Bayonetta was on my backlog for ages, so I finally decided to try it out... Unfortunately, things did not go as expected.
I'll get one thing out of the way: The combat is the saving grace of this game! It's flawless! Fast-paced, tight controls, good combo variety, nice weapon moves, a dedicated dodge button that's actually useful and a freedom for improvisation and style that rivals the likes of Nier Automata and DMC 5. I don't even know how they'll improve on the second one, but people say they do. Other than that, the soundtrack is catchy, characters are well designed, the pacing of each level is good and the whole game just goes STRAIGHT to the point from the start, no BS.
Unfortunately, this game felt like a mess to me. Everything is pretty unforgiving and recycled. The writing is horrible! There's a story going on, but it makes no sense and the result is a forgettable tale. Characters like Bayonetta, Jeanne and Rodin are great, but almost every other (like Cerezita) are obnoxious. And every woman in this game is VERY SEXUALIZED! Too unnecessary and disrespectful. It just seems like they tried to make everything as over the top as possible and, in the end, made something... childish?
And while the combat is astonishing, there are huge flaws in the gameplay design. Bosses are EPIC, but just for the sake of it, making for long, confusing and tedious fights. Environments are bland, reused, with dull puzzles and clueless moments. Bosses are also recycled and you have to fight them over and over again, sometimes one after another. Bullet hell moments outstay their welcome. There are huge unbalanced difficulty spikes throughout the campaign. The rewarding system is punishing and requires perfection. Some enemies are not fun AT ALL to fight and Bayonetta is made of PAPER, since her health goes down TOO FAST! The game is fun, but very annoying. These flaws almost broke the experience for me. Everything is too uneven.
I thought I was going to love Bayonetta like I love DMC, but I was wrong. While I loved the soundtrack, character design and the astounding combat system, the rest was very frustrating and I almost stopped playing it. But even if defective, there's a charm to it. Even if it tries to hard to find it.
I'll get one thing out of the way: The combat is the saving grace of this game! It's flawless! Fast-paced, tight controls, good combo variety, nice weapon moves, a dedicated dodge button that's actually useful and a freedom for improvisation and style that rivals the likes of Nier Automata and DMC 5. I don't even know how they'll improve on the second one, but people say they do. Other than that, the soundtrack is catchy, characters are well designed, the pacing of each level is good and the whole game just goes STRAIGHT to the point from the start, no BS.
Unfortunately, this game felt like a mess to me. Everything is pretty unforgiving and recycled. The writing is horrible! There's a story going on, but it makes no sense and the result is a forgettable tale. Characters like Bayonetta, Jeanne and Rodin are great, but almost every other (like Cerezita) are obnoxious. And every woman in this game is VERY SEXUALIZED! Too unnecessary and disrespectful. It just seems like they tried to make everything as over the top as possible and, in the end, made something... childish?
And while the combat is astonishing, there are huge flaws in the gameplay design. Bosses are EPIC, but just for the sake of it, making for long, confusing and tedious fights. Environments are bland, reused, with dull puzzles and clueless moments. Bosses are also recycled and you have to fight them over and over again, sometimes one after another. Bullet hell moments outstay their welcome. There are huge unbalanced difficulty spikes throughout the campaign. The rewarding system is punishing and requires perfection. Some enemies are not fun AT ALL to fight and Bayonetta is made of PAPER, since her health goes down TOO FAST! The game is fun, but very annoying. These flaws almost broke the experience for me. Everything is too uneven.
I thought I was going to love Bayonetta like I love DMC, but I was wrong. While I loved the soundtrack, character design and the astounding combat system, the rest was very frustrating and I almost stopped playing it. But even if defective, there's a charm to it. Even if it tries to hard to find it.