Bayonetta 2 Review - A Witch In Time

Jimothy Sterling

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Bayonetta 2 Review - A Witch In Time

Flashy, ridiculous, and a sublime example of spectacle fighting.

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Xman490

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VinLAURiA said:
Cue furious Yahtzites in 3... 2... 1...
0.

Okay, I'm not furious about this; I'm curious about something not mentioned in this review. Well, I would be if I hadn't played the demo. In Yahtzee's review of the original Bayonetta, he said that "the QTEs are irregular, very sudden, and give you an amount of time equivocal to the audience's attention span." In the demo of this sequel, Quick-Time Events for jumping across chasms allowed 10 seconds or more and even show which cardinal direction the button is in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that the Bayonetta 1 re-release also has QTEs this fair.

Speaking of demos, you really should try it. It's a good sample that does what a demo should. It brings to mind The Stanley Parable Demo, which you should check out if you're somehow on the fence on getting that full game (on sale this weekend).
 

Rellik San

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kiri2tsubasa said:
Ok, lets check back in in a month or 2 and see what the sales are going to be like. Considering the first only sold about 2 million units world wide, I can see it being less since it is only on 1 console this time.
"The first one only sold equivalent to a double platinum record."

2 million is by no means a bad sales figure. It's actually pretty decent with an average AAA (read not one of the big 4 COD, BF, AC, GTA) selling around 1.5 million units.

And given if I'm not mistaken they built the original game in an existing engine (the modified Cry-Engine used for the Hedgehog Engine I believe) so only had to develop mechanical systems not a graphics engine, financially that ain't a bad goer.... critically a massive success, even if it doesn't sell massively well, Bayonetta is a franchise you put out maybe twice a decade because critics and fans love it. It's not about mahoosive sales, it's about fan loyalty and respect for their audience. :)
 

SnakeoilSage

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Bayonetta doesn't work for me for two big reasons:

1. The game takes the SquareEnix Fashion Approach and dials it up to 11. Jim himself mentions the headless angel that talks out of a baby's face on his sword, but he doesn't bat an eye at how ridiculous that is, how the game is nothing but spikes and wings and halos and baby-faces but apparently he's okay with that and the ludicrous plot and the bizarre combat system for Bayonetta while he tears SquareEnix a new one for literally the same problem. Once Bayonetta hits her action sequences, the whole thing turns into a spinning dervish of random colors on top of environments that are spinning in orbit around more spinning. Kaleidoscopes have more to focus on than Bayonetta's games.

2. Bayonetta isn't sexy. Sorry, she's not. A better animator could have made her more graceful, but instead she struts back and forth with this stiff, robotic, "I'm wearing platform shoes that are way too big for me and I don't want to trip" gait, juts her body parts out at weird angles like she's working a kink out of her back, and usually ends it with an awkward standing-squat that looks like she's trying to use a bidet while riding a horse. This is like Gina Davis trying to be sexy and its so freakin' upsetting because you know she's trying her best but she's just failing so hard. Oh but she wears skin-tight clothes so I guess that's fine. And she gets naked repeatedly because her clothes are also her hair and her hair has to transform into other things like weapons and belts and zippers and more hair and FUCK'S SAKE JIM YOU JUST DID A JIMQUISITION ON WHY THIS KIND OF NONSENSE IS SO FUCKING STUPID!
 

SilverUchiha

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AH! This game looks so amazing and fun! I can't believe I have to wait another whole week for it!
At least I still have Mordor to finish and Korra on Tuesday to hold me over until a proper Platinum game comes out.

But, damn it, I don't want to wait an entire week.
 

Evonisia

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Jun 24, 2013
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My hype is increasing far too much, the glowing review has helped to push it even further!

VinLAURiA said:
Cue furious Yahtzites in 3... 2... 1...
Yahtzee's opinion on Bayonetta may as well be irrelevant seeing as he played the PS3 version anyway. His future vision of the series is probably forever tainted. Plus it's a Nintendo exclusive now.
 

Andy Shandy

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Jun 7, 2010
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Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Legend Of Korra next week too :D

What have we done to deserve two Platinum games in one week! :D
 

GloatingSwine

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SnakeoilSage said:
Once Bayonetta hits her action sequences, the whole thing turns into a spinning dervish of random colors on top of environments that are spinning in orbit around more spinning. Kaleidoscopes have more to focus on than Bayonetta's games.
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
 

Foolery

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Never played the first one. Didn't appeal to me. I'm glad it's a good game, though. I should get a Wii U. But not for this.
 

SnakeoilSage

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GloatingSwine said:
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
"Git gud" is a poor argument. There is no challenge to Bayonetta, it's all button mashing and QTE's. You don't need skill, just patience. The rest is flashing lights and nonsense to make an otherwise boring combat experience less obvious. And you fell for it, because you call this a "spectacle fighter" when it's just another beat-'em-up with pretensions of epicness. It's like you're playing tennis, and every time you hit the ball, a firework goes off in your face and a naked woman runs across the field for a split second.

I don't need to adjust myself to someone else's inability to design proper action. You don't force yourself to sit through The Dark Knight Rises and its poorly edited fight scenes when you can go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its beautifully choreographed and professionally filmed action.
 

LarsInCharge

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SnakeoilSage said:
GloatingSwine said:
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
"Git gud" is a poor argument. There is no challenge to Bayonetta, it's all button mashing and QTE's. You don't need skill, just patience. The rest is flashing lights and nonsense to make an otherwise boring combat experience less obvious. And you fell for it, because you call this a "spectacle fighter" when it's just another beat-'em-up with pretensions of epicness. It's like you're playing tennis, and every time you hit the ball, a firework goes off in your face and a naked woman runs across the field for a split second.

I don't need to adjust myself to someone else's inability to design proper action. You don't force yourself to sit through The Dark Knight Rises and its poorly edited fight scenes when you can go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its beautifully choreographed and professionally filmed action.
Well I can safely say you don't play spectacle fighters from this statement.

Button-mashing in the first Bayonetta, or any of the original 4 Devil May Crys, or Metal Gear Rising will get a sword shoved up your rear end multiple times by the end of the game. If you're playing on normal, you might be able to will your way through the game that way, but complaining about it at that point seems pointless.

Saying these games require zero skill in BS.
 

GloatingSwine

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SnakeoilSage said:
GloatingSwine said:
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
"Git gud" is a poor argument. There is no challenge to Bayonetta, it's all button mashing and QTE's. You don't need skill, just patience. The rest is flashing lights and nonsense to make an otherwise boring combat experience less obvious. And you fell for it, because you call this a "spectacle fighter" when it's just another beat-'em-up with pretensions of epicness. It's like you're playing tennis, and every time you hit the ball, a firework goes off in your face and a naked woman runs across the field for a split second.

I don't need to adjust myself to someone else's inability to design proper action. You don't force yourself to sit through The Dark Knight Rises and its poorly edited fight scenes when you can go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its beautifully choreographed and professionally filmed action.
Welp, you've basically demonstrated to the internet that you have never played above Easy Automatic.
 

JagermanXcell

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SnakeoilSage said:
GloatingSwine said:
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
"Git gud" is a poor argument. There is no challenge to Bayonetta, it's all button mashing and QTE's. You don't need skill, just patience. The rest is flashing lights and nonsense to make an otherwise boring combat experience less obvious. And you fell for it, because you call this a "spectacle fighter" when it's just another beat-'em-up with pretensions of epicness. It's like you're playing tennis, and every time you hit the ball, a firework goes off in your face and a naked woman runs across the field for a split second.
Correction, this a "hack n slash" not a "beat em up". They're totally different in their approach to action since good character action games such as Bayo rely heavily on depth, and yes there is depth underneath all the spectacles and QTEs you're talking about. This is no different from Devil May Cry's depth: there are dodge offsets, there is jump canceling, there is a variety of juggles, OTGs, and other stark combos with a vast variety of weapons that you can pull out on the fly if you were to, just gonna quote GloatingSwine on this one, "git gud". If one thing the old character action games Kamiya and the team working on this game did better was NOT having the QTEs and such and left it to cutscenes. But minus the mandatory stuff you're pointing out, the in game QTEs are COMPLETELY OPTIONAL for the simple purpose of a flashy kill.

Don't believe me?

Fans of hack n slash games go for the easy kills first run through, but the real meat and potatoes of Bayonetta comes from the depth in combat behind the red flashing buttons you think veterans of the character action genre are "falling for".
And button mashing in a Platinum game? Have you actually played one, because that's a one way ticket to a terrible k/d ratio.
 

Rednog

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Rellik San said:
kiri2tsubasa said:
Ok, lets check back in in a month or 2 and see what the sales are going to be like. Considering the first only sold about 2 million units world wide, I can see it being less since it is only on 1 console this time.
"The first one only sold equivalent to a double platinum record."

2 million is by no means a bad sales figure. It's actually pretty decent with an average AAA (read not one of the big 4 COD, BF, AC, GTA) selling around 1.5 million units.

And given if I'm not mistaken they built the original game in an existing engine (the modified Cry-Engine used for the Hedgehog Engine I believe) so only had to develop mechanical systems not a graphics engine, financially that ain't a bad goer.... critically a massive success, even if it doesn't sell massively well, Bayonetta is a franchise you put out maybe twice a decade because critics and fans love it. It's not about mahoosive sales, it's about fan loyalty and respect for their audience. :)
But you're overlooking one big fact. Bayonetta was dead in the water, no sequel was coming, until Nintendo stepped in and gave them money to make it. So yea it was all about "mahoosive sales" or in this case a lack thereof.
 

Lunar Templar

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SnakeoilSage said:
GloatingSwine said:
When you know how to play spectacle fighters it's generally quite easy to follow the action. So I guess the answer to this is git gud?
"Git gud" is a poor argument. There is no challenge to Bayonetta, it's all button mashing and QTE's. You don't need skill, just patience. The rest is flashing lights and nonsense to make an otherwise boring combat experience less obvious. And you fell for it, because you call this a "spectacle fighter" when it's just another beat-'em-up with pretensions of epicness. It's like you're playing tennis, and every time you hit the ball, a firework goes off in your face and a naked woman runs across the field for a split second.

I don't need to adjust myself to someone else's inability to design proper action. You don't force yourself to sit through The Dark Knight Rises and its poorly edited fight scenes when you can go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its beautifully choreographed and professionally filmed action.
Congrats, you just described 'easy', ever try the game on normal? or hard? Button mashing gets your ass kicked in the modes.
 

Kajin

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Apr 13, 2008
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... I can have Bayonetta cosplay as Princess Peach? Consider me sold.