I think the gaming world is ready for Bayonetta, one truly badass witch!
I had the opportunity to sample the upcoming game from Platinum Games and Sega, and from the same director as the popular Devil May Cry series.
At first glance, I’m immediately reminded of 2007’s flop Bulletwitch, but Bayonetta looks to be more promising. Bayonetta is a shape-shifting witch who, at the start of the game, has no idea who she is and what her puporse is. Throughout the course of the game, you’ll meet characters and unlock secrets and mysteries that surround her.
Upon starting the game, you notice right off the bat that something is different about this game. Not only is the main character a female (we all know those are few and far between) but the imagery and visuals create a unique atmosphere about the game. The colors and moods are seemingly dark, but with certain moves come some small, pleasant surprises. When Bayonetta is airborne, she sprouts butterfly wings to signify her flying, and when she lands or attacks, rose petals are expelled.
Sooooo pritty.
Bayonetta starts out with two weapons: a set of four guns (two by hand, two in her heels) and a katana. Throughout the game, she can pick up various weapons, thus expanding her melee and long range combat styles. Strangely enough, Angels are out to kill her, and come in various forms. Perhaps Bayonetta and War should join forces!
Bayonetta’s styling itself is definitely something different. Her clothes are formed by her long black hair, which hugs her body and create her skintight black suit. During some combat moves, her hair can take the shape of objects (i.e. a giant fist) to attack the enemy. Effective, although leaving her a bit… naked.
Bayonetta’s hair taking the form of a giant boot for a swift kick in the butt!
Other than the temporary nudity (and no, you can’t see anything) she does fare differently than other lead female characters, namely the most popular, Miss Lara Croft. What I think stands out the most about Bayonetta are her glasses. Rarely do you see heros or other strong characters wearing glasses, since impaired eyesight is an obvious weakness. The glasses alone make her a little deeper than the average game character.
Four eyes are definitely twice as sexy as two.
Overall, Bayonetta is quite like something that could be changing the way for games. From a sexy, yet covered up strong female lead, beautiful graphics and a mysterious storyline, “Bayonetta”, Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, “will blow the doors off the action genre.” I can’t wait to get my hands on Bayonetta.. out for XBOX 360 and PS3 January 2010!!
August 5th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Bayonetta is exactly what I was hoping Bulletwitch was going to be. Hopefully I don’t get disappointed again.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
So far Bayonetta looks awesome. The Bayonetta character is original, both in her looks and abilities and the graphics look stylish. I just hope the game has more substance and replay value than just fighting repeated enemies and boss characters for 5 hours and then it’s done. Especially if I paid $59.99 for it.
The God of War series got it right, by adding mini-games, unlockables. It would be nice if Bayonetta had some kind of multiplayer too, like maybe coop play. I guess will wait and see, I really hope it has more substance than just hacking and slashing for 5 hrs and then putting the game on your shelf to collect dust.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Heh, I guess I kind of fall in the same boat as Suff0cat. From what I’ve seen though, the game looks fantastic in action (I’m a large DMC fan as well). While I’m not the biggest fan of her in-game model, I ironically dig all the sketches and art I’ve seen of her on Kamiya’s Bayo-Blog.
Kamiya’s Bayo-Blog
[http://platinumgames.com/author/platinumgames/]
~sLs~
August 6th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I’m still lukewarm to this game. I’m definitely willing to give it a shot, depending on what kind of reception it gets, but I find the need to make her half naked—whether you can see anything or not—a little over the top. Strong, confident women shouldn’t have to show off skin to be respected or, well, empowered.
Plus, I thought a little of what I’ve seen was kind of cheesy. But the gameplay does look cool, I will give it that.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I loved playing/watching Billy play this at E3. I’m definitely going to check it out!