Devil May Cry 3

Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom I like to believe was related to the eponymous hero of the Where's Waldo series, once wrote "A foolish consistence is the hobgoblin of little minds". I am glad the developers of this game took heed of this sound advice and did not mirror the control scheme off of the first game just because this is a prequel. The evolution of game control continued logically. The first game had a relatively easy button mashing style which had become second nature by the time one clears the first level and starts playing in the even more intuitive "easy" control scheme. The Second game started out controlling like the "easy" control setup, but added in a few more moves and abilities that made it even more engaging but did not take long to pick up. The third game starts out with a set of moves only slightly more complicated than the one at the beginning of the previous game, but throughout the level at random times a tutorial box will pop up and advise you on different combos you could do. These are not always easy, they require practice. At the end of each level you have the option of changing your "style" which is the set of moves you will be able to do. Do you want a lot of cool sword attacks? Do you want some awesome gun moves? Perhaps you would prefer to use one of the other two styles that are not nearly as bad ass or interesting. In addition to all of this you have the option of buying even more moves at any time as you accrue red orbs that you pick up every time you kill an enemy, more on this later.
Its not frustrating to have the moves be more difficult or complex because you can still get through a level just fine by mashing buttons. The extra level of depth is there for you if you want it, but it can be ignored if you don't. I assume its use will become a requirement at some point in the game, but one has plenty of time to practice before then.
The cut scenes are even more over the top in this game, but also more polished, and more fun. After wondering how Dante can be constantly impaled by swords and sickles and never cut in half, I decided he must have an indestructible skeleton just like wolverine.
Things just keep getting better. The only thing in this game that is not a refinement or flat out improvement over the previous entry is the sound that an item makes when it spins toward the screen to tell you what it is. The first time I picked up a red orb I was very disappointed to hear it made a sound even more lack luster than the wet swishing sound from the previous game. BRING BACK THE HELICOPTER NOISE FROM THE FIRST GAME!!!

Game play video

In a five star ranking system
I give this game 5