No, Demon's Souls is the hardest game released in millenia. You should check out Zero Punctuation's review of it on the escapist.com. That will set you straight.
Okay, so here's a breakdown over this battle. First, here's the advantages:
STRENGTH:
Based on DMC 1-4 and GoW 1,2,3, and CoO, I would say that strength is equal. Kratos has always demonstrated amazing strength, but on the other hand, Dante showed his brawn in DMC4 when he Stopped the Savior's hand from crushing him. Not only that, but when Echidna tried to eat him. If strength isn't equal, I wouldn't know who to give the advantage two. These two dudes are badass when it comes to muscle.
SPEED:
Hands down, I give this to Dante. Even with Hermes boots, I highly doubt Kratos is as fast as Dante, given that the boots don't increse your base speed... Only reflex and attack. Dante, without any special boots, is naturally fast with lighting quick reflexes. He can dodge bullets, given that he deflected back Lady's bullets in DMC 3, Dodged one in a cutscene where she shoots him from behind before they discover Arkham's body. DMC4 really proved it when he deflected Nero's bullets. I hate to say it, but Kratos hasn't shown any feats of being that quick...
MAGIC:
This could mean all kinds of things, but in general, this advantage goes to Kratos. Even though Dante's weapons are nearly all Magic Based, so are Kratos'... Aside from that, he has Poseidon's Rage, Souls of Hades, etc. Dante mainly focuses on his hand to hand combat and his guns.
ENDOURANCE:
Again, this is another toss up... Dante doesn't tire so easly, but neither does Kratos. I would call this a draw, because it's hard to call...
BRAINS:
No doubt about it, Dante. Kratos is the type to just go in and destroy everything, but Dante has his witts. His insults would piss Kratos off, forcing him to charge in and possibly tire himself out, but the endourance would be equal in that case STILL, because all the blocking and dodging takes it toll on Dante as well. Still, I give brains to Dante.
COMBAT:
Both men are the best at what they do, but I would say Dante has a slight advantage over Kratos. As I said earlier, Kratos has the Magic advantage. He focuses both on Magic AND Weapons, while Dante has the weapon finesse. In fact, that's all Dante really uses is weapons. Aside from weapons, he has multiple fighting styles which is way more than Kratos has. Royal Guard, Quick Silver, Doppleganger, Sword Master, Gun Slinger, Tricker, and Darkslayer (DMC 4). Kratos just knows seach and destroy.
Now that we have the advantages established, here's some more thoughts...
Many people will accuse Dante of being a "pussy" because he uses guns. Well, in all fairness in this fight, it isn't pussy because he uses guns instead of magic. Kratos can easily use his magic as a ranged attack, but Dante doesn't have magic, so instead, he uses guns. I would say his guns are just as good as Kratos Magic, maybe not gameplay wise, but most certainly Story wise, considering that Dante 1hit kills many enemies with his guns in the Story.
In addition, there's two more factors that come into play: DevilTrigger vs. Rage of the Gods/Titans/Spartans... Gameplay wise, it's a toss up again because both modes increase your attack like crazy. Kratos gets Faster and stronger attack and takes less damage and Dante Gets Fater Movement, Stronger attack, and a Healing Factor. Story wise however, Rage of the Titans is just Kratos' basic anger/rampage. I have yet to see a cutscene of him glowing and smashing the **** out of people. Dante's DevilTrigger has taken place and has happened.
Many say Kratos is unbeatable because he kills Gods, Fates, and escapes from Hades. Here's my thoghts on this: After playing God of War 3, I realized that the Gods are OVERRATED and very ****ing weak. It seems that Kratos has been killing them without much hassle. In the cutscenes, he doesn't look winded or bruised or beaten... It makes it worse that he kills multiple Gods this way because that only goes to show that the Gods are weak and pathetic. So in the end, killing Gods is no special feat... Well, all except Zeus anyways. The same can be said on Dante's side, since most of (Not all of) his enemies were killed with little effort, but it's better in his corner because they weren't "Gods". Besides, I'm sure in Kratos' world, Dante could have killed them as well, and likewise in Dante's world, except the Mundus battle... I don't know how Kratos would fair then...And before the fanboys of GoW attack me, I will say that Dante did indeed struggle in the fight against Mundus. Same with Arkham and Argosax. Devil May Cry 4's final boss was pathetic to begin with, so I'm not even going to go there...
Hand to hand combat, I would say Kratos would get picked apart. With Dante's multiple fighting styles, speed, brains, and healing factor, it would be hard for Kratos to damage him. Yeah, Kratos could go for his world famous Decapitation, but if he was trying to rip off Dante's head or limbs or whatever, don't forget... Dante CAN teleport. Yeah, with his trickster ability, it allows him to teleport. Dont belive me, play DMC 3 and 4.
I also doubt the fleece would be able to deflect bullets, due to popular arguements. It can't even deflect arrows, so...
There's also another thing I hear about Dante's powers only coming from his blades... This was huge in some forums, but I have a sad truth... In God of War 3, I would hate to say it, but Kratos' power comes from his weapons, too. Without his weapons, he's weak. This was very much proven in a cutscene, I won't ruin it, but you will see when you play. This puts them on the same level as eachother when it comes to this matter.
Last but not least, the biggest part about Kratos is the Blade of Olympus. I won't even doubt the power of this Blade, it has amazing magical feats, but... Let's cut the bullshit...Kratos SUCKS with this sword. He doesn't have NEARLY as many combos or maneuvers as Dante does. Kratos is much better with his chained blades. Even when maxed out, I don' see the Blade of Olympus topping Rebellion... They may equal out at the very most, but that's about it.
In the end, I would say Dante wins this battle. It's tough to pick without the break down, because both of these men are so bad ass and both my all time favorites, but the facts kind of lean towards Dante. I wouln't call it a blowout or an overkill, though.
I stopped reading when he said that Dante was as physically strong as Kratos.
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Dante stopped a slowing hollwo stoen statue who eventually stopped moving on it's own after, and Kratos stopped a hollow bronze statue, and pushed the damn thing over. My moneiz on teh Spartan.
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But you wouldn't know as you rest your head.
Yes, now that I scanned over his post, I saw that he believes Kratos doesn't have finesse when it comes to weapons. Swingin' them around haphazardly in other words.
Chains of Hades would like a word with him.
...just thinking about the first time you brought that up
Dante's more talkative though >__>.
__________________
"To all visitors from Transylvania looking for the head of Voivode Dracula: Yes, we have it. Yes, he's dead. No, you cannot see it. No, he will not return and invade you again. It has been over thirty years, please stop pestering us."