Bayonetta was a pretty damn underrated game when it released, despite technically getting fairly high review scores. IMHO, it was the definite overall Game of the Year for 2010 compared to Red Dead Redemption or Mass Effect 2, and got overlooked horribly at the GOTY awards. In terms of overall gameplay, Bayonetta blew those 2 games out of the water easily.
It also suffers from a similar issue that DOA5 has in that some people can't look past the "oversexualization" aspect of it. In Bayonetta's respect, the hypersexualization is part of the intentional absurdity adding to its charm. Pretty safe to say that Bayonetta 2 will net some GOTY awards this year.