Dissection: Bayonetta

I went into my local game store last week on a high, I was finally going to be able to buy Bayonetta and have a sweet replica of her gun on my table. The high was then shattered as I opened my replica gun to find a borderline childlike paintjob; like it was some trophy for a child’s beloved grade school teacher. Doubt took over; I started questioning the efforts of SEGA and wondering if this was really going to be the spectacular experience I was hoping for. Well after playing through the story I can honestly say, yes.


Bayonetta starts off pretty weak though, it’s only after playing for about three hours that you begin to feel at home in this insane, sexy, under-populated (Seriously, there’s like 20 people living here) and ultimately hilarious universe that Hideki Kamiya has created. The intentionally overly ambiguous story told through static comic book-like film grain lets you play as the last Umbren witch, Bayonetta.

As story goes however it’s an unpolished, murky affair. Bayonetta seems like the only one in the game that has had some serious thought put into her character design. Yes she’s the centrepiece but everyone around her seems to have weak dialogue and clichéd character traits. The Umbren witches are the keepers of the darkness and the Lumen Sages are Keepers of the light, yin to each others yang but after a catastrophic love making session between a Lumen Sage and an Umbren Witch the two clans go to war and end up wiping themselves out.

It’s a nice setup with plenty of promise however the story just doesn’t go through the motions as it should. A good story should really be liked solving a rubicks cube, slowly lining up bits of information with each other until the puzzle is solved. Yet it feels like Kamiya san cheated and took the stickers off and suddenly presents us with a solved puzzle. Ambiguity is shattered and you’re left with the story coming together in an unnatural way. This isn’t an RPG but there’s a growing necessity in modern day games that a compelling story, no matter what medium it’s told through will be a cornerstone of the overall experience and Bayonetta is no exception, were the story a bit more thought out and the supporting characters given a little more attention then this would be the blockbuster to which it was touted as.

What helps Bayonetta is the realisation of the combat engine, I’ve been thinking about the best way to describe the engine as it’s probably the most compelling aspect to the game, in truth words like ‘solid’ and ‘polished’ are the undertones that lay beneath the whole experience. The gameplay in Bayonetta feels like a concept fully realised, just about everything Bayonetta does looks beautiful (in an adult orientated kind of way) and by the time you’ve played through normal difficulty there is still a strong desire to go through the harder difficulties and really try and push the engine as far as you can. Combat actions are really smooth, framerate rarely dips below 60fps and everything is animated impeccably.


There’s always something wrong with at least one or two aspects of a character model in just about every game, yet the only marginal issue I see with Bayonetta is lip synch, everything moves like it would in real life. Combat and environmental impacts feel solid and you don’t get an unnatural limb-flapping or bodies bouncing like they are filled with helium.

There are only a few minor issues as a whole, the techniques while necessary in some fights don’t evolve as it possibly could to really make Bayonetta’s move-set develop in greater variation. Weapon combinations coupled with go-to bread and butter moves will get you through most fights, everything else feels like a creative but otherwise low-tier addition in Bayonetta’s arsenal.

Pretty early on your repertoire feel’s complete, it doesn’t feel like there’s enough room to grow and save for finding more health and magic, after about five chapters in you never really feel more powerful, in fact this is just about the only thing in the game that feels toned down and surprisingly, it works really well.

If Bayonetta got the slightest bit crazier, moves and torture attacks any more gruesome it would detract from the experience. Limiting the crazyness to the finishing moves on bosses grounds Bayonetta enough to stop it from feeling like another crazy Japanese import that you’d have trouble immersing yourself in unless you were neck deep in their culture.

The soundtrack adds a nice layer to Bayonetta. Combat switches between funky J-pop and a beautiful-modern-day rendition of (authors) 195* classic; Fly me to the moon. Boss fights and important moments are laced with intense heavy orchestra scores similar to most J-RPGS but still have a less urgent and “we must save the world” feel. Instead there’s a really invigorating layer of playfulness to the audio-score and it really blends nicely with gameplay.

Bayonetta ultimately has had the most work put into her accent and dialogue, everyone but your arms dealer; Rodin and Bayonetta’s rival Jeanne feel like they come from a B grade early 70’s action flick and your left feeling that this is the only compromise in creativity throughout the game. It’s forgivable but if their audio didn’t feel like a cut in production time to meet a deadline rather than a gross oversight then Bayonetta would suffer more because of it.


This sums up Bayonetta pretty well, the game feels like Kamiya and Platinum Games have been given license to run wild and create an original experience, there are similarities to Devil May Cry but there’s enough substance to separate Bayonetta from Kamiya’s intellectual predecessor. Inspiration from the best parts of Japanese anime and action movies are used stylishly, nods are given to Capcom and Yu Suzuki through use of Rodin’s dialogue and two chapters devoted to Bayonetta-styled versions of Outrun and Space Harrier.

If you’ve grown up with SEGA or Capcom titles then you’re going to find in-jokes and industry humour throughout the game. Bayonetta is a truly creative and an original piece likened to Dreamcast-era releases such as Jet Set Radio and Shen Mue the only difference is it feels like it was cut short to reach a production date and maybe six more months of waiting would have been better if it meant we were given the whole Bayonetta package.

The Bayonetta experience is still astounding and has done enough to make this game a must have in your collection, it falls short in some easily fixable areas but doesn’t ultimately detract from the experience while it’s a shame that it doesn’t feel complete it’s only a lingering feeling and ultimately the pro’s vastly outway the con’s.

Bayonetta will leave you with one of those nostalgia-driven moments’ years from now when you’re recalling your gaming experience with others just as Mario or Pac-Man had done in their day, well worth the purchase price and the memories will last a lifetime.


What they got right

Gameplay: Bayonetta, your brush. Her weapons your palette, with these you can paint a Rembrant of ecchi-laced destruction. Killing angels has never felt more justified.

Level Design: Harkening to Devil May Cry structure leaves you wanting to get the best result you can, levels have an unnatural but well-founded flow to them, You’ll want to attempt and push the boundaries here.

Music: Original and funky; while not everyone is able to synch with this type of music if you have the ability to go outside your comfort-zone then your going to revel in it.

Bayonetta: Possibly the strongest and most empowering female character in Video Game history, she ooze’s confidence and class in everything she does, making otherwise vulgar movements and poses look acceptable, the kind of girl you’d want on your arm at a fancy shindig. Plus, you get to dress her up in sexy outfits.

What they got wrong

Supporting cast: There are skip-worthy dialogues with the majority of the supporting cast and unbearable moments where you wonder if it’s a fault in translation or just poorly written. More time needed here.

Story: I liked the pace but the payoff wasn’t as great as I’d hoped, refreshing to a certain extent that Kamiya told it in such a way just wish there was more depth to it. Points for creativity but just didn’t hit the mark as it should.

Scarborough Fair Replica Gun: Sure this isn’t part of the game but this Gun left a hole in my heart, once again SEGA fails at marketing a product successfully. How can you have a great hype-inducing campaign with sexy models and great PR and then cut corners on the final details?!? Don’t release a collector’s edition if it’s not worth collecting.