Bayonetta

Bayonetta 3 (2022)

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Bayonetta 3 is one of the most frustrating games I have ever played. It’s got such enjoyable core gameplay with a ton of skill expression, but the game constantly interrupts the player with a barrage of annoying gimmicks that get in the way. Mini-games aren’t new to Bayonetta, and having a few to provide some levity and a break from the high-octane combat is understandable. But Bayonetta 3 takes the concept way too far, to the point where it feels like the traditional combat is a minority of time spent in game. I suggest reading my thoughts on Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 to get full context for the rest of this review. 

The combat of Bayonetta 3 follows the same formula as its predecessors. Weaving together punches and kicks, using your guns to maintain combos, and slowing down time through well-timed dodges. This iteration abandons the Umbran Climax mechanic from Bayonetta 2, which I think was smart because it was far too powerful. Instead, Bayonetta 3 introduces Demon Slave, a mechanic which lets the player summon a demon to control and fight with. 

Demon Slave is a much-welcomed addition as it adds a ton of potential for skill expression and mastery. While summoning a demon you cannot control Bayonetta, which means it’s ill advised to always be summoning as you would be a sitting duck for enemies. Instead, you’re encouraged to weave in summons for a couple of attacks in the middle of your combo, letting you extend your combos and deal massive damage without putting yourself at risk. There’re eight main demons to unlock through the course of the game, each having their own abilities to experiment with. Charm enemies with Madam Butterfly, lay tracks for the Wartrain to run over foes, or you or make it rain blood with the frog demon Baal.

Like its predecessors, Bayonetta 3 has a variety of weapons to unlock and play with. The combination of weapons and demons allows the player to really express themselves to the fullest. Combining different weapons and demons gives a ludicrous amount of potential for mastery. Action games like the Bayonetta series are about more than simply defeating your enemies, but looking cool while doing it. The Demon Slave mechanic provides a ton of spectacle as a godzilla-like demon breathes unholy fire while Bayonetta dances to control it like a puppet. It looks cool and it is a ton of fun to decimate enemies with your demonic pets.

The cost of such grandiose spectacle is visual clarity. Both the player’s demonic summons and the enemies in this game are massive, often occupying the entire screen. Combine that with fast-paced action and colorful effects for an assault on the eyes. I often had an extremely difficult time parsing what was happening on the screen. The camera really struggled and often got stuck inside the bodies of the behemoth demons and enemies. It’s unfortunate because outside of these hiccups, the combat is amazing.

While I did love the core combat of Bayonetta 3, I was shocked by how infrequently the game lets the player partake in it. There’s an abundance of cutscenes, gimmicky sections, and alternate character chapters that disrupt the game’s flow. The Demon Slave mechanic isn’t limited to combat, the game has numerous sections that highlight the other capabilities of the summonable monstrosities. I wouldn’t mind having a few traversal challenges, puzzles, or mini-games tied to Demon Slave, but there’s just way too many interruptions. Sometimes I just want to fight bad guys, not slowly pick up statues and place them on a scale with my bird-demon. Or play the world’s slowest game of rock-paper-scissors as Godzilla. These sections just aren’t very fun. Having a wall of text thrown at you to learn a whole new control scheme for a brief mini-game is clunky and ruins the pace of the game.

Aside from the gimmick sections, Bayonetta 3 is also plagued by the non-Bayonetta chapters. A new character, Viola, is a major player in the story and gameplay. Compared to Bayonetta’s wide array of weapons and demons, Viola only has a single weapon and single demon. She is way less interesting to play than our titular hero, and her control scheme takes a lot of getting used to because it is wildly different from Bayonetta’s. There’s also a handful of chapters featuring Jeanne which serve as a side-scrolling espionage mission. The Jeanne chapters aren’t terrible, but on top of all the other interruptions I found myself wishing that I could just play as Bayonetta some more.

To be honest I don’t particularly care about the story of the Bayonetta series that much. The characters are definitely memorable and quirky, but the plots have always been a convoluted mess. Bayonetta 3 is no exception to this. While I’m not shocked that I found the story of Bayonetta 3 to be dumb, I was surprised by how much time was spent on it. There’s 4 hours of cutscenes in a 14-hour game. For a story-driven game that’s an acceptable ratio, but this is Bayonetta. I want action, I want spectacle, I don’t want to watch hours of cutscenes of a nonsensical story.

The premise of the plot is that the multiverse is under threat by some force known as Singularity. We travel to alternate universes to see alternate versions of Bayonetta and collect special gems to be used to travel to Singularity’s universe and defeat him. You repeat the universe-hopping schtick a bunch of times without much plot advancement until the very end, at which point things go from boring to ridiculous. Again, I wasn’t expecting a narrative masterpiece. But between the gimmicks, Viola chapters, and Jeanne chapters I had no patience left for long, drawn out cutscenes with little substance.

It really is a shame that Bayonetta 3 is crammed with so much superfluous content. It’s the perfect example of “less is more”. It possibly has the best combat in the series, and therefore some of the best combat in all of gaming. But the game is dragged down by a bombardment of underbaked gimmicks, boring alternate characters, and never-ending cutscenes. It is for these reasons that I give Bayonetta 3 a 5.5/10. It is by far my least favorite entry in the series, but if you can look past all of the junk, there is a treasure trove of amazing combat to be uncovered.

Bayonetta 2 (2014)

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In my review of Bayonetta, I praised the game for being a more approachable character action game while maintaining a high level of potential complexity. Bayonetta 2 polishes this concept to an absurd degree, improving on many of the faults of the original game. Despite Bayonetta being an excellent action game, it had some glaring faults such as its dull color palette, overabundance of frustrating gimmicks, and punishing QTE sequences. Bayonetta 2 alleviates all of these issues, making it an even better experience for general audiences.

The most immediately obvious improvement that Bayonetta 2 makes is the art direction and use of vibrant colors. I lamented about the dull browns and grays that dominated the landscape of the original Bayonetta. In the prologue alone Bayonetta 2 obviously puts emphasis on livening up the color scheme. The environments are far more memorable and pleasant to look at because of this. It makes the spectacular animations and set pieces pop even more. It may seem like I am being overly nitpicky when complaining about the original game’s dull colors, but I’m adamant that for a game all about being stylish and sexy that it should have been more appealing to the eyes. I have to applaud Bayonetta 2 for overhauling this aspect.

Thankfully, Quick Time Events (QTEs) have been greatly diminished in Bayonetta 2. Dying because you didn’t press the X button in half of a second feels cheap and unearned. Even worse, it stops you from being able to just watch and enjoy spectacle cutscenes because you are always on edge waiting for a QTE if you know that it is a possibility. I’m glad that these have been removed. There is still the occasional button mashing QTE, but you know when it’s about to happen and you can’t die as a result of it, so it’s far less egregious than the QTEs in cutscenes.

Another feature that I’m happy was renovated was the gimmick sections. Bayonetta had a couple of levels that were outright frustrating to play because they relied heavily on arcade gimmicks. Bayonetta 2 remedies this by reducing the amount of non-combat sections there are in the game and also polishing them further. Riding the demonic horse or jet fighter in Bayonetta 2 is far better than riding the motorcycle or rocket in its predecessor. They’ve added additional attacks to make these sections more engaging. Additionally, these sections are far shorter so they feel less intrusive this time around. I still prefer the actual combat to these sections, but now they serve as welcome switch-ups rather than frustrating interruptions.

The combat of Bayonetta is lauded for its approachability and deep complexity. Bayonetta 2 implements the combat in a near identical way, with a few changes. The most noticeable change is that the “Normal” difficulty of Bayonetta 2 is easier than its predecessor. While I did enjoy overcoming some of the more challenging encounters that the original Bayonetta offered, I felt more inclined to try new combos and techniques when the damage was turned down a bit.

The other major addition to combat is a new ability called Umbran Climax. When you have a full magic gauge you can activate it, letting Bayonetta channel her demonic powers. It essentially turns all of your attacks into Wicked Weaves, making them do more damage, have wider area of effects, and staggers enemies. While I do think that Umbran Climax is a fun spectacle, it does feel too powerful. There rarely feels like there’s a purpose to using the magic gauge for Torture Attacks or using accessories when Umbran Climax is just so potent.

Ultimately, the combat of Bayonetta 2 is strikingly similar to its predecessor, and that is for the best because it truly is some of the greatest combat you will find in an action game. I will mention that at the very highest levels of gameplay Bayonetta 2 may not be as satisfying. Larger enemies do not stagger easily, making it challenging to keep up combos. Additionally, many enemies can block or dodge in the middle of your combo. Personally, these things did not bother me, and I doubt they will bother most players. But if you are the type who likes to go for Pure Platinum medals on the highest difficulty, then these small irritants may be a far greater problem.

The story of Bayonetta was complete nonsense, and while I do think that Bayonetta 2 is better in this regard, it still spends too much time on its narrative aspects. I actually quite like the conclusion of Bayonetta 2, as it retroactively makes Bayonetta make more sense. But I wish PlatinumGames would realize that people play these games for the action, spectacle, and characters. These games aren’t meant to be masterpieces of storytelling, and that’s fine. But the writing and dialogue is just hard to sit through sometimes. It wouldn’t be such a problem if the game didn’t have two and a half hours of cutscenes in a relatively short game. Spending a quarter or a third of the game length in cutscenes for a game that should be all about the action feels excessive and unnecessary.

 The only major fault of Bayonetta 2 is that is very much derivative of the original. I don’t mean this in a disparaging way or that Bayonetta 2 is not enjoyable. In all honesty, I vastly prefer Bayonetta 2 to Bayonetta. It polishes the formula in many ways, removing the undesirable aspects and making technological improvements. However, Bayonetta 2 is relatively risk free, and while it’s not a bad thing to give the players more of what they want, it’s hard to hold it in the same regard as Bayonetta which made all the critical innovations. Bayonetta 2 may be a more enjoyable game, but it’s a far less important one when compared to Bayonetta.

In nearly every way, Bayonetta 2 is an improvement over Bayonetta. It cleans up many of the frustrating aspects that made me scratch my head while playing Bayonetta. It maintains the high level of combat that the series has become known for, and it is accessible to newcomers due to the emphasis on dodging and Witch Time. Despite this, Bayonetta 2 will have a hard time taking the spotlight from Bayonetta; it’s a great follow-up but it owes everything to its predecessor.

Bayonetta (2009)

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I feel the need to preface any review of character action games with the fact that I am not particularly good at these games, and I rarely gain any level of mastery of their systems. I think it’s important to state this because character action games often thrive when you put in the time to really master their systems, so I frequently miss out on deep mechanics. That being said, I believe that Bayonetta is the most approachable character action game that I have played. I enjoyed the Devil May Cry series, but I often felt that I was just scratching the surface of what was possible in those games. But in Bayonetta, I felt much more comfortable executing combos and performing advanced techniques.

Before diving into the complex combat mechanics of Bayonetta, it should be no surprise that I need to mention the character design. There has been no shortage of controversy surrounding the gratuitously sexualized main character. The game’s director, Hideki Kamiya has made it clear that he wanted Bayonetta to be a sexy character. She has the build of a supermodel, regularly gets into sexy poses, makes plenty of innuendos, and even goes almost fully nude when utilizing her witch powers.

While I’m typically grossed out by hypersexualized characters in video games or television, Bayonetta is not the typical character that serves as eye candy. She’s an undeniable badass who toys with her opponents. She is totally in control of her own sexuality. She has a cheeky personality that pokes fun of her angelic opponents and their puritan values. I think this is fine and even a subversion of a common misogynistic character type. However, I think Bayonetta takes the sexual aspects too far in many places. While she is meant to be a sexual character, there are many sequences and scenes that are clearly meant just to be eye candy for the player. Zooming in on her assets while she sensually dances objectified her rather than empowering her.

While there’s no doubt that Bayonetta is a badass and sexy character, the game’s actual story absurd. Story has never been a central aspect of character actions games, and I can’t fault Bayonetta too hard for its nonsensical story when it is clearly not the focus of the game. But there are a ton of cutscenes, cinematics, and exposition dumps that get in the way of actually interacting with the fun parts of the game. I suppose a nonsensical and over the top story is better than a boring, monotonous one. But I wish Bayonetta was paced more evenly instead of leaving all of the story to the very end of the game.

The real appeal to character action games like Bayonetta is obviously the action. Weaving together complex combos, juggling enemies like they are ragdolls, unleashing powerful attacks, and looking stylish while doing it. While I like to say I’m not good at these kinds of games, Bayonetta felt extremely approachable for players who are inexperienced in the genre. There are a few key traits to Bayonetta that I believe makes it so easy to get into. Those being simplistic combos and the emphasis on dodging.

I’ve always had a really time hard in Devil May Cry games trying to learn all the different combos. You had a single attack button and had to combine directional inputs and correct timings in order to execute combos. Not to mention style switching and changing weapons. Bayonetta has two attack buttons, punch and kick. Hitting these buttons in different orders will result in different combos. Between load screens, you can play around in practice mode and look at the long list of all the possible combinations. Learning a few simple combinations can take the player a long way.

It was much simpler for me to just memorize “punch, kick, punch” then having to learn a bunch of directional inputs and timings. Bayonetta does a fantastic job emphasizing the use of the combos because the final attack of each combo is an extra powerful hit called a Wicked Weave. The player is taught that finishing combos is vital because so much of the power is in the final attack.

Another interesting thing about the combos in Bayonetta is that each individual attack is meant to be held. Bayonetta has guns attached to her hands and feet, and when you execute a punch or kick you can hold down the button to shoot. This does not break combos, and it does a surprising amount of damage. I quite like this feature because it discourages simple button mashing, and instead gives the player some brief moments to think about what they’re doing. I don’t have to frantically hit buttons to pull off combos, and I can take my time and am rewarded for it.

The biggest separator between Bayonetta and Devil May Cry is the emphasis on dodging. Bayonetta has a dedicated dodge button, and it is obvious that it is vitally important. If you dodge right when an enemy attack is about to hit you, you’ll activate Witch Time. This temporarily pauses time, allowing you to unleash some big combos on powerless foes. I love this feature as an inexperienced player as it really allows me to try out some cool attacks. Also, it just feels badass to dodge a hit and the last second and get rewarded with a few seconds of Witch Time.

Dodging in Bayonetta has a slightly more advanced mechanic tied to it called dodge offset. If you execute it properly, you can continue your combo right where you left off. Dodge offset is definitely something that takes some getting used to, but it is a vital trick to learn if you really want to master Bayonetta. Considering that much of your damage is part of the Wicked Weave at the end of a combo, maintaining that combo is important. This is a brilliant addition as it allows players to achieve higher mastery while utilizing and combining the core mechanics of Bayonetta: combos and dodging.

While I did not master Bayonetta myself, I can say there is plenty of complexity for those who do really want to dive deep. A long list of combos and unlockable attacks, dodge offset, a few different weapons to try out, and unlockable accessories. The accessories and magic meter are things that you are unlikely to even tinker with in your first playthrough. Similar to Devil May Cry, you will be graded at the end of each chapter if you want to challenge yourself. There is plenty of content to try, and it will take plenty of times to really master Bayonetta if that is what you are looking for.

While I do think Bayonetta herself and the other characters in the game look superb, unfortunately much of the environment design is pretty drab. Bayonetta is from the era in gaming where everything was dull brown and grey. The set pieces themselves were spectacular, but the environment was just boring. It’s odd because the character and enemy design is fantastic. The enemies all adhere to the angelic theme quite well. Bayonetta is a really well thought out character, and all her animations are fluid and graceful. The game looks really good outside of the dull environments.

Hideki Kamiya is known for his love of old school arcade games, for better or worse. Both Bayonetta and Devil May Cry were inspired by sitting in an arcade and trying to reach a high score on a game you’ve played many times before. But Bayonetta has some strange arcade gimmick levels that just abysmal. There’s one where you ride a motorcycle down a highway and another where you ride atop a rocket. Both of these levels are obviously throwbacks to old arcade games, and both are awkward, break the flow of the game, and just go on for way too long. It’s only two levels but the game really doesn’t have many levels in total, so these levels are particularly painful.

Another frustrating relic is the reliance on Quick Time Events (QTEs). During cutscenes, a button prompt could flash for a half a second and if you miss it, you instantly die. During certain fights, you have to mash a button extremely quickly or you will take significant damage. And when finishing off a boss or using a special Torture Attack you have to mash a specific button. QTEs are rarely a fun feature in games, especially in the case of Bayonetta because they have tight timers. If you don’t know the QTE is coming or what button to press, you can’t possibly react quick enough. It’s not a big deal for veteran players who are seeking high grades as they known when one is coming up, but it often feels like a cheap and unavoidable death for first timers.

Overall, I think Bayonetta is my favorite character action game. While it has its flaws like the annoying gimmicks, poor story, and drab environments, the combat is just too good to be brought down. Beginners can make use of simplistic combos and Witch Time. Advanced players have plenty to master like dodge offset, various weapons, and special accessories. While she is a controversial character who I think is overly sexualized, it’s undeniable that Bayonetta is one of the best designed and memorable characters in gaming. If you like action games, do yourself and favor and give Bayonetta a try.