PixlBit

DMC 4 is a great game and better than DmC, but I do agree on one thing - Bayonetta and especially Bayonetta 2 are the gold standard in that genre and DMC4 isn't quite going to measure up to them.

Well, to each their own, but DMC really captured my attention with its acid trip level designs --pulled me in from the very beginning and never let go. So far, in DMC4, its more like the previous games, just nicer visuals but I'm really enjoying the castle which is very Castlevania. Baynetta makes it harder to go back to these older style games. Still good, but not as good as I remember. Nostalgia I suppose. 

I didn't like the few minutes I played of DMC 4. Oh well.

I've played some of several of the games in that series. They didn't grab me as much as I wanted them to. I'll try one of those games again sometime for sure. 

I don't think Bayonetta is an evolution of Devil May Cry, as in it's fundamentally the same combat but better. That they have similar moves may lead people to make that assumption, but this shows a lack of deeper analysis and understanding. The scoring systems are the key.

In the DMC games, your score is based around variety of moves performed, while in Bayonetta it is based on simply keeping a combo going for as long as the requirements demand.  This is significant. DMC's system is more versatile,allowing for the chaining of any kind of moves, whether fast and light or slow and strong, while in Bayonetta it is usually best to use weaker attacks to keep the enemies from dying too quickly; this leads to what I call "death by a thousand paper cuts."  I can S rank in DMC using almost nothing but the slower power moves, while getting the combo requirement for Pure Platinum in Bayonetta is a more mashy affair.  This also leads to Dante feeling more powerful even though he is a weaker character. Plus, I tend to not like maintaining long combos, which is one reason why Ninja Gaiden is still be best of these kinds of games to me. But anyway, all this effects things like animation, timing, encounter design, etc.

Basically, Bayonetta does not obsolete Devil May Cry when it comes to combat, and certainly not DMC4. which may be the best playing game in the series (although I could make a case for the original, as having it's origins in Resident Evil development makes it a different kind of game than what followed).  It's everything else -camera, level design, bosses- that Bayo does better than 4.

I had issues with the combo emphasis in Bayonetta 1, but I feel like the slo-mo ability allowed you to carry the combo much further and made it feel fair in Bayonetta 2.

DMC is much easier to get into than Bayonetta because you can combo easier like you said, but DMC still has that platforming puzzle game, item collection that I feel is kind of old now. Specifically in DMC4. DMC5 is far more streamlined and linear which made it easy to get into, although I never tried the DLC which was supposed to add and arena mode or something. 

Dmc 4 is good but far from the pinnacle of the series. It reuses areas far too much,  focuses on a less interesting character,  and firces you into shitty timed platforming sequences that just don't work when the jump was stiff as a right wing cock during a Muslim beheading.

 Visually DmC is phenomenal, and it's art style goes a long way in helping me overlook it's flaws. dmc4 may have better combat than that game, but at least DmC doesn't make you play through the same levels with the exact same boss like 6 fucking times in 4 hours. Slight exaggeration, but that's what it feels like. Dmc3 is still great, 2 sucks, and 1 is interesting with its slower, more deliberate pacing but has some of the same problems 4 has with reusing bosses. Hell, there's a boss In dmc1 that literally spawns bosses you fought before, that's how fucking lazy they are.

 In all honesty I don't get why everyone hates on DmC for ruining the series when 3 is the only game that transcends merely being a competent.

I really should have bought the HD collection when it was on sale and played them all again for proper retrospective. DMC3 and it's difficulty was a revelation in a time when games were becoming more accessible and streamlined. My main issue with 4 right now is that it looks great, but feels really dated. It's probably be the definitive version, but they really need to go back to 3 or at least tweak out 5 if they ever do a 5-II. 

Honestly, Bayonetta 1 & 2 are worthy successors to the series and more along the lines of what I expect from DMC in the future. 

DMC4 is the only DMC game I played and didn't care to finish.  I got caught in this little room, which had an awful camera view, that changed depending on where I was, and I had to jump these disappearing platforms to get out.  The experience was a pain in the ass to say the least.  After being frustrated with the game way longer than I liked, I quit.  I wasn't having fun, so I was done with it.  I didn't even make it that far.  I wanted to like it, but it let me down.  Capcom should of tried harder with that game.

This is what I'm experiencing with the game now actually. Like I mentioned before,the combat is very stylised and pretty fun, but the game does feel a bit repetative after fighting the same enemies over and over again and retreading through the same environments all the time. It's kind of like that 3D Castlevania game that came out on PS2. I haven't given up yet, and I feel like I need to complete it just to tie-up the series of any loose ends. It has wierd mini-game puzzle type things. I just think DMC is better so far.