An amazing fast paced action game from the talented mind that made the Devil May Cry series.
Story: 8.5/10
You play as Bayonetta, an Umbra Witch who has lost her memory. and on her quest to find out her purpose, frequently encounters the Umbra Witches' enemy, the Lumen Sages.
The story is quite interesting but the presentation of it leaves much to be desired. Instead of fully fleshed out cut scenes, we have slightly animated film strips. Props to Platinum for trying something different in the presentation department but it's not really an effective way to deliver a story.
Visuals: 9.5/10
The game looks absolutely amazing, Bayonetta herself is a very interesting character to behold and so are many of the cast of characters. The animations are fluid, the action is smooth (although frame rate drops a bit when the action gets a bit crazy), monsters look awesome and Bayonetta's torture attacks are insane. The environments can sometimes look a bit bare but the setting itself looks great and compliments the overall mood of the game.
Sound: 10/10
I love the music of this game, especially the cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" (something my mom was surprised to hear when I was playing this game). It's unique to a game of this genre yet very fitting and gives the game more personality and attitude. The voice work is also very well done, I do enjoy listening to Bayonetta speak in her exquisite English accent.
Gameplay: 10/10
Bayonetta's gameplay is what truly shines, even if you don't care for the story or the visuals/sound, the gameplay truly makes this game worth playing. Basically the game is a hack n slash action game, you can get by simply by mashing buttons, but that's no fun nor will you get a good ranking if that's how you play. Bayonetta is equipped with 4 pistols initially, two for her hands and two attached to her shoes (her "high heels" pretty much). You do have unlimited ammo BUT gun fire is very weak compared to melee attacks. Later on you can equip Bayonetta with different weapons aside from guns (I preferred having her use a sword with guns on her feet).
She already starts off with a wide array of devastating combos but in order to obtain the best ranking (Platinum), you will want to make use and master Bayonetta's two main abilities, her time slowing ability which is activated when you dodge an enemy's attack last second (the game will slow the game down a bit giving you the chance so it's your fault if you get hit) and the second is her torture attacks, which are automatically kills and a always fun to watch since it's her hair that she uses to perform these attacks.
There is some light platforming and puzzle solving, but those are just inbetween battles. There are sequences in which Bayonetta's secret ability is used, which is the ability the move anywhere on any surface, defying gravity. It's only activated when there's a full moon. This mainly occurs during escape or boss sequences and not really something that will occur normally.
Value: 8/10
The game will run you around 10 hours, which is pretty standard for most action games nowadays but I still feel like that's too short for a full retail game. Granted there are a crap ton of weapons to unlock and a scoring system that does encourage you to go back and beat your high score but those don't entice me personally, though I know completionists will love it.
Overall: 9/10
Despite its length, Bayonetta is a stellar action game that is just a lot of fun to play. The story is pretty interesting, the music is awesome and the attitude of the game is something that'll stick with you long after playing. It's full of personality and good hilarious fun.