lucia is being assailed by several projectiles and ranged attacks]]. The glacial pace of the battle only slows down further when Trismagia periodically halts his attack pattern(s) so that he can [[FusionDance recombine]], deliver a CombinedEnergyAttack, and then [[BodyHorror tear himself apart]]. [[MarathonBoss This all would be infuriating enough on its own]], but Trismagia's constant barrage will likely leave you in dire need of healing when his lifebar has been whittled down -- whereupon Trismagia proceeds to [[LastDitchMove take one last shot at you]], forcing players to start the battle all over again if killed by his final attack.
34	* GoodBadBugs: During the {{Elevator Action Sequence}}s, the {{Mooks}} may randomly clip outside the arena if they're pushed through the elevator doors.
35	* GrowingTheBeard: An in-game variant. The final two missions of Dante's scenario clearly show that, by this point in development, Itsuno was at the helm and doing the best he could in course-correcting the game: Dante "crowns" Arius after [[BatmanGambit pulling]] [[FakinMacGuffin a fast one]] [[BatmanGambit on him]] (resembling his personality in ''[=DMC1=]'' and subtly hinting how Itsuno would depict Dante from [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening the next game]] onward); Lucia angsts over her origins as [[spoiler:a demon created by the BigBad]] as Dante comforts her with the words [[ArcWords "Devils never cry"]] (providing a parallel to Trish's conflict of allegiance and resulting CharacterDevelopment in ''[=DMC1=]'' while tying into one of the {{Central Theme}}s of the series -- the question of what separates humanity from demonkind); and the game ends with a FinalBoss that behaves far more like your typical ''DMC'' boss than any other foe in the game, testing one's reflexes and reaction times extensively while providing a fair and fun challenge.
36	* HarsherInHindsight: [[MoreExpendableThanYou Lucia's line about her being expendable]] becomes this when you consider [[FanonDiscontinuity how this game has come to be seen by fans]] and that [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Lucia has not appeared in a DMC game ever since]].
37	* HilariousInHindsight: Arius's corporation is named [[{{Ouroboros}} Uroboros]]. [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 Sound familiar?]] Remember that the series [[DivorcedInstallment was birthed from a discarded concept]] for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. The hilarity only magnifies if you consider how Arius's international enterprise resembles Wesker's dealings with Tricell, never mind [[spoiler:Possessed Arius sporting some very Ouroboros-esque tentacles along with a core on his chest that resembles Wesker's [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]] in the final battle of ''[=RE5=]'']].
38	* ItsEasySoItSucks: This entry is criticized for being extremely easy for most of the time, in contrast to the first ''Devil May Cry'', which could be mercilessly difficult at times but otherwise presented a consistently fair level of challenge. ''[=DMC2=]'' [[SequelDifficultyDrop lowered the difficulty so much]] that the game is usually regarded as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcvw1E0Mcac a rather unengaging experience overall.]]
39	* JustHereForGodzilla:
40	** Most newcomers to the series play this game just to find out more about [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Lucia]].
41	** Gameplay-wise, those familiar with the ins and outs of ''[=DMC2=]'' usually cite one of three highlights from this game:
42	### The final battle against The Despair Embodied at the end of Dante's campaign.
43	### Dante's ability to activate Majin Form and [[GameBreaker gloriously toss any prospect of difficulty out of a 100-story building]]. This saw increased interest come ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', as its abilities, aspects of its design, and its sheer sense of power serve as the basis for [[spoiler:Dante's Sin Devil Trigger]].
44	### Trish's stint as a playable character, as she plays the closest to ''[=DMC1=]'' Dante while possessing a number of unique and fun quirks, most of which found their way into her kit for ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 4:SE]]''.
45	* MemeticLoser: The Infested Chopper, for being a boss that's [[GoddamnedBoss not fun to fight]] and a concept that's ''too'' [[{{Narm}} ridiculous]] for a series that runs on RuleOfCool demon-slaying.
46	* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/DevilMayCry See here.]]
47	* MisBlamed:
48	** Hideaki Itsuno got all the blame for the game's problems due to being the sole credited director, but as it turns out, the game was directed by someone else ([[UncreditedRole who remains unknown]]) for most of its development, and [[TroubledProduction left production in a very disastrous state months before release]]. If anything, the game might have been ''even worse'' if not for Itsuno. He would even go on to direct ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'', which is considered one of the best entries in the series, and has served as the director of every mainline installment since.
49	** The storywriting of this game was also often attributed to Bingo Morihashi due to being the classic ''DMC'' games' recurring scenario writer starting from ''2''. But according to Bingo's statement from page 208 of the ''3142 Graphic Arts'' artbook, the story of ''2'' was actually "outsourced to a non-company writer", Bingo was just a new Capcom employee at that time, and he himself wasn't even sure how that draft ended up like it did. He was told that he could fine-tune it for as long as the changes weren't big, yet the exact scope of the fine-tuning wasn't even clarified.
50	* {{Narm}}: Arius' voice is silly-sounding, ''especially'' during his VillainousBreakdown. It's no wonder Dante shuts him up.
51	-->'''Arius:''' [[BigNo No!]] My dream... my life... I was going to be the '''[[IncomingHam KIIIINNNNG]]''' of this world...!
52	** Not helped by the fact that up to the final encounter, he had been fairly serious and not all that ridiculous at all. Then Dante [[spoiler:swaps the coin that was supposed to help his plans]], and Arius turns so utterly [[VillainousBreakdown pissed off]] that the batshit shrieking voice enters the fray with an absolutely ''ridiculous'' noise before his fight starts.
53	* ReplacementScrappy: Lucia became this to Trish, which is ironic as Lucia's creation was a response to the lack of a playable Trish in ''[=DMC1=]'' and Trish herself was a SecretCharacter ''in this game''. While the sentiment died down in the intervening years, partially because many fans actually like Lucia (or feel that she was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter wasted potential]]), it was mainly because the majority of ''DMC'' fans [[FanonDiscontinuity deliberately blot out this game from memory]].
54	* SalvagedStory: Dante is mostly mellow and [[TheStoic stoic]] in this game, which is OutOfCharacter in contrast to his snarky, energetic, and cocky personality from ''[=DMC1=]''. On its own, this game doesn't explain why he changed, but the fandom retroactively found some justification for it twice after Capcom revealed additional info and context:
55	** The ''[=DMC2=]'' prequel novel, which takes place before the events of the game, provides some explanation for Dante's [[SameCharacterButDifferent drastic shift in personality]]. He is very much like how he was portrayed in [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 the first game]] until near the finale when it ends on [[BittersweetEnding a bittersweet note]]. He [[AlasPoorVillain expresses regret for having to kill]] [[spoiler:an AlternateUniverse Trish who remained loyal to that universe's Mundus]] after repeatedly trying to persuade her to pull a HeelFaceTurn.
56	** Many fans consider the [[{{Retcon}} rearranging]] of the series' timeline prior to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' as an improvement; ''[=DMC2=]'' was originally set after ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', but with the games being reordered so that ''2'' is now set beforehand, it provides another explanation wherein Dante is still upset over Vergil's death in [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 the first game]] (a line of thought congruent with a similar AlternativeCharacterInterpretation for ''[[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries The Animated Series]]''), with ''Devil May Cry 4'' being when [[HesBack he shows signs of recovery]] thanks to meeting Nero in that game.
57	* ScrappyMechanic:
58	** The GameplayGrading is ''very'' unforgiving. Taking a single hit can drop "Damage Taken" from S to B or C, even on Normal difficulty; "Stylish Average" practically requires you to kill ''every'' enemy with an S rank, which is not exactly easy considering enemies usually don't last long enough to reach high style levels, and because the Stylish gauge is difficult to raise in most battles; "Clear Time" is usually very strict for getting an S rank; and while "Orbs Collected" is normally a cinch, it's a pain during [[BossOnlyLevel levels with bosses and no mooks]]. So even if completing the game is easy, getting anywhere above B on mission ranking is ''really'' hard. It's telling that when ''Devil May Cry 3'' eased up on the ranking system, it benefited from the change.
59	** You automatically proceed to the next area when you make contact with virtually any door, unlike in other ''DMC'' games where closed doors have to be interacted with, and automatic transitions are only limited to open doors or open pathways. This can interfere with battles, especially if you're fighting enemies that can easily knock you back to a door and force you out of the area even if you don't want to.
60	** Your character's exact location isn't indicated in the Map interface. This makes navigation harder than intended, and is a significant factor that makes Dante's Mission 14 ThatOneLevel.
61	** Wall Hike, as it almost always activates when you don't want it to, doesn't really help with dodging or conserving Stylish Rank and, for Dante, trying to shoot Ebony & Ivory after it will activate Rain Storm instead.
62	** Rain Storm is a very annoying move, whose very existence causes many players to swear off using [=E&I=] in this game. The problem with it is that it always activates if you shoot after an [[DoubleJump Air Hike]] or [[WallRun Wall Hike]], and it always shoots straight down. This can ''easily'' ruin the player's Stylish Rank, since it only takes about a second of not hitting anything for the rank to vanish.
63	** Melee combat is often scruntized because of how cumbersome it feels on the whole, with combos being generally slower and more drawn out than other ''DMC'' entries. Additionally, and unlike every other game in the series, the recovery lag after basic melee animations is horrendously long, with Dante and Lucia unable to act until they completely return to a neutral state and therefore left vulnerable to enemy attacks no matter how telegraphed. This adds to [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome the ubiquity of gun usage]] among most players, as firearms are efficient at any range and usually a much safer option they can commit to. ([[SecretCharacter Trish]] and Dante's unlockable ''[=DMC1=]'' outfit suffer from the same drawbacks, though not as severely as the default characters due to retaining more of the first game's combat mechanics.)
64	** While the underwater sequences in the first game were neither horrible nor impressive, [[ThatOneLevel they become annoying here]] because of hampered mobility/attack speed and a very limited selection of usable weapons -- a few of which [[ScrappyWeapon aren't all that great]]. You play through these sections only in Lucia's disc, and there's an UnderwaterBossBattle to be fought.
65	* ScrappyWeapon:
66	** Lucia's Cranky Bombs. While powerful, they are also awkward to use, and it is hard to hit anything with them. You can also use them underwater, but Lucia cannot throw them; instead you essentially have to use them like mines, which goes about as good as one might expect underwater -- not at all.
67	** Trish's Nightmare-γ -- its regular shots are not that strong, and its ChargedAttack, while flashy, is nearly impossible to hit anything with due to {{Pinball Projectile}}s not meshing well with huge rooms you have to fight in underwater. An interesting reversal of the Nightmare-β from the first game, which was arguably [[GameBreaker the opposite]] ([[NoSell unless used against the real Nightmare]]) even at lower levels of charge.
68	** Downplayed with Dante's Ebony & Ivory; they are perfectly serviceable, they just have to contend with [[ScrappyMechanic Rain Storm]] existing.
69	* SelfImposedChallenge: One that existed beforehand but was popularized by/saw a resurgence thanks to Website/{{YouTube}}r Null in the summer of 2023: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xNuilv6YRY Beating the game without using any guns.]] [[note]]With the exception of any circumstances in which the game would otherwise be {{Unwinnable}}, such as bosses or puzzles that require the use of firearms.[[/note]]
70	* SequelDifficultyDrop: This game is easier than the first one, due to less aggressive enemy A.I. and overpowered guns that let [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5FrWcrc-XU Dante safely snipe enemies from a distance without fear of any counterattack.]]
71	* ThatOneAttack: Nefasturris can spit dozens of laser beams that are individually treated as separate damage instances. Just like a shotgun blast, the beams collectively deal massive damage at point-blank range, presenting a huge risk when fighting the boss using melee attacks.
72	* ThatOneLevel: Dante's Mission 14 is criticized for its confusing level design that makes players want to [[GuideDangIt look for a walkthrough]]. You have to find and activate four Seal Spheres that are scattered in the area, but three of those are found in non-conspicuous spots that require some effort to reach, such as by looking up, {{double jump}}ing, or flying via the Aerial Heart. By comparison, the Seal Spheres in Lucia's tenth mission are easier to find. The FixedCamera angles can make it hard for you to spot your objective since they change at almost every corner, and the entire stage's dark atmosphere also makes it very easy for you to get lost. The map won't help you that much either as it doesn't pinpoint Dante's exact location. To top these off, the mission ends with a boss fight against Phantom.
73	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Trish, both in terms of plot where she just plays through Dante and Lucia's stories for the battles with no bearing on either sequence of events, and in her playstyle which is effectively Dante's moveset and mechanics from the first game. Yes, an optional, hidden character has attacks that are way less clunky than Dante's default, just like his gameplay from ''[=DMC1=]''. Unfortunately, it's all stuck in a post-game bonus playthrough long after the player probably had enough of the game.
74	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The entirety of the game is a footnote in the mythos: [[DecoyProtagonist Dante has barely anything to do with the story]] (despite his father yet again having been embroiled in a past conflict that shaped the current narrative, something which Dante hardly comments or dwells on), with [[{{Deuteragonist}} Lucia]] [[SupportingProtagonist being the central hero with a personal stake in the battle]]. And even then, we barely learn anything about her or how she [[spoiler:was freed from Arius's control]]. Also, while Trish is a playable character, she has no role in the story, wasting the potential to tell tales of hers and Dante's partnership, or even her own parallels to Lucia in terms of backstory and character arc.
75	* VindicatedByHistory:
76	** While even its defenders admit that ''[=DMC2=]'' is easily the weakest of the first four titles and may admit that, from a technical standpoint, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhVLh-sx7YQ#t=23m9s it's a worse-designed game]] than [[VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry the controversial reboot]], a growing contingent stands by its opinion that the second game is merely dull and mediocre by ''DMC'' standards, but not abjectly terrible like the fandom might paint it. This sentiment grew when more players [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/8tcvw0/reminder_that_dmc2_was_essentially_a_miracle/ discovered]] via the ''Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphics Arts'' artbook that Hideaki Itsuno not only came in about halfway through the game's development period, but also had a mere '''[[https://imgur.com/yd3bXLu six months]]''' to slap together the finished project. [[note]]The scenario was not yet written at the time, there were no filmed cutscenes, no finished environments, no Devil Trigger for Dante, and no moves programmed for Dante other than his infamously {{nerf}}ed Stinger.[[/note]] Given how Itsuno was similarly constrained during ''4''[='s=] development yet that game turned out an adequate product (to say nothing of how the [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel third]] and [[EvenBetterSequel fifth]] games turned out when he was given a proper budget and development time), this revelation made many wonder how ''[=DMC2=]'' would've fared if not for [[ExecutiveMeddling Capcom's actions behind the scenes]]. At the very least, with the game's TroubledProduction, many consider the fact that the game was even released in a playable, functional and coherent state to be a miracle in itself, even with its issues.
77	** Dante's characterization was also vindicated over time. Rather than being a [[LargeHam snarky showoff]] from the first game, he was instead [[TheQuietOne quiet]], [[DeadpanSnarker standoffish]] and [[DullSurprise drained of energy]], coming across as [[TheStoic eerily Vergil-like]] (to the point that some fans joked "Dante" was actually Vergil in disguise [[note]]while non-canon, ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' instead suggests [[CostumeCopycat Enzo stole Dante's clothes and masqueraded as him]] during the events of ''2''[[/note]]). While fans largely hated this characterization, the anime, supplementary material, and even ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'' to an extent would depict Dante as a more subdued and [[HiddenDepths surprisingly nuanced]] character. Fans began to re-evaluate and eventually warm up to this version of Dante (who, to his credit, ''did'' exhibit flashes of his usual personality throughout the game). And with the revised timeline that came with ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', Dante's character in ''2'' seems like a logical progression from [[AdaptationPersonalityChange his muted personality]] in ''TAS'', which fans interpreted as a carryover of Dante suffering from depression, most likely following the [[spoiler:apparent]] death of Vergil. This also popularized an AlternativeCharacterInterpretation dating back all the way to ''[=DMC1=]'' (but made prominent by Dante's "I love this! This is what I live for! I'm absolutely ''crazy'' about it!" line at the end of ''3'') that Dante's bombastic nature in later games [[StepfordSmiler is something of a facade]], which adds additional depth to Dante's character as a whole.

Context YMMV / DevilMayCry2