Official Site: http://www.sega.com/platinumgames/bayonetta/index2.php
Source: Youtube Channel Gamehelper
Developer: Platinum Games (Team Little Angels) (X360), Nex Entertainment (PS3)
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: January 5, 2010
Genre: Action-Adventure
Pros:
-Some of the most creative, out-of-this-world aesthetics in an Action game
-Difficult in nature, challenging for the most hardcore, yet fair and modest for any gamer
-Great controls that are responsive, mapped really well, and works fluidly with the game
-Epic boss battles that layer itself upon each other for multi-tier challenges
-Incredible satisfaction when winning against the most ridiculous odds
Cons:
-Can get quite frustrating for some players as it's really easy to die
-It might cause motion sickness for those susceptible to it
-Some players might be offended by some of the vulgar gestures or speeches
I remember the first time I heard about Bayonetta from a friend when she asked me "when you become a game designer, can you portray women a bit more tasteful?" I asked her which game she had in mind that portrays women distasteful and she told me about Bayonetta and how the more powerful the attack Bayonetta performs the more skin she reveals. I laughed at how crazy the idea was but she told me it was going to be a good game nonetheless and I couldn't help but check it out since it was directed by Hideki Kamiya (who directed games such as Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry). I kind of knew I was going to like the game since it played similarly to Devil May Cry, but I was surprised to find how incredibly enjoyable it was to play through it. The combat is fast-paced, fluid, flashy and stylish yet still very challenging and thought-provoking preventing it from being a simple button masher. The visuals were insane and a total mind-trip as laws of gravity, space, time, and physics are bent and manipulated as Bayonetta fights in mid-air, on top of enemies, and on a freaking missile. The music was a nice touch with laid back jazz, uplifting orchestrals, and upbeat electronica fusion that made it felt classy and light-hearted rather than the usual hardcore metal or dark orchestrations found in most Action games. Boss fights is something I really enjoy in Action games and Bayonetta had some of the most gratifying boss fights I've experienced. What surprised me most about the game was how "fair" it was despite the level of difficulty presented to the player. I can see why some people might be offended by some of the vulgarity, but I found it pretty easy to look past as it became the personality of the game to be "in your face." Bayonetta is possibly the best Action game there is for this generation of consoles and I would highly recommend any Action game fan to play through it.
Aesthetics
Right off the bat, the first thing you do in Bayonetta is fight enemies on a clock tower falling down from an incredibly tall cliff. The scenarios that the player is placed in are so wicked and insane that it totally blew my mind away. Sometimes I'm fighting a whole horde of enemies in the sky while other times I'm running around the walls and ceiling. Instead of pools of blood and gore (though they were there too), there were sparkles of hearts, light and glitter flying all around the screen. The animations were seamless and looked beautiful when performing long chains of attacks. The idea of Bayonetta's attacks and clothing all made of her own hair still cracks me up and I think they used it in a creative way (hair as a weapon isn't new, but the way it's used in Bayonetta is quite amazing). The environment and scenery is definitely one of the biggest highlights of the game's visuals. Fighting in another dimension was trippy, dueling against a boss on airships, missiles and the sides of buildings was exciting, and combating on pieces of rubble falling to the ground from several hundred miles high was just so ridiculous. The music was composed and produced by nearly a dozen people and created a unique, classy bar feel to the combat and environments.
Source: Youtube Channel lucasciclope
The whole premise of the game's theme, enemies, and special effects have a lot of references to religious settings from Dante's Divine Comedy. Many of the bosses have human-like faces with arms and rings around them that have a divine being about them. A lot of Bayonetta's own summons are beings from inferno (hell) and have a demonic characteristic that makes it that much more brutal when subduing a boss. I'm actually not sure if there's anything I can complain about the Aesthetics, even at a game design point of view. The camera angle was always at a good position, the colors never clashed or distracted the player from where they needed to go or what to look out for, and everything was appealing and easy on the eyes. Aesthetics: 10/10
Buttons
If I ever create an action game in the future, I want it to be as smooth as Bayonetta. The keys are mapped in a way where it's easy to understand and utilize. As complex and long as some combos can get, it's fairly easy to perform them if the player can remember it. Rather than blocking, the game utilizes dodge and timing to keep the combat moving as players who dodge at the right moment have a few second of slowing the space around them to perform devastating attacks. The juggling between weapons, kicks and ranged weapons work hand and hand together providing an array of approaches to a fight. It's every action game fan's dream having such a smooth combat system with flashy attacks and stylish acrobatics. Buttons: 10/10
Concept & Content
So the core concept of Bayonetta is like most Action games: "You're the main character and you kill stuff." The story begins with a short glimpse of the past where Bayonetta and her friend/rival Jeanne are fighting against a horde of enemies on a clock tower that's falling from very high up. The game then finally begins with Bayonetta losing her memories and the rest of the game is finding out who she is and what she needs to do. The story itself may not have been the most intriguing plot, but the dialogs and cinematics made it spectacular. Bayonetta's speech is frank, a bit twisted, and somewhat flirty which makes for some hilarious conversations with the other characters in the game. As mentioned many times before, the game has many moments where all sense of logic and reality is broken and takes the player into all sorts of crazy scenarios and environments. Level designers were pretty straight-forward yet aesthetically pleasing, although there were some areas in the late part of the game where the goal and direction was a bit unclear and confusing. Puzzles were light but still had their own challenges. They never ask too much from the player to avoid any unnecessary frustrations. Gameplay was fun, the flow of the game was consistent and filled with action, and it took the combat combo system above and beyond what it should be for an Action game. For the mini-challenges throughout the game, they're rather difficult and made me sad that I couldn't get through some of them. The game is difficult, and as ridiculous as having one enemy take out more than half my maximum hit points in one combo, it still feels pretty fair with the way the dodging works in the game. My favorite aspects out of the game are probably the aesthetics (art style, music, and voice acting), the combat system, and the multi-tiered boss battles. I wasn't too thrilled with quick-action events being in the game, but it was implemented as elegantly as possible and made it a lot less painful to do them. Concept & Content: 9/10
Duration
One of the most difficult things to balance on an Action game is the flow of progression and pacing of the story. It's too often that I play an Action-Adventure where there's a lot of action and then an abrupt cut breaks the flow and repeats throughout the game. This makes the game feel like it's all chopped up and placed together and than having the whole game molded together into one seamless adventure. Other times, action games will have slow parts for a while and then fight, and then return back to the slow parts. This generally happens when there's a lot of exploring for the player to do or bad level design causes them to be continually lost or if there's a lot of slow puzzles. Bayonetta were none of those as it started out insane and ended insane with fast-paced combat, light-puzzles that had the player race against time, and getting lost only took a few seconds (if not a few minutes) out of the player's time. The game had a natural flow that brought the character from one crazy event to another and as fast as the gameplay was, the pacing of the story and progression of the character's growth was never rushed. The game took around 13-14 hours to complete on normal mode (the highest difficulty by default until the others are unlocked). It didn't feel too short or too long though I would have probably complained if it had a bad ending (it almost looked like it was going to have a bad ending, but...well check the game out). I'd probably play the game again if it weren't for my humongous backlog sitting there sad and neglected. I know for a lot of Action-game fans, it was enjoyable to play through the game multiple times as 2 more difficult settings was available (as far as I remember) when the previous one was completed. If anything, playing through again would be for the experience and challenge as the game doesn't really provide anything new other than all those items in the shop that the player might have not gotten yet. Duration: 9/10
Fun
Bayonetta immediately captivated me right at the beginning with the fight on the falling clock tower and the first time it played "Fly Me to the Moon". I liked how large scale the battles were and how flashy the combat could get. I have to admit that there were times where the game just didn't feel fair as enemies do some of the most unexpected actions and kill me rather quickly. There were some levels where I just died continually where I felt I shouldn't have, but sometimes ended up getting through it like a breeze. As much as it frustrated me, I liked the challenge and felt great when overcoming a huge battle against a boss. Some of the fights and events are so absurd that it just cracked me up and got me that much more into the game. My favorite surprise throughout the game was mission 14 when Bayonetta says "Welcome to my Fantasy World" making a reference to Space Harrier. I chuckled at the reference to the old Sega classic and then was blown away when the game suddenly started playing like Space Harrier AND had the arranged version of the original main theme playing in the back. That was so memorable and a lot of fun. The game ended really well too, but I don't want to spoil anything. Let's just say I like huge boss battles. Fun: 9/10
Overall
Bayonetta is incredibly polished, well though out, and a whole lot of fun. The graphics are beautiful, the music is tantalizing, the dialogs are witty and humorous, the combat is intuitive and challenging, and the whole game was so insane that it's mind-blowing. The game might not be for everyone, but those willing to invest the time and patience to get through the game will definitely be rewarded with a gratifying experience. It's a game that any action-game fan should check out. Overall: 9.4/10
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