An improved game... for the most part.
The difficulty. This is a minor quip that I have with the new variation of the game, but the qualm slightly ruins the game for me. The original game was infamous for being extremely hard. Unrelenting and ridiculously hard. It made meek and calm personalities "awaken" as their demon side would unleash an onslaught on their controllers and TVs, not necessarily without the act of violence to either of them. Those who played the Japanese import of the game and cried about the game's difficulty were in utter shock and pity when they heard that the American and European releases would be even more teeth mashing. Easy was completely eliminated and replaced with Normal, Normal replaced by Hard, and the NTSC/U and PAL releases were given a very trying "Hard" mode that was not available to Japanese players. Not only that, but the original continue system was scrapped for a more hardcore layout that was truer to DMC1 roots - a system that created a heavy reliance on expensive Yellow Orbs that make continuing at the last checkpoint after death possible, otherwise making the player have to restart the entire mission from scratch. That included boss battles as well, turning off many gamers to having to repeat an entire level just to reach a really fore bearing boss battle, which would most likely result in dying again. DMC created a perfect action-adventure sidescroller translation to 3D, something a lot of later franchises have tried to emulate and failed. DMC3 enhanced that by making the game so difficult it resulted in hurling many objects at your TV, sometimes causing more flies zip out of your wallet. By making the game as difficult as it did, it paid homage to the hardcore gamers who had been starved of the kind of gameplay that rewarded continuous replaying of the same levels to get it just right. After beating the game or even just a single level, you were given a sense of accomplishment that most gamers hadn't felt since playing classic games like Pac-man, Galaga, Contra, Revenge of Shinobi, etc. DMC3:SE, the supposed ultimate update to the previous cult hit, has stifled the difficulty that was relished in the previous reincarnation of everyone's favorite trench-coated demon slayer.
To be honest, all the difficulty is intact - it has just taken a new form. It uses the *** labeling of the difficulties, meaning the original Easy is available for American gamers. Unlike the previous installment, Easy is actually very easy this time around and Normal is renamed Easy, Hard replaces Normal, and the advertised "new" Very Hard mode is actually just the misnomer of last year's rendition of Hard. Dante Must Die and Heaven or Hell has remained unchanged.
So what is the big deal? Why am I complaining? The fact is, the game only allows you to start on Normal right from the get-go, and after a few deaths on missions 1-3 you can select Easy. Because of this, gamers won't experience what the fuss over the original US's Normal was all about, and those who find even SE's Normal to be a challenge will undoubtedly go to Easy, a difficulty setting that brings true meaning to the word "cakewalk". Not only that, but the game gives you the choice of playing Yellow and Gold versions of the game - the option to play using the US/EUR or the *** version of the continue system, respectively. Although it is a really nice touch, Gold (Japanese version) allowed gamers to continue at a level's checkpoints with no limit and gave players who bought Yellow Orbs the option to respawn at their exact location on the spot after death, making the game much easier and less tedious than before. Although you have the option of using the Yellow continue system, as Gamespot's Editor Greg Kesavin put it, "gamers will always choose the path of least resistance", implying that there would be no reason for newcomers to the game to choose the old school style.
What is my problem? Can't I realize there are gamers who don't want a huge difficulty and am I so numb not to notice that this new version makes the game more accessible to everyone? Yes, I can understand that the vast majority of gamers just want a good time playing a game - that is a huge part of why many people do play video games. Many people play video games so they can take part in an experience that is neither humiliating nor demeaning and won't be made public to others, making those fearful of competing with others feel very comfortable playing video games in a private setting. The fact that only 15% of gamers actually finish games proves that, as many people who play video games are not trying to accomplish anything but get a quick thrill for their expensive purchase. For the many who fit in that category, DMC3:SE is good game for a bargain price. But it is merely a good game and one can quickly find the game's inherent flaws due to its incompatibleness to casual gameplay. DMC3 was developed, either by mistake or intention, as a game that demanded a lot from the player - bringing memories back to those remember "Nintendo thumb". There was a certain magic about playing DMC3 for the first time; pitted against a vertical learning curve with no buffer, one was in awe as her/she wondered how it would be possible to survive the next 30+ levels of the game. For the first time, one actually felt like she/she was in the depths of hell and it felt good when one was able to conquer it.
Of course, Capcom created SE due to its lack in sales of the original, as many complained that it was difficult. So, in essence, DMC3:SE is the better game and it will be enjoyed by all gamers, except for those who already played the original. Those who proudly contest beating the original even on Easy their first run through will stick their noses up to both the new game and the many who will tout after playing it that it "isn't as hard as everyone made it out to be". Those who remember beating the original have felt they were in a special "I beat DMC3" club ever since and that feeling will now diminished a bit with the release of the easier update. Either way, newcomers will rob themselves of a great experience if they vouch to stick with SE. Although the game is now more recommendable to a larger audience, it has also lost a bit of its charm. However, the real crime would no giving DMC3 a chance at all, not matter what the version.