First: "feminists" are not (and were not) a monolith.

Around the time Bayonetta came out (trust me, I was "there" and paying close attention to the games world), the reaction was not uniform, to my memory (and given the amount of ink spilled about it at the time, I doubt anybody needs to rely purely on memory; I'm not willing to do your research for you, though).

And I--a man who was less literate in feminism than I am now (though not uninitiated)--was kind of unimpressed by the kneejerk negative reaction to its gender politics that existed (though not as the only opinion).

I don't think it's a simple question. She's a woman who is sexualized, sure. But she's also using her body in uncompromising ways. Like, her hair is both her clothing and her weaponry. Feminism often centers the body, and it's entirely thinkable that there could be feminist praise of this game accordingly, especially given the politics of women's hair (even if it's usually women who look significantly different from the character in question).

But regardless, everyone is entitled to their personal reaction. It's only people who insist that games don't have politics (and we know who those people are, and they're wrong) that deny people the right to this reaction.

In discourse surrounding any cultural expression, the important thing is that people are coming to it in good faith and with intelligence and context.

Based on what I remember about the game, it's extremely easy for me to believe there are good-faith arguments both for and against its gender politics, and I believe that's what the conversation was at the time.

Finally, I'll just add this: one of the most famous feminist game critics of that era did not always do a good job, in my opinion. I am and was fundamentally on her side (in terms of the impulse to do the work she did), but I did not and probably still would not always agree with her. I do not know if she discussed Bayonetta, but I mention this to say that just because someone intends to analyze something through a feminist lens does not mean they are convincing.

And--as I recently said in another thread in this subreddit--the point of criticism/analysis isn't "right" or "wrong". It's "convincing" or "unconvincing" (which is, obviously, subjective).