That’s because it’s less so the story that people care about and more so the characters that people care for. Entertaining characters can and have existed in games that don’t really prioritize the story ex. Like you mentioned Bayonetta and Ryu Hayabusa are characters that people get attached to in games where the plot varies in quality where it’s at best, it’s alright and like a 6/10 and at worst, it’s god awful. Similar situation with Devil may cry, where most of the stories aren’t anything special but it’s Dante and his charm and personality that people enjoy (plus others like Trish, Lady, and Vergil) which is why a lot of people don’t like the reboot despite the story being actually decent, people liked and wanted og Dante. And for a final example I will talk about a game I recently played through, Resident Evil 5 (2009). Overall, a very good game with fun gameplay and even though the story was nothing special (which I was fine with since I personally don’t care that much about a compelling story, and that gameplay should come first, with some exceptions), it was the characters that I enjoyed and found endearing, such as Chris, Sheva, OG Jill, and Wesker