Bayonetta 2 is the best game I’ve played all year.
No game I’ve played this year has done as good of a job at hooking its claws into me from the get-go, and not letting go until it was over. And very few games have me dive right back into them after the credits roll.
This is because Bayonetta 2 has two things going for it in that regard: Perfect gameplay mechanics, and the incentive to get higher scores.
I am not exaggerating when I say that Bayonetta 2 has perfect gameplay mechanics, either — the game feels flawless in terms of control. It’s easy to move the titular witch around the battlefield, attacking enemies with strings of combos that can be dodge-canceled with a press of a button. There’s no delay, nary a hint of input-lag — controlling the game feels like a dream. And the crux of the combat — Witch-Time, a move that slows down time to dish out combos after a perfectly-timed dodge — is the most satisfying feeling I’ve had playing a game in a long time.
Then you can couple that with the fact that the game has an extensive system that keeps track of your stats — including combos, how fast you defeat foes, and how much damage you take and avoid — then provides a medal based on your performance — from lack of one (because you suck that hard), to the coveted PURE PLATINUM! Even before I had completed the story for the first time, I was going back to previous stages trying to perfect my score. Normally, I’m not even the type to indulge in that sort of thing. But Bayonetta 2 is so garsh-darn fun to play that playing the same stages repeatedly never got stale.
Another sweet aspect of B2 that I couldn’t help but appreciate throughout the entirety of the game was its color-coded nature. Where Bayonetta 1 is bathed in hues of crimson red, the entirety of Bayonetta 2 is submerged in a sapphire blue. Everything from Bayonetta’s new outfit, to the Venice-inspired local the game takes place in, all the way to the heroine’s quadruple pistols, carry this motif. This attention to detail that can be found in every aspect of the game is something I’ve come to appreciate from Platinum Games. The subtle call-backs to other games, the unique play-styles that come from unlockable characters, the easter eggs, the costumes — if I could describe Bayonetta 2 in one word, it would be polished.
This probably seems like flat-out gushing, and that’s because it is. There’s very little I can find to complain about Bayonetta 2. Sure, the last boss was a little more anti-climactic than the previous game’s. But the cranked-up-to-11 feel, the toned-down sex appeal, the solid, much clearer story in comparison to the first game, and all the content available even after you beat the game’s story, blend together to make a Character-Based Action-Game that rekindled my love for videogames once again. The Wii U has a hit on its hands here, and I hope it sells dramatically so that I may get my Green-tinted Bayonetta 3.
Seriously. Pick this game up. You won’t be disappointed.
Eight-Bit Samurai 