Bayonetta Review

From the Vault — originally published January 15, 2010. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.

After playing through Bayonetta I must say that the game is enjoyable and lives up to the hype and not just because the main character is scantily dressed. Actually for me its refreshing to play a game that makes no excuses for being a game.

Bayonetta reminds you at every turn that your playing a video game. The “Angel Attack” mini game, the practice session during the loading screens, performance rating at the end of the stages, and the halo currency system all remind you that your playing a video game. In addition to all these “meta games” there are other elements in game to keep reminding you that its a derivative experience and that its not ashamed of it and sort of celebrating that it borrows from these other gaming traditions. The Outrun, Hang-On, and After Burner nods remind you that your supposed to be having fun and that’s great. When you get pounded by a giant boulder you get flat as a pancake like in a cartoon or Super Mario Kart game. The game uses its over the top magical universe to say “Fuck it… anythings possible so lets do THAT because its cool.”

Many games are going for the primarily realistic, or cinematic theme for example by removing or hiding HUDs for the whole “your playing a movie” experience. I do like that and yes, I loved the Uncharted games tremendously but there’s also something great at the way Bayonetta laughs at that with its over the top use of fantasy. It’s refreshing.

In regards to the blatant depiction of sexuality in the game I think Platinum games did a great job with Bayonetta as a female character. While initial impressions may lean you toward thinking its trashy I would have to disagree with that after spending some time playing the game. I think its because the femininity of most female game protagonists are depicted via big boobs and typically not through feminine mannerisms and style as with Bayonetta. I tried really hard not to say “swag” because I HATE that word. Bayonetta’s body is exaggerated but not in the typical big boobs way. She’s more lanky like a model and there’s something great about how comfortable she is with her femininity. Shes never trying to be manly in what she’s doing. I had this discussion with some female friends after visiting Rio in Brazil the first time. After going there I realized that the women there (perhaps culturally) seem to be much more comfortable with their femininity and they make no apologies for showing that they are ladies. I think the culture here in the states sometimes can make a woman feel that to be successful they need to emulate the qualities of men putting career first being aggressive in a way a male would (See Robin Givens in the movie Boomerang) and devaluing unique and important things that women can do that men could never such as having children instead of pursuing that career. I digress. My point is that Bayonetta presents the woman in a light that is unabashedly feminine and at the same time strong. Something Laura Croft was never able to pull off. For more (and better take) on this check out Leigh Alexander’s great article on Bayonetta.

Back to the game itself. If you have only played the demo know that it really doesn’t do the game any justice. Some of the moves you end up unlocking and powers you get are straight awesome. This may be a small spoiler but you end up getting the ability turn into a cougar… I mean panther (HA!) and bird. Not only that but you can do it mid combat. Turn into a panther run and jump into someone and transform back to woman form mid air approach and catch wreck. Also you get additional weapons including a whip, claws and some other shit but there’s so many moves for each weapon that I don’t see how you can master it all in one play though.

The soundtrack is spectacular. The Jazz influenced music in the game sets it apart from other games. The songs are totally memorable. The music when you enter the gates of hell, the music that plays between chapters all of it is unique and fits the game perfectly. A huge thumbs up on the music. After playing the game I had to get a copy of the soundtrack which is four discs long.

The game fall short in that the story is convoluted and it never fully makes sense though the action is so great it doesn’t really need to. The dialog is witty though some of the cut scenes can be a bit long and some can require quick time like button presses you may not be ready for which can feel unfair and cheap.

The combat is very fluid and deep. The finishing and special moves are extreme and satisfying to pull off. There is plenty of variety in the tons of enemies thrown at you to destroy and it never feels repetitive which is commonly a huge problem for hack and slash or beat-em-up games. The fact that they added motorcycle, flying and other (I wont spoil it its too awesome) scenarios in to break up the combat helps tremendously. Also the scale of the environments can be jaw dropping at times when your climbing a HUGE monster or fighting on a falling structure. The bosses and mini bosses are also huge and take you back to the days when games has epic boss fights. The particle effects and amount of things going on at once while your in combat is spectacular and not many games have been able to pull it off with such detail. Its like God of War in terms of the scale of the set pieces but with so much going on around you. The game never gets boring or repetitive.

The verdict is that this is one of the best action games ever and has seriously raised the bar in terms of depth in combat. Check this game out now.