Developer/Publisher: Platinum Games / Nintendo
Release Date(s): Sep. 20, 2014 (Japan); Oct. 24, 2014 (North America, Europe); Oct. 25, 2014 (Australia)
Genre(s): Action, Hack and Slash
Platform(s): Wii U
Language(s): English; subtitles in German, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish
Pricing: $59.99 / £39.99 / €49.99
Rating: M (ESRB), 18 (PEGI)
After 2010's Bayonetta met with moderate success on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Nintendo took over the franchise, releasing a sequel in 2014, along with a port of the original game. Read this test to find out hether it's worth paying for the chance to beat up your enemies as the sexy witch Bayonetta.
Shopping Trip
First off, it can't hurt to know a little bit about the story from Bayonetta if you're trying to figure out what's going on in Bayonetta 2. Of course you can still follow along if you don't, but it's just not the same. New players can benefit from at least reading up on what happened in the first Bayonetta, if you don't actually feel like playing through it. Bayonetta, dressed provocatively of course, goes Christmas shopping with Enzo, an informant from the first game, who is immediately tasked with lugging around all the gifts.
Watch out for that plane!
While they're out shopping, they run into Bayonetta's freind Jeanne. The three characters are standing on the sidewalk when a huge screen on one of the building nearby announces that a parade will be taking place that day. The highlight is to be an air show featuring a military stunt plane unit. Enzo is about to go buy a toy plane for for his kids when they suddenly see a real one on a direct collision course with the shop. At the last moment, Bayonetta knocks it back with a well-aimed kick, and leaps up onto the plane, ready to fight. Jeanne enters the fray, and the two are able to defeat all the enemies nearby. Bayonetta then attempts to summon a monster to take care of the rest of the attackers, but something goes wrong, and the creature seizes Jeanne and kills her. Bayonetta is not about to just let her friend wander the depths of Inferno for all eternity, so she begins searching for a way to bring Jeanne back to life.That's just a brief snippet from the beginning of the story, but I think it does a great job of summing up just what kind of story we're dealing with. In any event, there are more than enough awesome moments in Bayonetta 2 that you're not going to want to miss.
A tough decision
At the beginning of the game, it's up to you to choose from one of three different difficulty levels, the first being the easiest and the third being the hardest, naturally. Once you've landed on the plane, there's a nice tutorial that does a good job of explaining the basic combat controls. You only use teh analog sticks to move Bayonetta around, but for the actail combat controls you can either use the Wii U Gamepad's buttons or touchpad and stylus. I prefer the more traditional method myself, so I used the buttons for the most part.
After the tutorial, it's time to jump right into the action. There are lots of different enemies just waiting for you to take them out, but be careful, because combat is pretty fast in this game. A good bit of finger memory and timing can't do you wrong here. For example, the closer you come to the right moment when trying to perform a dodge, the more likely it is to actually work. And if it does, there's only one thing left to do: give 'em hell!Four weapons are better than one
To this end, Bayonetta can carry four weapons at a time, divided into two sets of two. Throughout the course of the game you'll various weapons sets, each with their own advantages. But there isn't any one weapon or set of weapons that I can really say is the best, so I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Every now and then, whenever your magic gauge is full, you can do an "Umbran Climax", a relatively powerful attack you can perform using certain button-and-stick combinations. The more precise you are, the more powerful the attack. You also earn combo points thoughout the level, which you get a score for at the end.
Later in the game, you unlock a shop where you can purchase new attack combos, extra HP, and additional weapons.
Better than I expected For a Wii U title, Bayonetta 2 looks great. The cut scenes are sharper and more detailed than the game itself, but the character and creature models are really well done. The overall picture is is completed by a colorful and fanciful design concept. In any event, it's obvious the developers weren't running out of ideas. And the backgrounds are pretty amazing too; particle effects all over the place, tiny details that catch your eye – the developers definitely deserve a lot of credit here.
You could say the same thing about the sound – the individual sound effects and the background music really capture the atmosphere they're aiming for. Voiceovers are aailable in English, but there are subtitles for other languages, as well. And the whole thing is rounded off by the kind of witty dialogue you'd expect from a Bayonetta game.
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