The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 3: Wisdom and Lunacy

The Legend of Dark Witch 3: Wisdom and Lunacy (魔神少女 エピソード3 -勇者と愚者-, Majin Shoujo Episode 3: Yūsha to Gusha) is the third mainline game in the Legend of Dark Witch series. It is unique among Dark Witch platformers in that a second company was largely involved in development: M2, a development studio primarily known for their acclaimed ports of retro games and fondness for scrolling shooters.

In March 2023, it will be impossible to buy this game following the 3DS eShop closure.

Gameplay
The Legend of Dark Witch 3 focuses on refining the Dark Witch series' gameplay mechanics, removing many features present in The Legend of Dark Witch and The Legend of Dark Witch 2 while modifying others to create a more streamlined game.

Dark Witch 3 does not feature Technical Skills or player-available Revenge Magics. Additionally, the Enhancement Gauge has been simplified to Speed, Wing, and Width, with Width functioning as a combination of the Liner and Power slots in previous games. The Enhancement Gauge is now filled by collecting Syega pieces during gameplay, while Tres merely serves as currency for Papelne's shop, which allow you to upgrade your current abilities.

Magic Items
Magic Items reappear in Papelne's shop in this game with a few changes. The magic items are free of charge, although you can only carry one type of magic item at a time. These items are able to be used three times until they run out. They will get refilled if the player loses a life, however. These items include:

Life Recovery: Recovers one of the player's hearts upon use.

Syega Search: Points the player in the direction of the nearest Pure Syega.

Double Tres: Doubles the Tres gained from enemy kills.

Double Power: Increases the power of your shots.

Spread Plus: Causes a small explosion to appear where an enemy is hit.

High Beam: Shoots out a beam that is functionally similar to the upgraded High Power Beam from the second game.

Wide Bomb: Triggers a large explosion coming from the player which also destroys projectiles.

Story
On the Old Islands (where the first game, The Legend of Dark Witch, takes place), humans and Fae are locked in combat. The Magic Lion Corps, an elite group of magic-wielding humans, poses a significant threat to the Fae. That is, until a sudden betrayal forces Magic Lion Corps member Day to be exiled from the Old Islands and ultimately results in the group being disbanded.

Day, bent on revenge, returns to the Old Islands. Her intentions are noted by Zizou Olympia, who descends upon Folkstone to stop her. Zizou's encounter with Day initially seems routine, but takes a sudden turn when Day activates "Capacity Zero" to drain Zizou of her powers. It is then that Zizou's sister Mati Olympia enters the fray and uses her powers to nullify Capacity Zero, resulting in Day's retreat.

Looking to gain more knowledge of the situation, Zizou seeks out the former members of the Magic Lion Corps: a familiar treasure fighter, a cynical shut-in, the newest librarian of Heavens Gardens, a motor-mouthed flower decorator, a mechanic currently working on a clock tower, a crafts director disguising herself as a Fae, a chivalrous thief, and a girl who fancies herself as a super hero. After defeating them, she then looks toward the Fae, and encounters a small witch with a big attitude, a strong but ditzy feline woman, a seductive woman with a pet snake, and a draconic soldier with a strong sense of honor.

The ending heavily depends on which character you play as. As Zizou battles the Fae, Day sets Folkstone on fire.

Zizou's story
Zizou returns and avenges her previous loss to Day. After Day has been defeated, the Fae mastermind Simeone appears and attacks Zizou. After a climactic battle, Simeone is defeated and the conflict seemingly averted. Back home, Zizou and Mati reflect on their duties as goddesses.

Day's story
In this story, Day ends up defeating Zizou, and Mati comes in to try and stop her. Mati is also defeated as well, and Day reflects on this. Out of nowhere, all of the Magic Lion Corps members congratulate Day, and they all agree to rebuild the Old Islands. The game ends with the narrator stating that the Old Islands are in peace.

Development
Dark Witch 3 was originally going to be based on Dark Witch 2's engine. NAN-A had shown off a couple videos on Twitter of him playing one of the bosses in late 2016. This version re-used Dark Witch 2 sprites. The boss is seemingly an early version of Cholesy, who uses concept art as her sprites. The boss is seemingly functional, however, due to unknown reasons, this was changed during development. This is likely due to the massive changes in the game-play.

A Dark Witch 3 demo was never available to the public, however Twitter user @irumn39 showed off two videos of a prototype of Dark Witch 3. According to the menu screen, only Teddy's stage is playable. Compared to the final product, many UI changes are made. One change was there being a section at the bottom screen showing lap time, as well as a timer occasionally appearing above Zizou's head. It is unknown what the function of these were. In addition, the Enhancement gauge was filled through collecting Tres as opposed to Syega chunks in the final game. After fighting Teddy, the demo ends.

The Legend of Dark Witch 3 has never been ported to any other console besides the 3DS. Fans have clamored for a PC or Switch port, however the reason why this hasn't happened is the lack of a publisher. NAN-A has confirmed this in an unofficial Dark Witch Discord server. NAN-A has also stated that after Brave Dungeon 2 finished development, a potential Dark Witch 3 re-release may see the light of day.

Reception
The Legend of Dark Witch 3 received extremely mixed reviews from players. While some felt that Dark Witch 3 had the most well-constructed level design of the trilogy and a high but well-balanced level of difficulty, others felt that the difficulty was over the top and disliked the changes, removals, and much less in-depth postgame options.

It ranked fourth in the official 2018 Dark Witch series poll, third in the 2019 poll, and fourth in 2020 poll; it was the lowest voted mainline game in 2018, second mainline game ahead of the original Dark Witch in 2019, and third mainline game ahead of Renovation in 2020.

Trivia

 * Dark Witch 3 is the first, and thus far only, game to release in North America and Europe before Japan. The international versions released less than a week before Christmas Day, while the Japanese version was released after Christmas.
 * This is the only game in the franchise to use a swear word. Day says “Damnit…” in the intro, which is considered a minor swear word.