I was just listening to the latest Rebel FM, where Arthur Gies, reviewer for the game for Team Xbox, talked about his opinion on Bayonetta.
Having not played the full game, I can't really comment on any of the finer points on what he had to say (difficulty spikes, etc), but I strongly disagree with the assertion that you have to both be into character-action games and be a Japanophile to get the most out of this game.
I never really spent much time playing DMC or NG, and I find that my favourite games are typically Western nowadays. Bayonetta appeals to me because of what seems to the interesting, creative level design, super-fluid combat and design choices that remind me of typical RE4ish-era Capcom. In that, it was a time where devs like Mikami and Kamiya himself were taking more traditional Japanese design, and very deliberately using them together with modern design to create games that are super-interesting, and, at times, transcended the games that inspired them (RE4, God Hand, Okami, Viewtiful Joe are some examples of this).
As a gamer, there is something really interesting about that to me, as they often end up being both the most memorable and the most remarkable games of their time because of their deliberate restrictions or conceits that make a game feel 'safe' and familiar, yet so much better/refined.
The appeal of something like that extends far beyond Japanophiles, people who post in this thread about rubbing one out to this game, hardcore character-action game fans and people who think the game's atmosphere and cutscenes are, like, totally rad, man. I have nothing against your decision to score the game the way you did, but the assertion you made is way off base on this one, Arthur, and I think, at this stage, the general response the game has received in the media and in the community indicates that the game might be doing something a lot more interesting than what you give it credit for.
Serious message board post on a serious topic.
