I've only played the GoW3 demo but I enjoy the combat in Bayonetta a lot more. The overwhelming majority (like 90% +) of the demo was focused on combat and I think the actual game probably has a similar ration of combat:other stuff.

I think the combat in Bayonetta is significantly better and combat is the primary gameplay in both games.  Plus, the super extreme sadistic gore is a turn off for me.  13 years ago this probably would have the best game ever but 13 years later and it feels like they're trying too hard. 

God of War 3 : Violence and Gore as

Dead or Alive Paradise : Sex

GoW 3 is miles better than Bayonetta in presentation and fun, but they're not the same kind of games at all anyway.

I agree with this being like motor storm vs GT5, true they are both racing game but they have different style of gameplay and audience to appeal to, for ppl who likes outragous car crash and makaing their car fly of the ramp will like Motorstorm better and for ppl who likes serious racing and more into simulation will find GT5 the better game so in the end its more of which sort of gameplay does a individual prefer more than which is the better game out of the two...

I can agree with you that the story could be cheesy sometimes, there have been a few moment's were I'd actually cringe because of how shallow certain dialogue was. Though God of War does achieve what it's aiming to be, which is a big, manly, super epic, 300 + Vin Diesel super game for mild tempered men who want to go 'Whoa!!' at random moments. 

Bayonetta is a charming game and has the whole quirky Japanese vibe that I have grown to love from animes, the game has everything working for it term's of making a stunning game. The story though felt tacked on, it was also fairly confusing sometimes and the sexyness was off putting sometimes. The voice acting was fantastic, the interaction between the characters can only be compared to Uncharted & Mass Effect and the Bosses were some of the best I've ever fought.

Bayonetta is a game that deserves to be played more and it's definitely up there with the best of it's genre. If it's better than God of War is entirely up to the person who has played both and can give an honest opinion.

Exactly, and I agree with the story is a bit confusing, some of it is the dozens of references you have to understand, the other is the actual story is one that seems like a dream you have if you were in a room that's air was just about every drug you can list off, *spoilers for Bayonetta* angels, witches and humans have their worlds, when theres an imbalance chaos will break free, witches were hunted out by the humans caused by some plot made by the angels, so the angels are the enemies which look more like demons, so the typical good guys are bad lol, then you have some plot revealed about the creator being brought back by none other than your father, which is bad cause it'd destroy everything, so in the end you have to kill the creator herself! *end spoilers*

Yeah that is a bit much to keep up with, but the humor just simply sets it apart, and the over the top sex appeal without actually showing anything and usually being an overall cocktease just seems to be apart of the humor to me, cause unlike God of War you never actually see boobies or any implied sex, its more or less "come get me! Ah ah naughty boy!" 

both games are very good, Bayonetta for the arcade style of Hack n' slash, GOW for the staging, impressive depth of view, incredible graphics, the technical features and the epic story, but it is an old licence, you cannot compare these styles of gameplay...

you'd better compare GOW with Darksiders...

In my opinion, GOW is a very amazing game, a very trippy game ! Every scene was a good surprise ! but it was too short !

Darksiders wins with his longevity and the gameplay was very interesting !

(Xcuse my english... I'm a pityful french ! lol !)

Let's just hope Bayonetta 2 comes out sooner than later and be happy that SEGA now has a pretty awsome IP to work on

Platinium Games now make the PS3 the lead plateform... we hope the future games (Vanquish and Bayonnetta 2) will be better than they did !

God of War III made Bayonetta seem like shit. I liked Bayonetta. But it's no contest.

I would like to offer an outsider's perspective on this comparison. I have played neither game but my friend just recently finished GoW3 and is currently playing Bayonetta right now. From what I've seen from his playtime with both I'm more interested in Bayonetta for it's style and playfulness. I've never been into the over the top brutality testosterone fest that GoW prides itself on. Kratos, as a character, has never really appealed to me because he's just so over the top. I'm not saying it's a bad thing because I know a lot of people love the character, but I wish he'd occasionally drop from that 10 to at least an 8 every now and then. Maybe he does, as I said I haven't played the games, but they sure don't market or show him like that not in-game.

Even last gen when all my friends were like "You gotta play God of War it's F***ING amazing!" I just kind of shrugged and said meh. I think both games, while in the same genre, are going for very different crowds. These crowds do intersect occasionally however I think it is fairly obvious that they have very distinct feels. I've never been much for the whole brutality and gore draw aside from Ninja Gaiden, but that's more because I like the nostalgia from my GameGear days.