Over 20 hours of Climaxes-Bayonetta Review

I’ve always been a proponent of original creators of video game franchises being kept around the same franchise. Otherwise, that franchise only becomes a shadow of itself, existing in name only. Think of a Mario game without Miyamoto (The original Super Mario Bros. 2) or Metal Gear without Kojima (Snake’s Revenge). Devil May Cry just hasn’t felt as fresh or more importantly, fun as the first one. Bayonetta just shows how much excitement and fun the DMC franchise is lacking.

Bayonetta does so many things incredibly well.  Like Devil May Cry and God of War, the action is absolutely relentless with adrenaline pumping battles and encounters. And like those two games, skilled play gives bigger rewards to unlock more moves. There aren’t a lot of puzzles or backtracking as the game is linear with some hidden areas to test more skills. Where the similarities end is that Bayonetta thrusts you into the action. While you can unlock moves, the game starts with tons of moves available and the practice mode during loading screens is absolutely genius, giving players a running count of moves used. And the witch time dodge is an incredible maneuver, significantly decreasing any frustration for having too many enemies on screen.

Speaking of Bayonetta, you definitely can’t look past the design of the titular character.  Team Little Angels doesn’t try to hide Bayonetta’s curvy figure and with an outfit made of hair that disappears from time to time, Bayonetta drips with sex appeal. However, Kamiya’s desire to have a female character goes beyond mere titillation because her movements and attacks wouldn’t work with a guy character. The result is some of the sickest looking combat in years. And while the story is a testament to nonsense, Bayonetta’s character is revealed to actually have some depth and growth during the game.

The nonsensical story dealing with Witches vs Sages and pulling inspiration from The Divine Comedy is kind of a snoozer, but it leads to some dazzling and impressive set pieces dealing with Hell, Purgatory, and Paradiso, which will probably be way more interesting than anything the upcoming Dante’s Inferno can come up with. This is one of the most beautiful games on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. While the cutscenes drag the hell out, thankfully all the fun stuff is playable, including a missile ride/homage to Space Harrier and After Burner and insane motorcycle chase towards the end of the game, in a location I won’t reveal to not spoil the game.

There are some concerns, but they’re very small. Chapter 14, the third to last level, nearly derails the pacing and excitement by using an old trick from Capcom games: repeating bosses. While they don’t nearly take as long as playing them the first time around, it’s an rather odd annoyance, just to pad out playing time. And what the hell is up with putting in items, if only to penalize players for using them? The game comes with a nifty item concoction system, yet using an item leads to a negative point when getting ranked. Also, you get transformations but are tied to the dodge button while the L1/Left Bumper goes unused besides a taunt.

But these are easy hurdles to get over. Bayonetta is an amazing designed action game with great control and tons of content to unlock. An absolute must-buy in 2009. And in closing:

Grade: A

The Good: Tight controls, amazing combat, tons of  gameplay and replay value

The Bad: Drawn out cutscenes, pacing nearly collapses towards the end.

Best Move: Breakdance

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Tagged as: Action, Bayonetta, Playstation 3, Xbox 360