Does it worth your time?

Devil May Cry 5 is a very good action game, propably the best in the series. You play different characters, each with his unique weapons and abilities, in different chapters and that adds to the variety of the gameplay. The higher the difficulty the more enjoyable it gets, since this gives you more chances to use your entire arsenal. The game is very noobie friendly.

While the game is very enjoyable, the achievements are not. You have to finish all the chapters in every difficulty with the highest rank. And the game is not optimised for that. You will find yourself repeating the same chapters so many times that eventually you, most likely, will get bored of the process. The biggest irony is that, you are required to collect every orb and unlock all the skills for every character, but in the end you will not use them.

Before you begin

What will take most of your time is Worthy of Legend Clear all missions with S rank on all difficulties except Heaven or Hell. . There are two ways to go about it. Either, during every combat use every ability, dodge, block, taunt in order to build up the style without ever reloading the checkpoint, or finish the mission without taking damage. Note that there are fights that you can skip and fights that are unavoidable. Also at the end of every mission there are modifiers that increase or decrease your final score.

So if you choose to build your style during combat then you cannot reload the checkpoint if you feel your score was low, because you need the modifier at the end of the mission. Taking damage will not penalize your score that much so you shouldn't worry about it. If you choose to finish the mission without taking damage, then you can reload the checkpoint when you get hit, because the modifier for no damage is enough. In both cases, if you die you need to restart the mission.

I recommend the no damage route for two reasons. First, for the highest difficulty you cannot take damage anyway, since you die in one hit, and second because timewise, it is faster to reload checkpoints when you take damage than replaying the mission when your score was not high enough.

First, Second and Third Playthrough

Enjoy the story, get familiar with the characters, learn the abilities and use them. Do not bother with the breakable crystals, they are a waste of time. You will get a lot of red orbs during your playthroughs and from Bloody Palace, so just focus on the combat. The first abilities you should unlock are everything related to dodging, parrying, blocking, jumping and aerial combos. When you pick up blue and purple orbs make a note of the mission, because there is no indication ingame on which mission you have collected the orbs.

First playthrough should be on Devil Hunter difficulty. On this playthrough you will unlock the story specific achievements: Fall from Grace Clear the Prologue Mission. , Reunion Clear Mission 03. , End of the Line Clear Mission 06. , Light in the Darkness Clear Mission 08. , This Ain't Over Clear Mission 10. , The Qliphoth Clear Mission 12. , Gotta Hurry Clear Mission 14. , Back to Life Clear Mission 17. , Man on a Mission Clear Mission 18. and Showtime! Complete the game on Devil Hunter mode. for completing the playthrough.

Your second playthrough should be on Son of Sparda difficulty. Now you can do a few chapter specific achievements. For Mission 01 there is Protect the People Defeat all enemies in Mission 01. , for Mission 02 Where the Red Orbs Grow Collected Red Orbs from an unexpected spot in Mission 02. , Mission 04 Backroad Destroy a certain wall in Mission 04. , Mission 05 Break a Leg Fend off a menace from above in Mission 05. , for Mission 07 choose a different character from your previous playthrough for Share the Pain Clear Mission 07 with both Nero and V. , Mission 09 Eagle-Eyed Destroy a certain wall in Mission 09. , Mission 11 Don't Mess with the Best Use proper timing to get a leg up in a close-quarters battle against the boss in Mission 11. , on Mission 13 choose a different character from your previous playthrough, for Mission 15 there is Slick Moves Proceed with caution and avoid unneeded damage in Mission 15. and for Mission 16 Obedience Training Go on the offensive without relying on brute force in the Mission 16 boss battle. . Finally you will unlock Doing Daddy Proud Complete the game on Son of Sparda mode. for finishing the playthrough.

Third playthrough should be on Dante Must Die. On Mission 13 you can unlock Each In His Own Way Clear Mission 13 with Nero, V, and Dante. for choosing the last character of the three and Dance with the Devil Complete the game on Dante Must Die mode. for finishing the playthrough.

Fourth Playthrough

Choose Heaven or Hell mode. In this mode you die and the enemies die in one hit. This is the perfect playthrough to find all the secret missions, all the blue orbs and the purple orbs. Some missions you cannot collect them all in the same run, so repeat the missions to collect everything. You do not need to finish the mission, the game autosaves when you collect the orbs. On prologue you can unlock Well I'll Be Damned Wield overwhelming power to exact an unexpected conclusion. and during the credits with Dante you can unlock A New Job Accept a new job from Morrison after the Red Grave incident. . You will unlock Stairway to Heaven Complete the game on Heaven or Hell mode. for completing the playthrough. You should also now finish all the secret missions for Secrets Exposed Clear all secret missions. .

Fifth Playthrough, S-Rank Playthroughs

For your firfth playthrough choose Human difficulty. In this playthrough you will finish the remaining chapter specific achievements while S-ranking all the missions. For mission 05 there is Pet Protection Clear Mission 05 without V's demons getting stalemated (any difficulty except Heaven or Hell). , mission 07 Unarmed and Dangerous Beat Mission 07 without any starting Devil Breakers equipped (any difficulty except Heaven or Hell). , mission 11 Who Needs Weapons Anyway? Clear Mission 11 without equipping a weapon set for Dante (any difficulty except Heaven or Hell). and for mission 19 and 20 there is Battle for the Ages Clear Missions 19 and 20 without using continues (any difficulty except Heaven or Hell). . You can also do The Quick and the Dead Defeat 5 enemies in 1 second. with V and Rearm and Repeat Collect more than 100 Devil Breakers during missions. with Nero. For finishing the playthrough you will earn Let's Rock! Complete the game on Human mode. and Hell of a Hunter Clear all missions with S rank. .

While trying to earn S-rank on every difficulty you will unlock the rest of the miscellaneous achievements: I Believe I Can Fly Rack up a total of 60 minutes in the air by jumping or other means. , Jackpot! Collect more than 1,000,000 Red Orbs total. , Demon Destroyer Defeat 1,000 enemies total. , Not Too Shabby Perform a Stylish Rank S combo. , Steppin' up the Style Perform a Stylish Rank SS combo. and Seriously Stylish Slaying! Perform a Stylish Rank SSS combo. . For completing the playthroughs you will earn Highway to Hell Complete the game on Hell and Hell mode. and Worthy of Legend Clear all missions with S rank on all difficulties except Heaven or Hell. .

Sixth Playthrough

Now you should play through the game again with Vergil. Difficulty and rank does not matter. So you can either choose Human difficulty, play once and know that you are finished with the campaign or play again in Heaven or Hell difficulty to unlock his super costume, which will make Bloody Palace run easier. On mission 19 there is Heart of a Swordsman Clear Mission 19 as Vergil without using any weapons other than Yamato. (Heaven or Hell excluded) and by finishing the campaign with Vergil you will unlock Sibling Rivalry Clear all missions as Vergil. .

Bloody Palace Playthroughs

Now you need go through the Bloody Palace four times for each individual character. During this playthroughs you will earn enough red orbs to buy every skill for every character and the remaining Blue and Purple orbs that are in Nico's shop. Choose Dante last so you can unlock Dante The Gambler Complete the game on Heaven or Hell mode. . For having collected all the purple and blue orbs you will earn Physical Perfection Upgrade your vitality gauge to max. and The Devil's Own Upgrade your Devil Trigger Gauge to max. . For buying all the skills you will earn Nothing's Impossible Acquire all of Nero's skills. for Nero, Be the Legend Acquire all of Dante's skills. for Dante, Demon Breeder Acquire all of V's skills. for V and Concentrated Strength Acquire all of Vergil's skills. for Vergil. For completing the Bloody Palace you will earn Slam Dunk Clear the Bloody Palace with Nero. for Nero, Too Easy Clear the Bloody Palace with Dante. for Dante, Rest in Peace Clear the Bloody Palace with V. for V and This is Power Clear the Bloody Palace as Vergil. .

Time Saving Resources

Dashi's Completionist Guide to: 100% Devil May Cry 5 - Steam guide, achievements are categorized by missions, with images for the locations of the orbs and the secret missions.