Club 360 - Bayonetta

[360_Mag_Dave]

This is for issue 95.

Bayonetta – go. You know what to do! Love it or hate it, let us know what you think. And try not to talk about her boobs for three pages!

[BuffAngel]

hehe boobs!

[Bob]

Christ this has gotta be the worst run of Club 360 games for a while.

[ClownTrousers]

"HAHAHAH DID YOU SEE THE SPACE HARRIER REFERENCE. WOW THAT IS LIKE, SOOOOO COOOOL". How could I miss it, it went on for what seemed like hours. And it was a crap level. As was the motorbike shite.

If Bayonetta was a human being and not a game, it would be standing at the bus-stop with whatever the current equivalent of a Hoxton fin is. It thinks it's so cool, and then every games' writer thinks it's so cool and then a small clique of internet warriors think that it's cool and the rest of the world yawns and says "oooh, nice arse".

[At this point I will break off the narrative to point to The Day Today and the segment that went "Is this cool? Is this cool?" just because I can]

Bayonetta was an okay action game, with a great soundtrack (anyone who says it isn't is a fucking knob-end truthfully) and a whole syruppy bunch of pretty fantastic style dripped over it. But it had no substance. Learning frame-rates to counter moves isn't substance - or if it is it is the creamy white effluvia that follows a nerdgasm.

Bayonetta wasn't bad by any stretch, but it was shallow and pretty like it's lead. If it was a woman it would be a cheerleader with just a smidgeon of learning problems. I tossed it after a week (and then I threw away the game WAHEY!).

[Havantgottaclue]

I was quite excited by this game and remember waiting for it to arrive during what was, for the South Coast of England, a time of heavy snow, and being worried it wasn't going to arrive!

The first few hours on it rewarded my faith. The controls are super-slick, giving you every chance of dodging at the right time, triggering witch time and performing the right moves to gain the upper hand. The combat system is flexible and gives you plenty of options as to how to tackle the various foes. Graphically it's very impressive, combining plenty of detail with silky-smooth 60FPS, albeit with some tearing at times. Even the mild irritation of certain insta-deaths (mostly QTE-related) early on didn't detract from the fun, all of is accompanied by an exuberant soundtrack.

After the first few hours, my interest waned. It all became a bit too relentless and, for a mediocre gamer like me the rewards were few and far between. I think I was on about the 8th or 9th level last time I played it, probably having earnt my umpteenth stone statue. I would have preferred maybe a little more adventuring and looting - as it was, it was just a bit too frenetic for my liking (and Vanquish was even worse for me in this regard).

Bayonetta's a good game, and I'm sure if I were of a mind to really work at it, learn from my mistakes and practise the best moves for each time of enemy I'd end up a better player and I'd enjoy it more. It's finding the time that's the problem.

[The-Marb]

Ugh Bayonetta, hours upon hours of Manic action played over a ghastly europop soundtrack (sorry CT, I must be an idiot) with occasional stops to outline its idiosyncratic japenese plot with terrible voice acting voicing even more terrible translated dialogue.

Safe to say that it wasn't for me.

Basically it's like being trapped for hours in broken lift with an exiteable drama student called Krysstel.

[stikboy78]

Going against the grain here but I LOVED this game! The endless combo's, a sexy chick whoc could whip her hair into a gun, insane motorbike section, insane Japanese music which I personally loved and am proud to say I've got the soundtrack.

We need more Eastern games like this as a nice little break from the millions of (mostly awesome) Western style games.

Loved it

[j2000_nr]

Nope. nope and once more nope. Just didn't hit any particular spot at all. The game never inspired me to go for the achievements, or even try a replay with a more difficult section. The only thing it did was fill a small gap in the release schedule for other games to be released. Namely Mass Effect 2.

[Ginga]

Probably the best combat in a game I've ever played, very tight controls, very good game overall - once you stopped perving on Bayonetta.

[Bob]

My over riding memory is the bonkers story. I patiently watched all the cut scenes.. and had no more of an idea what was going on come the end than I did at the start.

[Dante3000]

As you could probably guess from my Gamertag I am a big fan of the Dante character and Devil May Cry, however you may be surprised to hear that I haven't played much of the games and I'm generally utter crap at playing them anyway.
With that I wasn't immediately drawn to Bayonetta but heard enough about it from friends to give it a go. Even though I still found it tough and the combos flew right over my head, it had a charm and addictive pace to it which totally enthralled me right to the end. Dare I say I fell in love with Bayonetta, it was so similar to Devil May Cry and yet very different in that it was self aware and light hearted. On an easier difficulty setting, for combo avoiders like myself, it was brief rush pf pleasure which I would happily visit again should a sequel arrise.

[Tom909]

Bayonetta is and will always be one of my favorite games from this generation of consoles.
Firstly there was the combat which bar the first NG and NG Black flowed better than any other hack and slasher I've ever played. The sublime combos and ability to switch weapons in the middle of each opened up an almost infinite number of moves, making sure there were many more possibilities available when it came to taking down that seemingly impossible enemy as well as upping the games replay value significantly. Then there was the introduction of dodge offset which was for me what made it stand worlds apart from the DMC games; once you had that down the whole game seemed to open up into a completely different beast all together.
Next came the aesthetics, music, story, characters etc which seemed to split gamers like a sharpened blade. For me it was Japanese humor and quirkiness at its best; endless game references from over the ages, a p1ss take of a story line and ridiculous aural delights to top it all off. I can see why many didn't like it and I certainly don't fall into the 'you just don't get it', pretentious circle which it attracted. I just think it was a Marmite kind of a game, there were those of us who's senses of humor it grabbed and made giggle like schoolgirls throughout and those who just hate that kind of thing. Being someone who loves anything Japanese and watches endless Eastern cinema it grabbed me like nothing else this generation.
So, Bayonetta may not have been to everyones tastes but for me it combined an exemplary example of hack and slash gameplay that I love so much with off its head Japanese cheese that makes me grin like a Cheshire cat. Suffice to say I don't keep many games, they usually get used and swapped but Bayonetta will always stand with pride on my shelf waiting for the next time I'm in the mood to get my sexy witch out and have another bout of fun.

[stikboy78]

well said tom909!

[CherryCokeChaos]

No no no.

It's a disgraceful attempt at devil may cry by a couple of fellas who never had much sex growing up (ooo it's her bum again, tee hee hee)

The only thing it did that annoyed me more, was butcher Sinatra's classic "Fly me to the moon"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ2QgcRrWlc

If someone didn't get punched in the throat for that then I have lost faith in humanity.

[LtFoggz]

I thought the combat system was pretty damn slick. The boss battles were a highlight for me aswell. Mind you, the story was - I don't even know