Devil May Cry 5 is an action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom in 2019. It’s the continuation of the Devil May Cry series and, for many gamers, restored faith in the series. The game follows Dante, Nero, and V (a new character) as they seek to defeat the Demon King Urizen and later destroy the Qliphoth tree bulging from the Underworld. Designed for both newcomers, with a detailed recap of the other games available, and those who’d played before, Devil May Cry 5 was a generally successful game with fans eagerly awaiting the next in the series. Let’s break down some information about the game and review it! This is NOT a spoiler-free review.

Dante and Vergil, the half-demon sons of Sparda, have had an epic rivalry for years, always being at odds even if a situation arises where they have to work together. Now, Dante is running the Devil May Cry business with Nero, Lady, and Trish while Vergil is MIA, supposedly dead. Within a few days, demons and the Qliphoth tree spawn in the city, Nero has lost his Devil Bringer arm, and a mysterious stranger named V comes to have Dante handle the demonic invasion. Things do not go as planned though, and a month passes before any of them are able to make progress and stop Urizen. V, a shell of Vergil’s humanity, reunites with a defeated Urizen and becomes Vergil once more, quickly fighting Dante and leaving Nero out of it as it’s revealed he is Vergil’s son. Nero, filled with emotions he does not understand and a desire to prove himself, unlocks his Devil Trigger and stops the fighting. Dante and Vergil leave to the underworld to cut down the tree, leaving Nero in charge of fighting demons as they come. The game is as fast-paced as that summary was.

Time and dates play a crucial role in the story, as you jump from the present to hours or days before to build the story in a non-linear way. The game was created with RE Engine to give the characters more realistic designs, with real-life people used to make their faces and the setting based on different locations in London.  Each character, Nero, Dante, and V, has their own theme song that plays for every battle and a unique battle style. The better you do in battle, the better your style rating will be, the highest is SSS. For each mission, you select the character you want to play as, and later the game will send you back to play the others to piece everything together. Vergil is also playable now on the updated version of the game for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.

Dante is the most complex to play since he has several different battle styles and weapons, whereas Nero and V are pretty straightforward. Dante, Nero, and Vergil maintain the same playstyle as Devil May Cry 4, with different arms and an eventual Devil Trigger being available for Nero. The creators did listen to player feedback from the last game and tried to incorporate things to make the game more enjoyable for new and returning fans. This helped the success of the game and regenerated interest in the series. The music during fights adds a layer of immersion, with fast-paced beats and good music encouraging players to give it their all.

Despite the game being fairly short, I loved every moment of it. This was my first experience with the Devil May Cry series and, with the recap of the other games, it’s not a bad place to start for newcomers! Each character gets a strong story, music, Devil Trigger, and a simple how-to guide for their moves and styles. Nero was easily my favorite, but I feel that if I had experience with the older games and the younger version of Dante, he would be a favorite. They’re full of sass, attitude, and jokes that make you laugh even when they shouldn’t. Overall, this was an incredible game that I’d highly recommend to all gamers! 

A light novel and a 5-book manga series based on the game, but I was only able to find them in Japanese for resale, no English versions are available. There is a Devil May Cry animated series from 2007, and a new one coming this April (2025) on Netflix with the voice actor for Nero voicing a younger Dante. 

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