On November 18 2012, I purchased a Wii U primarily to play Bayonetta 2. Today, almost 2 years later, I will finally be able to do just that.
Now, I would never buy a system for one game, but I have to admit there aren't that many games on Wii U that appeal to me, so the console has sat mostly unused while my PS3 and now my PS4 get most of my attention. But all this will change (if momentarily) now that Bayonetta 2 is here.
A brief story for those who never read my 1up blog (which I'm sure is almost everyone lol): Before the original Bayonetta came out, Wizard (which used to publish the comic book magazine and now promotes the Wizard World comic cons around the country) and Sega (Bayonetta's original publisher) ran an art contest, in which I placed as one of the runners up. I won a copy of the game on Xbox 360 signed by Hideki Kamiya and Yusuke Hashimoto, but had to wait over a month after the game was released before I could finally play it.
I had no idea if the game would be good or not. I just knew that the minds behind Devil May Cry were creating it, and more importantly, I just liked the character design and felt like drawing her. As it turned out, the game became arguably the best example, gameplay-wise, of the Devil May Cry/God of War/Ninja Gaiden- style action adventure genre. The graphics weren't the greatest, though there were some very impressively designed locales and enemies, not to mention the cool effects whenever you activated one of her super-moves. The storyline was also kind of forgettable, and the writing was pretty groan-inducing at times, but the gameplay, with its fluid combos, counters, and timing was sublime. Many games in this genre become boring after a while, but Bayonetta's combat had so much depth, and different enemies requred different tactics in order to dispatch them, that for me, it remained challenging and interesting until the end. Bayonetta herself is a pretty original character, with her hair being the source of her powers. We can debate the merits or faults of her idealized physical appearance and overt sexuality, but the confidence and all-around badassery she exudes should not be seen as anything but positive.
I have heard that the second game takes everything about the first game and turns up the dial even more, so I can't wait to play it.
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