This could make me look stupid or bad or both but I want to get my thoughts in order and get it out of the way.

I played Bayonetta 2 two months ago. To be honest I think the game is a bit overrated. The metacritic score is something like 80% but it was a 7/10 for me. The combat is good at first but becomes repetitive. They try to spice things up with level design but it falls short. The premise has potential but the way the story is told is not engaging plus the voice acting is a bit campy.

What I was thinking about is what to make of a man creating this setting where the women all look like supermodel caricatures and have high sex appeal in not just looks but also personality and mannerism. It feels like male gaze to me. But there is also the other side to consider. That of slut shaming. So just that the female characters look mythically beautiful is not by itself a cause of concern. But I don’t know enough about the surrounding context (game made in Japan, directed by a man, if there were women substantially involved in the pipelie) to form an opinion.

Personally I think this turmoil in my soul would be laid to rest if in the next DMC game Nero becomes tastefully nude when using the devil bringer.

Edit: I think the answer is similar to that of the question of whether LotR is racist or not. Like it’s not exactly and explicitly racist. But there is an element of it in its basis.