Devil May Cry 5 launched on PC in 2019, built on Capcom’s RE Engine and serving as a direct continuation of the franchise’s story following the beloved DMC3 and DMC4. The game features three playable characters. Nero is the hot-headed young hunter with a detachable mechanical arm system called Devil Breakers. Dante is the series’ iconic protagonist with access to four combat styles and multiple weapon loadouts. V is a mysterious newcomer who fights by commanding three demonic familiars. The trio converges on Red Grave City, where a massive demonic tree called the Qliphoth is draining human blood to produce a powerful fruit.
Community reception has been overwhelmingly positive, with DMC5 frequently cited as the best game in the franchise and one of the finest action games ever made. The three-character system provides a variety that keeps the experience fresh throughout, and the depth of each character’s combat mechanics has sustained an active community of combo enthusiasts years after release. Criticism is minimal and largely focused on areas outside the combat: level design that functions as connective tissue between fights, and a story that delivers its beats competently without reaching the emotional heights of DMC3.
Three Characters, Three Masterclasses in Combat Design
Dante’s combat system in DMC5 might be the deepest action game moveset ever created. Four styles, Trickster, Swordmaster, Royal Guard, and Gunslinger, can be switched between instantly, and each style modifies how every equipped weapon behaves. Stack four melee weapons and four ranged weapons on top of that, and the number of possible actions in any given frame is staggering. The skill ceiling is essentially infinite, and players who invest in mastering Dante’s full toolkit can create combat sequences that look like choreographed action scenes.
Nero’s Devil Breaker system provides a different kind of creativity. The mechanical arms are consumable, each offering a unique ability that ranges from powerful attacks to movement options to time-slowing effects. Managing your Breaker inventory mid-combat adds a resource management layer that balances Nero’s otherwise straightforward aggressive combat style. The Exceed system, which rewards perfectly timed engine revs between sword strikes with amplified damage, gives Nero’s melee combat a rhythmic precision that’s deeply satisfying to master.
V represents the most experimental character design in the franchise. Instead of engaging enemies directly, V commands three familiars: the panther Shadow for melee attacks, the bird Griffon for ranged attacks, and the golem Nightmare as a devastating summon. Managing multiple AI-controlled allies while positioning V himself creates a combat style that’s entirely unlike anything else in the genre. V won’t appeal to everyone, and some players find his gameplay less engaging than the direct combat of Nero and Dante, but his inclusion adds variety that prevents the game from feeling repetitive.
The style ranking system, grading your performance in real-time from D through SSS, remains the genre’s best motivation for creative play. Higher ranks aren’t just scored through damage output but through variety, timing, and combo extension. The system actively encourages players to use their full moveset rather than relying on safe strategies, and the dopamine hit of reaching SSS rank during a intense encounter is unmatched.
Boss design is exceptional. Each major boss fight is clearly designed with all three characters’ movesets in mind, offering opportunities for each to shine while testing different aspects of the player’s skill. Several boss encounters rank among the franchise’s best and serve as showcase moments for the combat system’s full potential.
Style Over Substance in Level Design
Level design exists primarily to move you from one combat encounter to the next. Environments are visually competent but rarely memorable, and the exploration between fights offers little of interest beyond the occasional hidden item. The game doesn’t need complex level design to succeed, given that the combat is the point, but the corridor-arena-corridor structure becomes predictable and the environments themselves lack the personality of the game’s characters.
V’s gameplay, while creatively ambitious, doesn’t reach the depth or satisfaction of Nero’s or Dante’s for many players. The indirect control scheme can feel detached, and the need to deliver finishing blows with V’s cane (since familiars can’t actually kill enemies) adds a mechanical step that some find more tedious than strategic. V’s chapters are the ones players are most likely to rush through on replays.
The story is adequate but unremarkable. It delivers the character interactions and dramatic moments fans expect, and the central conflict resolves satisfyingly, but the narrative doesn’t achieve the emotional resonance of DMC3’s sibling rivalry at its best. The game knows its story exists to provide context for combat encounters, and it doesn’t overreach, but it also doesn’t surprise.
Microtransactions exist in the form of purchasable red orbs, the game’s currency for buying abilities. While entirely optional and unnecessary, since the game provides enough red orbs through normal play, their presence in a premium, single-player action game has drawn criticism on principle.
The Action Game That Proved the Genre’s Vitality
DMC5 arrived at a time when the character action genre was often assumed to be niche and commercially limited. Its success demonstrated that there’s a large audience for mechanically deep action games when they’re presented with the production quality and polish of a AAA release. The game didn’t reinvent the genre. It perfected it, proving that the formula Capcom helped create decades ago still has room to grow when given the right resources and talent.
Should You Play Devil May Cry 5?
If you enjoy action games in any form, DMC5 is essential. The combat system is the genre’s best, the three-character variety prevents fatigue, and the style ranking system provides endless motivation for improvement. Newcomers can enjoy the game on lower difficulties while gradually developing skills, and veterans will find a depth that sustains hundreds of hours of mastery. Skip it only if you fundamentally don’t enjoy combat-focused games with minimal story emphasis, or if the stylish, over-the-top tone doesn’t appeal.
The Verdict on Devil May Cry 5
Devil May Cry 5 is the definitive character action game. The three playable characters each offer combat systems that would be remarkable in isolation, and together they create an experience with unparalleled variety and depth. The level design and story are functional rather than exceptional, but they’re not the reason you play DMC5. You play it because the combat makes you feel like the most stylish fighter in gaming, and because the skill ceiling is high enough that you’re still discovering new possibilities years later. The genre doesn’t get better than this.