Beating a Devil May Cry game has never been easy. See, the Devil May Cry series has been consistently known for its unholy levels of hack and slash difficulty since 2001. Take Devil May Cry 3, whose North American "Normal" mode was actually the Japanese "Hard" mode, simultaneously making the North American "Easy" mode equivalent to the Japanese "Normal" mode. Keep in mind all of these modes were hard as hell, and that's not even considering the literal "Heaven or Hell" mode.

Incidentally, you have to unlock the "Easy" difficulty level in each game. Devil May Cry 4 toned down the difficulty, but beating the game remained an arduous task due the game being padded out by forcing you to replay each level as another character. Finally, Devil May Cry 2 was just a bad game. So, beating a Devil May Cry game has never been easy. Then we played Devil May Cry 5 on "Devil Hunter" mode, finishing it on a PS4 Pro in about three gaming sessions. Don't be deceived by its ease, though, as Devil May Cry 5 is the best entry in the series.

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Devil May Cry 5's story consists of 20 missions, with five missions consisting of just boss battles, two of which are basically duplicates of one another. This means that Devil May Cry 5 can be finished in about 16 hours, making it one of the shorter entries in the series. This brevity isn't bad though, rather it's a reflection of the series' difficulty finally being perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

During story mode you'll play as three devil hunters: the titular Nero, fan-favorite Dante and newcomer V, each of whom vary wildly in their individual play styles. Nero's fighting style hinges on his Devil Breakers, prosthetic arms that offer special moves ranging from pausing time to blast-jumping through the air like Bakugou from My Hero Academia. Since Devil Breakers break easily, you'll be rapidly rotating through robot arms, changing up your tactics with every battle.

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Those seeking a more traditional Devil May Cry experience won't be disappointed with Dante, who offers the most variety in combat. In addition to being able to cycle between four firearms and four melee weapons, Dante can also switch between four classic styles -- Trickster, Gunslinger, Swordsman and Royal Guard -- to vary up your approach to each enemy encounter. Some of these styles augment Dante's ranged or melee weapons, while others enable a counter system or let Dante dodge roll. Likewise, Dante can active his Devil Form, enabling him to deal more damage while also regenerating health.

Newcomer V is an interesting take on the traditional hack and slash format, as V cannot directly fight in combat. Instead, this gothic Kylo Ren summons a team of demons to fight for him, whose ranks include Griffon the devil bird for long range combat, Shadow the demon panther for melee fights and a golem known as Nightmare for smashing stuff. V himself can only finish off enemies with a vicious cane strike, or read poetry to buff his demon homies.

NEXT PAGE: Devil May Cry 5's Continue System is a Welcome Change

Unfortunately, playing as V is somewhat boring, as you can just alternate between mashing the Griffon and Shadow buttons while just running away to get high rankings with ease. Fortunately, most missions let you choose your devil hunter. Incidentally, one mission introduces a unique multiplayer component wherein three players share the same battlefield.

What really sets Devil May Cry 5 apart from its predecessors is its new continue system. Whenever you fall in combat, you can either give up and return to the last checkpoint, or spend orbs to regain some health. Primarily you'll use Red Orbs -- the currency used to upgrade your characters and purchase items -- to restore health depending on how many orbs you spend. We're not ashamed to admit that we spent a few orbs to gain a sliver of health just to finish off some of the trickier bosses. Alternatively, you can sacrifice a rarer Gold Orb to regain full health and stats, at the cost of lowering your overall mission score by 10 percent. This means that even the final boss can be brute forced, so long as you have orbs to spare.

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Even if you run out of Red Orbs during a boss battle, you can always throw out Dr. Faust, a white fedora straight out of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. That's not a joke, Dante does a Michael Jackson dance routine when he earns the mystical hat. Anyway, if Dante lands a special hit with Dr. Faust, his target begins wearing a fedora. If you strike a fedora-wearing enemy, you'll gain Red Orbs. If your fedora foe hits you however, you'll lose Red Orbs. Since Dr. Faust works on bosses, you don't have to replay earlier levels just to get over a particular hurdle. Though it seems small, this ridiculous addition means you'll won't have to replay a level just to have enough orbs to respawn.

Alternatively, if you choose to return to a checkpoint or restart a mission, you still retain all of the orbs you've acquired through your failed run, with orbs transferring over between characters. There's never any need to grind, albeit you can always replay any story or secret mission at any time with any character. Incidentally, there is never any need to spend real world money on virtual devil currency.

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The majority of Devil May Cry 5's missions take place over the course of one day, with some missions taking place only 10 minutes apart and three missions occurring simultaneously. This tight time frame means that the locations of each mission all sort of blend together visually, ranging from a desolate city overgrown with demon plants to a hellish landscape. Fortunately, Devil May Cry 5 is gorgeous, with cutscenes looking almost lifelike at times.

Every aspect of Devil May Cry 5 just compliments one another, from the tongue in cheek tone to its triple interlaced storylines. Above all else, it's Devil May Cry 5's new take on difficulty that makes it not only accessible to newcomers, but also satisfying to diehard fans. Devil May Cry 5's newfound approach to difficulty can be summarized with an early fight against an overpowered foe. At first glance, this is a fight you're supposed to lose, as failing just triggers a cutscene that brings you into the next mission. If you preserve, however, and somehow win, you'll actually beat the game and unlock a secret ending. Ultimately, Devil May Cry 5 is hard, yet fair... and we can't get enough of it.