Bayonetta: Inspired Insanity
For the past few years there have been numerous articles written in countless magazines, on gaming web sites and blogs about the state of the Japanese gaming industry. Where once Japanese companies, games and studios ruled the roost, now we find some of the largest players in the electronic entertainment business are from the US with behemoth publishers such as Activision and EA.
Even the Japanese companies themselves can see that games designed for a Western audience will guarantee better sales than a purely Japan focussed one. Just look at Capcom designing Dead Rising for the ranks of zombie lovers. Even they have now taken things one step further by farming out development of the sequel to a Canadian studio. So a Japanese gaming that apes Western ideals now just being straight up developed in the West.
I am a big fan of these big budget Western developed titles, but there is something special and in many cases utterly insane about a Japanese developed game. Especially one that provides a look into how the Japanese interpret Westerns tastes.
This is one of the reasons why I love the Resident Evil series so much. The games are intrinsically Japanese, but are set in the US with over the top characters and storylines. And frankly, there is nothing more utterly insane than Bayonetta.
While the box may say Sega, this is essentially a Capcom title with some Sega influences. With developer Platinum Games being made up of former Capcom employees who were once Clover Studios. Clover brought some critically adored games such as Viewtiful Joe and God Hand to the world, which fans worshipped but the general populous steered clear of in droves.
When the widely respected EDGE magazine here in the UK gave Bayonetta a 10 out of 10 score even I raised a quizzical eyebrow. How could what looked like an evolved version of Devil May Cry earn such a coveted score?
I played Bayonetta on and off for all of last weekend, only stopping for family duties. When I stopped playing on Friday night I dreamed about the game. Any chance I got I was firing up the Xbox 360 and sneaking in some extra playtime. For me to be so consumed by a game in this way is an extremely rare occurance these days.
The fact of the matter is this: Bayonetta is one of the finest action games I have ever played. It takes the Devil May Cry style formula, updates it and makes it more accessible to novice players while not taking away a challenge for experienced ones.
The game looks and sounds stunning, and is littered with references to both Capcom and Sega games (you collect gold rings straight out of Sonic, and the music on the car radio in one cut scene is Magical Sound Shower from Outrun).
What playing Bayonetta for around ten hours these past few days has reminded me why I love Japanese games so much. Because they can be intense, funny, utterly ridiculous and completely non-PC and on top of everything else the most important thing of all; FUN!
Bayonetta takes the best bits of my favourite gaming genres, twists them together, adds a pinch of genius and delivers a game that should be universally adored by anyone who has ever held a joypad.
I really hope that Bayonetta sells well, but it does seem to be a game from an almost dying breed. You don’t get games like this from anywhere outside of Japan, but people need to keep buying them so the developers can keep making them. This has the feel of God Hand with all of its ridiculous craziness but amped up even higher.
In fact…oh to heck with it. Bayonetta is one of the best games I have ever played, and it is even getting close to nipping at the heels of Resident Evil 2 to become my favourite game of all time. I have played a ton of identikit first person shooters, third person action and role playing games over the past few years that I can hardly remember the plot of. It may be fresh in my mind, but Bayonetta is a game I will go back and play again and again. Pure, inspired, insane genius.
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Wow.
Having never played Devil May Cry before (don’t throw anything at me, I just haven’t) but understand the basic idea of the game you have me intrigued.
I’m still skeptical enough to rent it rather then buying it outright, but you have my interest peaked !
I’m still getting used to Japanese styled games, but it’s time for me to broaden my horizon anyways.
There’s a demo on Live so you can check it out. It is a very acquired taste I would say, definitely quirky but if you want to expand your horizons then this is right at the end of the scale marked “lunacy”
I had the same initial thought as Ian after reading your post – “Wow.” Even putting it in the same CONVERSATION as your favourite game ever is extremely high praise.
Now I’ll have to check out the demo of this and decide for myself though DMC4 never really did it for me (at least the demo anyway). Maybe I needed to spend some more time with it I dunno but I’ll get on this demo and check back with you in a bit.
Oh, and I <3 Japanese games. It's funny how you mention EA and Activision because even though I don't think anyone can doubt how successful they've become, I don't know that I ever look to either company with really high regard. I mean, EA seems to just bank on their sports games while Activision seems to do what?… Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk? Don't get me wrong, I like all these games plenty, but they don't just get my admiration as do ones with so much unique character to them such as Ninja Gaiden II, Gears of War, Borderlands etc
The great thing about Bayonetta is that it takes what was so frustrating about DMC which make you want to throw a controller through the window is removed and honed here.
On the regular difficulty levels its a challenge but the Easy setting makes it VERY VERY accessible.
No great shock it has failed to crack the top 10 in the January NPD game sales in the US. I’d love to see the European numbers.
I still stand by what I said too, it’s a fantastic game.