I have to admit I initially thought that the concept of a video game heroine who was a witch and clothed herself with enchanted hair was a bit ridiculous, but then I heard more about Bayonetta and got hands on with a demo and my opinions changed.

Rating: M for Mature
System: Xbox 360
Developer: Platinum Games/Sega
Players: 1
Genre: Third person shooter

BUY

Since getting a first look at the game, I had been itching to play the game further. I’m a big fan of game storylines and Bayonetta definitely does not disappoint. You play as Bayonetta who recently woke from sleeping for 500 years and who is searching for keys to remember her past. Bayonetta has received a lead that a gem she has been searching for, the Right Eye, is in Vigrid a fictional European city. Through the dialogue you learn about the three planes of existence that the people believe in, which are all based on Dante’s Divine Comedy: Paradiso (heaven), Purgatorio (purgatory) and Inferno (hell). Bayonetta is able to visit these realms, and even calls up demons from the Inferno who manifest themselves as giant beasts made out of her hair. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but it is pretty engaging and when I first sat down to play I wound up playing for a few hours because I kept wanting to see what was next!

The game The controls are real easy to pick up on, especially if you’re familair with the Devil May Cry series. The combos for the special hair attack moves are easy to pick up on, and the fights against enemies and boss battles are fast paced and interesting. I loved that each boss battle was a different experience depending on what kind of angelic creature they were was great. I also enjoy that they have so many diverse angelic creatures and each with names and backgrounds on what they are as well as how they may affect humans and what level angel they are. You can look at all of these along with the notebooks you collect regarding research on Vigrid, the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches as well as the demons that Bayonetta is able to call upon in her “Climax” attacks.

And speaking of those attacks, I have to say the game is also pretty funny. The banter that Bayonetta has with Luka (whom she refers to as Cheshire) is great. There are also funny quips that characters make that had me giggle. But nothing tops the angel that had me literally laughing for ten minutes and who I had to share with twitter: Joy. It’s overly sexy yet hilarious to me, and you can see a great video of her intro and the torture attack you use against her here (video lightly NSFW for implications). A lot of these can be seen as fan service, and some may complain, but I feel that it really gives the game some personality and it kept me amused throughout the game.

I also really enjoyed the unique way that the cut-scenes were done. There are your beautifully rendered scenes as well as some in-game graphic scenes. But what I really enjoyed was the still frames that were used with cuts and zooms. They did a lot with scenes playing out in a film reel where you went from one frame to the next. It was something new that I hadn’t seen before and it was fun to not have everything done the traditional way. Again another little bit that I feel gives the game it’s own personal character.

All in all this game is a definite buy. It has a great story, amazing graphics, good controls and some fan service that will give you a chuckle or two along the way. And it has a great replay value for you to go back and get a better overall level score as well as weapons and trinkets. Also trying the game on harder levels is always fun to do, albeit challenging. And I have to say I love the idea of a sexy heroine in glasses!

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