I played the hell out of the first DMC back in the day. Just over and over again, even on Dante Must Die and I almost never do hard modes. Apparently I really liked the relatively toned-down gameplay and setting, and the RE-inspired tone, because I never really enjoyed 2-4 the same way (2 goes without saying).
I largely ignored the series but spontaneously got the interest to play 5 a year or two ago. I did beat it, but it did not do anything for me. I was very glad to be done with it.