Written by: Alex

 

 

 

Upon initially picking up "Bayonetta" I was concerned. The box art focuses heavily on the eponymous witch’s posterior wrapped in black and while I am not opposed to frivolous titillation whenever I see a game that puts its sexual content as upfront as Bayonetta I start to worry. It arouses a sneaking suspicion that sex is being used as a distraction for a subpar game.

 

Fortunately it seems that the developer 'Platinum Games' were savvy enough to make a game that was able to stand on its own without the need of its protagonists ‘assets’, while also making the its more lascivious elements light hearted enough to be amusing rather than offensive (to everyone but your girlfriend).

 

I will confess to not being especially familiar with the style of third person character action brawler that Bayonetta falls into (think Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden). I have dabbled in similar titles but I have never been one to replay a game multiple times to master it intricacies’. Thus placing the game in the context of its piers on a mechanic level is tricky for me, but it proved far more immediately gratifying experience than my previous ventures into the genre.

 

Its accessibility comes from a forgiving checkpoint system. The game is segmented into distinct areas and clearing anyone of them qualifies as a checkpoint. It’s a good thing too because dying is the most effective way to recover energy as there are very few other ways to regain your health. More often than not my goal when fighting tougher opponents was simply to make it through to the next area, die and come back with my energy refilled.

 

 

It isn’t that Bayonetta doesn’t punish players for failure. If you die or use too many items during a level your grade will suffer. While initially this grade seems purely cosmetic it actually translates to experience points. Spending these points at the store enables the purchase of more moves, magic and weapons, powering up Bayonetta.

 

These additional abilities make the combat more complex, rewarding good players while not punishing those who find the game challenging.

 

The weakest part of the whole package is the plot. The story feels like a six-year-old in need of Ritalin wrote it. Pitting Bayonetta against hordes of twisted angels wearing mannequin masks across three parallel dimensions may sound good on paper, but in execution it feels like someone was trying to build two sets of IKEA shelves at the same time with no instructions, you can see what was meant to happen but somehow the end result doesn’t quite work. Poor audio levels during cut scenes didn’t help my confusion as to what was going on, with the music often loud enough to drown out much of what was said. I actually notice this a lot on TV and wonder if it isn’t a stylistic choice , but as it stands straining to hear what is being said over a fanfare of music during key scenes never aided understanding.

 

 

The disjointed story does at least provide the framework for the fantastical, beautifully realised environment and situations the game places you in.