Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

Although not perfect Bayonetta more than makes up for its few short comings creating an exciting action game. It pretty much uses the Devil May Cry style of game play but reinvented a lot of it, making it more than a clone. The first hour or so has a lot of cut scenes which players may find annoying or intrusive but they do start to space out throughout the campaign. But these cut scenes tell you about the back story of the game for Bayonetta cannot remember her past.
The action is fast & furious and you must always be on guard & ready to doge attacks if you doge just before they hit you it enters witch time (bullet time) which allows you to pull off combos on your enemies some can only be damage while in witch time.
Only some of the weaker enemies can be killed by simple button mashing but you will not get through the game even on Normal difficulty doing this. You will need to learn combos and unlock techniques & new weapons to complete & get the most out of this game ignorance will be punished. You can learn combos during loading scenes where they appear on the side of the screen & it also show how many time you have tried this certain combo allowing you to find new ones.
Here is a little list of some good and bad thing in the game (you decide)
Some cut scenes require you to press a button at a precise time or you die (it restart at the same spot so you don't lose any ground it only affects your stats.
During cut scenes the characters mouths don't move (I think they are using their inner voice or reflecting on the past)
Repetitive J-pop sound track but the non J-pop music is awesome
A crazy amount of combos to learn (if you play multiple games at once this is bit of a pain)
A few bad camera angles not to bad though (nothing like DMC)
Voyeuristic poses & cut scenes are quite cheeky (I found it funny)
A high replay ability factor (unlock combos / weapons e.g.).
Even though the levels are linear the game has amazing level design.
Overall it's a fun over the top (just right) action game that will reward dedicated players and frustrate button mashers. If you liked the DMC series at any point than you should like this one otherwise you may want to stay clear.