Misfit8488 has 5 chronicles

1. Misfit's Bayonetta Review
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Feb 08 2010

   After 70 hours of playtime and unlocking every achievement, I finally have my new Bayonetta review ready for you guys. It took me quite some time post this up, but I've been pretty busy but it's here now!
   
   Story: Bayonetta's story is about two clans, the Lumen Sages (those that follow Light and control Paradiso) and the Umbra Witches (those that control the demons of Inferno) kept a balance of power between each other. But both the clans ended up fighting and the balance of power was broken. The Umbran witches were wiped out by the Lumen Sages and only one witch was left. Bayonetta. After awakening from a 500 year slumber, she takes revenge on the Lumen clan and vows to destroy them for what they did to her and her fellow witches. Throughout the story you will encounter many different characters like Luka, a man who believes Bayonetta killed his father, Cereza, Bayonetta's daughter, and many others. The game features 15 chapters, plus a prologue, epilogue and an insane lost chapter. The overall length of the game is about 10 hours, unless you either run through it or try to find all the collectibles and Alfheim portals.
   
   The overall story is intriguing and entertaining but for the most part, doesn't make a whole lot of sense at times. It's told through various cut scenes and cinematics with a film strip look. The whole film strip thing is kind of strange because it feels like your watching a stop motion comic. The characters are completely still, and when they talk their mouths don't move. I don't know why the felt like this was needed when they have great cinematics.
   
   Gameplay: This is where the game shines. The gameplay for Bayonetta is simple but deep and you're rewarded when you do really well. There are many various attacks and combos you can perform, and you can also use angelic weapons dropped from your enemies. Lots of the angelic weapons are very useful but you can only use them for a short time since every hit you connect depletes a gauge that shows the weapons durability. There are staves, crossbows, tubas and trumpets, and a few others. Pressing Y with one of these arms does a standard attack while pressing B does an extremely powerful attack, but the weapon is destroyed afterwards. My personal favorite is using the staff B button attack, which has Bayonetta place it on the ground and swings around it like a stripper (There really is no other way to explain this! lol) kicking every enemy within range. Not only is it stylish, but very deadly. Besides the angelic weapons, Bayonetta has her own arsenal of death dealing devices. When you collect Angelic LP's, Rodin will give you a new weapon to use, and every one is extremely useful and unique. There are tons of weapons like the whip, katana, claws, ice skates (yes, seriously!), and rocket launchers. The whip can grab enemies and you can twirl them around in a circular motion hitting other angels, the katana is a fast and powerful weapon, rocket launchers are slow but deal lots of damage. Each weapon has its own move set and properties, and you can also equip certain ones to your hands AND your feet. You can create two weapon sets to your style of play.
   
   Besides the weapons, there are the brutal Torture Attacks. These moves set this game apart from everything else. Torture Attacks are used when you build up your magic gauge to one full section by either continuously hitting your assailants or dodging their attacks but when you are hit, the gauge drops down to half. The Torture Attacks are essential to defeating everything quickly and viciously. Each TA is different for each enemy, so if you fight a regular angel, you can summon an iron maiden to crush them or a guillotine to decapitate them. For the bigger baddies, the TA are even more gruesome and sometimes more hilarious. While you do a TA, you must button mash a certain button to make it more powerful and the results are satisfying. Probably the most important part of the gameplay is Witch Time. WT is activated when you dodge an enemies attack at the last possible second and when you do, Bayonetta slows down time and you can punish your opponents while they are defenseless. And the boss battles? Oh, they are absolutely EPIC!
   
   While playing through the game and defeating enemies you will earn halos which is the games currency. You can purchase weapon upgrades, new skills, items, and unlockable outfits. Also, you can create your own items when you find certain ingredients found in game. Bayonetta can be upgraded when you get Broken Witch Hearts (they increase your overall health) and Blood Moon Pearls (these increase your magic gauge). Finding these items are crucial to finishing the harder difficulties.
   
   Graphics: The graphics for Bayonetta are very beautiful. Every stage has highly detailed environments, great design and have their own personality. The character models are also awesome, and the art design is amazing. The stand out level of Bayonetta is Chapter 9 (Here is some gameplay footage I found off of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ePpxtjBTmo). Animations are also well done and everything moves realistic and fluidly. Unfortunately, there are times where you will encounter some slowdown, but it doesn't affect the gameplay at all luckily (but the PS3 version is supposed to have really bad slowdown).
   
   Sound and Music: Bayonetta features probably the strangest music in a game ever... or pretty close to it. The music is a hybrid of J-pop and Jazz but oddly, it suits the game perfectly. Boss battles feature appropriate intense and dramatic music and it really ups the intensity of the fights. Also, there are some remixed themes from other games in the Sega universe (I won't say which though!). The voice acting is campy, but again it suits the game.
   
   Overall: Bayonetta is a must-play, no doubt about it. Even if you have no idea what this game is try it out. The gameplay is intense and vicious, the story is ludicrous but funny, great graphics and good music. And if you like achievements, they aren't too hard to obtain!
   
   My Score: 9.5/10
   
   And for those of you who have played it, what did you think?
   
   I also have leaderboard pics in my gallery to show you guys how well I've done!

   
   

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Misfit8488 has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Feb 09 2010

   What a great review from a cat who seems to have dominated the game in every respect!
   
   Although this game likely won't get much play time from me, I've only heard positive things from gamers who strive for serious action. It's always nice when a game that has such over-the-top action involved, still has a good story as the foundation.
   
   Anyways, thanks again for such an awesome video game review and if YOU are reading this, let's see/hear your thoughts on that game you've been enjoying so much lately
   
   10/10