Craftmanship. Its a word that 99.9% of the general public would never associate with a videogame. However, sometimes for a person like me, you come accross that ultra rare gem that meets that definition. In the world of brawlers, Ninja Gaiden stands out in a classroom of one, until now. The new star pupil is Bayonetta. It is without a doubt, the second best brawler I have ever played–but for different reasons than my fanatical fanboyism love for Ninja Gaiden.

Bayonetta is a challenging game, but it isn’t hard. What makes this project stand out is the uncanny ability Platinum Games has in balancing substance and style. No action game–including Ninja Gaiden–has been able to do it better. Bayonetta’s moves are so flashy at times they make Dante’s (Devil May Cry’s Dante I mean) seem basic and simple by comparison. Yet, each move has a purpose for a given situation, which augments depending on what weapon Bayonetta is using, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Story is typical action game simple. In an attempt to prevent spoilers, I’ll keep it simple: Main character Bayonetta is an Umbram Witch, who is at war with the “angelic” forces of Jubileus and it’s Sages within the fictional European city of Vigrid.

Bayonetta has hand and feet mounted guns that can attack enemies at range, but her primary weapon is her hair. Known as Wicked Weave attacks, they are usually the final blow of a combo, and inflict the greatest amount of damages to enemies. Speaking of combos, they are simple to execute, and button mashers will find themselves struggling, but able to get through the game. Master the Witch Time technique though, and a whole other layer of gameplay is exposed. By dodging an attack at the last minute, all your enemies motions slow down, and enemy projectiles can be reflected back. Lesser enemies almost stop completely, while you move a little quicker than normal, and your attacks do more damage. Execute Witch Time against bosses, and you’ll cut them down to size in brutal style. Its fantastic.

I mentioned earlier about this game’s near perfect balance of substance and style. This gameplay equation consists of equal amounts of Witch Time, and Wicked Weave attacks. Here’s an example: When fighting an armoured Applaud, dodge–go into Witch time, hit Y,Y,B, Y. which will send the enemy skyward, continue with an air combo, then, when he’s sent crashing to the ground, execute Y, Y, B, B, B, B which will send a high-heeled leg of hair crashing down. If the Applaud isn’t a bloody stain by the time the combo is over, than it’s armor is gone, and it will be in a stunned state, making it ripe for a Torture Attack finisher. There are countless set ups like this within the combat structure of this game, and they augment depending on the weapon you’re using. Execute the same combo while using the sword (best weapon in the game in my opinion) and your sword may execute a crowd clearing strike, cleaving all in half. Do that same combo using the Umbra gauntlets, and a fire fist may pound your opponent to bloody ash. Half the fun in the combat is discovering how your combos change depending on the weapon you’re using. Digging into this will be a blast for me.

Speaking of the combat, I almost forgot to mention the Torture Attacks. These are active quick-time events that occur when enough meter has been built by going into Witch Time, or enough damage has been dealt to a strong enemy. Bayonetta will summon guillotines, stretch racks, gibbotting racks, and iron maidens to deal gruesome ends to your angelic assailants.

I could go on and on about this game, but I have to say that this game probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. For one, this game is very Japanese. The music is comprised of J-pop re-mixes of “In Other Words”, and dialogue is dripping with J-pop culture, sexual innuendo and references to old Capcom and Sega games. This touches almost every gaming nerve in my digital funny-bone, but a lot of western oriented gamers may find it a turn off. Another turnoff may be Bayonetta’s stipper-like moves in the game’s cut scenes, and her boss destroying “Climax Attacks”. Though she’s never totally nude, her Wicked Weaves leave her provacatively covered (her clothes are made up of her hair), and cut scene camara angles focus a lot on her torso and exaggeratted backside. All that wasn’t an issue for me, but I can see how it can be a turn off for some.

This review is based off of the Xbox version. For those who only have a Playstation3 will be dissappointed only if they have played the Xbox retail version. Platinum Games didn’t do the Playstation3 code duties. They passed them on to the publisher Sega, and Sega did a sub-par job in comparison. PS3 colors aren’t nearly as vibrant as the 360, and according to what I’ve read online, there are still the same issues of slowdown (even though the 360 version has just a tinge of slowdown on a specific level that had a lot of enemies and colors are on screen) that were present on the demo. This was dissappointing for me, because this type of game is one I prefer to play on the Playstation3′s controller.

Bottom line–if you like brawlers, buy this game. Even if you only have a Playstation3, its worth getting. Based on what I’ve played of the demos for God of War 3, and Dante’s Inferno, they won’t be able to touch Bayonetta on the gameplay front. The action is silky smooth and fast, and quite addicting. Unless Itagaki or Team Ninja have some uber projects unmentioned yet, I’m milimeters close to calling Bayonetta my brawler of the year. Its that good.

Tags: Reviews