Bayonetta, solely as a character-action game is a little mixed for me. I think the actual combat mechanics are superb, but the campaign is riddled with too many interruptions to that gameplay for me to get as invested in the combat as I would with other games in the genre. There are some encounters that felt less fair than others in service of "mixing things up", and the half-baked SHMUP sections aren't very interesting.

But I think all of that feels like a footnote to the game, because Bayonetta's biggest strength is spectacle. The art direction is gorgeous, the pacing is breakneck, and the game is constantly one-upping itself in terms of setpieces and bosses, culminating in a final stretch that trumps any of its contemporaries in terms of delivering an ending as fun and exciting as its preceedings. In a time where DMC was having something of an identity crisis, Bayonetta burst into the scene with the confidence of a series that had been around for decades, to the point where it made Capcom's efforts with DMC seem almost quaint (I still love DMC4 regardless!).

It might not have fully won my heart mechanically, but that didn't stop it from being an experience unlike any other. The constant fighting and comparisons of Bayo vs. DMC will probably never end, but I think the important takeaway is that Platinum created a game capable of standing alongside the Devil May Cry series with its own appeal and identity, rather than just making an uninspired copy. Very excited to play 2 and 3!