is a 2003 action-adventure hack and slash game developed and published by Capcom. It was released from January to March, originally for the PlayStation 2. In terms of chronological order, the game's events are set after Devil May Cry and prior to Devil May Cry 4. Set in modern times, in the fictional Vie de Marli island, the story centers on demon hunter Dante and island guardian Lucia in their fight to stop a businessman named Arius from raising the demon Argosax and achieving supreme power. The story is told primarily through a mixture of cutscenes using the game engine, with several pre-rendered full motion videos. Handled by a different team that lacked experience, Devil May Cry 2 had a troubled production which was reflected in its reception. The game received mixed reviews and has been criticized for a variety of decisions, which made it considerably different from its predecessor; chief among these were the lowered difficulty and changes to Dante's personality. Despite that, Devil May Cry 2 was a commercial success, established a number of series conventions, and motivated its development team to improve their work, staying with the franchise for future entries. Gameplay In Devil May Cry 2, the player guides either Dante or Lucia through a number of environments, fighting groups of monsters in fast-paced combat. The game consists of missions with specific goals in the play area of the game itself. The player's performance in each mission is ranked from D (poor/"Don't Worry") to S (excellent/"Showtime") based on the time taken to complete the mission, the amount of Red Orbs collected, the overall "style" displayed during fights, item usage, and damage taken. In contrast to the rest of the gameplay, the style judging system used in the game has been cited as being the harshest in terms of how it judges the player's performance. Combat itself is based on the "style" the player demonstrates during a fight. The rating the player gains for style is improved by hitting enemies continuously while avoiding damage. This ranges from "Don't Worry", progressing to "Come On!", "Bingo", "Are You Ready?" and peaking at "Showtime". If the character takes damage, the style rating falls back to "Don't Worry". The game's controls convert short sequences of button presses into complex on-screen actions. New to the series is an evasion button, which allows Dante or Lucia to roll, dodge enemy attacks, or run