Bayonetta, created by Hideki Kamiya, the brains behind Devil May Cry, is a videogame that seems to have folks in Japan going love-crazy. Me? Not so much.
Downloaded the demo last night for the Xbox 360, and without knowing much or anything about the game, dived right into the mix of things. It starts with some random bits of story, which really tell you nothing, and then opens the demo up to three areas: training, the Falling Clock tower level, and the Angel’s Metropolis level. Each section involves a ton of button-mashing and motion sickness.
First, Bayonetta is a weird woman. Her entire outfit is made from her hair, and she has guns on her feet. The amount of combos she can do–at least in the demo–is impressive, but good luck trying to really see each one in action. Your best bet for staying alive is to constantly hit the Y and B buttons while dodging left and right to initiate bullet time witch time. Do a combo just right and you might get to torture your victim, which provides for some fun, original death moves.
Anyways, training is training. Just an empty space where you can learn some moves and a bit of the basics. The Falling Clock tower level is just that, a cinematic piece of jumping from tower-chunk to tower-chunk while taking out bird enemies. I wish there had been time to admire the background details or even Bayonetta herself as she pulled off a bunch of sick moves, but alas, it all goes by in a blur. The game has a frenetic pace, and once your life bar starts to deplete you will just smash ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, and pray you make it out alive.
The best part of the Bayonetta demo, however, is the final section: the Angel’s Metropolis. After falling through the sky and fighting giant bird-freaks, Bayonetta is suddenly on a train. I have no idea how the two scenes connect, if they even do (was it a dream?). We’re then in a hub world, with most of the other worlds block off for now. Head straight down the path, fight some more enemies, earn coins and pick up colored gems (?), and then you’ll get to do two boss battles. These are fun and not completely frantic, which is nice because you can then work on some strategy.
The demo lasted for about 15 minutes and was somewhat fun. However, the button-mashing, one million things on screen happening at once sort of gameplay left me nauseous and unimpressed. Controlling the camera is problematic, too. I did, however, get a Gold trophy for all my butt-kicking. Not sure what that means though.
Grinding Down 