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.
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.
mochamaki
11 months ago