Review: Bayonetta 2

Platforms: Wii U
Release Date: Out now
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Nintendo

The moment Bayonetta 2’s prologue kicked off, I got the feeling I knew what I was in for. It begins by setting the scene, using a mixture of flashbacks and action segments, before letting you start beating up angels like nobody’s business. It just goes on from there – I enjoyed many hours of stylishly (and that is the word to use when describing Bayonetta) defeating any creature that got in my way, a task that just gets more and more satisfying the tougher your enemies are, and following the immersive story that keeps compelling you to play on.[divider]

To give you some context, many years ago a massive battle between the Umbra Witches and the Lumen Sages resulted in the latter group being pretty much wiped out. Now, in the present day, our heroine Bayonetta is knocking about shopping when some angels attack a plane. Her friend, fellow witch Jeanne, aids her in fending off this assault but is killed in the process. Angered by this, Bayonetta decides to head to Hell and get her friend’s soul back. The narrative unfolds in a fascinating way– I’ve only scraped the tip of the iceberg – and it is a real pleasure to play a game as thought out story-wise as this is.

She is aided in this endeavour by a cast of strange characters – we have Enzo, a reject from The Sopranos voiced by Joe Pesci, Rodin, a demonic bartender and the game’s weapon seller, and Loki, an annoying child hybrid of Kida Nedakh and N’Sync who speaks like someone from Eastenders but is very important throughout the tale.

Gameplay-wise, things are simple enough to pick up.  There are two control methods, one using the buttons and the other the Gamepad touch screen. I found the latter quite fiddly and when a lot was going on it became quite tricky to follow it all. However with the buttons it is incredibly easy (and very pleasing) to rack up a massive combo when slaughtering your enemies. This isn’t to say that there’s no variety to the fighting – Bayonetta is equipped with four pistols and as you progress many more weapons become available to you. The Chernabog scythe was a particular favourite of mine. There’s a loading screen listing all the combos, and how many times you’ve used them – it became a little challenge of mine to check everything off that list, and I can’t be the only one.

Because Bayonetta is a witch there is a lot of magic in effect too. Particularly useful is a mechanic called ‘Witch Time’ – if you time your dodges perfectly, time slows down and you can lay into the enemies to your heart’s content. We also have Torture Attacks which allow our heroine to dispatch a chosen unfortunate in gloriously gory fashion, culminating in a sea of red. There’s also a new element, Umbran Climax, which ups Bayonetta’s attack power massively and allows her to summon Infernal Demons to help out for a short period.

Every location has a unique atmosphere – from the pleasant mountain-base town of Noatun to the stomach of Hell

Having focused on all these powers it is important to add that Bayonetta is not over-powered and even on the normal difficulty setting there were challenging moments. Every new enemy is different, and working out the best way to dispatch them can be tough. Some of the boss fights also required numerous continues until I finally finished them off. There is a risk with this sort of game that one may become tired of the repetition but the sheer amount of variety on offer dispels that notion very efficiently.

This variety draws attention to something else in the game’s favour– how good looking it all is. Gameplay is a visual feast and, the more chaotic things get, the more you feel your eyes have been treated.  Every location has a unique atmosphere – from the pleasant mountain-base town of Noatun to the stomach of Hell – and the frame rate never drops noticeably, no matter how mad things get. There are many collectables on offer, namely hidden music tracks and journal entries which fill in the story. They are optional but worth looking for.

It is worth mentioning a negative or two. I enjoyed following the story but some of the cutscenes seem to equate swearing and smutty comments with humour, and I found it could get a bit grating over time. A lot of controversy has been raised over Bayonetta being an overtly sexual character– I couldn’t really care less, but I did not appreciate the game’s insistence to force her arse into my face a couple of times every cutscene. Some earlier levels were also marred by a number of unexpected QTEs that quickly killed you before you knew what was going on.

But despite these minor nit-picks it is undeniable that the game is incredible fun. It rides the line between challenging and fun seamlessly and, although the story can be blitzed through fairly quickly if you are so inclined, it is packed of replay value. It prizes skill above button-mashing and the more you interact with its simple but very deep battle system, the more you get out of it. It’s perfectly polished and I can’t really remember the last time I played a game that was so unashamedly, absurdly fun. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you – this is a game that will stand with the classics, and may be the best action game you will ever play.

[divider_top]

  Got any thoughts on this latest step in the Wii U’s comeback? Let us know over at @Boargames.