For most of the series, the player plays as Dante, a demon-hunter who is half-human and half-demon. The player earns upgrades, learns new moves, and buys items using Red Orbs, a pickup the player gets by exploring the level and killing enemies. The player gets more Red Orbs from enemies by getting a higher Combo Ranking. The player increases their Combo Ranking by killing multiple enemies quickly without getting hurt and by using many different attacks in a short amount of time.