It's a good if wonky series.

I don't quite feel like the first two entries have aged as well as they could. 3 was considered one of the best entries until recently and is my personal favorite entry, 4 actually has great gameplay just suffers from poor level design and feeling a bit half finished. 5 is apparently a return to form from the third entry, and DmC is either a solid entry or an utter blasphemy to the franchise depending on who you ask.

Personally, I find the series really epitomizes what I want in an action game with great challenge, speed, and creative freedom with the combat system to really pull off impressive feats. Of the entries you mentioned, I imagine Bayonetta is the closest comparison seeing how its creator also made the first DMC game. I've never particularly cared for GoW since I find the combat too slow and there are too many ''canned finishers'' for my taste. Nier feels a bit too brain dead for my taste with dodging and combat not really having any finesse.

I would honestly recommend the series but the quality does vary from entry to entry.