Over the years I've come to see Platinum Game's game design as extremely over-rated. Designing everything around one-button defensive mechanics and perfectly timed counter-attacks makes combat feel more like a rhythm game, and it's hard to go back to a game where 90% of your huge moveset is locked behind dial-a-combo strings after playing something more freeform like Devil May Cry.

That being said Bayonetta is such a well made game that whenever I pick it up, I find myself tempted to play through the entire story all over again. It's got super energetic pacing, great setpieces, platforming and minigames that are actually fun and well incorporated, etc.

Overall I guess it's proof that if a game has a sense of fun to it, that's more important than OCD game design complaints. At least for me.

But if you're going to only play one game of this genre, play Devil May Cry instead.

Over the years I've come to see Platinum Game's game design as extremely over-rated. Designing everything around one-button defensive mechanics and perfectly timed counter-attacks makes combat feel more like a rhythm game, and it's hard to go back to a game where 90% of your huge moveset is locked behind dial-a-combo strings after playing something more freeform like Devil May Cry. That being said Bayonetta is such a well made game that whenever I pick it up, I find myself tempted to play through the entire story all over again. It's got super energetic pacing, great setpieces, platforming and minigames that are actually fun and well incorporated, etc. Overall I guess it's proof that if a game has a sense of fun to it, that's more important than OCD game design complaints. At least for me. But if you're going to only play one game of this genre, play Devil May Cry instead.