Vibe Check Companion

My current GotY cause you can watch the whole episode as a link for the frame information and context, and you can try to look up the answer via synopsis information, which is much better than doing it through title names.

God I love this show.

i don't really play dating sims that are just straight romance and not some insane subplot on the side (like hatoful boyfriend), but i did like this one for what it was! mostly the gender presentation options i appreciated. i hate being boxed into getting called MANLY and HANDSOME just because i'm playing as a male character, but i also don't exactly want to straight up be a girl...

i'm sad to report though that i'm not the target audience for this and probably will not be going back to it in order to get a different ending. i picked the responses that were most in character for what i'd say and even then the dialogue took me into places that i was just like "...ok" at pretty much. (which bums me out because i hate to leave him sad but oh well)

i'm not really into the "babygirl malewife" thing or the game's sense of humor in general outside of that trope, but if that's you then i'd probably recommend this i guess? he's pretty likeable and reminded me a lot of my real-life boyfriend.

actually i think that's my biggest issue, i just kept thinking about talking to my boyfriend the entire time and i have an unfortunate personality where i get really sour at the idea of talking to people other than him ... ... ... and that of course has nothing to do with the game and is just my problem

tl;dr: cute game, nice artwork, i wasn't the target audience but still had fun with it, it's free so you've nothing to lose

It really sucks that the controversy caused by Bayonetta's original voice actress, Helena Taylor, overshadowed Bayonetta 3 upon its release and left a stain on its already rocky history, which was caused originally by its lengthy development cycle. With that much hype waiting behind a game's release, nothing is going to please the fans. We've seen it time and time again, and this time it was no different.

I'm going to start by saying that Bayonetta 3 is my favourite of the trilogy and its an absolutely breathtaking action game with some of the greatest spectacles within recent memory. Its a strange choice to slow down a game as breakneck as Bayonetta and at first I really wasn't convinced by the game's new mechanics such as the Demon Slave mechanic, or its more open level design, but as the game progressed everything started to fall into place, creating one of the most rewarding experiences in the genre. There's so much more depth to the combat with all the new additions. My problem with Bayonetta 2 was that instead of adding more depth to Bayonetta 1's combat, they instead streamlined it and made it a lot easier to power up and wale on your enemies, which wasn't paticularly rewarding. Something that Bayonetta 2 had over Bayonetta however was its arsonel of weaponry, which I think Bayonetta 3 surpasses yet again with some of the most fun weapons to play around with, my personal favourite being the wizard weapon. Bayonetta 3 isn't as hard as Bayonetta 1, but its challenges come in form of managing your demons, timing attacks correctly, mixing up your combos with your demons, and even more thanks to the introduction of Viola.

A lot of people HATE the story, which I can pinpoint down to people's specific hatred of Viola. She is pretty much the female version of Nero from Devil May Cry, and just like how fans hated Nero, people hate Viola, but I don't. I actually really like Viola and her pop punk style, her theme also goes hard. Her gameplay is a really nice mix-up from Bayonetta's and adds a nice break from playing as Bayonetta as the game's added length needed something to break it up. I absolutely love her giant kitana as well as the use of Cheshire as a summon. I usually dont like parrying in games but it feels gratifying in Bayonetta 3, bringing me back to some of the challenge of the original game. It makes for some truly memorable moments of combat that feel earnt by the player and not handed by the game. In regards to the story, this is a Bayonetta game. The series has always been convoluted and nonsensical, so I don't really see what the problem is. I enjoy the use of the multiverse premise to take the player to diverse and interesting locations. I love the inclusion of Jeanne as another way to seperate the main story missions and also the use of Luka as a central character again. The Singularity isn't exactly a groundbreaking villain, but he's definitely a terrifying one, and the emotional story beats feel pretty okay to me.

One thing I felt wasn't surpassed by Bayonetta 2 was the spectacle of the original game. Bayonetta had some insane moments full of absolutely bonkers moments in mid-gameplay action and in its cutscenes. Luckily Bayonetta 3 picks up the pace again with some of the most insane action set pieces in gaming. From kaiju battles, to a rhythm mini-game boss battle, Bayonetta 3 manages to remain completely unpredictable, reminding me of the best moments from the first game, as well as from Devil May Cry 3 and V.

There really is so much that I love about this game and I'm incredibly happy to hear that Bayonetta 4 is in development already. All I'm saying is people will learn to love Viola just like people now love Nero and I hope that this game eventually earns a well-deserved cult following for its satisfying combat, wild action, and frankly decent story.