Dante’s Inferno is an action-packed voyage through the land of Inferno based on Dante Alighieri’s first canticle of Divine Comedy. Dante is re-imagined in this adaptation as a templar knight, a veteran of the Crusades, who returns home to find his beloved Beatrice murdered. The murderer then stabs Dante in the back as well. On the other hand, Dante Caneath wishes to take him down to hell and robs him of his scythe. With his new abilities, he may descend into the Inferno to find Beatrice, whose soul has been taken by the devil. Lucifer intends to marry her soul, which should have gone to heaven instead, to escape torment and overthrow God. To avoid this, Dante must go through the nine circles of hell and master their demons before facing his ultimate challenge. To liberate Beatrice, he must confront his history, crimes, and sins in keeping with the initial subject of acknowledging and rejecting evil. Throughout his travels, he frequently encounters the poet Virgil, who describes the many circles and draws flashbacks that show how Dante sinned in each process during the Crusades.
The gameplay is reminiscent of the God of War series. Dante’s primary weapon is a scythe, and he wields magic via a holy cross given to him by his beloved Beatrice just before her Death. This magical tool emits light beams that kill all evil it encounters. Dante can even tame some demonic monsters and utilize them to his advantage. However, players must choose between a holy and an impure path. When capturing foes or encountering trapped characters (including many historical figures), Dante can punish or absolve them. Either option rewards you with unholy or holy experience points. Dante can level up in one of the two tech trees and spend the souls he has accumulated there. Because it is not possible to max out both sides, a path must be chosen. The nasty side focuses on scythe powers, while the holy side focuses on the cross.
New abilities can be purchased with each level. Most of these are based on more extraordinary scythe attacks for the unholy route, while the righteous path concentrates on the cross’s ranged abilities. Other generic powers include increasing the health or mana meter, increasing the redemption meter, or providing extra defense against attacks. Dante can dodge, block, and retaliate, attack from the air, grab and toss adversaries, and execute acrobatic acts such as sliding down enormous spines, hanging and swinging from ropes, or clinging to particular walls. These stunts are frequently utilized to answer small environmental mysteries. Fighting foes also fill up a redemption meter, which, when complete, can be activated to offer faster movement and attacking speed. During his adventure, he will also learn four consequential types of magic, which are likewise boosted by the tech tree and require a separate mana meter to execute. Souls from defeated opponents are used to purchase new abilities. Souls are automatically collected when killing foes, and shrines replenish health and mana. Many massive battles include quick time events (QTEs), in which the player must hit the appropriate buttons when instructed to beat a large enemy. When you must absolve prominent characters’ souls, these emerge as a mini-game.
Relics are a final option for enhancing his skills. These are collected throughout the way and fit into a limited number of slots (at first two)—these help with things like resisting magic, making assaults stronger, and regenerating health and mana. The relics can level up twice by equipping them, making them more effective. Because the number of slots is limited, they must frequently be switched based on the scenario.
After finishing the game, a new game mode called Gates of Hell Arena becomes available. It is an arena in which the player must overcome many waves of adversaries, similar to Dante’s Inferno: Trials of St. Lucia DLC.
The PSP version is not a port but was created concurrently with the central platform versions. The enemies and main level design are identical, with minor changes, such as the puzzle mini-game to exonerate doomed souls.
