Dmc. I unironically like almost everything about the game. 3 was good too.

DmC: Devil May Cry. Such a great game.

For me, it is a toss up between 5 and 3.

Now the real question, who is trolling us by voting for the only game on that list that is not a real DMC game?

I think I would say: the first one.

The first one had the atmosphere and the right difficulty. I remember those small corridor rooms where you would be forced to fight one of those shadow panthers that made me go: "Are you fucking kidding me?! I need to fight that thing HERE?!"

I haven't played DevilMayCry5 because I am currently playing and finishing DmC, but I would react to the franchise the following way:

DMC1: Possibly my favorite

DMC2: I loathe the sequel. Story is boring, Dante is not Dante, the game is too easy, the character is stiff and I feel like it doesn't respond well and fast enough to my commands. Stupid tank bullshit enemy what the fuck where they thinking?!

DMC3: Very cool game but the atmosphere of the first one is lost. It feels more like an anime game rather than a Gothic story like the first one.

DMC4: More like a return to form, feels like #1 and #3 were fused together and they had a baby called DevilMayCry4

DmC: Liking it a lot so far. Fights are challenging, at least trying to go through a whole level without getting hit. It doesn't have much atmosphere like DMC3 but the gameplay is really cool and dynamic (no enemy lock-on feature though and I was initially scrambling to evade attacks with shoulder block + X and failling miserably because there is no such feature playing on PC)

DMC5: I will play DMC5 once I finish DmC's story and the Bloody Palace.

I know you said it's been a while since you've played DMC4, but you should really rethink DMC5's "glaring flaws" in the context of the rest of the franchise. Some of the issues you listed in the review thread, like the lock on, are just issues with the entire genre in general - even Platinum Games' titles have the occasional lock on mess up. It's just the reality of the genre, if you're going to push speed and player inputs to the limit you're going to sometimes run into a hiccup. I'm playing Nier Automata right now (on route C) and it has much more consistent camera problems. I would even say that DMC4 had this issue way more consistently than 5. DmC doesn't even have lock on, which I'm not sure is really better or fixes anything, sounds like it would make the problem worse but I've yet to play that so.

You also mentioned weapon swap, and I agree with your idea that pulling one of the triggers and using the d-pad would be a great way to choose your weapons on the fly. But again, this issue would arguably be in DMC4 as well because that game also had your entire inventory on the triggers. The only reason that was faster by default was just because Dante had less weapons in that game - which is a bad thing, not a good thing, because you can customize your loadout in DMC5 so that you don't have to swap between a lot of arms and guns.

And DMC4 is far more campy. Frankly, it's the campiest DMC game. 

The first one.It was what got me in the series and honestly, I kind of miss the RE legacy of inspecting stuff and "back and forth" the first one had(basically the little exploration that it had).

DMC 1 was the best.
4 and 3 were super cool, but they missed something the first had. The dense atmosphere, gothic horror feel of the castle setting, general scaryness and the quite serious tone gave way to over the top action and too much joking around.

I loved DMC 3 and 4, played through all difficulties of 3. Gameplay is in the later games much improved and way more versatile, which can only be a plus. But DMC 1 is just more in tune with my tastes and holds a very special place in my heart.

I'm eagerly looking forward to playing DMC 5. Just gotta finish Ni no Kuni 2, Astro bot and Resident Evil VII DLC first.

I wish I could give a real answer but evidently games like this require multiple playthroughs and I've only finished each game once since I only got into them two months ago. I think DMC5 had the best initial impression but that's not saying a lot when recency bias + hype exist. 

I'll just say that the positives for each of the three contenders are roughly as follows: 

DMC1: 

+Best Atmosphere

+Possibly one of the best instrumental battle themes in gaming

+Possibly one of the best instrumental ambient themes in gaming

+Arcade-y mission structure 

+Bosses all feel connected to the island in a very natural way

DMC3: 

+Best boss battles in the series, and probably even a game with some of the most consistently great boss battles ever, even if some of them are not that good (Centipede and Shadow Dante are so unoriginal!) 

+A challenging game that feels very rewarding to complete missions in. 

+Best emphasis on orbs in the series, how well you do in the missions can completely change how powerful you are very easily, you really have to go for those stylish points and get all the secret stashes 

+The crunchiest combat in the series. I kind of wish that DMC5 found a way to make combat as crunchy and non-floaty as it is in DMC3. 

+The most weapons and styles in the entire series

+Benefits a lot from focusing on Dante over other playable characters

DMC5: 

+Probably the most consistent soundtrack in the series, so many bangers and quite a lot of great ambient tracks

+The best set up for a villain in the series, even if there's a little too many encounters with him before his last two forms (the Dante encounter in particular was unnecessary and I kind of wish they'd just skip straight to the cutscene)

+Obviously the most diversity in character selection in the vanilla entries of the series (though I guess DMC2 technically has Trish as an unlockable, but that's not as fleshed out)

+Perhaps Dante's best roster of weapons even if there aren't as many as in DMC3

+V was a great character 

+The little nods to the rest of the series are great and I'd argue Lady and Trish's inclusions were better in just a single few lines then in the entirity of DMC4, even if both games needed to use them more.

Which one had Dante in it? That was a good one! Possibly my fav.

This is so true. I remember having to find secret ledges and turn into demon and fly in order to find hidden orbs and stuff.

The first one had you in a specific setting but the new ones just keep throwing you into pretty much a new scenario in every mission. I remember the freedom you had to backtrack, enter and exiting rooms, etc. The first one was quite different to the rest when you start recalling all those details.

Dante has always joked around but the following entries just switched the dial up to the max. Now that I think about it, I think that DmC's Dante is a little more close in personality to the first Dante, although a little more American and not afraid to use curse words.

It's like silent & boring "Dante" from DMC2 and the backlash made Capcom overcompensate with the following entries.

You know, about the music, there is something about it which I miss so much.

I remember when you got into a fight, the music would turn into this siren alert sound that would pump you up and that would still play even when you went to menu and changed weapons, and when you changed weapons there would be this animation of shooting guns or shotgun while the music was still playing and it all felt kind of seamless and cool and action-driven.

I miss that little detail.