Darkstalkers 3 (Hunter/Savior) Strategy and quirks

Not sure how many takers I'll get.

Since I voluenteered this title for the SEUS meet, I've picked it up to start playing through.

I got the game, sans manual, and picked up an FAQ from over at gameFAQs.
The author's primary language is Italian, and thought I'm sure the author is quite in-depth, parts of the FAQ for me are becomming unreadable.

I've also noticed while playing through that a few of the supers come off with more than one set of inputs.

Example: Using Demitri
The Midnight Bliss, listed as being d, f, df + PP is inconsistantly pulled off, and can also be executed with hcf X 2 + PP (hit and miss) and, oddly enough, with qcf, hcb + PP. (Dead-on execution)

Anyone else know of any similar odditites?

dunno if this matters, but are we talking Arcade version, Saturn version, or DC version(Vampire Chronicle)?

I did notice that when playing Vampire Chronicle, supers should be done with the 2 weaker punches/kicks or they may not initiate...

as far as the Midnight Bliss command, the original input (D, F, DF) always works fer me...

I playing Darkstalkers 3 on my PSX. But I'm hoping there's enough Quality Controll to where it's not that broken.

darn, the one Vampire platform that I have no experience with...


sorry I can't be of more help...

Thanks, Kazuki. Hopefully I'll get a few more bites. But be free to post strategies and the like if you want. It's what the thread's for anywho.

some strats, huh? well let's see...

I don't have the luxury of much human competition, so most of my mannerisms were gained through heavy CPU rotation (just a little disclaimer )

since I usually use Demitri, I tend to be quite the aggressive type


unlike SVC, in the Vampire series Demitri's Midnight Bliss has great suck-in ability and is quite nice at punishing those who make poorly timed jumps or air moves within reach...

Demitri's pursuit attack can hit more consistently than some of the other characters and is something I like to go for a lot as I don't feel he is too vulnerable if it misses

Note: I'm referring to the REGULAR Pursuit and NOT the ES Pursuit, which should obviously be used more sparingly since it uses up 1 Super Bar

Demon's Cradle is ideal for offense/defense roles since its high priority can snuff attacks nicely and mastering it as a Guard Cancel will make opponents nervous...

overall, I always felt Demitri's playing style reflected his image:

powerful and intimidating, leaving opponents second-guessing themselves and allowing a master Demitri player to manipulate them into doing just what he wants them to, and setting them up for a nasty surprise which puts a serious dent in their lifebar...

gosh I hope this is what you were looking for cuz otherwise I really have to stop with the long-winded talking thing I keep doing...

Hey, whatever ya' got. Once I get into using characters other than Demitri, other than Lilth (who's a HP monster.) I'll see if I can post anything that can be considered a strat.

Found what I was doing. I was hitting and DP and getting Demitri's rising as a super instead of d, f, df. The move I mentioned before comming off as qcf, hcb + PP comes off as a result of hitting the right keys and the game being leniate with inputs.

I've managed to unlock Savior 2 EX, and Hunter 2 modes in the EX menu, so I'm gonna' play around with that for a while now. There's a whole lot more to this little PSX disc than it leads you to beleive. Especially considering the confusion about the game-type and such. Even I'm confused about the game I'm really playing here. But it's fun.

Actually, if you need a guide for the game, I actually have a few extra around as I have the import Saturn and Dreamcast version. As you can guess it's where I get my namesake from . If you need any help with timing or strategies, tell me and maybe I could even mail you the guide. It's pretty comprehensive and actually covers the arcade version called Jedah's Damnation, so it's a perfect guide and not a watered down PS1 version.

Here's a quirky move that I noticed from a Darkstalkers 3 FAQ at GameFAQ's.

When Demitri does his Midnight Bliss against Phobos, Phobos turns into a little girl.
This FAQ says that if you enter (f, d, df + hold LP + HP) Phobos will turn into a Japanese Schoolgirl. I can't get it to work though. The notation in the FAQ is a regular dragon punch movement, and the Midnight Bliss is an upsidedown dragon punch (d, f, df) so I tried both. No luck.

Anyone ever seen this move / got it to work?

Dont know if anyone here is interested. But I have two Gamest Combo VHS tapes on ebay right now.

Vampire Hunter - Darkstalker Revenge - Gamest Combo VHS
Vampire Hunter - The Night Warriors - Gamest Combo VHS

These two tapes are quality Gamest material and contain combos for ALL characters in each game. Alot better than that gamefaqs stuff.

tsukaesugi said:

Here's a quirky move that I noticed from a Darkstalkers 3 FAQ at GameFAQ's.

When Demitri does his Midnight Bliss against Phobos, Phobos turns into a little girl.
This FAQ says that if you enter (f, d, df + hold LP + HP) Phobos will turn into a Japanese Schoolgirl. I can't get it to work though. The notation in the FAQ is a regular dragon punch movement, and the Midnight Bliss is an upsidedown dragon punch (d, f, df) so I tried both. No luck.

Anyone ever seen this move / got it to work?

Click to expand...

I'll try this out tonight. It may be a quirk for only one of the many game modes. I'll edit the post if I verify one way or the other.

Tested it out. Phobos/Huitzil only turns into that little girl. I can't get the Midnight Bliss off consistantly using only LP + HP, but only with LP + MP. I've also tried selecting Vampire Hunter 2 Huitzil and get the same result, even though both times I had that little kid in the background. Maybe it's an arcade-only code.

Perhaps Kazuki can confirm it better, he has the DC version for Matching Service.

KagerouSama said:

I'll try this out tonight. It may be a quirk for only one of the many game modes. I'll edit the post if I verify one way or the other.

Tested it out. Phobos/Huitzil only turns into that little girl. I can't get the Midnight Bliss off consistantly using only LP + HP, but only with LP + MP. I've also tried selecting Vampire Hunter 2 Huitzil and get the same result, even though both times I had that little kid in the background. Maybe it's an arcade-only code.

Perhaps Kazuki can confirm it better, he has the DC version for Matching Service.

Click to expand...

OK, I found the FAQ in question. It's for the US PS version.

Midnight Bliss is generally not as good looking as Anakaris' Level 3 Pharaoh Magic, though there are some notables.
If used to finish Anakaris, then Anakaris' upper body will crawl off the screen. The upper body separates from the lower body.
There is an alternate version against Huitzil (F, D, DF+hold [LP + HP]). This causes the clothes to be that of a Japanese school girl's gym uniform.

Click to expand...

Here the URL for the FAQ:

http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/darkstalkers_3_secrets.txt

I've got the Japanese DC and PS versions, I'll try it again tonight or tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

I'll try it on my Saturn import version. It might be different since it's and import.

KagerouSama said:

I'll try this out tonight. It may be a quirk for only one of the many game modes. I'll edit the post if I verify one way or the other.

Tested it out. Phobos/Huitzil only turns into that little girl. I can't get the Midnight Bliss off consistantly using only LP + HP, but only with LP + MP. I've also tried selecting Vampire Hunter 2 Huitzil and get the same result, even though both times I had that little kid in the background. Maybe it's an arcade-only code.

Perhaps Kazuki can confirm it better, he has the DC version for Matching Service.

Click to expand...

"You rang Mr. Addams?"

Here's what I remember about this little subject (it's been a while since I fired up Chronicle on the D'Cast):

a "Blissed-out" Huitzil/Phobos turns into a pale(?) young girl that Demitri clutches by the hands

The only official command for the Midnight Bliss that I know of is Down, Forward, Down/Forward + PP and after getting used to it, this moveset has proven dependable unless I somehow spazz my thumb on the control pad (which doesn't happen all that often)

the little boy has always been present in any fight involving Phobos/Huitzil, presumably since the storyline states he's under the robot's protection...which means any Donovan vs. Phobos fight can get downright distracting with two kids running around the background...

anyway, that's all I got and as usual it has the disclaimer of me having never touched the PS Darkstalkers 3 port (everyone knows "Vampire Savior" sounds so much better anyway )

Originally Posted by Kazuki Dash
the little boy has always been present in any fight involving Phobos/Huitzil, presumably since the storyline states he's under the robot's protection...which means any Donovan vs. Phobos fight can get downright distracting with two kids running around the background...

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that that little boy isn't present with Huitzil when playing through Hunter 2 mode. I'll play through again just to be sure.

okey dokes, I fired up the old 'Cast yesterday and had me a nice Chronicle session so I'm ready to report my findings...

KagerouSama said:

I'm pretty sure that that little boy isn't present with Huitzil when playing through Hunter 2 mode. I'll play through again just to be sure.

Click to expand...

since Chronicle doesn't have a Hunter 2 mode, I used Phobos/Huitzil in every other mode (including Savior 2 mode, which is really supposed to be a mix of Savior 2 and Hunter 2) and the little kid was always right there with him...guess cuteness can't be overcome so easily in Chronicle...

and tsukaesugi will be happy to know that I did in fact find an alternate "Blissed" form for our favorite monster-bashing robot... *waits for cheers from audience to die down*

what I observed is that on occasion Phobos/Huitzil turns into a Japanese schoolgirl wearing a gym outfit (shorts, sneakers, etc)...so after messing around with the controls for what felt like the better part of an hour here's what I found:

the motion is always done the same (Down, Forward, Down/Forward) and holding the punch buttons down doesn't really trigger one form over the other...however, I did find that if I used LP+HP to trigger the move I would ALWAYS get the schoolgirl form...the only other occasions occured when using LP+MP and it was quite rare and without any consistency then...

for clarification's sake I'll mention that I played on the D'Cast using the ASCII PAD FT control pad just in case the hardware used may have affected my findings (what can I say, for home play a good control pad is all I need for fighting games)

well that's what I got, so we can take it for what it's worth or with a spoonful of sugar (I've heard it helps the medicine go down)

Kazuki Dash said:

and tsukaesugi will be happy to know that I did in fact find an alternate "Blissed" form for our favorite monster-bashing robot... *waits for cheers from audience to die down*

Click to expand...

*and the crowd goes wild*

Awesome. Thanks for the confirmation.

Kazuki Dash said:

what I observed is that on occasion Phobos/Huitzil turns into a Japanese schoolgirl wearing a gym outfit (shorts, sneakers, etc)...so after messing around with the controls for what felt like the better part of an hour here's what I found:

the motion is always done the same (Down, Forward, Down/Forward) and holding the punch buttons down doesn't really trigger one form over the other...however, I did find that if I used LP+HP to trigger the move I would ALWAYS get the schoolgirl form...the only other occasions occured when using LP+MP and it was quite rare and without any consistency then...

Click to expand...

I've been playing so much SFZ2' lately, that I forgot to check. I will fire up the PS2 now, stick in my VS3 and see if I can get the move to work.

tsukaesugi said:

I will fire up the PS2 now, stick in my VS3 and see if I can get the move to work.

Click to expand...

Nope, can't get it to work. Tried it in Training Mode and in Versus.

I did find that I could pull of a Midnight Bliss by inputting these commands instead though:

qcf, qcf + LP + HP

qcf, df + LP + HP

hey, whatever works as long as it gets the move out...

too bad about my technique for the alternate form not working...who'd have thought that what is relatively the same game is soo different from one platform to the other...

Kazuki Dash said:

hey, whatever works as long as it gets the move out...

too bad about my technique for the alternate form not working...who'd have thought that what is relatively the same game is soo different from one platform to the other...

Click to expand...

I've got the DC and Saturn versions as well (I'm a pretty big Vampire freak), so I'll try it out on them whenever I plug one of those consoles in.

Speaking of being a Vampire freak, I used to have a Vampire Hunter manga, but is was soooooo dumb that I threw it out. There was no nudity (it was officially licensed by Capcom), just a few stories, so-so art, and really bad jokes. Stuff like:

Gallon: Hey Demitri, Anarkis looks sick. Does he have a stomachache?
Demitri: Yes, it's from catching so many projectile attacks! Ha ha!
Gallon and Demitri Together: Ha ha ha ha!

It was embarassing to own. I regret chucking it though, I should have hung on to it- I'd probably be able to get a few bucks for it on eBay.

tsukaesugi said:

I've got the DC and Saturn versions as well (I'm a pretty big Vampire freak), so I'll try it out on them whenever I plug one of those consoles in.

Click to expand...

now here's a man who goes hardcore on the Vampire...

Speaking of being a Vampire freak, I used to have a Vampire Hunter manga, but is was soooooo dumb that I threw it out. There was no nudity (it was officially licensed by Capcom), just a few stories, so-so art, and really bad jokes. Stuff like:

Gallon: Hey Demitri, Anarkis looks sick. Does he have a stomachache?
Demitri: Yes, it's from catching so many projectile attacks! Ha ha!
Gallon and Demitri Together: Ha ha ha ha!

It was embarassing to own. I regret chucking it though, I should have hung on to it- I'd probably be able to get a few bucks for it on eBay.

Click to expand...

hm...that book actually doesn't sound all that bad...I managed to snag the Viz Graphic Novel a few years back that had some collected stories that were okay...but it sounds kinda neat that they made one of those "joke book" type of manga for it...even the lame jokes in those kind of books can sometimes initiate a smirk or two


a while back I used to occasionally peruse the ON forums just for the comic thread they have there...who knows, if one of those types of threads started here I wouldn't complain...

You guys make me feel like a poser Vampire player....my and my disc-only finds. Oh well. I play the games...that should at least count for something...shouldn't it?

KagerouSama said:

You guys make me feel like a poser Vampire player....my and my disc-only finds. Oh well. I play the games...that should at least count for something...shouldn't it?

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aw, cheer up there buckaroo...my having stumbled upon a Darkstalkers book some years back just means I had a stroke of dumb luck that day and nothing more...


the fact that you had the presence of mind to start up a legit gameplay thread about the series means you get big props from me...so far, everything in this thread's been all good with the whole back and forth thing about this or that information...heck, I can't even remember the last time I fired up a game strictly because I was looking for ONE specific thing to try to make happen...

plus you've been setting up that little soiree in your area, so I'd say you've been quite the industrious fellow of late...


as for me, I'm just curious to see if any other nuggets of Vampire info turn up in here...you know I'll be checking...

You guys know that there's going to be a port of the DC Vampire Chronicle for the PSP right?

They've got a vid up at ign.com, but I can't find anything about it on the Capcom site though. Here's the link:

http://media.psp.ign.com/media/682/682971/vids_1.html

Even though I don't think there's going to be anything new added to the game, it's nice to see that the Darkstalkers franchise is still in action.