I have to admit, I had no idea what Bayonetta was until I sat down for the demo in the SEGA room.  The demo was lead by the game’s producer, Yusuke Hashimoto, who had a translator since he only spoke Japanese.

You play as Bayonetta, a beautiful, glasses-wearing witch who can engage in melee attacks, ranged attacks with guns and spells, and magic attacks that she performs with her hair that is what makes up the clothes on her body and has become the center of some controversy as some of her attacks remove portions of her clothes or in one attack, removes her clothes completely.  While there is no frontal nudity shown since the hair revolves around key areas of her body, there has been some question as to why the nudity is necessary.  For now, I will focus on what I saw in the demo and the hands on I got from the game.  Bayonetta can also walk on walls to scale buildings and can perform jumps and double jumps that reveal her wings which resemble butterfly wings.  She walks with a rather sexy swagger and you will notice right away that the game resembles another sleek and stylish game called Devil May Cry (DMC).  This is no real surprise since the game’s creator is none other than Hideki Kamiya, who created DMC.

Bayonetta has a pair of shotguns that are attached at the ankles of her stiletto boots and she can perform some rather fancy and flashy combos using the guns, a sword, and her arsenal of magical attacks.  You can even interact with the environment in order to advance in the game.

The game does use a combo fighting system and even allows you to practice those combos in the loading screen.  You can evade or dodge attacks and if your timing is just right, you will enter Witch Time where everything slows down and darkens where you will have the advantage in battle.

They unveiled a new cut scene in the demo, but unfortunately, I am unable to reveal its contents at this time.

She  has a whip attack and can pick up other weapons like staffs and hammers.  The game puts you in the middle of some beautiful and epic battles.

The game is separated into chapters and at the end of each chapter, you will receive awards.  You can collect halos of the angels you have slayed to purchase new moves, attacks, and more!

There no plans for any DLC at this time and in fact, Hasimoto made it clear that everything is included in the game and that the game does not require internet access to play.  However, there are leaderboard rankings in the game.  There are a lot of unlockables as well.  The game features an original storyline and is said to not be based on any existing media.  Hasimoto also said that the game may be beautiful and stylish but that the focus of the game is the game play.

Bayonetta will release globally and simultaneously in late 2009 for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

A hands on demo was available on the E3 Showfloor, so I immediately headed downstairs to check it out.  The lines were moderate and I really only had to wait about 15 minutes before I got my chance to play.

The game handles and feels just like DMC.  I was not personally a huge fan of the DMC series but I kept an open mind and tried to focus on what was in front of me instead of comparing it to what I had played in the past.  The game is gorgeous…absolutely stunning.  The character of Bayonetta is equally as gorgeous.  She looks like she’s straight out of some stylish anime and oddly resembles Sarah Palin – with her facial features and glasses, LOL.  She has a slammin’ hot body and struts her stuff with a sexy swagger that I found to be a little overdone, but I quickly got over it – it just made me chuckle.  The game indeed delivers what I saw in the demo and you engage in some of the coolest and stylish combat that I’ve seen in a while.  Some of the magical attacks are rather fantastical with her “hair-clothes” coming off to reveal a bathing suit clad body or in one case an attack that rendered her completely nude with hair swirling around her body but overall doing some massive damage to her foes.  When I first heard of the nudity, I was a bit skeptical, but felt that if it was done right, then no problems.  In the context that I saw and played, I’m totally fine with it.  It does not seem to be especially exploitive and if I know anything about witchcraft, it’s that spells are always done better in your natural, nude state!  I’m anxious to get my hands on the full game to further uncover Bayonetta’s story and to finally get a my hands behind a beautiful ass kicking witch!

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