After completing Final Fantasy IX I was going to work on Final Fantasy X-2 but I’d been kind of Final Fantasy’d out. After asking for a couple ideas of what to play instead, Bayonetta popped up a couple times. I didn’t know much about the game, but I had read and heard it was pretty bad-ass…

Bad-ass barely scratches the surface of how bad-ass this game really is. Within the first few minutes of playable time, you can already call upon these huge demons that reside within Bayonetta. I think one of the first ones that’s she’s able to summon is my favorite. It’s like a vicious dog, dragon, demon that will eat you up! The game play is very similar to that of the Devil May Cry series. It’s basically just and action packed story with a pretty decent story-line.

Bayonetta’s story is a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning and it was only towards the end that I really started to understand what was going on. It does feel like it hurts the game overall, because as much fun as blowing shit up is, it’s hard when you can only partially understand what’s going on. Eventually though, it does come together, you may even experience that “Ah-Hah!” moment.

The controls within the game are quite simple to learn and use. There’s tons of different combos you can unleash upon your foes, and the finishing or climax moves are really fantastic. However, I did find myself dying multiple times because at several points throughout the game you need to hit or repeatedly hit a button to save yourself from dying. I did feel like 95% of the game I was just button mashing to get through, but then and again, I probably did the same in Devil May Cry. The only point where I really used the combos was during the level loading times. During these times you’re shown on-screen which button combos you can perform and you can practice them while the next level loads. It sure beats staring at the screen and waiting!

Another neat little thing in Bayonetta is that at the end of each level you get to play this arcade shooter. Each kill or hit awards you some points which you can spend on items (power ups, etc). Of course I never really had enough hits to get anything useful so I ended up trading them in for halos. It actually wasn’t until the last or second to last level that I figured out where to spend these halos. You can visit a shop owned by your buddy and he offers you anything from health revitalizing lollipops, to weapon upgrades. You can also collect these record (yes like the music kind) fragments and he’ll take those from you and provide you with new guns and other weapons.

Each level is riddled with various types of enemies and some levels have end-bosses. I attempted to think of what game I could compare these enemies too, but couldn’t think of anything! They’re quite unique, and rather large. One of the first large enemy encounters you have I had thought was going to be the final boss being that he was incredibly large and seemed like the ruler of the world. However he ends up being one of the bosses you meet in a few levels. The final boss is actually someone who’s voice you hear throughout the game. Overall I am really impressed with the character and boss designs. They’re quite unique (trust me you’ll know what I mean when you see a couple of these bosses)! Each boss has a different way to kill them, so it’s does provide you with a good challenge each time. Each normal enemy also has a unique way that you finish them off which I found to be pretty fun.

The graphics and sound in Bayonetta I also to find to be superb. Each level is well design and beautiful in own way, regardless of whether you’re in a forest or a town that’s be burned to the ground. There were a couple instances when the camera and level environment didn’t play nice and several times got me killed. Other then that, A+ work.

Overall I found that Bayonetta was an awesome game and really appreciate the people that recommended it to me. I fear that it would have taken quite a while to get to this game otherwise. If you’re looking for a really fun to play, kick the shit out of everything, make you laugh, fall in love with the girl, awesome kind of game, definitely check this one out!