Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 297 sampled Steam reviews (267 positive / 30 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing17% mention it
- Combat9% mention it
- Music & audio4% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Bugs & crashes27% mention it
- Combat23% mention it
- Controls & UI23% mention it
- Story & writing17% mention it
- Visuals & art10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
71%
66 reviews
5-15h
94%
133 reviews
15-40h
98%
82 reviews
40-100h
92%
13 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 85 | 15 |
| Creator reviews (2 tracked) | – | 93 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 87 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 87 | 74 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 93% | 87 | 100 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 286 reviews sampled · 252 total reviews in window · weighted 197.8 up / 15.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (119)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
- 80
“After almost a decade Bayonetta is starting to show her age, but that doesn't stop this hyperactive melee/shooter action mashup from being one of the most rewarding and memorable cult hits of the previous generation. Retooled for Nintendo Switch, one of Platinum Games' most accomplished titles feels revitalised in both handheld and tabletop modes, serving up a meaty first course in the full witchy buffet to come.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Should I judge it for the hours of fun I had and its frequent brilliance, ignoring the commensurate hours I sat through some of the most self-indulgent pseudo-intellectual mumbling masquerading as a cutscene since Metal Gear Solid 4 (and the fact that the game drags on approximately five hours longer than it should?)”
read full review ↗ - 67
“It’s tough to assess a game that swings so wildly between two poles. In its more focused portions, Bayonetta is kinetic bliss that makes hand-to-hand violence into an act of love. But too often, the game devolves to its button-mashing, raunchy norm, adopting the puerile sensibility that is making Japan a less relevant voice in a slowly maturing medium.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“A fantastic and unique game of a witch fighting against the forces of Heaven. It has so much style that it easily entertains people. Great gameplay, great character and enemy designs.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Bayonetta is a solid action game that is filled with dark humour, sex appeal, silliness, plenty of action and enough cinematic quality to keep you well entertained even when you're not slicing up demon butt.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“The game is far from perfect, but its few faults are buried deeply under a game that shines brightly with its strengths.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Never mind the extras, Nintendo-only goodies, or even the, somewhat lame, and Switch-only, optional touch controls. The only important thing is that this great hack 'n' slasher called Bayonetta can now be experienced everywhere, and with next to no sacrifices in terms of visual quality, making this the best console port of this title so far.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Bayonetta may not look the part anymore despite a bump in visual resolution to 4K, but the enhancements this remaster brings to the game's load times and frame rate make it the definitive PlayStation release. Combined with a phenomenal, flashy combat system, the PlatinumGames classic shines brighter than ever.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“While it'll be easy to overlook this in favor of the sequel, in doing so you'd not only be doing a disservice to the game, but a disservice to yourself.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Bayonetta is an assured, impeccably well-crafted game overflowing with enough offbeat ideas to fuel a million action games, and if we were doling out medals of our own, we'd award Platinum Games with the highest possible accolade. Simply put, Bayonetta is worthy of nothing less than pure platinum.”
read full review ↗ - 93
“Bayonetta is the kind of game that makes me appreciate why I love videogames. It really defines a time when things were not taken too seriously and the focus was more on style and gameplay than anything else. The outlandish boss battles and over-the-top action really make this game stand out amongst its peers.”
read full review ↗
Fintendo
Nintendo Life
The A.V. Club
Kinglink Reviews
Cubed3
Push Square
NintendoWorldReport
GameWatcher
ZTGD…and 107 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Bayonetta Patch v1.01 Release NotesMay 19, 2017significant · resets scoring window
- Bayonetta Patch v1.01 Release NotesMay 19, 2017