We need to come up with a label for games like Bayonetta.

They've been called many things: "stylish action games", "character action games", "hero action games". Those games. The games that, while they have their roots in beat 'em ups and hack 'n slashers, sort of transcend those genres. Most people shun the aforementioned labels (and for good reason; they all sound horrible), simply calling them "action games", but that's far too vague; after all, games like Gears of War and Bioshock are action games, too. So we need to come up with a label once and for all. One that distinguishes games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry from brawlers like No More Heroes and God Hand, while also rolling off the tongue easier than "stylish action games".
 
I propose "progressive beat 'em ups".

Stylish action games work fine for their label. People don't really worry too much about properly categorizing videogames into established genres anyway.

I feel like these games are subsets of brawlers.  3D brawlers, I guess.  Where does "brawler" sit with everyone on this?  When I think Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, I think of it as this generation's version of Streets of Rage, where you try to set up combos that increase your performance, no matter what the particular performance is, or how stylish or complex things get the more skilled you are.  
 
I'd like someone to lay out WHY the games are different from, say, No More Heroes or God Hand.  What do you feel makes them different, on a gameplay level?

I thought Ryan put it best in his review of Bayonetta. "Fucking ridiculous."

" I thought Ryan put it best in his review of Bayonetta. "Fucking ridiculous." "

" I feel like these games are subsets of brawlers.  3D brawlers, I guess.  Where does "brawler" sit with everyone on this?  When I think Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, I think of it as this generation's version of Streets of Rage, where you try to set up combos that increase your performance, no matter what the particular performance is, or how stylish or complex things get the more skilled you are.    I'd like someone to lay out WHY the games are different from, say, No More Heroes or God Hand.  What do you feel makes them different, on a gameplay level? "

Your examples for action games are shooters. Action game isn't too vague, if you don't qualify it with anything else like shooter or adventure it evokes a very specific kind of game.

" Progressive beat 'em ups" sounds a little pretentious. Don't really see the problem with just calling them action games. When you say "action game", 9/10 gamers will think God of War or Ninja Gaiden. Gears and Bioshock, say, people think "shooter" first and foremost, so there's not much confusion.

Surreal Action Game 

How about "Splashy Actioneer"?  I do think there should be a better name that what we've been working with so far.  I'm a little sick of the "it's a DMC style game" used to describe all these high-action showcase games.  And, while I never confused Ninja Gaiden with Gears of War, I do think there should be a more definitive distinction between Bayonetta, an action game and Uncharted, also an action game. 

Bayonetta, DMC, Ninja Gaiden, GOW, ect... should be called Hack n Slashers.  
  
God Hand, Watchmen TEIN, Viewtiful Joe, NMH, ect.... should be called Beat em Ups or Brawlers. 
 
Hack n Slashers have a tendency to promote the player for being stylish. Now, I understand GOW is kinda close to a Brawler, and Viewtiful Joe is close to a Hack n Slash, but this is the way I see it. We don't need new names for them. And if we did, we would go the way of the RPG and call them Japanese Action Games and Western Action Games.

I don't know what to call it but anything that sticks with the acronym S.A.G. is good in my book.

" Your examples for action games are shooters. Action game isn't too vague, if you don't qualify it with anything else like shooter or adventure it evokes a very specific kind of game. "

@ahoodedfigure

"I'd like someone to lay out WHY the games are different from, say, No More Heroes or God Hand.  What do you feel makes them different, on a gameplay level? "

Going to be a ton of splitting hairs here.

" @GamerGeek360:  Bayonetta XVIII: SAG  Honestly, stylish action game is fine, I think. "

What's wrong with third person action?

" What's wrong with third person action? "

Alternative action

" @FuzzYLemoN said:

" What's wrong with third person action? "

Too vague. Bayonetta and Devil May Cry are third-person action games, but so are Uncharted 2, Lost Planet and No More Heroes. "

but that's far too vague; after all, games like Gears of War and Bioshock are action games, too.

The same thing that makes a driving simulator different from an arcade racer: degree of complexity. Also, diversity. No More Heroes and God Hand are solely about punching and slashing and, well, beating people up in different ways. Bayonetta and Devil May Cry aren't just about punching and slashing; they're also very much about shooting. Try and imagine, say, Bad Dudes, if you always had a pair of guns at your disposal. Would you still classify that as simply a "beat 'em up"? "

How to classify God Hand and Bayonetta? I have one: "Spectacular Games". 
 
Seriously though, "action games" is good enough. They're too unique to put together.

It's an Action-game. First person shooter or  Third person shooter if you shoot things and action-adventure if the game has exploration or puzzels.  You don't need more than that.

I think it's more interesting when we tear down the genre lines, myself. If you try to categorize every game, you wind up with a pantry rather than a library. Genres are constantly changing, even within franchises. Take a look at the Mario franchise, the Sonic franchise, and the Resident Evil franchise, respectively. If you try to classify each of those games in a genre, can you honestly say that the original titles are the same genre as their more recent endeavors? Barring intentionally retro-inspired games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog 4, of course. 

" Bayonetta, DMC, Ninja Gaiden, GOW, ect... should be called Hack n Slashers.    God Hand, Watchmen TEIN, Viewtiful Joe, NMH, ect.... should be called Beat em Ups or Brawlers.  Hack n Slashers have a tendency to promote the player for being stylish. Now, I understand GOW is kinda close to a Brawler, and Viewtiful Joe is close to a Hack n Slash, but this is the way I see it. We don't need new names for them. And if we did, we would go the way of the RPG and call them Japanese Action Games and Western Action Games. "

Character Action Games 
 
there already is one

" Bayonetta, DMC, Ninja Gaiden, GOW, ect... should be called Hack n Slashers.    God Hand, Watchmen TEIN, Viewtiful Joe, NMH, ect.... should be called Beat em Ups or Brawlers.  Hack n Slashers have a tendency to promote the player for being stylish. Now, I understand GOW is kinda close to a Brawler, and Viewtiful Joe is close to a Hack n Slash, but this is the way I see it. We don't need new names for them. And if we did, we would go the way of the RPG and call them Japanese Action Games and Western Action Games. "

" @Icemael said:

but that's far too vague; after all, games like Gears of War and Bioshock are action games, too.

Those are TPS and FPS respectively.
Action game does not mean what it used to.
After all people don't go around calling games like Bioshock or Borderlands RPGs even if it is technically correct to an extent. But then again terms Action and RPG can be technically prescribed to almost every game out there, but they should not be and generally are not."

"To me if people say action (wihtout adding anything else) creates a very clear image in my mind of the type of game. I agree completely with @ryanwho:"

"Plus both  "stylish action games" and  "progressive beat 'em ups"  sound horrible :P"

@Tennmuerti

"Wait wait are you sugesting that a difference in the ganre should be whether or not you have a secondary attack option of shooting as well as attacking with a sword? Cmon man :/ Should we clasify GoW differently if you could use a gun instead of bow?"

RTBS - Real Time Batshit Slasher.

I just call them action games. There's a better name for anything else that could be classified as "action".

Do it like films, list them under several category depend on the elements it has: action/martial art/comedy/blah blah  

It feels like games like godhand while being a brawler, have a lot of parodies and homage to martial art style of moves, which distinguish it from something like god of war or dmc. 

Similar to how Remedy is trying to call Alan wake a thriller, not a shooter or survival horror, even though it could also be listed under those as well.

These are "Brawlers", just in 3D. You kick dudes until they are all dead and then the level continues. Same as in good old Double Dragon & Co.

you mean character action?
what everyone already calls it

Yahtzee calls them spectacle fighters, but since you really can't trust anything he says, we're back at square one. Therefore, I propose that we call them "combat mashers." It sums it up perfectly: combat-oriented button mashers :P.

" @Cerza said:

" I thought Ryan put it best in his review of Bayonetta. "Fucking ridiculous." "

No, I put it best when I described Bayonetta as "Toobular Boobular."
 
 

"

Crazy Japanese Insanity games. 
 
CJI

" you mean character action? what everyone already calls it "

" That's like demanding to come up with something to describe first person shooters other than "first person shooter" to describe M.A.G. just to differenciate itself from Modern Warfare. "

Quoth "Yahtsee" Crashaw: Spectacle Fighters.
 
He then made several jokes about that, but I think its a good way of putting it.

I like calling them stylish hack n slash

There's already a label. It's a Beat 'em Up. I just finished it and really enjoyed it. It's got much more pizzazz than most but at the end of the day it's just hitting combos and moving on to the next boss battle.