Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Dante’s Inferno Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Dante’s Inferno Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Deserving of Absolution

Whenever a major console release comes with a PSP port in tow, there is usually good reason to be apprehensive. Some can fare just fine, but then there are the others. The PSP ports that take what is essentially a good, or even great, console game and yet somewhere along the line wind up twisting and breaking whatever worked in the other versions and then selling it based solely on its name. Thankfully, this is definitely not the case with Dante’s Inferno for the PSP. In fact, I believe this PSP version may be better equipped to face its immediate competition than the console versions of the game.

Dante's Inferno screenshot

Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Admittedly, this statement is made partially true due to the lack of similar, high quality beat’em ups on the platform. Dante’s Inferno for the PSP doesn’t have to worry about its release being bookended between the likes of the crazy and over-the-top Bayonetta and the looming shadow of Kratos’ swan song in God of War III. However, Dante’s main competition does still come from the man who wants to kill Zeus in the form of his two-year-old God of War: Chains of Olympus. While I think Kratos probably still wins in a heads-up comparison, Dante’s Inferno holds its own as one of the best action adventure titles on the PSP.

As you probably already know, the story of Dante’s Inferno has been loosely adapted from the first book of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy. When I say loosely adapted I mean incredibly loose, like a tent-sized sweater for a tiny child. Think of it less like a direct translation from the epic poem and more like Dante’s Inferno for Dummies set to gratuitous violence. Although it isn’t a direct transcription of the epic poem, the story in Dante’s Inferno is still quite entertaining and worth playing through. After a grueling stretch in the Crusades, Dante returns home to find his lady Beatrice murdered and Lucifer stealing her soul. To help save his wife from whatever Lucifer has in mind, Dante must slaughter his way through the nine circles of Hell in order to get to her.

Since he’s been in the Crusades, Dante is no stranger to weapon-based combat. He quickly makes this apparent, killing Death himself and stealing his scythe for his own use. Using the scythe is mainly reliant on the square and triangle buttons, providing quick and heavy attacks, respectively. Mixing between the two as well as quick button presses will execute combos, which become more and more useful as the game progresses.

Dante's Inferno screenshot

Dante will also discover a divine cross and some magical attacks along his adventure to save Beatrice. The cross functions similarly to a shotgun blast, propelling nearby and ranged enemies away from combat while still doling out punishment. This weapon is as fun to use as it is useful, allowing you to keep hordes of overly eager enemies at a distance. However, if you do happen to get overwhelmed, your magical attacks can still save the day. These attacks range anywhere from creating a timed shield that damages nearby enemies to a devastating attack that equates to a concussive bubble that blasts outward in every direction. While your magic can help to get you out of a bind, the act of using them is somewhat cumbersome due to the fact that you’ll need to take your thumb off of the analog nub in order to press the correct direction on the D-pad. Of course, if you’re already being overrun, this small sacrifice is likely still more than worth it.

Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

All three of your weapons (scythe, cross, and magic) can also all be upgraded from a menu on the pause screen. Killing enemies, solving puzzles, destroying red fountains, and choosing certain characters’ final destinations will earn you currency, which of course, in a game about Hell, are souls. Dante can then take these souls and pour them into upgrades such as new combos, spell upgrades, and health and magic bar extensions. The only catch is that besides the amount of souls each upgrade will set you back, you’ll also have to be the appropriate level on either the holy or unholy scale in order to unlock them.

Dante's Inferno screenshot

Being holy or unholy in Dante’s Inferno feels a bit tacked-on and really doesn’t seem to serve a purpose other than to make it harder for you to earn all of the possible upgrades. There are two main ways to skew towards the light side or the dark, and neither really affects anything else. Whenever you’ve whittled an enemy’s life down to almost nothing, you’ll have the choice to either punish or absolve them. Either way you’ll still butcher them, albeit in different manners, but your decision will affect which type of experience you’ll gain from the death. The same mostly goes with the random cowering travelers you’ll find, usually hidden, throughout the game. Although absolving these folks won’t result in a bloody execution, your choice really won’t matter besides what kind of experience you’ll earn from making it.

While your choices may not have a huge impact on your adventure, making your way through the nine circles of Hell is still a fun time. As with any good third-person action adventure title, you can expect there to be plenty of platforming and puzzles to go along with the solid hack-and-slash gameplay. Although your path through the inferno is rather linear, there are still plenty of one-off areas to find if you’re looking hard enough. These areas will usually earn you extra souls, a traveler to judge, or a Judas coin, which will get you a large lump sum of souls after every five collected. The puzzles you’ll typically find aren’t anything too difficult, ranging from the pulling of levers to pushing crates into specific positions. While not overly challenging, they do provide some much-needed rest for your thumbs after long stretches of mashing hordes of demons to death.

Dante's Inferno screenshot

Boss battles also provide a nice change of pace from the typical straightforward hacking and slashing. However, these can prove to be quite difficult. Whereas you likely won’t have too much difficulty with the first boss of the game, later run-ins with bosses can get a bit more challenging. This is partly because their weaknesses become slightly harder to spot. Your first boss battle will require you to do little more than to watch out for prompts that appear in the corners of the screen in order to avoid death. In contrast, to beat some of the later bosses might require some trial and error as well as really learning your adversary’s tendencies. Even so, they can be quite fun to tangle with and some can even provide a serious sense of accomplishment upon dispatching.

Surprisingly, the visuals are nothing to scoff at either. While obviously not up to the standards of the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions, Dante’s Inferno looks quite good on the PSP’s screen. Dante himself, as well as most of the enemies found in the game are quite detailed and have a decent amount of animations. You’ll still find some incredibly large areas and set pieces, although sometimes when the space is too large or there is too much going on onscreen, the game can slightly hiccup, even pausing for a couple of seconds sometimes in order to load. Still, this doesn’t often cause any serious problems with the gameplay besides the occasional breaking of a combo.

If you’re in the market for a third-person action adventure title for the PSP, your first choice still has to be God of War: Chains of Olympus. However, Dante’s Inferno is no slouch, easily coming in at a close second. With its responsive and varied combat, great visuals, decent story, and surprisingly lengthy campaign, it is definitely worth a play-through. Hopefully more people will give this game a chance on the PSP since they won’t be forced to make the difficult decision between this, Bayonetta, or God of War III.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.4 Graphics
This game still looks great, cutscenes and all, even with the PSP’s reduced horsepower and smaller screen. 4.0 Control
Combat feels fast, fluid, and responsive, although putting the magic attacks on the D-pad is quite cumbersome and some platforming issues can arise. 4.3 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The voice work was rather good, while the respectable soundtrack and sound effects helped add to the feel of the game. 4.3 Play Value
Hacking your way through Hell is quite enjoyable, and fortunately, making your way through all nine circles of it provides the game with a decent length. 4.3 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Over 60 weapons, magic, and combo upgrades and modifications, and huge, destructive ridable mounts that can be taken from defeated enemies.
  • An epic story adapted from the first book of the Medieval Italian classic The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri featuring non-stop action as you fight through Dante’s allegorical nine circles of Hell.
  • The awesome power of Death’s soul-reaping scythe.
  • Beautifully rendered, fast-paced action and intense combat.
  • Choice-based finishes with enemies that allow players to punish the damned or absolve them as they are defeated.

  • Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
    • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
    • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
    • 4K+ Infinite display
    • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
    • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
    • Library of over 500 titles
    We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
    To top