Bayonetta

[LawBeefaroni]

Anyone?

The GWJ CCall panned, backtracked, and now praises this game. I'm intrigued. The demo was fun, if somewhat confusing. The combat was rewarding. I really liked the God of War Collection and this seems similar, with the puzzles cut out.

Is anyone brave enough to admit to getting this one? Any thoughts?


I've been going through the PS3 back catalog. I just finished Resistance and am on Mirror's Edge with TR:Underworld in the hopper but might make this my first "full priced" ($44.99) title.

[coopasonic]

51 people ahead of me on goozex. Ask me in another month. At least it's more or less free. I'm a lot more liberal with the games I try knowing I can generally turn newer games around for basically no loss. 7 page thread on this one at gamingtrend with quite a few people enjoying it.

[fancydirt]

.

[Chaz]

Brave enough to admit getting it? It's one of the best games I've played in quite a while.

Yes, it's style is very Japanese. Yes, she's hyper sexual. However, it's never exploitative in the way that it appears from the marketing.

The gameplay is amazing. It's absolutely hyper, but you get used to it. It forces you to internalize the rhythm of it, and operate a lot on instinct. It's got that Soul Calibur thing going on where you can mash buttons and get a lot of cool things to happen, but you can also learn the intricacies of the system and get even more cool things to happen, but on purpose.

There's a ton of unlockables that actually affect gameplay in the form of accessories and weapons. The difficulty balance is very impressive. Normal isn't terribly forgiving later on, but the checkpoints are set up in such a way that you won't have to repeat much after death, and no section is so punishing that you can't get past it with some practice. However, once you go into the hard difficulty, you really need to know the game to survive.

It's a testament to how good the game is that I finished it in the first place (I usually get stalled out with this kind of game), and then immediately started a replay on hard. Absolutely fantastic game.

[Chaz]

Forgot to say. When I finished Bayonetta, my first thought was that God of War 3 has its work cut out for it in out-doing Bayonetta in gameplay or sheer epic. I'm not sure I'd say that either of the first two GoWs beat out Bayonetta in story. The story in those basically boiled down to "KRATOS ANGRY! KRATOS SMASH!" Bayonetta has a fairly interesting world and story going on, it's just that the storytelling is a bit convoluted.

[LawBeefaroni]

The gameplay is amazing. It's absolutely hyper, but you get used to it. It forces you to internalize the rhythm of it, and operate a lot on instinct. It's got that Soul Calibur thing going on where you can mash buttons and get a lot of cool things to happen, but you can also learn the intricacies of the system and get even more cool things to happen, but on purpose.

Compared to God of War, Bayonetta kicks its ass as far as combat mechanics/play goes but falls short on the overall story and setting which really aren't that important int he grand scheme for a pure action game like this. I'm a big fan of both for what they are.

I'm not a huge fighter fan but this is what I'm looking for. I enjoy the satisfaction of "learning" combos and putting them to use. I like combat that you can feel and that flows. In both GoWs it seemed that as soon as you had a handle on combat and acquired all the moves/upgrades the game was over. Still loved them but there's too much puzzling/platforming to play through again just for the combat.

I like a good story but I'm not looking for it in this one. I tend to play and replay these types of games for achievements/unlockables. Though I was pleasatly surprised to find environmental filler (pop up text) in the demo.

[AWS260]

I'm only a couple of hours in, but so far I'm really enjoying it. The aesthetic and action are hilariously over-the-top. The voice acting for the lead character is excellent, but the rest of the voice acting is mediocre. The translation is pretty lousy, but that's OK.

I'm not good at this type of game, so I'm playing on Easy (which is still a step above Very Easy!). It's not challenging, but I'm not looking for challenging -- I'm looking for crazy fun, and Bayonetta delivers.

[Smoove_B]

I only played the demo on XBL and found myself really enjoying it as well. I'm also not normally good at these types of games either but found it to be tolerable. I have it in my Goozex queue and when it shows up I'm all over it. I can't say I've seen any one say bad things about it.

[pr0ner]

Bayonetta is fucking awesome.

[Peacedog]

I got this for the PS3. I've played the first tow chapters and I upped the difficulty from easy starting the third (and I think I'm suffering in combat since I don't have the little magic accessory equipped anymore). It's interesting, but this is how the game plays:

load
load
load
3 buttons to skip a cutscene (load; also, there are accumulated seconds to get to the actual final button)
interesting fight.
3 buttons to skip a cutscene (")
Oh, look, I think I need to check my inventory to see what just dropped.
(load)
(ponderous inventory navigation. Finish and exit)
(load)
I need to save (load)
Save the game (saving process)
(load)

I might have added one load in there. But only one.

[AWS260]

There's supposedly a patch for the PS3 version that improves load times.

I have the 360 version installed to the hard drive; load times are negligible.

[qp]

Edge gave it a 10, which is crazy - haven't played it yet myself. Is it a 10??

[Chaz]

Yeah, the load times on the 360 version weren't noticeable at all. Also, I think you're missing out if you're skipping cutscenes.

If you started on easy and went up to normal, I'd suggest going back and replaying the first chapters on normal. The game does a really good job ramping up the difficulty so your skills can adapt, and part of that is through enemy type. If you started on normal at 3, you're jumping into the deep end. Also, I don't think playing easy prepares you in any way for normal, so factor in some learning curve time.

[NetGuy]

Whats the camera like in this game? I've heard a lot of people comparing it to Devil May Cry and I hated the fixed camera in DMC4 that made harsh cuts to reposition itself.

Is this camera like that one, or is it the more traditional 3rd person action game camera that "follows" the character constantly?

[Chaz]

It follows, and you can manually adjust it. It's sometimes not the best, but with the insane amount of stuff going on in the game, I don't think any camera would work great. I never got killed by the camera, but I cursed it a few times.

[LawBeefaroni]

Well, I finally picked it up. I'm still finishing Bioshock 2 but I popped Bayonetta in for a bit over the weekend.

I got as far as the first "do 3 torture moves/kills" thing on the highway/plane. I did the 3 moves and the plane crashed, I died. I did it again with like 30 seconds left, the plane crashed, I died. Am I missing something?

I'm playing on Normal.

[Carpet_pissr]

This is $10 on Amazon right now. I think I will pick it up. 87 on Metacritic is not too shabby.

Also, since I am a console newb...what console game review site is generally highly regarded by the OO community? I know them on the PC side, but these names are new to me.

[Skinypupy]

I thoroughly enjoyed Bayonetta. As long as you go in understanding what it is (a completely absurd premise, a story that makes zero sense, an incredible combat system, and some of the best set-pieces I've ever seen), I think you'd be hard pressed not to like it.

As for review sites, I'm a bit biased (used to do reviews there) but honestly think the GamingTrend crew does a great job reviewing games. I also really like GameTrailer's video reviews, which are typically spot-on.

[LawBeefaroni]

I enjoyed Bayonetta too. I've never been good at combo fighters but was able to make my way through this one.

Like Skinnypuppy said, the combat and set pieces are loads of fun.


I'd also second Gaming Trend. I checkout gamerankings.com for overall consensus (scan review scores, not the aggregate score) and go to gamingtrend.com for the full review if I want more details. For example, their review of Bayonetta is here.

[pr0ner]

Bayonetta is a steal at $10!

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I enjoyed it but I did need to turn down the difficulty about 1/2 through the game. I was more interested in seeing all the boss battles and ridiculous combat animations anyway. You could spend $10 on worse things.

[Hipolito]

I bought (for $20, missed it when it was a $10 steal) and played Bayonetta recently. I generally don't like fighting games, but God of War is a major exception. I love that game, and was hoping Bayonetta would be as cool. I'd get to kill angels! But I'm disappointed.

For all its brutality and over-the-top visuals, GoW never loses touch with human drama. Bayonetta makes me appreciate how much restraint GoW employs (though maybe some of that restraint is merely due to the PlayStation 2's limitations). There are giant bosses and crazy finishing moves in GoW, but they move slowly enough and have just enough detail for me to follow the action. The action in Bayonetta, on the other hand, is so colorful and fast that it's often a vague blur. The graphics and sound Bedazzler is stuck on 11, making me grow weary of the spectacle pretty quickly.

I beat GoW on Hard and found it rewarding and exhilarating. Kratos had a manageable repertoire of moves and the game made me feel great about having my ass kicked. Bayonetta, on the other hand, has an overwhelming number of moves and just annoys me when I die. I played Bayonetta on Normal until Chapter 5, at which point I switched to Easy because I felt I wasn't making any progress. Easy is too easy, though. About the only real threats on Easy are the unpredictable quick time events. I would have preferred some challenge, but settled for simply blowing through the rest of the game to watch the story.

Bayonetta's story isn't bad or incomprehensible in my opinion, but it's not as good as GoW's. Some of it is vague and unexplained, but it makes general sense and there are some entertaining dynamics between the main characters. The big problem is that Bayonetta is too shallow a character. It seemed she was going to acquire some depth during her interactions with Cereza, but this didn't end up happening. She's a stick figure with a gratuitous supply of stripper moves, sass talk, and memes. The debate over whether she's exploitative or feminist is pointless because she isn't anything, really.

There's a lot of "infrastructural" stuff I appreciate. I can replay any chapter at different difficulties. Checkpoints are frequent. I like that each battle rates me when I'm done with it so that I don't have to wait until the end of the chapter to see how well I'm playing. The practice mode during loading intervals is a neat and welcome feature.

I'm glad that Bayonetta exists for the true hardcore fighting fans, yet is accessible enough at its Easy difficulty level so that wimps like me can see what it has to offer. Strangely, despite my disdain for fighting games, I'll be trying a couple more: Enslaved and El Shaddai. I hope they're more my speed than Bayonetta.

Edit: I misspelled exhilarating as "exhiliarating" which is just plain hilarous.

[MonkeyFinger]

Hmmm, I really wouldn't lump 'Enslaved' into your fighting game category. It's more Uncharted or the new Tomb Raider than anything Bayonetta-like. IMHO of course. Oh and El Shaddai is just... well, El Shaddai.

[Hipolito]

You're right. I was looking at the games on my shelf and they looked back in a threatening manner, so I hastily included them in the genre.

[Skinypupy]

Strangely, despite my disdain for fighting games, I'll be trying a couple more: Enslaved and El Shaddai. I hope they're more my speed than Bayonetta.

If you're looking for an in-depth combat system, El Shaddai is most certainly not going to fit the bill. The simplistic combat is basically an afterthought.

That said, it was my GOTY runner-up in 2011 because the spectacle of the thing is so absolutely mind-blowing. In all my years of gaming, I've never seen anything quite like it, and doubt I will again. It has more creativity and artistic genius in it's pinky finger than most games have in their entire bodies. It's one where you cannot wait to get to the next area, simply to see what kind of wonderful craziness they come up with next.

The story is incomprehensible and the combat isn't terribly compelling, but it is absolutely, 100% a must-play game in my book.

[GreenGoo]

Was wondering if we had a thread on this. I feel like starting a new thread in PC gaming since it has just made its way to the PC, but I think the forum interest in the game has passed, so I'll just add to this thread.

Interesting to hear about the load times on the PS3. I was just noticing that there appear to be combo practice during the load screens, except I've got the game installed on an SSD and I can barely see Bayonetta and the combo symbols on the right before the game has finished loading. We're talking 2-3 seconds load time. What a time to be alive.

I'm struggling to understand the save system. It seems to let you save anywhere, but then when you reload you are back at the start of the area. Even the continue option does this for me so far. Which is weird, because the zones are decent sized, and I had beat up at least 2 or maybe 3 mini-bosses in the second area of the game, and yet when I returned to the game I was back at the start of the area, having lost a significant amount of progress.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. It's not like I've never saved a game before, or seen a myriad amount of different save systems. If you have to finish an area completely before you hit a save point, that's going to be a problem.

[GreenGoo]

Missile flying level can f*** off.

Even worse, you go through a long chain of encounters, think you're finished, and then it just drops you back onto the missile for another round.

It's not even fun. It's basically galaga in 3D, or Tempest. Terrible decision to include this. Boring, annoying and frustrating, all at once.

[GreenGoo]

Finished.

A serious amount of profanity was involved.

[LawBeefaroni]

Going to guess that the fake save-anywhere was a PC "feature.". It wasn't in the console version.

[coopasonic]

51 people ahead of me on goozex. Ask me in another month. At least it's more or less free. I'm a lot more liberal with the games I try knowing I can generally turn newer games around for basically no loss. 7 page thread on this one at gamingtrend with quite a few people enjoying it.

Huh. I don't know what goozex is or was and I am pretty sure I never played Bayonetta.

[Isgrimnur]

Goozex was the game swapping site. They died three years ago.