Let's be real for a second. If you’re playing a Devil May Cry 2 mission, you’re probably either a series completionist, a glutton for punishment, or you accidentally bought the HD Collection and figured, "How bad could it be?" Well, it's weird. It’s objectively the "black sheep" of Capcom's stylish-action family. It’s the game where Dante suddenly stopped talking and started brooding while wearing a diesel-branded outfit, and the combat... well, let's just say the guns are way more powerful than the swords.
But here’s the thing. There’s a specific rhythm to these missions that people miss because they try to play it like DMC3 or DMC5. You can’t do that. If you try to play Mission 9 like you’re in a high-speed combo video, you’re going to get frustrated by the floaty physics and the off-screen projectiles. To survive the 18 missions for Dante and the 13 for Lucia, you have to embrace the jank.
The Structural Mess of the Devil May Cry 2 Mission List
One of the first things you notice is how wildly inconsistent the mission lengths are. You might spend twenty minutes wandering around a gray city in Mission 2, and then Mission 3 is basically just a boss fight against a giant orangutan-demon named Orgasthrax (no, really). It’s jarring.
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Dante’s campaign is the "main" course, taking you through the urban sprawl of Vie de Marli into the corporate hellscape of Uroboros. Lucia’s missions are shorter, often remixing the same locations but adding underwater segments that—honestly—most fans wish didn't exist. The developers at Capcom (specifically the "mystery team" that took over after Hideki Kamiya was left out of the loop) clearly wanted scale. They gave us massive, open environments. The problem? Dante moves at the speed of a brisk walk while the camera is zoomed out so far you look like an ant.
If you’re stuck on an early Devil May Cry 2 mission, the biggest tip is to stop worrying about your sword combos. Just shoot. The Ebony & Ivory pistols in this game are essentially semi-automatic rifles with infinite ammo. It’s not "stylish" in the traditional sense, but it’s how the game was balanced. Or unbalanced.
Mission 9 and the Infamous Infested Tank
We have to talk about it. Every discussion about a Devil May Cry 2 mission eventually leads to the Infested Tank. This is widely considered one of the lowest points in action gaming history, and for good reason. You are a legendary demon hunter who has killed the King of the Underworld, and yet, you spend ten minutes standing in a brown field shooting a possessed T-55 tank.
The tank has a massive health bar. Your sword does negligible damage because the tank keeps moving and has a literal "get off me" explosion. So, what do you do? You stand at a safe distance and hold the square button. For a long time.
This highlights the core issue with the mission design: the scale is too big for the moveset. Dante has some cool maneuvers—like running up walls or the rain storm move—but the missions don't require them. They require patience. If you're going for an S-Rank, the "Time" requirement is usually your biggest enemy, not the demons.
The Lucia Factor
Lucia’s missions are actually where some of the more interesting mechanical experiments happen. Since she uses throwing daggers instead of guns, her "gunplay" feels more integrated into her melee. Her Mission 3, which involves a fight against Jokatgulm (the giant octopus), is actually better than most of Dante’s early stages. She's faster. She feels like she was built for the engine, whereas Dante feels like he was copy-pasted in from a different project at the last minute.
Navigating the Corporate Hell of Uroboros
As you hit the double-digit missions, the game shifts from "gothic city" to "evil skyscraper." This is where the Devil May Cry 2 mission design goes full Resident Evil, minus the tension. You'll find yourself searching for orbs to open doors in the Uroboros building, dealing with elevators that take forever, and fighting bosses that are literally just "giant building heart."
- Mission 14 and 15: These are the gauntlets. You’re in the city ruins, and the game just throws waves of enemies at you. This is actually where the game feels most like "Devil May Cry." The Blood Goats and Abyss demons actually require you to dodge.
- The Arius Fight: The main villain, Arius, is a corporate executive who fights by sitting in a chair and summoning secretaries. It is absurd. It is campy. It is peak DMC2. To beat him effectively, you need to stay mid-range. If you get too close, he uses a desk-slamming shockwave; if you stay too far, his summons overwhelm you.
Why the Missions Feel "Empty"
There’s a technical reason for the way these levels feel. DMC2 was developed in a remarkably short amount of time. Sources like the 3142 Graphic Arts book confirm that the game was in a state of chaos until Itsuno was brought in to salvage it in the final months. This is why many missions are just "Go to point A, kill 3 enemies, go to point B." The logic wasn't fully baked.
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The environments are huge because they wanted to show off the engine's ability to handle large spaces, but they didn't have the time to fill those spaces with meaningful encounters or platforming challenges. You end up with "Mission 5," which is just a long run across a bridge with a helicopter chasing you. It's cinematic, sure, but mechanically thin.
Scoring that S-Rank
If you’re a trophy hunter or just a masochist, getting an S-Rank in a Devil May Cry 2 mission is actually easier than in any other game in the series. The game cares about three things:
- Time: How fast you finished.
- Orbs: How much red juice you collected.
- Damage Taken: Keep this at zero.
The "Style" meter in combat is almost irrelevant to your final grade compared to these three factors. Since the AI in DMC2 is notoriously passive, you can often "cheese" the rank by standing off-screen and using the Submachine Guns. It's not the way the game was meant to be played, but it's the most efficient way to clear the mission list on Dante Must Die difficulty.
Essential Tactics for Late-Game Missions
By the time you reach the final stretch—specifically Mission 16 through 18—the difficulty spikes, but not because the enemies get smarter. They just get more health.
The Despair Embodied is the final boss of Dante's campaign, and honestly? It’s a great fight. It’s a fast, genderless deity that actually forces you to use the dodge roll (which has some of the most generous invincibility frames in gaming history).
- Devil Trigger is your best friend. In DMC2, your Devil Trigger (DT) is insanely powerful. If your health is low, your DT becomes "Majin Form," making you invincible and giving you screen-clearing attacks.
- The Chrono Heart. Don't forget to equip the Chrono Heart. It slows down time when you attack in DT. This makes the boss missions significantly easier, especially against fast-moving targets like the Phantom or Griffon cameos.
- Amulet Customization. You can swap out your amulet pieces to gain elemental damage or flight. Most players stick to one setup, but swapping to the Aerial Heart for Lucia’s underwater missions makes them slightly less of a nightmare.
The Problem with the Camera
You will fight the camera more than you fight the demons. In large missions like the City Outskirts, the camera likes to get stuck behind buildings. Since there is no manual camera control (this was 2003, after all), you have to rely on the lock-on system. If you can't see the enemy, but Dante is pointing his guns at something off-screen, keep firing. The bullets will find their mark.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Playthrough
If you are currently staring at the mission select screen, here is how you should approach the rest of your run to avoid burnout:
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1. Level up your guns first. Unlike other DMC games where the sword is king, the pistols and the Rocket Launcher are your primary tools here. Max them out before you worry about Rebellion or Vendetta.
2. Learn the "Off-Screen Rule." Most enemies in DMC2 will not attack you if they aren't visible on your screen. You can exploit this by positioning yourself so the boss is just barely out of view while you pelt them with projectiles.
3. Use Lucia for the Secret Rooms. If you're hunting for Blue Orb fragments, Lucia's agility makes the platforming challenges in the Secret Rooms much more manageable than Dante's heavy-footed movement.
4. Skip the fluff. Don't try to kill every enemy in the big open areas. Most of them are just there to waste your time. Run past the minor goats and bats to get to the "sealed door" encounters where you actually need to fight to progress.
Ultimately, a Devil May Cry 2 mission is a relic of a very specific, experimental time in Capcom's history. It’s not a masterpiece, but it is a fascinating look at what happens when a developer tries to go "bigger" without figuring out how to make that "bigger" fun. Take it for what it is—a weird, gothic, gun-heavy detour—and you might actually find yourself enjoying the atmosphere, even if the Infested Tank still makes you want to throw your controller.
Focus on the boss patterns, ignore the empty hallways, and lean heavily into the Devil Trigger. That’s the only way to make it to the end of Dante’s story without losing your mind. Once you finish Mission 18, go straight to DMC3. You’ve earned it.