Bayonetta (Wii U) Review

 (Originally posted on January, 2015)

                                      

(2014, Wii U)

I restrained from buying a 360 or PS3 for various reasons, but was always interested in trying out Bayonetta, just on the principle that anything by the creators of Okami is worth a shot. Fortunately it made it’s way to being a pack-in with Bayonetta II, which the internet convinced me must be one of the greatest games ever. I have little experience with the 3D action/beat-em-up genre, so please take these thoughts as from someone just going for the ride.

The game blasts off with a full-on combat scenario as a voice-over narrates the backstory. You begin by fighting Crow Tengu looking ‘angels’…atop free falling, crumbling clock-towers…inside of what could very well be the mega storm of Jupiter. I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s awesome! Following that is a very long opening cut scene which was so well done, I had no desire to skip past it for more action. One of the themes to the game is leafing through books and the pacing unfolds in a similar way. Each chapter (world) contains several ‘verses,’ multiple combat scenarios broken up with short periods of mild platforming, puzzles, exploration and cutscenes to cool you off. Backed by impressive voice acting in both English and Japanese, the story of good vs. evil (or is it good evil vs. evil good?) is completely over the top, but it’s all so stylish and comfortable with itself that you’ll get sucked right in.

The immensely satisfying battles can be extremely tough but are always fair, with a well-designed camera and targeting system. The “witch time” mechanic gives you the incentive to learn enemy patterns, animations and keep your timing sharp by rendering you near invincible for a few seconds, if you dodge an attack at the last possible moment. With even the weakest of enemies feeling like an opportunity to hone your skills, this is one of those games where the fun comes from dancing with it’s essence, something that means much more than just overcoming a challenge. It’s like Donkey Kong; no matter what level you’re on, simply jumping over the barrel is always satisfying. As someone new to 3D action, I was pleased to find the core gameplay simple to pick up, yet always accompanied by a complex but completely optional combo system. I didn't even attempt to master the more intricate combos, which auto complete when playing the game on the very easy mode. (I was guilty of resorting to it for some of the later boss fights!)

Not content with just being based around combat scenarios, the game does it’s best to introduce more variety with plenty of brilliant quick time events, escort missions, chase scenes and even several vehicle stages that go on just a bit too long, but brilliantly reference 80’s era Sega games. If you’ve spent your share of time in arcades and on Sega consoles, play Bayonetta alone if you don’t want to be caught jumping up and down once the remixes of ‘Splashwave,’ ‘After Burner’ and ‘Space Harrier’ kick off.

The enemies and bosses are unbelievable in descriptions. Initially beautiful, the living works of jewelry adorned, sculpted marble gradually turn more and more horrifying as you chip away at their facade. The boss fights are wonderfully ludicrous, with Bayonetta believably taking them down with an immense, yet often concealed, magic source. Throughout the game, the insanity constantly ramps up all the way to an ending sequence which left me completely drained by the end. Taking place in such a fantastical setting, the abundant gore during battle gives you a massive sense of accomplishment without much unease to accompany it. You just may want to think twice about activating the ‘torture sequences’, where your enemies finally show regret once realizing they’re about to experience an ending not unlike the ‘fatalities’ of Mortal Kombat. As you’ll see from my past reviews, I tend to gravitate towards more family friendly Nintendo games, so assisting Bayonetta with administering the ‘Spanish Donkey’ never failed to make me cringe.

One considerable flaw is that the loading times and presentation are not optimized for the many losses you’ll encounter. If you die, you have to go through the process of choosing to continue that verse, loading, skipping the repeating cut scene, THEN finally returning to battle. This got so annoying that I cheated myself out of a more satisfying experience by just choosing to start the whole world over, clearing it on the very easy mode after too many Game Overs.

While the streets, courtyards and architecture of Vigrid are beautiful to see, much of the games takes place in bland mountains, military bases and infrastructure, drowned in dull shades of red, grey and brown. Such areas feel especially out of place from an otherwise immensely inspired and stylish game. In between the oddly fitting upbeat pop and 60 year old Fly Me To The Moon, the majority of the soundtrack consists of imposing ambient music (often very similar to Okami) for the exploratory portions parts of the game. While in battle, the music does a 180 towards elegant, powerful piano and orchestra dominated tracks with a hint of mystery and magic always lurking within, perfectly matching Bayonetta herself.

I did not explore the shop/inventory system or Nintendo themed costumes to great depth, though there will much incentive to do so is one chooses to go beyond merely clearing the game. With such rewarding gameplay done with jaw-dropping style, I should immediately replay this game…but good heavens, Bayonetta II already awaits…