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.
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.