Game Discussion of The Week: Bayonetta

Added to community reviews.

I know it is basically a sin, but I do not own either game. I had been meaning to buy them since they came out, but I always forget. I'll definitely get them one of these days. A Switch version of both games on the Virtual Console would be highly appreciated.

No worries there stratogustav.  Plenty of great games that I don't own either.

I originally played the 360 version of Bayonetta on a copy that belonged to an old roommate.  I never quite finished it there, but ended up doing so a few years later when I purchased it on the PS3.  Of the two, I know the 360 version was noticeably better at launch, but by the time I owned the PS3 version, the issues had been pretty much patched away.  Crazy to think Bayonetta came out in 2008.

I'm not an expert in some of these games, but I enjoy just about everything about the Bayonetta games.  Bayonetta herself is an extremely likable, and is backed up by a silly and enjoyable supporting cast.  Everything from her weapons and the combat, to cut scenes with the supporting characters are so over the top that it is impossible to stop smiling while you play.  The music fits wonderfully with the visuals, and even elements that hint at budget constraints (like a lot of cut scenes being voice over still frames) are done so stylishly that it doesn't detract.  Also, there are few things as satisfying as dodging into Witch Time.

I was very happy when the original Bayonetta was packaged along with its sequel on the Wii U, and the Nintendo-themed tweaks were icing on the cake.

The whole second game felt like a gift, amplifying everything that made the original great.  I'm sad to see it didn't sell that well, even for a Wii U game, and I would love to see a Switch re-release as stratogustav mentions, even if it is digital-only.  There's nothing in the Wii U version of either game that particularly needed the game pad.

The sequel was a Wii U exclusive because Nintendo paid for it.  It wasn't "system exclusive vs all systems".  I was "system exclusive vs not existing".

I enjoyed the first enough for a playthrough on Xbox 360 but I haven't played it much after that. I tried the PS3 version but the slowdown problems were some of the worst I've seen and I deem it borderline unplayable, even if more so because I was spoiled by the smooth running Xbox 360 version.

I felt it failed to deliver what it was hyped up to be and the delayed release meant I wasn't able to buy it for the winter holiday as I had originally planned and wanted to do, I was even going to pre.order but they pissed all over my parade and ruined my plans by delaying it so the joy of doing that was taken from me, as a result I didn't buy a copy for myself until later and I made sure it was a second-hand copy so I'd get it as cheap as possible to kind of make up for it.

I was one of those who was really looking forward to it and felt it was getting a lot of unjustified hate as many were criticising Bayonetta's design and the early gameplay footage available, I thought it looked to have great potential and I really liked her design, so when the game came out and started getting universal praise I actually had some of them contact me saying how I was right all along and they had now seen the light and such, it was quite funny.

While it was on par with most other great hack n slash n shoot em up action games but I much prefer Bullet Witch over Bayonetta, an older similar game that focused the gameplay more on the shooting than the hacking n slashing, much more to my liking because if I can shoot I wanna do it good, something Bayonetta doesn't let me do, the shooting mechanics in Bayonetta are sadly very poor and felt weak and underpowered against everything, this was my biggest let down in the actual game.

I liked the gameplay otherwise and it was a good looking game, not the best in the genre or cutting edge at the time or anything but it looked good and had some very large enemies and lots of choreographed attacks etc. that were all enjoyable to watch.

I really enjoyed the alternative gameplay like the motorcycle and the rocket as they reminded me of G-Bike from Final Fantasy VII and Space Harrier respectively, I know a lot of other people have complained about those segments but for me they were great and really added alot to an otherwise rather standardized game of it's type.

I give it an overall 4/5, with the Xbox 360 version specifically being a 4.5/5 and the PS3 version being at best a very generous 3/5, though it should be noted it fails to be a 3/5 a lot of the time and mostly settles in around 2 to 2.5/5 due to all the slowdown, and finally the Wii U port gets a 4.5/5 as well for being on par with the 360 version plus some minor bonus content.

I didn't care for the sequel, Bayonetta 2, as I felt it was only more of the same and the fact they went with Nintendo's way or the highway deal and made the game exclusive to the at the time already horribly outdated Wii U was a bonehead move of the highest magnitude resulting in little more than a complete waste of a game, they couldn't deliver a true next gen sequel due to the heavy technical limitations of the Wii U's previous gen technology and the backstabbing forsaking of the core fans of the original on the Xbox and PlayStation brands didn't do them any additional favors either.
Had they just put the game on hiatus until they got a better deal we could've gotten the Bayonetta 2 we actually wanted and were willing to pay for, instead they went with the first deal they got, completely regardless of the terms and limitations, it was to them more important to get it over with no matter the sacrifices or consequences, and the Bayonetta 2 we got is the direct result of that poor decision making, lack of judgement and abhorrent lack of respect to their own creation and its fans.
Not saying it's a bad game though, like I said it's more of the same and when the first one is a great game that's not bad at all, but it does come with some of the biggest waste of and failure to live up to potential a game can ever have, and it really isn't more than more of the same, it was in most ways literally indistinguishable from the first game and the things it did different were so minor I honestly don't remember a single one without having to look it up, the new stuff completely failed to stand out and make a difference to me, it literally felt like I was still playing a DLC pack for the first game or something, it didn't feel like a new full blown sequel at all.
The best part of it was that Nintendo loyalists finally got a true taste of what Xbox 360 (and PS3) owners had been enjoying all those years.

Yeah but they are not allowed to break their exclusive deal with them.

Fantastic game, a true heir to the Devil May Cry series. I've been playing the first game since early 2013 and i have to admit that it went from the worst game to my favorite game.
I'll write something later, but for now, i'll stick to what really annoys me in the game, which are: QTEs and Angel Attack.
Angel Attack especially is the worst. You just want to get to the chapter select but no, you have to engage in its monotonous nature of a half-baked on-rail shooter.
This is for Bayonetta 1.