[4] Set a decade before the events of the first Devil May Cry in an enchanted tower called the Temen-ni-gru, the story follows Dante as he attempts to stop his twin brother, Vergil, from opening a portal to the Demon World.

[5][6] It was re‐released in 2006 as Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition[c], featuring retooled difficulty levels, the addition of mid-mission checkpoints, "GOLD mode", and Vergil as a playable character.

The gameplay in Devil May Cry 3 consists of levels, missions, in which players battle enemies, carry out platforming tasks and solve puzzles to progress through the story.

Grades are based on time taken to complete a mission, the number of red orbs (currency obtained from defeated enemies) gathered, "stylish" combat, item usage and damage received.

[7] The games tracks stylish combat by an on-screen gauge, which is the performance of a series of attacks ("combos") while avoiding damage.

[7] The gauge registers "Dope" after a few attacks, progressing through "Crazy", "Blast", "Alright", "Sweet", "SShowtime" to peak at "SSStylish".

[7] The Devil Trigger mode is not available to Dante until one-third of the way through the game, while Vergil, playable in the special edition, has the ability at the outset.

Dante can switch between all four equipped weapons (two guns, two melees) on the fly, allowing for far greater combat freedom and variety than in previous Devil May Cry games.

[5] The styles are "Trickster", for dodging and agility; "Swordmaster", with abilities for swords and other weapons; "Gunslinger", with firearms techniques; and "Royal Guard", which allows a player to repel attacks with a button press (storing energy for retaliation).

Later in the game, two additional styles become unlocked: "Quicksilver", slowing enemies, while the character attacks at normal speed; and "Doppelgänger", which creates a shadow double who fights alongside Dante.

[17] Dante is attacked by a woman on a motorcycle who turns out to be Mary, Arkham's daughter, who wants revenge on her father for causing her mother's death.

[18][19] It is revealed that Arkham works for Vergil; they plan to take Dante's half of their mother's amulet and use its power on the tower to connect the human and demonic worlds.

[26][27] A scene after the credits shows Vergil in the demonic world, weak but determined, as he charges into battle against his father's old foe Mundus.

This coincided with the design of a new type of in-game camera which kept the character in focus, avoiding disorientation in crowded battle scenes.

Devil May Cry 2's difficulty was reduced for greater acceptance in the Japanese market, but this move cost the game support elsewhere.

[30][31] The game was officially announced in the June issue of PSM Magazine #85 and received a trailer at E3 on May 12th, 2004 with a playable demo stand available at the expo.

A Windows version, with minor graphics changes, was developed by SourceNext; it was released by Ubisoft on June 28, 2006 in Europe and October 16, 2006 in North America.

The Devil Trigger versions of Dante and Vergil were designed by Kazuma Kaneko from Atlus, who previously collaborated on Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, and the Persona series.

However, Hideki Kamiya gave Morihashi the freedom to retcon Vergil's backstory and make him a living teenager for the events of Devil May Cry 3.

[40] Jester was designed to contrast his human persona, Arkham, with Nara and Ikeno believing the clown's form worked well thanks due to how the twist that they are same person surprised gamers.

[41] His final form provided by Sparda's powers was designed to resemble previous villain Arius due to how inhuman he became after becoming a demon to the point of lacking a face.

[45] Ikeno stated that because Vergil and Dante are identical twins, they share a hairstyle in the opening of the game, which was intended to make new players confuse them.

Vergil's clothing was meant to contrast with his brother's; similarly, Nelo Angelo's design was prominently blue while Dante's was red.

[48] When being cast to voice Vergil, Southworth was aware of the character's history and had a knowledge of samurai culture, which allowed him to give a good performance.

According to the game's development staff, Southworth's knowledge about the samurai allowed him to fit well into Vergil's character in terms of voice and motion capture.

[49] Vergil's character was made playable in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition due to extra time the team had after the making of the game.

[51][52] After Devil May Cry 3's release Capcom introduced merchandise based on the game, including a manga (written by Suguro Chayamachi and published by Tokyopop in North America) and a Dante action figure manufactured by Revoltech.

[55] At the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, Capcom announced a special edition of Devil May Cry 3 with gameplay changes and additional content.

[73] Reviews typically praised the game for avoiding its predecessor's mistakes and for customization options, gameplay, combat engine and the musical score despite the contradicting plot lines and character arcs.

The style-based combat engine was considered to produce fighting sequences superior to games such as Ninja Gaiden and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones,[74] and the camera and controls were praised.