Devil May Cry V is a sequel to Devil May cry 4 with the games lore only taking place a couple of years inbetween. Nero is officially working for Dante's Devil May Cry bussiness but instead of being with him, he is mostly partner with
Nico Goldstein, a friend who is obsessed with demons and uses their body parts to craft weapons. One day, a mysterious hooded figure approached Nero at his base and cut his demonic Devil Bringer arm which turned into the Yamato blade.
The figure then cut a portal and left Nero on the ground. A few days later, a young man named V approached Dante and asked for his assistance to take down a powerful demon knowned as Urizen. Urizen stays in demonic tree called
Qliphoth whose roots kill the people in the Red Grave City. Dante and his assistants made their way there, and quincidentally Nero also make his way there how ever Urizen was way more powerfull and defeats the 4 of them. Dante
focused his remainning energy to protect the injured Nero and asks V to carry him away leaving him and the women(Trish and Lady) behind.
A month later Nero still seeks revenge on Urizen and teams up with V in order to make their way up to Qliphoth. Even though they re together in this, Nero and V both act on their own gathering information and trying to find what happened to Dante.
They begin by taking down Qliphoth's roots. Throughout the narrative, V seems to know more than he lets out and is also very consirned about time. Apparently he is running low on enrgy and gets more sicken unless Urizen is taken down. Theres one member
who seems to know something know about him but i wont spoil much.
Will the heroes succeed?
Who is V?
What happened to Dante?
How powerfull is Urizen?
I personally enjoyed the story of Devil May Cry V. I played it once in the summer of 2019 at a friends place during a couple of gaming night sessions and replayed it again recently in 2026 on my personal account. Despite knowing the story, it still feels nice. The narrative is delivered through fully voice acted cutscenes. The mystery surrounding V and the others is amazing when you dont know whats comming and despite not being as mysterious as before its still sends chills when certain moments occur. The characters are all interesting and my personal favorite was V who reminded me alot of Genesis Rapsodos from Crisis Core FFVii who was shrouded in mystery and always carried a book which he studied. Nico was also a great addition to the story as her chemistry with Nero works perfect. Dante despite growing older is still fun and badass and clearly the design was the only thing that changed as he is still fun and "immaturish".
The gameplay of Devil May Cry V is very similar to its prior entries however it is more Polish than ever before. The game has 3 playable heroes and four if you buy the DLC. These being Nero, V, Dante and Vergil as DLC. Despite that, all heroes feel very different from each other.
The level design is usually linear with the characters usually moving forward. The characters all have sprint abilities, jumps and double jumps that the player will have to unlock, at least some of them. The levels also have some small platforming sections and puzzle sections where they ll need
to pick a "Key item" to open a gate, or cut roots to reveal paths. Additionally they have trasures that the player can get and rooms that lock the player in until they defeat the enemies. Last but not least, near the end of the level theres usually a checkpoint to repenish ammo and skills before the
boss room.
Levels in DMC5 are hero specific, meanning you can only use the hero who is assigned to that mission. Nero is only playble to his sections, V to his and same for Dante. The only hero who can be used in other hero mission is Vergil from the DLC. As mentioned each hero's gameplay differs however they
re all fast paced fighters with unique abilities, devil triggers and long range weapons. The players can use different button combinations whose timing is essential for a different combo to be used. Using different combos builds the style meter which rewards more points at the end of the encounter, however
a single hit will drop the style rank. The Hp bar is placed on the top left and the Devil trigger bar is underneath it. On the top right, you can see the red orbs which acts ass the players currency. Defeating enemies drops them. Green orbs restore health.
Nero is a character who plays similar to the original Dante. He is equiped with a sword and a pistol. His sword has the Exceed system which allows the blade to power up. Powering the blade will unleash a more powerfull blast. The player can power it prior to the battle or during battle. With certain abilities it
can also power up during a combo. His sword is the main method of his combat and has multiple types of combos both on land and mid air. For long range, Nero is using a revolver. The gun is not powerfull on its own but it can be used to stunn enemies, change the combo's flow, use it againts certain demons and to make
powerfull enemies drop down. A geat addition to Nero's arsenal is Devil Breakers. Since Nero lost his demonic hand, Nico equiped Nero with mechanical arms. These arms are all different and also change Nero's attacks. For example, the hero can extends all the arms to pull an enemy towards him and can also use them
to grap onto things. In battle, each hands triggers unigue attacks that differ based on the hand. Some are mellee focus, others throw projectiles and other heals. Theres 8 breakers available and 15 with the DLC.
V is the newest playable hero in the DMC series and his gameplay is vastly different from any other one. V has the ability to summon familiars that do the fighting for him. His main combanions are Griffon and Shadow. Griffon is a demonic hawk looking creature that is capable of speech. Its also the character V interacts the most.
Griffon can be used to glide with and in combat its capable of shooting electrick projectiles. Shadow on the other hand looks like a panther and it handles mostly the close range on land battles. During this time the player controls V and keeps him away from battle. Each familiar reacts to certain button combinations. For example,
Griffons combos are mapped on Nero's pistol combos and shadows is mapped to Nero's sword combos. When an enemy flashes white, V can deliver the finishing blow. In battle V can also read his book which will boost his devil trigger whilst his familiars re fighting. V can boost his familiars powers by using the devil powers. This temporarily
boost the familiars. The player can boost both or just one at the time. If one falls, it will respawn with time which can be shorten if V is near their cores. Last but not least, in devil trigger, V summons Nightmare. A powerfull Golem with devestating attacks.
Dante is the last of the main game's playable heroes. Dante is equiped with multiple weapons and even multiple styles. Similarly to Nero, he has a sword and guns. Unlike Nero those vary in quantity. For example Dante has his double pistols, a bazzoka(also double wield), a shotfun and a magical hat(yeap a hat known as Dr. Faust) for long range attacks.
For close range Dante uses Sparda sword, Beowulf(legs and punches), the Cavaliere(a motorbike which turns into a weapon) and King Cerberus, a weapon with multiple forms that carry elemental powers. All abilities play differently from the others. For example, Beowulf is a mellee weapon that changes between fist combo or kick combos. King Cerberus turns into nunchaku with ice base powers.
Holding it down changes its style to electricity and using a different button turns it into a spear with fire powers. Additionlly all abilities change based on the style Dante is equiped with. For exaple Sword slinger allows him to use alot of combos using his
sword where as gunslinger boosts his guns and Trickster performs extra dodges and speed mobilities. Dante can swap all the weapons and all combat styles on the fly. Moreover, Dante can use his Devil Trigger. Devil Trigger is a time limited power up that boosts both the speed and the damage of the hero whilst providing more shield and health restoration over time. Unlike other
devil trigger users, Dante can transform even further boosting his speed and damage even more.
The player can spent their red orbs on which ever hero they prefer. Keep in mind if you unlock a certain ability such as double jump for V, Nero and Dante wont be able to use it unless you unlock it for them as well. This means you should be carefull of how you spent your points and on whom. Devil trigger expansions and health expansions transfers to
every hero. Nero is also capable of buying devil breakers from Nico. In case of death, the player can spent the red orbs to ressurect(quantity counts towards the life restored) or use a gold prismon which will revive the hero.
I genuently loved the gameplay of Devil May Cry 5. Its's fast, stylish and badass. Each character differs which is nice given how the devs had to come up with unique combos and gimmicks to make the heroes different. V was my favorite back in 2019 and still is 7 years later. I just loved sending his familiars whilst i stayed away reading my book. I even remember not liking Dante's Beowulf before however, now its my most used Dante weapon. I also found appreciation on different devil breakers than the ones i used before. I also appreciate how energetic certain cutscenes are especially after a tuff boss fight. The style meter is again something very good and what the series is known for and playing again in 2026 shows that games that tried to copy it like Forspoken and Lost Souls Aside although did a good job is still nowhere near DMC levels.
Uppon finishing the game, the player can replay the missions in order to get the high rank of S in every single one. Uppon finishing the game, higher and tuffer difficulties will also become available making each playthrough even more punishing. During a walkthrough, the player will discover Secret gates. Secret gates are time limited mission that need to be cleared before the time runs out. The Bloody Palace Mode is once again back which is something the community loves. The bloody Palace offers 101 floors of enemy waves that the players will have to survive. Uppon challenging the tower, the player can unlock outfits na dcosmetics. Last but not Least, the player can go through the entire story in Vergil Mode which allows the player to go through the missions as Vergil. Vergil has his own unigue weapons, combos and movements. Ofcourse he is equiped with his dimension cutting Yamato blade. Similar to Dante he has his own Beowulf combos that differ from his brother. He is also equiped with another blade known as Mirage Edge. Moreover, he is capable of creating blades and clones that fight alongside him. Last but not least, he is also capable of performing a devil trigger evolution. To sum up Vergil's playstyle is very close to Dante however unlike his brother he is capable of teleporting, cutting through dimensions and summon blades for projectiles instead of using guns. Vergil mode consist of the 20 missions that make up for the main plot. However you will not be able to trigger the cutscenes and instead you will drop straight into the boss fight or into the mission.
On the visual department, this is the best looking Devil May Cry. Ofcourse this is due to the fact that the game was released at the Ps4 era instead of the early ps3 where technology evolved. Additionally capcom showed alot of improvement on their visuals for their Ips so Devil May Cry also received the same treatment. The redesigns of the cast were well received and design. Nero no
longer looks like Dante but in blue and looks like himself. Dante's elder looks is very nice and shows how time affected him after DMC4. V's design is drowned in mystery and differs from everything that came prior. Nico is also worth mentioning as her silhouette and personality differs from the previous characters. Gameplay wise, the animations and the stylish combat looks gorgeous without
the effects intercepting with the gameplay. The level design although simple, it looks ad fits the part.
Audio wise the game doesnt dissappoint. The original cast is back reprising their roles and doing a stunning job. Reuben Langdon does a good job portraying an older version of Dante and Johny Yong Bosch also does well when voicing Nero, alhtough i would always hear Ichigo from Bleach whenever he screams. Ofcourse, the biggest thing DMC5 gave to the fans were
Devil Trigger and burry the Light. These two songs were by far some of the best the series has ever seen. Dont get me wrong, Devil May cry always had good music but these 2 songs go crazy. Overall the entire package of background sounds, voice acting and character themes does the game justice. Its worth mentioning that the players can also purchase old sound effects and soundtracks from their
platforms store.
Overall, Devil May Cry 5 was an excellent continuation and revical of the Ip which had no entry since the poorly received Reboot. It proved that Capcom can still catch the essence of the original games and deliver a game that would be well received by everyone. The game takes place a few years after DMC4 with a new threat terrorizing the world. A mysterious man known as V hires Dante to help him stop Urizen, a powerfull demon that threatens the world. Urizen made his appearance a month after Nero lost his demonic hand to a mysterious clocked figure. Dante, Nero, Lady and Trish tried to stop him but they failed. However, they team up yet again to take down the enemy. The game is fully voice acted and offers alot of cool cinematics before, during and after a mission. The songs also do a fantastic job capturing this rock atmosphere that matches with the stylish combat it offers. Moreover, the players get to experience 3 different heroes, 4 if we count the DLC. Each hero has his own playstyle which changes how each one feels. Uppon beating the game, the players can challenge themselves in harder difficulties, take the Bloody Palace challenge and even try the Vergil difficulty. Overall the game's over the top stylish combat and beloved characters make this game still stand out despite being 8 years old as of the writting of this. Afterall a games quality doesnt drop if done properly.
This is a video of me playing the game. Near the end, we kept dying cause we wanted to see if we could save the kid.