First Impressions: Bayonetta 2 (Demo)

With this game coming out today, I thought I'd download the demo and have a go. Not knowing what to expect, having never played the original Bayonetta, any doubts I had about this game quickly evaporated. From the gorgeous graphics (who said the Wii U couldn't take it, eh?), to the swift and surprisingly deep gameplay, to the games characters and their great humour, to the absolutely bonkers storyline, enemies and powers which are becoming a trademark of Platinum, this game is looking to be awesome! The demo starts with a short cut-scene before throwing you into a tutorial where you learn the basics, like how to evade and attack as well using the Witch Time and Umbran Climax special abilities. Witch Time happens when you evade an enemies attack at the last possible second and it slows down time so that you can get close to an enemy or run away. Umbran Climax is activated by pressing L when the magic gauge is filled up and it strengthens the attacks of Bayonetta as well as regenerating her HP for a short period of time.

Torture Attacks are back from the first game as well and I had a lot of fun killing enemies with them. Another new thing is the addition of guns for Bayonetta and they can be activated by holding the punch/kick buttons or the Y button. These allow you to stay away from the enemy for a little bit, allowing you to get your bearings back while also being able to attack the enemy. In one of the stages for the demo, you are joined by the witch Jeanne, who is central to the story.

Both characters are great, as are the voice actors and there were some actual laughs being made when playing which is rare for the games of this generation. The hack and slash mechanics became very apparent early on. If you try to think about how you are going to attack you die. If you don't and just mash hit and evade, then you don't. This was shown mostly on the last boss where I survived on 1 HP just by spamming the evade button. By no means does this detract from the experience though as it was great fun, spinning around the enemy, bullets flying from every direction.

Overall this game is set to be an absolutely stunning and wacky game. And you get the first Bayonetta when you buy the sequel! You spoil us Nintendo.

Thanks for reading, Satamer.