Vagabond's Bayonetta impressions (PS3)

[The_vagabond7]

Anybody on my PS3 friend's list knows I've been eagerly awaiting this game (my tag comment has been "Waiting for bayonetta" for the past couple of months), and now I've got my precious in my hands. Well I got it a couple days ago when it came out, but now I've actually had several hours with the game.

My Impressions: Favorable. Very awesome game, Devil May Cry's creator has made another beauty of a game. The control is crisp, and responsive, the fights fast and brutal, not to mention incredibly over the top. The game's mechanics feel great, a perfectly timed dodge (which activates "witch time" making the enemies move in slow motion for a second in case you are in the dark) is not only satisfying but also necessary in many situations. Kamiya successfully managed to make defense an integral part of your technique without slowing the pace of the game down by making you turtle down, or defend while waiting for an opening. You can interupt any combo with your dodging ability, so you never have to worry about when to attack. Always attack, and pay attention to when you need to dodge. Great use of sound cues and exagerated animations clue you in on when you are about to be attacked, but the perfect timing is up to you. Very rewarding combat.

The game isn't without it's flaws though. The camera is a bit wonky, not always being in the best spot to see the enemies and what you are doing. And the PS3 version has RIDICULOUS load times....well let me rephrase, not load TIMES persay, but frequency of the need to load. Going into a menu? LOADING.....want to pause the game? LOADING....Pick up an item? LOADING....It feels like I'm playing a game on a PC that isn't up to the task (something I have plenty of experience in doing). Whatever you want to do, be prepared to wait. Graphically and whatnot I haven't noticed any terrible problems. The framerate I haven't noticed for the most part (which means it's doing it's job), but it has gotten kind of framey in some big fights. Really is sega had just gave it a mandatory install or an option to install to get rid of the horrendous and annoying load times I would be a very happy camper and would eliminate one of my biggest problems with the game. Seriously, you don't know how annoying it is until you try to pause the game during a cutscene so you can skip it, and the loading takes almost as long as the cutscene would have.

 

On a more ambiguous note, some may like how japanese it is and others may find it ridiculous and stupid. Playing as an anime bondage barbie, fighting angels, while a J-pop inspired version of Sinatra's "fly me to the moon" play in the background may be incredibly awesome or just wierd depending on your viewpoint. Personally I love that shit. It is also highly objectifying of women, but it's sooooo over the top and blatant it seems more satirical than un-ironic, much like No More Heroes satires the violence culture of games by reveling in it. Thus you may find it funny rather than offensive if you are offended by that sort of thing. There are also a number of tongue in cheek references to Kamiya's past games hidden within if you're paying attention. For instance your weapons dealer occasionally says "Whataya buyin'? Heh, I heard that from somebody before" referencing the weapon's dealer in Resident Evil 4. Nice subtle touches for fans of his.

 

Overall so far it's a deep and satisfying action fighting game, with a ton of style and attitude. The combat is slick and well thought out, the bosses are fantastic, the art design top notch, it's a hot game. It's also a good length it looks like seeing as how I've played for about five hours and I just completed chapter 5 out of at least 14 (I checked my trophy list and there is a trophy involving getting a high ranking in chapter 14, so there are at least that many chapters) so just to beat it, it will probably be a good 14-15 hour game. It also looks like there are plenty of hidden goodies and levels looking at the trophy list, so there will be plenty to occupy even after beating the game. If you are a fan of games like devil may cry, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War, and even No More Heroes then this is a game you've GOT to get....unless you hate Japan....and awesome.