Devil May Cry is a hack and slash action-adventure video game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2.
The game-play consists of levels called “missions”, where players must fight numerous enemies, perform platforming tasks, and occasionally solve puzzles to progress through the story.
The player’s performance in each mission is given a letter grade of A, B, C, or D, with an additional top grade of S. Grades are based on the time taken to complete the mission, the amount of “red orbs” gathered (the in-game currency obtained from defeated enemies), how “stylish” their combat was, item usage, and damage taken.
“Stylish” combat is defined as performing an unbroken series of varied attacks while avoiding damage, with player performance tracked by an on-screen gauge.
The more hits the player makes, the higher the gauge rises.