My opinion of this one is pretty mixed thus far about half way, keep in mind that I consider Bayo 1 a masterclass of the genre, with 2 a bit behind that, but still great (I simply felt the story and 'flavor' of 1 was more my taste), both are still fantastic action games.
This game is.. Hard to quantify, but it's easily the worst in the series so far (I'm up to chapter 7 however, so maybe things keep getting a lot better). The issue with the game is simply that while the combat engine might be fantastic (it is) you rarely ever are actually getting to use it, there is simply far too much bullshit in between and I have no idea why they decided this was the right direction. Let's look back to Bayonetta 1 a moment, the parts people hated most were the QTE's, the motorbike chapter, and the missile riding chapter (sans the fight with Jeanne), but the rest of the game was fantastic, fairly linear action game with style to spare, fun cutscenes, a fun story, and more importantly, consistent and engaging combat.
Bayonetta 3 feels like they took the criticisms of the past games, and decided to double down on them and increase their efforts on those areas 3x over, to the point that being in simple, normal fights feels like a breath of fresh air. I don't think I would see myself replaying this game simply because I'm going to have to run using giant spiders, play stealth levels, do poor platforming scripted sequences, etc, just to get to the meat of the game.
The game is at war with itself, it has that balls to walls crazy Platinum flair which many might prefer, the spectacle and variety stuff is as vast as ever here, but it's at the expense of having a cohesive and coherent action game that can compete with the likes of its prequels, DMC, and titles like Ninja Gaiden. Instead it just feels like a constant roller coaster (literally with ups and drastic downs) of gameplay types mixed with occasionally remembering it's a great action game. I don't even have issues with the Viola stuff yet (albeit, only one level of her so far)
Aside that, the level design is not only atrocious but the actual technical side is a mess, and the level variety seems super limited so far theme wise. The visuals are ugly, the framerate is bad, the scope is unusually large yet offers nothing benefitting to the player, the constant 'doom clouds' everywhere evoke big time Bionic Commando reboot vibes which was blasted over a decade ago for using the same very primitive idea for its open ended design. Exploring the levels is janky, uneven and buggy feeling (you can't tell me using the spider to attempt to climb anything doesn't feel like an unfinished mess), the camera is out of control at times, and all the wasted space and shoddy level design with these giant areas leads to.. Nothing, you gain nothing out of it, just less fighting, more spaced out combat sections, and more jank.
The game feels like how they define Alan Wake of old, where it was once open world but they couldn't make it fun so they streamlined it, but this feels like they kept the open world aspect a bit too much and decided to make it filled with very little to do, and when there is something to do, it's usually not that fun.
Then we have the optional verses, which almost all seem entirely gimmick based rather than fun gauntlets they usually were. I mean yeah, they had some gimmick ones before too, but ALL of them are gimmicks now. No damage unless in witch time, don't touch the floor, you're always being pushed around, the game seems absolutely terrified to just let you fight.
The beast mechanic is pretty fun but still seems to sacrifice tight combat for the sake of spectacle, I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet, but I don't consider it a problem so to speak.. Even the shop kind of sucks now, almost half way through the game I have only bought I think one thing from the shop, it just doesn't offer anything you'd want to actually use or buy.
This sounds really negative, I think this is mostly a fun but uneven game, but it's a very big drop from the action oriented roots the series had, it feels like Platinum just does not know how to sit still and focus on what their best attributes are mechanically, and instead throw in 100 gameplay concepts. I just can't believe anyone would take the 'Godzilla fight' or the bubble blowing segments over raw, action packed normal combat situations. The best games from Platinum are sadly still Bayonetta 1 and Vanquish, and now I'm starting to think it's because they HAD to keep the budget lower and weren't able to delve into all these ridiculous set piece scenarios. They could spend 1/3 the money and create a far better game if they just focused, keeping the crazy stuff to just occasional moments.
Wonderful 101 is a game I find similar, but I appreciated it more because it was a new IP and you had no prior expectations of it, but turning Bayonetta into basically a hodge podge sequel to that while limiting the actual time we can play it normally, is pretty disappointing to me so far. I'd still call this an '8' level game because the spectacle and variety IS enjoyable, but I think anyone entering this to get an action game to master might not be as thrilled as others. Viola is fun, the elevator action like levels are fun, some of the set piece stuff is fun or interesting, it just doesn't allow you to play the game you probably bought it for.
If you want a game that takes you through a variety of crazy set pieces and gameplay styles, this is likely going to suit you wonderfully, but if you bought it to play a serious action game, you might be bummed out, even if you enjoy what it became in its own way. Personally, I'm getting Nuts and Bolts vibes when I wanted Banjo 3, even if I enjoyed the change for what it was, it did not give me what I wanted from that series.