I always appreciate the grassroots of games and see how they eventually grow, but unlike Devil May Cry, which I feel this game closely relates to(aside from the same producer and style of combat to an extent), there's no remnants of what it was which can still be seen in the game. While Bayonetta's characterization and the story in general feel much more prevalent in this game compared to again, Devil May Cry, its more or less brother; the awful QTE, Majority of bosses feeling nearly unfun to fight and janky controls takes a lot away from the great combat and fun if brief story. I enjoyed it up until a certain point, and then I wanted nothing more then to finish it and see how its sequel no doubt improved on the faults of the original.

After my previous two reviews I feel like any energy I would’ve had to write a long-form review has been zapped so apologies if this review feels like a collection of thoughts rather than something truly in-depth as I couldn’t find the proper ebbs and flows to get each of my points across. Can you tell I’m trying to hit the word count yet?

You know there’s something to be said about Bayonetta’s portrayal of femininity. The classic female action hero is usually relegated into being nothing more than exactly like their male counterparts. Where, in order to fit the archetype of “badass”, they’re made to act more masculine, as if “girliness” can’t be cool. That’s a huge factor into why a character like Bayonetta is so memorable. She wears a skin-tight leather suit, all her moves look like an elegant dance, and she very often just goes naked to deliver her attacks. Not saying that this form of badassery is better than the other, but it’s really not something you see in games often, and that’s what I find commendable. Now there is something to be said in regard to if this game does this well and venture off into fanservice eye candy that’s grating considering Kamiya’s own comments, but I’m a cis man so there’s not much insight I have into these matters. But judging by this game’s own fanbase, Bayonetta seems to be a feminist icon that’s wildly beloved, and for me her actions in the game certainly didn’t feel grating.

• Going into this right after DMC5, I assumed that it would worsen the game’s combat for me but I can’t feel that it did. It’s fun, it packs a punch. There are really a lot of fun combos you can do now that you have a dedicated secondary attack button. Although I really can’t tell if this game is harder than DMC or not. I died a lot more than I did in any DMC game I should say, but it never felt like it was harder, it always felt easier. I don’t know what’s up with that, I think it may just have something to do with this game’s reliance on Witch Time, although doing more research this game may be too smart guys!!! Cause surprise, Witch Time is entirely optional it looks like. Oops, skill issue on my part? Yeah maybe. Still, I think this game should be celebrated for trying to differentiate itself from DMC when it comes to combat, not shunned.

• Controls can make or break a combat system and for Bayonetta it’s mostly good, mostly. Idk man, having lock on be R1/RB and having dodge be R2/RT is insanely uncomfortable as to get that perfect dodge against certain enemies I’ll need to have one of my fingers be on R1 and the other one on R2 so I can play the to the best of my abilities. It just ends up hurting my hands after a while, so I had to resort to playing with one finger for both actions sometimes which really did hurt how I played as I’m not the fastest with my fingers. Wouldn’t be an issue if this game had remappable controls but it doesn’t, and certainly doesn’t help that I played with a Dualsense.

• Camera is weird, lock on aims you towards the enemy but this has the downside of having it act all over the place when you’re placed in small areas with more than one enemy.
• The art direction of this game is pretty cool, it took a while but once that whole magical aesthetic clicked, I dug it. Locations are also pretty, at the beginning at least. They really fell off by the midpoint.
• Level design is nothing special. They are all pretty linear levels with easy puzzles. Although the gimmicks in some of the levels ranged from fun to downright terrible, with Mission 14 being the worst of it all. While we’re on the topic of design, boss design is alright. They’re fun to fight, albeit forgettable, but some just veneer riiiiight into that annoying category.
• I’ll start talking a bit about the story now so uhhhh yeah it’s pretty easy to see how Bayonetta has cemented herself as a bit of a gaming icon. She’s fun and likable as a character. Unfortunately I cannot say I find her “hot”, I guess my opinion on white women that I reached in my DMC4 review still stands. Alas…either I am fully gay or my dick don’t work 💔. Heartbreaking.
• The other characters are also pretty charismatic and memorable. Rodin and Enzo are fun, Cereza is inoffensive, Luka is really awesome I like him a lot.
• Not all characters are equal however, as stated previously the bosses are really forgettable and act all the same, even the final boss sadly. Same is true for Jeanne, I really think she doesn’t quite reach the height she could have.
• Despite having a mostly fun cast it’s a shame the story itself is so 🛌. The whole angel and demons along with the light and dark shtick was pretty played out by the time this game was released, so it’s pretty sad to see this game do nothing interesting. Even DMC3, despite not having a super strong narrative or anything, is really rich for me in the rivalry between Dante and Vergil, along with the whole family motif. Can’t say the same is true here.
• The game does place quite a big emphasis on the story, more than DMC4 I’d say, which released around the same time. But like DMC4 I can’t say it’s really all that good. I dunno man, I really have no deeper critiques other than me finding it bland and uninspired and seeing some of the twists coming miles away. Like the end of Mission 14 should be emotional, but I don’t think I care. I’d not care for the story but I feel like the game focuses on it a lot, so in my eyes it’d be a disservice if I just ignored it entirely.

Uhmmmm something something balls balls funny joke here. I’m running out of material. The final boss kinda sucked dick, monkey dick to be specific. Sometimes I really felt like this game wanted to deliver a spectacle but it just didn’t hit me like it intended. Still, a really solid game on its own. I do think I could’ve derived much more enjoyment from the game if it’s combat was better as sometimes it just felt very very annoying, but if I’m being completely fair I need to admit that maybe the fault doesn’t really lie with the game but with me. Bit embarrassing to admit but I was not good at this game, even though I wasn’t bad at DMC. Sometimes the problem does lie with me and I should be man enough to admit that. I’m so sure that one day I’ll revisit this game and end up liking it much more, but as it stands it’s a fun action title I recommend.

Oh yeah, happy pride month.

Incredibly stylish and cool hack and slash that exudes extravaganza in every component of its design. Pretty much every graphic designer likes this game, and that's for a reason, as everything looks and feels outlandish and over the top in the best possible way. I also really like the core game design of a typical Hideki Kamiya game where you have a short, conclusive and enjoyable main campaign where the extra juice is replaying the levels and doing it better, faster, taking more risks and knowing where to look for the extra levels. I even liked the gimmicky boss fights, as they're a spectacle, which is the objective, but the gimmicky levels are a chore at best and an absolute disgrace at worse. Sadly, the first playthrough is potentially the worst one, because that's when you're more likely to call bullshit on the timing of some enemies (a few are trial and error) and watch the nearly THREE HOURS of cinematics that depict an extremely convoluted and uninteresting plot, with mediocre action sequences that don't hold a candle to the bonkers fights you can actually do while playing the game.

While I am playing Bayonetta 3, I would like to give my thoughts on the first two installments. I will very likely play Cereza and the Lost Demon eventually, but for now, enjoy this first part of my Bayonetta retrospective.

I had a love/hate relationship with this game the first time I finished it. The core combat was immensely satisfying, but I disliked how often you had to perform tasks unrelated to it. The gimmick levels were too long, the environmental puzzles repetitive, and the platforming sections awkward. I thought the game didn’t have enough enemy variety and hated late-game foes like Kinship and especially Grace and Glory. The gotcha QTEs during cutscenes that can instakill you are atrocious and shouldn’t have been included.

I still stand by most of these complaints, but my opinion on Bayonetta changed after beating it on Hard and Non-Stop Infinite Climax (NSIC). You’re probably wondering why I did that considering all my grievances. Well, from what I understood, Bayonetta is meant to be replayed. Your first playthrough is an elaborate tutorial for the “real” game. I still felt rusty with the combat and I also heard the higher difficulties change the experience in interesting ways. I wanted to at least try out Hard mode. Getting past the Prologue was a nightmare without the Moon of Mahaa-Kalaa, which allows you to parry almost any attack with good timing. This item alone made the combat much more enjoyable, but I also got more comfortable using Dodge Offset to unleash Wicked Weaves more often. I am by no means a Bayonetta master, but I was shocked by how fun the higher difficulties were. In most games, the increased challenge would have lead to more frustration. Enemies would simply have more health and deal more damage. Bayonetta, however, bucks this trend. Enemy health and damage remain untouched, but enemy placement is changed up, especially in the early chapters. While I think there was room for improvement, I was very happy to see these changes.

Nothing, however, could have prepared me for NSIC. In a radical twist, Bayonetta’s signature Witch Time is disabled! Although I heard about this prior to reaching NSIC, I was doubtful the game would be fun under that condition. There were a few enemies I found tedious to kill without Witch Time, such as the shape-shifting Golem, but for the most part, it played similarly to Hard mode. It’s a testament to how excellent the combat really is.

Despite the non-combat sections lacking depth and/or polish, Bayonetta is a kick-ass game. It set a new standard for 3D action games and helped to cement Platinum as the king of the genre. Without Bayonetta, we probably wouldn’t have Metal Gear Rising, Nier: Automata, and Astral Chain.

The most luxurious action game ever made.

There are many combos, but each of them have a purpose. You can hold the button at any point of a combo for extra damage or a different function. There are multiple weapons, magical finishers, taunts, parries, breakdances. There are gigantic kaiju bosses to one-on-one adversaries. There are literally combat verses that are hiding right behind you. There's so much lore about the alluring culture of Vigrid and then there are cutscenes where Bayonetta middle fingers an ancient being. There are two-to-three credits sequences and then a dance montage. When you beat the game, you unlock the shittiest set of guns and when you beat 100 chapters, you unlock a sick new weapon.

Of course, the initiative to throw in as much as possible does mean an inadequacy will hide in the pile every now and then: mainly instant death QTE's, the odd arcadey minigame, the ranking system being unnaturally strict for such a freeform game, and the occasional unreadable enemy animation. But they hardly leave a dent on what is an overall addictive and excessively good package. Bayonetta is a character who truly gives you everything despite it all, regardless of any mysterious or overblown lore or dodgy gameplay section, and makes you want to live out the song and dance with her for as long and as many times as you possibly can.