Shine the Spotlight: Bayonetta

Seems early for another post about Bayonetta, doesn't it?  Well, screw you.  It's my blog.

After asking a friend to go over my other post about the game, they immediately told me I rambled far too long and never got to any solid point and probably should revise what I was doing.  They also decided to share their thoughts with me about how this crass character was probably not exactly a good one.  This made their advice about the post null and void to me and so I decided to Shine my Spotlight on Bayonetta herself.

For anybody who knows me, the whole "Shine The Spotlight" thing is where I go a little bit more in depth about a character, their personality, traits, and why I like them.  It's all a personal thing and what attracts me to them.  The opposing view is called "Lock Em' Up" where I go in depth about a character, their personality, traits, and why I dislike them.  Clearly this is about the former.  Also, Spotlights are VERY LIKELY TO HAVE SPOILERS SO BE CAREFUL.

So Shine the Spotlight:

Bayonetta aka Cereza

Doing what she does best: Being stylish and violent

 Introduced as the amnesiac last witch of a clan of witches known as Umbran Witches, Bayonetta is the foul mouthed, flirtatious, outrageous, hyper violent, and always fun as heck primary protagonist of the Bayonetta franchise originally released on the X Box 360 and followed on the Wii U.  We soon learn she's the last of two witches and she is a very special Umbran witch, not just because for an Umbran witch she's powerful, not just because she can curb stomp angels the size of lunar sattelites with demons she summons from hell, but because she carries in her the left eye of the overseer which when combined with the right eye allows the user to restructure reality.  While that story is more complicated, the story of Bayonetta is significantly less so.  She's just the abomination child of an Umbran Witch and a member of the Lumen Sages who happens to be the Umbran mortal enemy.  Her father is also the holder of the right eye of the overseer, and it turns out one eye was given to each clan to maintain balance and can resurrect the god of the universe but the eyes really belong to the god of chaos and ARGHGHGHG!!!

Bayonetta is basically spastic, stylish, playful energy cranked up way past eleven, handed four weapons to put on her very long appendages and told to kill angels.  She is a witch which means she made a pact with a demon (the demoness Madama Butterfly in this case) and must kill angels every day to keep this side of hell which she is ultimately doomed to upon death no matter what.  Though with the sheer volume she slaughters within an hour should get her a week long vacation.  Also the 500 years she was asleep wasn't held against her because demons are understanding.  And really not much of that matters.

Appearance wise, as you can tell from the picture, Bayonetta is a very lanky individual.  Tall (or just perhaps has a very tiny torso and head), raven haired, and bespectacled, Bayonetta almost has a geekish charm despite the fact she's very not geeky at all.  Crass, disrespectful, and extremely inappropriate are all terms that can describe Bayonetta.  From the way she blows expletives and tells people to screw off, to how she treats some of her friends far more like slaves, to her rather "whatever" regard she has for huge world threats, you quickly get the whole brushing off and overly cool feel of her personality.  She doesn't care, you annoy her, she just wants to more or less do whatever she wants to do.  And while she also enjoys the act of crushing angels, she isn't exactly someone who lusts after battle.  She doesn't really want to fight, but when she is fighting she makes sure to enjoy it.  She's also considered and extremely classy and literate lady who expresses her desire of etiquette upon others even if she herself barely shows restraint, up to and including pointing guns at others if they disrespect her.  Also she wears her hair as fine intricate black leather body fitting clothes.  You read that right, she wears her hair and it can take on the texture and shape of very detailed clothing.  Look at the picture above and note the only things which aren't hair are her shoes, the gold chains, her glasses and her guns.  The rest is HAIR.  And it must come off for her bigger attacks.  Which leads to the next bit.

Bayonetta is unabashedly sexual.  From the way she dresses to the way she speaks to the way she behaves to the way she fights.  Everything about her has some aspect of sexuality to her.  She purrs out her words at others with her breathy English accent.  She walks in an exaggerated hip swaying manner which emphasizes her well structured behind, she wears everything open back, her suits are skin tight, she dances around and strips for her Wicked Weaves and demon summons, even most of her attacks are something you imagine a fictional super stripper to behave like.  It's part of her charm, like a naked woman behind fogged glass which only hints at the sexuality without being completely naked or doing God of War sex scenes.  One of her attacks known as Breakdance has her spinning and crawling about the ground firing her weapons up and around only to finish with her on all fours, legs spread wide with her facing the screen with a wink and a camera shutter like some sort of magazine shoot.  Another called Umbran Portal Kick which has her land on her back to pose for another camera shutter.  I'm not going to say this is bad.  Not that needlessly sexualizing women in comic books and video games is good, but in the case of Bayonetta it isn't putting sex to simply put sex, but sex is actually woven into her character in a powerful way. "But Mak, that just means women only have authority and power if they're sexual objects."  To this I say no.  Bayonetta is both sexual and powerful, and one needn't the other in this case.  Bayonetta blends them in a satisfying and fun way.  Sex isn't bad, nor should it be disdained.  It shouldn't be used just to be used, but only when it helps craft a better story.  Bayonetta is her own woman, and she definitely comes off as all of this being her absolute choice in the matter.  It isn't like she's just the side character who has to flash skin to be recognized as the most attractive and hence the most important female.  She flashes skin because "Screw you, chump."  She is in control of herself and sexuality is just something she happens to enjoy.  She doesn't worry about what people think of her, or what man she is after, or relationships.  She is definitely a woman of her own being.  If she wants it, she gets it.  If she hates it, she shuns it.  She's a bitch but only in the best way.  An interesting character to say the least.  I have never really gotten the feeling that none of her traits are anything but the product of her own desire.  Never have I really seen or felt like she strips and dances for anything but fun of her own making or just to be a "cheeky" individual.  Sort of like the big tough guy who walks into a bar and orders frilly drinks and when called out he just is jolly and explains how he dislikes the taste of beer and prefers drinks with umbrellas.  You sort of gain a respect for that sort of confidence and that's who Bayonetta is at her core.  Confidence defines her.  Whether she's telling an enemy she doesn't have time for them, compliments them on their work, insults them for wasting her precious (immortal) time, about how ugly they are or how good looking they are, referring to partners as pets or her friends as almost slaves, Bayonetta knows she's the queen and is more than happy to play the role which makes things like her dancing all the more fun.  She knows nobody is going to call her out on it, and if they do she is more than smart and capable enough to simply shut them down or shut them up because nobody tells Bayonetta what to do.

Her powers also match her beyond over the top personality.  She's a witch and thus magic.  Magic enhances her through having infinite amounts of hair, ridiculous durability and strength such as taking falling buildings to her face or just punching them outright into orbit.  She's fast, really fast.  Bullets shot in her face can be avoided and it triggers a time manipulation event called Witch Time which allows her to sashay around, hold conversations, or just wail on enemies with beyond ridiculous weapons which are forged from the souls of powerful demons.  Speaking of demons, all witches are contracted to demons and in Bayonetta's case, this demon is Madama Butterfly.  A giant woman like demon with a butterfly motif, Madama Butterfly assists Bayonetta by imparting wisdom and great power to her which includes all sorts of techniques, but the most notable is the summoning and subjugation of lesser demons such as dragons, fire spiders, demon horses, devil dogs, nightmare millipedes, hydras, and even access to Queen Sheba the ruler of Inferno (though she needs help for that one).  Bayonetta can also "summon" Butterfly through her Wicked Weaves which strips Bayonetta of her hair suit and opens portals which allows fists and feet through temporarily to slam her enemies as part of her combos.  She also can call the weapons of the witch hunts as punishment attacks and commonly puts angels in iron maidens, wooden horses, burning cages, torture wheels, etc.  Everything you use with Bayonetta feels powerful and reminds you she is in charge.  And these are all over the top such as when she beats an angel into a guillotine then snaps her fingers with a little heart over them and the blade falls.  And going back to weapons, she has a plethora.  In the beginning of each game she wields four pistol like guns known as the Scarborough Fair in the first game and Love is Blue in the second.  Four guns seems a lot?  Not when you keep in mind she puts two on her FEET.  She is an extremely adept pistoleer with a strong skill in shooting all around her in super rapid fire sequence and her weapons just get more insane.  Shotguns, demon katanas or demon double swords, whips, fire/ice claws, ice skates, triple bladed scythes, gigantic hammers, even rocket launchers.  The variety is insane as she can pair things like the scythe in her hands and flaming chainsaws on her feet and use them with such deadly proficiency it has allowed her to conquer world ending nearly all-powerful gods more than once.

She jokes, she flirts, she's fun, she insults, she kicks all sorts of ass.  Bayonetta is truly a character while not being the first of her kind, is among the best of them. Bayonetta is no hero, and she's as happy to admit it.  But Bayonetta is the best thing to protect your world with so long as it happens to coincide with her own plans.

Bayonetta, a witch with true fun attitude.

The Bi... The Witch Is Back. Bayonetta 2: Return To Thunderdome (Possible Spoilers Of Course)

Sorry it's been more than a week since my last post.  Busy life is busy.  Especially with games to play, comics to read, and apartments to clean.

 

Let's do this.

Bayonetta 2 is a video game for the horrendously underrated Nintendo Wii U home video game console about witches and their quest to capture all the rings from Sonic the Hedgehog and use really cool weapons and techniques and demon summons to crush their angelic and demonic foes in a quest to capture all Pokemon everywhere.  Alright, so the rings are simply inspired by Sonic and there are no Pokemon.  It's really about the titular (no pun intended) character Bayonetta trying to save the soul of her friend Jeanne (pretty much pronounced "John") who is trapped in Hell Inferno, because Jeanne sacrificed her life to save Bayonetta (whom Jeanne calls "Cereza") from Bayonetta's own demon summon which oddly went out of control.  Of course the story spins off from that into a bigger end of the world sort of story we are familiar with and definitely echos back to the first of the series, but that's hardly of concern.  The primary concern is the character, style, and gameplay of Bayonetta 2.  At least that's all the concern Team Little Angels had, because the story definitely feels like it was developed to the point they could market it as a game and immediately stopped after that.  Also both Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 are packaged in the same box at the price of one game.  It's great.

The first Bayonetta was somewhat controversial given the overt sexual overtones of the portrayal, dialogue, and pretty much every movement Bayonetta made.  The second one makes the first look somewhat conservative.  The overtones are sometimes replaced with just outright sexual commentary and the scenes of crotch and butt shots are somewhat a little more obvious.  It's not that this is a bad thing for the most part, but sometimes it felt like the game just goes a bit out of its way to remind us Bayonetta leverages her sexuality.  Gone are her platinum award "I should've been a pole dancer!" comments (or at least I think so, I haven't been able to WIN a platinum award yet) and in it's place gives us Bayonetta putting squirrels in her cleavage, or Loki commenting about how Luka stares at Bayonetta's tits all day long, or Bayonetta straight up ditching innuendo and blatantly saying, "Though if it's sex we're talking about..." (Summary, not an actual quote).  It's odd, because while these things aren't bad they just feel out of place or shoehorned in.  I get, accept, and revel in how Bayonetta is meant to be a sexy, flirty vixen who strips down and engages in suggestive combat styles while saying things like, "You want to touch me?" but that's part of her charm.  Before in the first game she simply implies it in subtle and smart ways and moves on.  The second game sometimes just ditches it in case the viewer didn't get the joke.  Like if Stephen Colbert made a joke about why nobody is comfortable with a celebrating Germany then waited a few minutes to say, "You get it?  Because the last time the world saw a very celebratory Germany was when it was run by the Nazi regime and they were storming Europe while reveling in their status!"  It sort of just ruins the mood a bit.  Granted she isn't always mega subtle with her lip-licking, hip-thrusting, ass-shaking dances, but that's all body language and she works best when talking with her body.  Granted this is just the second game, so maybe I am thinking her personality is already fairly well established when it might not be.  Either way, moving on.

If you can't tell by my last paragraph, let me Bayonetta 2 this for you:  The game isn't for children.  Kids can play it and have fun and potentially pick up the word "Fuck," but you as a parent might not appreciate the sexual tones, language, and if you're extremely religious you don't want them wondering aloud why angels look like animals and are portrayed as bad guys.  Granted if you qualify in the last one, you probably don't want them playing games about witches, dressing up as witches for Halloween, celebrating Halloween, or even reading Harry Potter books because it has witches in it.  This game has no reverence for religion at all and uses it as nothing more than a tool to play a game.  The angels are of the older design before they were given real human like appearances, they're strict, they follow extremist orders, and really shows the demons are no worse or better, just a different part of the spectrum.  Well, when it does tell story at least.  If you are a Nintendo owner with children, don't assume you can just plop this down after a game of Mario Kart 8 with your kids, because the transition would be as jarring as smacking a concrete wall with your car at 40 miles per hour. 

It's actually sort of weird how this ended up on a console well known for its more family-friendly variety and doubly weird when people try to pitch it to one another, much less to a company fir the first game.  Really it's just a weird game in general that I couldn't have imagined was easy to pitch.  Could you?  Imagine if I went up to you and said, "Hey guy, I have a game proposition for you.  It's a game we're calling Bayonetta, and in it you're a witch named Bayonetta who has to go around and kill angels, but the angels are bad guys.  But that's not the insane part.  The best part is how you're like this really sexy witch who uses hair as her entire costume and has to strip to become more powerful after dancing around like a stripper!  You shout sexy things, sway your hips, and when you finish it there's just a big ol' dance celebrating your sexiness!"  And at that point you call security because you don't remember Sega relaxing their security to let loons like this in.  It probably only really saw the light of day due to Hideki Kamiya of Devil May Cry fame being a writer.  Sort of like how if Brian Bendis decided to write a story about how Reed Richards spent the early part of his marriage cheating on Susan and Marvel only said yes because it was Bendis who wrote it.  It is a really weird and sometimes uncomfortable game.  I played both the first and second one with my girlfriend in the same room this weekend and I will tell you there were a few times we were both uncomfortable and she was most likely questioning why I was playing this in front of her and what I must think about behind closed doors when nobody is watching.  She might also think it's better she doesn't know.  She might also think this is what I find sexy in a woman, but I hope she doesn't because that would be unfair and Bayonetta would be horrifying in the real world.

But now I'm rambling on too much.  Bayonetta is fun.  Pure fun.  If you like games that are just fun and don't really try to do the whole "We're really the next big thing," and just want to sit back and wail on people by wearing flaming chainsaws on your feet and not being forced to QTE for funerals, this game is for you. 

I'll be ditching the Good/Okay/Bad system from here on out because I felt it was a bit too general.  The idea was not to give the idea there was real science to how I felt, but it also really didn't satisfy me with how I evaluated things since it implied that things I really enjoyed and things I mostly enjoyed were the same rank when it simply wasn't true.  I'll be using your standard numerical system and evaluating it at the end.

Graphics: 9.5

I really want to give this a 10. For some reason I can't bring myself to it.  Framerate is 60 fps, environments are beyond gorgeous, detail is tremendous, light, texture, flashy stuff, everything is just top notch.  However, when I write "10" I feel like I'm putting it too high.  9.5 will have to do. Maybe because sometimes the camera angles were off and caused clipping with certain punishments.  Though that really isn't so much a graphics problem maybe?  I dunno.

Sound: 9.5

Voices, attacks, music, all of it great. My only real problems were sometimes the soundtrack drowned out the dialogue or the dialogue drowned out the background noise or the background noise drowned out everything.  I tried to adjust all the metrics, but it seems the soundtrack just has a few problems like that.  Voices were superb as the always pleasant to listen to Bayonetta purred out her lines and delighted with her witty charm.  Rodin gave off the cooler weapon guy with his voice.  Enzo was annoying as ever.  Loki was something of a let down, and really all the other voices are either grunts or some sort of Latinish language or something.  Music was fantastic as the developer did the same thing here as he did in the last game by releasing an official song and having it completely overshadowed by a J-Pop remake of a classic song which in this case was the unbelievably infectious, "Moon River."  Unlike "Fly Me To The Moon" before it, "Moon River" isn't in every single scene and really is only up to highlight the more lighthearted and fun parts of the game, like the introduction in the beginning of the game where Bayonetta starts off in a dress, strips, spotlights, hairs up, and kicks ass immediately afterward.  Sound effects were very top notch.  All weapons sound very different and satisfying.  Chainsaws grind, scythes ding, shooty guns go bang bang, the insect bow was fun, all the sounds were great.  Like I said, the uneven nature of how the sounds balance was sort of off and the only reason this didn't nail a 10.

Playstyle/Gameplay: 10

Solid 10 here.  When I first started there was just this button mashy way I played, but as I developed and learned how to time things better and understood how combos work the game became this unbelievably enjoyable experience where I performed better and overall was just far more satisfying.  Once again, nothing is as awesome as seeing a bit scythe slash followed up by a chainsaw laden leg sweep followed by Madama Butterfly's gigantic heel stomping someone.

Variety: 8.5

The variety in this game isn't...well, huge.  There are different enemies and they all require different strategies, but when you really get down into the gameplay they're not really all that different.  Sure I can't get better than a stone badge for that stupid flying snake boss level, but that's the exception.  Most of the time you'll be smacking away at enemies (generally ineffectively until you get your Umbran Climax) and waiting to dodge to engage Witch Time, which helps you fill your meter for Umbran Climax.  It basically becomes a game of waiting for visual cues and then unleashing combo hell on people and then repeating.  Really the best part is that the enemies all look different, but a good half of them just sort of look the same or ARE the same from previous games.  Also the demon army guys look like reskins of the angelic ones.  It feels unfair to say the variety isn't that big when it sort of is in some ways, but for the most part you will be wailing on the same enemies in every level after they're introduced.  The only real benefit is every level DOES introduce a new type of enemy whom you will fight 25 more times before the level is complete.  They do sort of mix the enemies together, but I wish they mixed them up more and integrated a few more enemy types.

Character Designs: 10

 Always a strong point for a series that is all about style and flash, Bayonetta 2 does not even come close to disappointing with character designs.  I passed this section in Borderlands the Pre-Sequel, so this is new.  Bayonetta herself looks fresh and wonderful, filled with personality, and completely realized as change for change sake as it relates to her character.  Her short haircut, shoulder bits, bare arms, and flowing hair...cape parts(?) (I'm a comic and game critic, not a fashion critic) are all beautiful and look like a natural evolution to her character that is both distinct and not at all the lesser of her older beehive style.  It looks like Bayonetta.  Jeanne looks slicker.  The angels are beyond well designed as are their demonic counterparts.  Rodin and Enzo look the same, but they look good.  10.  TEN!!!

Story:  7

 I was debating whether this was a 6.5 to 7.5 rating, but I think 7 is really the best for it.  Let's face it, the story is only as developed as it needs to be for gameplay to commence.  There is effort to tell a story, but it feels lost in most of the levels (aside from the War level).  There is a kid who has a mysterious amnesia and destiny who is being conspired against by authority forces he doesn't understand who sends angels to stop or retrieve him.  If this sounds familiar, it's because it is the basic plot of the first Bayonetta.  The only real difference is Bayonetta is just not the focus of that plot, and has her own subplot which is tossed aside after it has been achieved around the second half of the game and then Bayonetta goes to complete the first plot who has a bad guy which more or less is recycling the entire end goal of the first game in how he wants the Eyes of the World to elevate himself to God status and remake the universe in his image.  The only difference is instead of integrating Bayonetta into a statue, the enemy just wants the power for himself.  There's also this underlying story with the Masked Lumen which is obvious and unsatisfying.  The only reason this isn't lower is because of how interesting Bayonetta's world is.  You definitely WANT to know more about it.  How do demon pacts work?  Why are demons rebelling?  Is it because of this god guy?  How does he influence it?  Why don't we get more about Inferno and all of its awesome design?  More Rosa please?  There's enough there you want to know more but the game doesn't necessarily pay off.

Stability: 10

Aside from a graphical clipping and one failed start of a level, the game works flawlessly.  The clipping is probably a necessary evil due to the camera angle, and I think with the failed start the level had a timer and since I skipped the cinematic it was just following script.  This game very much felt like a finished product as an old school game was.  Something you open and worked perfectly.  Face glitches, balancing, all of that stuff didn't exist like problems do with some more modern releases which are racing out the door.  The game is just very polished and works flawlessly.  No lagging, no sagging, no graphical snagging.  Just pure gameplay and perfect rendering.

Replay Value: 9

This one is truly the most variable because Bayonetta's reasoning for replays is very dependent on what you're replaying for.  If it's just to smash more angels it has an okay replay value, though Tag Climax will be more your thing.  Really the replays will be mostly for those trying to improve their trophy values, collect rings for costumes and weapons, and those who want more challenge who also want to unlock certain weapons and costumes.  It has tremendous replay value in that regard because you can easily fight differently with different weapons and configurations and accessories, which turns each fight into something brand new in regards to how you actually combo and punish things.  If you're only interested in hammering through to say you've completed the game, then your replay value will be 0.

Total Score:

9.2

Final Thoughts: GET THE GAME

The total for me is a 9.2, and what really hurt it was the story.  Honestly this game is an essential for fun.  Even with the story shortfall and the variety "shortfall" the game was beyond fun and some of the most fun I've had video game wise all year.  Maybe even the past two years.  If you are one of the people who can get past their pride and own a Wii U,  you owe it to yourself to own this game.  It's worth the full price tag, and is ten dollars cheaper on the virtual store as opposed to the physical copy.  It comes with the first game which automatically unlocks the Nintendo costumes which are beyond fun (having Madama Butterfly's fists and feet replaced with Bowser's is endless fun), as well as the sounds that go along with it (coin and rupee sounds) is just a blast.  The game is pure fun.  GO BUY IT NOW.  If you don't own a Wii U, I'm sorry.  Out of the three "current gen" consoles, I honestly would say it's currently the best of them.

Let's dance, boys!