Comments on what is delicious: Review // Bayonetta

I loved Bayonetta. I thought she was very sexy, an...

2011-06-16T03:33:05.004-04:00

I loved Bayonetta. I thought she was very sexy, and very unique. I found the dialog to be charming, witty, and humorous.

What I find disgusting is that anumber of people are making disparaging remarks about Japanese people. You need look no further than American culture to realize how hypocritical some of these remarks are. When it comes to objectifying women, any American high school

I just bought the latest issue of GamePro, and the...

2010-01-24T02:18:58.393-05:00

I just bought the latest issue of GamePro, and their review was really good in expressing most of my complaints even though they were very clearly on the side of "the combat makes up for it."

But yeah, PowerAardvark, if you're playing Bayonetta to genuinely have fun, I'd say you're better off just skipping the cut scenes. They only get worse as the story gets more

Having gotten a chance to play it...I still share ...

2010-01-23T15:47:47.115-05:00

Having gotten a chance to play it...I still share a lot of Thomas' sentiments. While it's obvious the focus was the fighting, which is immensely fun...everything else is frustratingly mediocre. The story is a bit boring and I could not care less about the characters, and some of the ridiculous cutscene stunts do scream of patting one's self on the back. When you have to TRY to be cool

I don't know... Some of the choreography struc...

2010-01-23T03:06:31.181-05:00

I don't know... Some of the choreography struck me as gratuitous in a very masturbatory way. It's where I based my comment about the developers thinking "man, we're awesome!" None of it really did anything for me.

And for what it's worth, and I suppose it could totally be "just my opinion" or whatever, but I both a) thought all the characters were

I don't think anyone would argue Bayonetta is ...

2010-01-22T09:43:23.713-05:00

I don't think anyone would argue Bayonetta is "deep" when it comes to plot, or that the narrative is trying to give off any sort of meaning. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily.

I would enjoy it more if the plot were as engaging as we all agree it could/should be, but it's very obviously not the focus, and something that seems almost tangential when playing the

Apparently the story has something to do with corr...

2010-01-22T01:29:10.976-05:00

Apparently the story has something to do with corruption with demons and angels and the lines between good and evil being blurred? Of course, we all know how well the Japanese understand the tenets of Western belief systems, so all I can say is they probably used the imagery and themes because it "seemed cool" rather than because they wanted to give it meaning. Again, a lot of Japanese

Okay, after reading ALL of these comments I've...

2010-01-22T00:50:48.695-05:00

Okay, after reading ALL of these comments I've come to a conclusion of why you don't like the game Thomas. You are doing it wrong.

I will say about the enemy design that it occasion...

2010-01-22T00:08:34.116-05:00

I will say about the enemy design that it occasionally reminded me of the Persona games, and that redeemed them in my eyes, at least a bit.

As for the story, I can barely tell you what happened during that game, and I watched all the cut scenes AND read the Wikipedia summary afterward. My roommate is playing it now, and he has less patience for this kind of stuff. He's been

Well, I'm speaking specifically about the plot...

2010-01-21T16:44:48.460-05:00

Well, I'm speaking specifically about the plot. Character development was top notch, and I had a love for almost every character, especially Bayonetta. Too, the plot is of enough quality to give reason as to why things are happening, why you're being assaulted, and what you're working towards; it's just not delivered in a manner I feel is best.

The story is more than

Maybe that's the case, but a poor story is def...

2010-01-21T16:25:40.830-05:00

Maybe that's the case, but a poor story is definitely an irritant. If your character and their motives aren't interesting or plausible, do you really feel much towards them or anyone else in their world? It makes it harder to care about what's going on or why it's going on. People enjoy great stories because they entertain them, but when you throw together a half-assed plot and

Playing Bayonetta, and loving it, I couldn't h...

2010-01-21T15:47:52.558-05:00

Playing Bayonetta, and loving it, I couldn't help but feel as though many reviewers had a very similar experience. The story just wasn't enough of an obstacle to warrant a true thrashing. To me, everything excluding the delivery for the narrative was really quite excellent.

I just don't want to discredit the opinions of numerous reviewers, because I feel there is definitely

Hey, this is the poster formerly known as Anon. =)...

2010-01-21T15:33:10.682-05:00

Hey, this is the poster formerly known as Anon. =)

I also wanted to comment on another thing that bugs me about this game: the visual style. I really dislike the designs, for one. Bayonetta has one of the most atrocious and poorly-planned designs for a protagonist in recent times. The enemies don't fare much better, with a ridiculous over-reliance on cherub faces that look plain

Yeah, I'll admit that I was surprised that so ...

2010-01-21T12:28:16.143-05:00

Yeah, I'll admit that I was surprised that so many reviewers said they actually like the Bayonetta character, but I've seen a lot of "the plot sucks, the cut scenes go on too long, etc." comments in reviews. Just feels like Brutal Legend, where a lot of reviewers gave that game a total free pass for a lot of its flaws, and now you hear on podcasts and stuff when they discuss

I'd call it a "free ride" when most ...

2010-01-21T11:46:27.359-05:00

I'd call it a "free ride" when most reviews for the game literally spend all of a sentence or two saying "The plot isn't that great, but it doesn't matter". It's a bit hypocritical when, back when Halo 2 was released, and it was found out that the single-player story left a lot to be desired, people called it out on that. At least Halo's story makes some

@Anonymous: I'd argue Bayonetta is superior to...

2010-01-21T09:37:29.363-05:00

@Anonymous: I'd argue Bayonetta is superior to the Lara Croft's, if only because the game acknowledges how sexualized and absurd it actually is.

@Thomas: I completely understand that. But most reviews I've read seem to disagree with a lot of what you don't like about Bayonetta. I'm only saying that it's more so a difference of opinion than a free ride, which

@Codename V: I only call it a free ride because mo...

2010-01-21T01:23:59.150-05:00

@Codename V: I only call it a free ride because most games get crucified for some of the flaws Bayonetta has, yet Bayonetta remains more or less unscathed.

.@cheez: I don't get the whole "you'r...

2010-01-20T19:32:50.778-05:00

.@cheez: I don't get the whole "you're not comfortable in your masculinity if you dislike the game or character" argument. It feels flimsy to me, because I don't mind a strong female character__ in fact' I would like to see more of them in games. But Bayonetta is so ridiculously exagerrated in her supposedly sexy attitude that some just find it revolting or think she'

Okay, we can agree to disagree on many points. How...

2010-01-20T16:48:38.446-05:00

Okay, we can agree to disagree on many points. However, the free ride thing just doesn't seem to exist in the manner you're stating. People LOVE Bayonetta as a character, and many people appreciate the weird sense of humor that the game flaunts, so there is definitely a lot more to this title than you're giving it credit for (As far as not playing it goes.) The reviews I've read,

Some people will like it, some won't. This is ...

2010-01-20T14:11:35.365-05:00

Some people will like it, some won't. This is the same Anon as above, BTW. While I'm certain some game directors are capable of a deeper sort of social commentary of some kind (the closest, I guess, is Kojima with MGS), I...honestly don't care if there is a deeper meaning. I play games to be entertained, not discover the meaning of life. If I wanted preachy, deeper meaning bullcrap

I think this just boils down to me again liking th...

2010-01-20T11:29:32.542-05:00

I think this just boils down to me again liking the idea of Bayonetta more than the execution, which in turn would then boil down AGAIN to that I don't find her sexy. You say you do, so she as a character works for you.

And you don't need to make excuses for your opinion. I think no less of someone that likes Bayonetta and I would hope that most people out there would think no

Well, okay, No More Heroes had an awful presentati...

2010-01-20T11:18:20.725-05:00

Well, okay, No More Heroes had an awful presentation for whatever their message was with the ridiculous open world, if any. However, Bayonetta is so obviously aware of it's ridiculous main character that it's difficult to actually accept she was placed in the game for purely a sexual focus. If she was, however, they executed it perfectly, because, to be honest, that's the only way a

Thanks for the comment! The parody/commentary stuf...

2010-01-20T07:42:00.913-05:00

Thanks for the comment! The parody/commentary stuff you got spot on. It's the same thing I remember hearing about with No More Heroes, how the open world city was so empty as a commentary on other video games. Though I never played it myself, it just felt like people were making excuses for bad game design. When your "statement" is this vague and hurts the game this much, you're

I have to agree with Thomas. I haven't played ...

2010-01-19T21:13:03.385-05:00

I have to agree with Thomas. I haven't played the game, but videos and footage I've seen have just put me off. There's something about this game that feels...alienating, and not-quite-right. I really don't get how people are saying this game is supposed to be a parody or commentary on sexy characters in video games. I'm sorry, folks, but Japan really isn't that subtle or

@cheez: I don't get why not liking Bayonetta s...

2010-01-19T17:00:12.295-05:00

@cheez: I don't get why not liking Bayonetta somehow signals to people that either a) I don't like strong, sexy women unafraid of expressing their sexuality, or b) I don't like Japanese design.

Bayonetta just strikes the wrong chord with me. Her taunts were some of the least sexy displays I've ever seen, for instance. And as an American, I probably favor American-style

I guess what it comes down to is that I like the i...

2010-01-19T16:46:35.735-05:00

I guess what it comes down to is that I like the idea of Bayonetta more than the execution. A sexy woman that makes no apologies for being sexy is great. Chloe from Uncharted 2 totally did that. A silly atmosphere that recognizes how silly it is sounds awesome. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand did that. But those games did it better.

I'd like to think that the developers had more in mind