Bayonetta Review

Any of you guys that know me well enough know that I hold Ninja Gaiden Black as the ultimate action game of all time...period. It's unparalleled in it's level design, difficulty and downright badassness. The game never cheats you. If you're getting rocked it's because you suck and not because the game is unfair. I found Ninja Gaiden 2 to be a good game, but ultimately a disappointment IMHO when compared to Ninja Gaiden/Black.

I just beat Bayonetta last night and holy crap...can it be?! A game that rivals my precious NGB?! I didn't feel like this at first so let me explain.

The creator of Bayonetta is the creator of such amazing games as the original Devil May Cry, Okami and even Viewtiful Joe. If you've ever played the Devil May Cry series you'll feel like you've played a part of Bayonetta. At first I was incredibly underwhelmed with the game. It was action for 5 minutes then 10 minutes of cutscenes then the level was over and then it's on to the next. Since the combat wasn't as heavy in these beginning parts it honestly felt eerily similar to DMC. It took a good hour and a half to get past this.

Another thing that I was not a fan of the whole way through Bayonetta was the way combat/levels are broken up. In NGB you're in a big world with locked off areas and can't reach places. You earned new abilities and keys to unlock doors, but you're basically always in one large area that you explore. That's not the case at all with Bayonetta. You beat a level and it takes you to an end level menu where it ranks how you did (NGB did the same), but then the game will transport you to some other location and it's business as usual. I found that this broke up my experience in the game and made combat feel more like a progession of arena combat than an open world where enemies are naturally at and I have to defeat.

On the other hand though the levels in Bayonetta are some of the most unique and jawdropping levels I have EVER seen in a game. Messing with gravity and the ability to walk on ceilings and walls varies combat a lot.

Speaking of combat I'm convinced that NO action game ever created controls nearly as well or flawlessly as Bayonetta. Fluidity of action is all that I kept thinking of. Every move in your arsenal is designed to keep you up and fighting. Not cowering in the corner holding the block button waiting for your chance to strike. Need to close the gap on some enemies? Pull the right trigger twice to morph into a panther instantly and run up to your opponent and attack and go back into combos in human form. Want to switch weapons? Set up your preferred weapons in the menu then instantly switch during combat by pulling the left trigger. My preferred weapons were a katana in my hands and shotguns on my feet...yes shotguns on my feet. My other setting was a giant bull whip and pistols on my feet. Block? Who blocks in modern action games nowadays? There is no blocking in Bayonetta. Instead you have the right trigger to do evades with. A proper timing of the evade button will activate "witch time" and slow down all enemies for a few seconds allowing you to really go to work on the big guys. It's a technique that takes some time getting use to, but is clearly where action games need to be heading as far as moving the genre forward.

Another thing I really liked about Bayonetta was the boss fights...they're...huge. Every new boss I was like "How the hell does a boss get bigger than this?" Then the next guy was. None of the bosses felt cheap and all had different styles to fighting them. You get to fight a guy on the ocean using a piece of metal as a make shift surfboard!

If I had to sum up all of Bayonetta in one sentence it would just be. "The game is over-the-top in every way imaginable." From the characters to the cutscenes, the bosses, the moves, the music, the cheesiness to Bayonetta herself everything is done to level 11. I think that the game designers are only able to do this because the main character is a hot witch whose clothes are actually are her hair that morphs into demons and eats angels. If that alone doesn't sound crazy I don't know what can.

Bottom line. If I had to choose to live with one action game for the rest of my life I honestly couldn't choose between Bayonetta or NGB. They're both masters of the genre, but in totally different ways.

I've been wanting to play God of War for some time, but honestly I don't feel as compelled to after this game. I'm very interested to see how GoW3 fairs in reviews now that we have Bayonetta and it's been almost universally hailed as the greatest action game ever.

Just started my 2nd playthrough last night. Going for all the extras I missed!