In some kinds of games complex/serious storytelling simply isn't necessary.

How would you rank it? For me, gameplay > *

Especially in action games, which as I already mentioned are a hyper-stylized genre. It's all about the flair, not the story in these games. The stories tend to be convuluted more often than not, especially in Japanese action games. But it fits the over the top-ness of the genre though, so I get not complaining about it.

Tetris doesn't need any storytelling, Mario doesn't need good storytelling,.

My favorite videogame are fighting games like Street Fighter or King of Fighters, platformers like Mario or Donkey Kong, and Strategy games like Civilization. None of them need a good story, Civilization doesn't even have a Story, you create the story as you play.

Videogames arent primarily a storytelling medium like literature or films, they are about gameplay. Not even RPG's need stories, classic rpgs dungeon crawlers barely had one, a modern example of that is the Etrian Odyssey franchise (although now they are making games with developed stories)

AMAZING!
I wasnt sure if i should buy it day one, cause i just bought smash on 3ds. But this just changed it

And i heard its acutally 60fps? I thought it wasnt.

Just to warp this up. My only problem is the reviewer stated that the storytelling and characters are weak and then gave it a perfect score (be damned story). I do realize that the focus in action games is not the story.

@KLAMarine. It depends on the game and what it's trying to achieve.

Thank you!  Storytelling should always be a secondary aspect to the gameplay as far as I'm concerned, and sometimes a real story is absolutely not needed. As you said games aren't books or films, and they never should be. They're their own medium. That's why all those "TLoU is the greatest game ever!" arguments made my head hurt. It had some of the greatest gaming characters ever yes, and it can honestly hold its own with a lot of great films. But it's a long way from being one of the best games ever as it does nothing extraordinary in the actual gaming part. 

Jranation said: AMAZING! I wasnt sure if i should buy it day one, cause i just bought smash on 3ds. But this just changed it And i heard its acutally 60fps? I thought it wasnt.

it fluctuates between 40 fps and 60, as in, it tries to be at 60 but it can't do it the whole time

Jranation said: AMAZING! I wasnt sure if i should buy it day one, cause i just bought smash on 3ds. But this just changed it And i heard its acutally 60fps? I thought it wasnt.

It's not but neither was Bayo1 and I loved Bayo1.

Actually, at no point does the review suggest that the story or characters are weak. That comment at the beginning of it is referring to the way the game prioritizes action over story ("There's no delay in getting you to the good stuff either, no scene-setting preamble to keep you from the action" / "Cutscenes are briefer this time around, which keeps the focus squarely on the combat, but they are just as tongue-in-cheek as before.")

The review actually has a lot of positive things to say about the story and characters:

"You get your fair share of cheesy characters and sight gags, particularly in the humorous opening moments..."

"Things get a little more tense as the battle to save the earth rolls on, but the game never takes itself too seriously, punctuating its deeper moments with sarcastic quips from Bayonetta, who... remains one of the most charismatic and powerful heroines in the medium."

"The story stitching it all together is utter nonsense, but fittingly so, because its absurdity serves as way to push you into ever more outlandish battles."