Tropes for the game and its spin-offs include: Occasionally puzzles must be solved in order to move on, and there is Metroidvania-esque backtracking to previous locations to unlock new paths forward. Dante is equipped with a sword and two pistols named Ebony and Ivory to start off with, but acquires more weapons over the course of the game.
Gameplay consists of exploring the castle and its various environs and using timing-based melee combos and ranged gun attacks to battle the hordes of demons infesting the place - getting graded on how stylish you're being the whole time. Dante, as the only known surviving son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, is the only one who stands a chance. Taking place in the modern day, an infamous demon hunter known as Dante is approached by a mysterious woman named Trish, who informs him that Mundus, the lord of the Demon World, is attempting to invade the human realm, and the place to stop him is in an abandoned castle on Mallet Island. One of several projects that spun off from attempting to develop Resident Evil 4, it is notable for codifying many of the tropes used for 3D Stylish Action games and for being the first original project worked on by Hideki Kamiya. Devil May Cry is a Stylish Action Hack and Slash game developed by Capcom and originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001.