Bayonetta

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Bayonetta
"Let's dance, boys!" — Bayonetta
Protagonist(s): Bayonetta Genre(s): Action-Adventure Beat 'Em Up Platform(s): PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Wii U Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One Release Date: PS3/360 JP: October 29, 2009 NA: January 5, 2010 AU: January 7, 2010 EU: January 8, 2010 Wii U JP: September 20, 2014 NA/EU: October 24, 2014 AU: October 25, 2014 Microsoft Windows April 11, 2017 Nintendo Switch February 16, 2018 PS4/XBOX ONE February 18, 2020 Developer(s): PlatinumGames Publisher(s): Sega Nintendo (Wii U and Switch versions) Country: Japan Series: Bayonetta Predecessor: Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (chronologically) Successor: Bayonetta 2

Bayonetta is an action-adventure/beat 'em up game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega. It was originally released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on October 29, 2009. It is the first installment in the Bayonetta franchise.

A Wii U port was released in 2014, while a Nintendo Switch port was released on February 16, 2018. Both of these ports were published by Nintendo, who would go on to publish the rest of the series.

A sequel, Bayonetta 2, was released in 2014.

Why It's Time to Dance

1. The combat is very smooth and easy to learn, but it doesn't affect the game's difficulty in any way.
   • The Witch Time ability activates when Bayonetta dodges an opponent's attack right before she gets hit. This power slows down time around her enemies, allowing her to easily perform combos, and lasts longer the closer she is to getting hit.
   • While she primarily uses punches and kicks to attack, Bayonetta can also use her Scarborough Fair guns for a ranged attack to deal with different types of enemies.
     • On the topic of weapons, there are many different types of weapons, both melee and ranged, that can be unlocked.
   • The Beast Within ability allows Bayonetta to transform into different animals, including a Panther Within for speed, longfer jumps and climbing agility, Crow Within for an aerial attack, and Bat Within to punish enemies for hitting her before Witch Time is triggered.
   • During most boss fights, you will be able to use an Infernal Climax, which summons one of many Umbran Demons, including Gomorrah (a dragonlike Kaiju demon), Phantasmaraneae (a fiery spider demon), Malphas (a raven-like demon with twin tails), etc.
2. Impressive graphics for a game released in 2009, with detailed environments,
   • The eighth-generation versions look even better and run at 60 fps, compared to the original games' 30 fps.
3. A colorful cast of characters, each with their own quirks:
   • Bayonetta herself is a smart, confident protagonist who always laughs in the face of danger.
   • Jeanne, Bayonetta's best friend and former rival, is a well-developed deuteragonist who starts out being hostile towards Bayonetta due to Balder's mind-control powers, but becomes more friendly towards her in the final battle.
   • Luka is an enigmatic character who serves as a father figure to Cereza and a love interest to Bayonetta.
   • Rodin, Bayonetta's confidant in Infernos and a bartender/shopkeeper at The Gates of Hell, is a wise yet sarcastic ally whose dry sense of humor offers a few laughs and cryptic information about the world.
   • Cereza seems like a naïve young girl who mistakes Bayonetta for her "mummy," but turns out to be her past self and must be protected.
   • Balder, Bayonetta's father and the main antagonist of the game, is a suavely sinister villain who is believed to be responsible for the Witch Hunts, yet has other plans in mind for his daughter.
4. Epic movie-level soundtrack composed by a total of nine different composers, including Norihiko Hibino ANF Takahiro Izutani, who did music for many of the Metal Gear games. Particular standouts include Let's Dance, Boys!, Let's Hit the Climax!, Fly Me to the Moon, Riders of the Light, and You May Call Me Father (Balder's theme).
5. Well-written story that subverts the expectations of an "Angels vs. Demons" story, in a similar vein to the Darksiders series. In this game, Bayonetta, an Umbra Witch, is primarily fighting against angels from Paradiso while discovering more about her lineage along the way.
6. Impressive boss fights, particularly the final fight against Balder himself.
7. While the Very Easy and Easy difficulty levels are Automatic and use an Immortal Marionette accessory for this, the gameplay is still fun and rewarding.

Bad Qualities

1. The PS3 version, while being far from unplayable, is infamous for being one of the worst ports on the console, since Sega was tasked with handling it to another company, Nex Entertainment. It has slightly lower-resolution graphics, long loading times and an unstable frame rate that often goes below the target 30 fps. Even after a patch that allowed players to install the game to their hard drive to reduce loading times, it still has issues.
   • As a result, PlatinumGames prohibited outsourcing assistance of their games to other porters.
2. Certain events will instantly kill you if you are not fast enough, such as certain QTE's during cutscenes and advancing walls of doom.
3. Mashing the buttons during a Climax barely fills up the meter unless you memorize the button you need to press.
4. Most cutscenes are still images and voices, like a slideshow, rather than having any actual movement, which is lazy.
5. Enzo can be unlikeable sometimes, and is particularly useless in combat.

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