Bayonetta (PS3/360)

[GaijinPunch]

Finally sat down and beat this (JPN version...so it's been a while coming). I never got the missile launcher though. How does one get it? Not sure if I'll do a hard run, but might at some point.

[Damocles]

It's in Chapter 9. The first piece is on the first large island you come to behind a wall with a sun symbol on it...before you head up the path of light. The second is for beating the dual Kinships (hate that name). The third is later in the stage. You must use panther form to jump a gap and smash a wall instead of heading up a trail of light. This is right after a Gates of Hell portal opens.

[GaijinPunch]

Cool... might get off my ass and play hard now that my arcade monitor has gone to heaven.

[Kiken]

Messed around more with the Druga/Kilgore glitch last night.... managed to net over 6 millions halos in one battle against the chapter 2 boss on Normal (total combo for the chapter was well over 16 million).

Used the code to unlock Zero. He's goofy as hell and requires perfect use (2 hits and you're dead). He pretty much breaks all of the cinematics.

[CMoon]

Just got to the space harrier part. I know everyone thinks this is a great nod, but I think this + the afterburner parts are low points of the game for me. Nods to old games can be cool, but there's a point where this turns into filler. Maybe I just don't like those particular games enough. Reminds me of some of the weird, out of place levels in capcom's beatemups, like the shooting stage on top of the tank in alien vs predator. At least beating up a car in final fight (or eating a bunch of food in Warriors of fate) was funny.

[Engineer]

Beat the game on normal a few days ago. I really enjoyed it. One of the few games in a long time that lived up to my expectations after I had been anticipating it for awhile. Now it's time to tackle it on hard.

[Zaarock]

I got Platinum ALL(average) ranking on normal now, thought that was what unlocks jeanne but apparently you need all chapters at platinum. those chapters with loads of alfheims will be a pain :/ . Also tried lost chapter again, got to verse 3 boss I think? (golem), that was fun. Actually it ended like so: I had no health so I was like what the hell, lets taunt golem with that taunt = heal item.. didnt really work out. Usually I have no problems fighting golem, I think the lost chapter variant attacks faster and is more aggressive?

I was trying out more taunting and gaze of despair(automatically taunts everything) for fun, and noticed some cool stuff, for example if you taunt a beloved it starts attacking like three times faster.. pretty menacing. Also, gaze of despair makes bosses different which is surprising as they are the same on every difficulty otherwise. Didnt get to try the others much, but balder stopped getting stunned by bullets and attacked faster and more importantly, jeanne goes fucking crazy. Im guessing trying to get high combos on chapters with the gaze of despair will be fun, the game felt pretty different. While trying this stuff out I unlocked sai-fung, really fun weapon.

[agustusx]

The first time I played the epilogue on hard it annoyed me and froze me a dozen times in a row killing my chances of clearing it. Second time around I was using the ice skates and used a few yellow lolipops and I was able to avoid being spammed to death.

I'm probably going to give it a bit of a break before I put it in again its been a very addictive two weeks or so.

I need to complete three more alfhiems and need to start NSICM next. I also need to find all the witch resting places, but i'll use a guide for that.

[Lordstar]

just started playing it. love it.

[Skykid]

Yeah, the JPN Bayonetta front cover artwork has that sexy ass alrighty...was it considered too risque for ESRB though not be featured unaltered Stateside? ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Buy the Asian HK version and you get the ass and region free gaming.

Got my HK version today, it's sweet - it comes with two instruction manuals, an English language and a Japanese with really gorgeous full colour art throughout. And it's got a nice cover.

Won't start playing this for a while though as I got Mario Galaxy for xmas and it demands completion - one of the best games of this generation hands down.

[Zeether]

There's another reference in the Space Harrier stage I just found out:

"An Intruder Has Penetrated Your Force Fields"

[Jockel]

just started playing it. love it.

[Zaarock]

Anyone else trying to get platinum trophies on normal/hard? How should I combo on the second beloved fight on chapter 2, I keep getting bad combo scores there.. I hate those damn fire wheels though so I guess I might be messing up on chaining the combo between those. I either fight them for way too long with the Scarborough Fair or 1 hit kill them with Pillow Talk (rotate + y, really cheap with this weapon btw)

Started a proper scoring run on hard now after getting platinum ALL rank on normal, the different enemy setups are refreshing If I remember right they sort of overused grace & glory though.

[Damocles]

Just got to the space harrier part. I know everyone thinks this is a great nod, but I think this + the afterburner parts are low points of the game for me. Nods to old games can be cool, but there's a point where this turns into filler. Maybe I just don't like those particular games enough. Reminds me of some of the weird, out of place levels in capcom's beatemups, like the shooting stage on top of the tank in alien vs predator. At least beating up a car in final fight (or eating a bunch of food in Warriors of fate) was funny.

I concur. Chapter 8 and 14 are just pointless to me...mostly because they're too damn long. I loathe that bike level with the too-low camera and pointless gameplay. Chapter 14 is better, but still too long. Also, inverted Y-axis...no. Maybe if I was using a flight stick.

[CMoon]

Apparently you can change the inverted Y axis in chapter 14. Doesn't make it less dumb.

[Strider77]

I love the Bike stage to death.... so speak for yourself.

[Zaarock]

I love chapter 8 as well, the bike part is easy but the controls are smooth and it looks and sounds awesome. Verse 2 is a pain to combo though, damn random cars driving on you

Damocles: you dont like the boss in chapter 14?

[CMoon]

Damocles: you dont like the boss in chapter 14?

I can't speak for him, but I love the boss fight in chapter 14, and that's part of the problem. It should either be a separate chapter or the space harrier section should be shorter. I'll never platinum that boss fight because I'm never going to be patient enough to wade through a 10 minute space harrier segment over and over.

Look, I understand them wanting to spice up the game with other things, but they probably needed to spend a little more time focusing on core gameplay IMO.

[Zaarock]

I can't speak for him, but I love the boss fight in chapter 14, and that's part of the problem. It should either be a separate chapter or the space harrier section should be shorter. I'll never platinum that boss fight because I'm never going to be patient enough to wade through a 10 minute space harrier segment over and over.

Agreed on this, The boss fight should have had its own chapter.. though they probably didnt like the idea of having the space harrier part as a seperate chapter. I used the main menu -> continue "trick" for that boss fight because of this.

Look, I understand them wanting to spice up the game with other things, but they probably needed to spend a little more time focusing on core gameplay IMO.

Eh, the core gameplay seems perfect enough as is Nothing wrong with them working on something else if they ran out of ideas / made these parts after the game was pretty much done, so core mechanics couldnt be changed.

[Damocles]

Damocles: you dont like the boss in chapter 14?

The verse 2 missile boss or verse 3 fight? The verse 3 fight was nice, though it was much like the previous fights. The verse 2 boss was...well...just a boss. My main issue is that the stages (8 & 14-missile portion) dragged. I chuckled the first time through, however.


EDIT: I should say that my complaints are relatively miniscule. The game is great, the combat is near perfect. In the end, the switch to these other modes...and the fact that cutscenes tend to kick you out into a direct attack simply annoy me.

[Skykid]

Ugh.

This is no way in hell a perfect scoring game. This situation (not specifically the game) is the exact reason why current gen leaves a bad taste in my mouth. How the hell does this rank anywhere near the Mario 64's and Ocarina of Times, or even games that didn't get such distinctions, like Shadow of the Colossus?

It's just everything I dislike about modern gaming, and totally 'missed the point' western influenced Japanese gaming. The soundtrack is bleh (that 'fly me to the moon' doesn't work at all', in any of it's several iterations), it's comedy is just... well not funny. It's devoid of substance, characterless and really crass (Enzo is a shit character and as soon as he started spouting expletives that immediately took the game down a few pegs - the script is awful.) Rodin with his tribal tat is cliche boredom, and the story is just an incomprehensible mess, which wouldn't be so bad if a slew of sleep inducing cutscenes weren't rammed down your throat every five seconds as some kind of gameplay substitute. The fan service means nothing at all when you need to actually force yourself to play the game to see it. I'd rather just go and play the games it's paying tribute to - they're better.

I'm on Chapter 5 now. Yes, I've seen some nice stuff - some pretty graphics (that do nothing for me) some spiffy trial and error QTE sequences that I don't find very stimulating at all. The combat is deep (depending on how deep you want it to be) but it's just a scrolling beat-em-up interspersed with cutscenes that make me yawn or completely menial pointless tasks that don't have any build up or pay off. Otherwise it's battering up the same set of characters over and over again.

I've watched people exploiting the combat on youtube and I'm sure it's plenty of fun, especially if you dig Guilty Gear style action, but for me this isn't a patch on Ninja Gaiden, which at least has level design that counts for something.

I know this is probably going to incite some heated debate, so let me just say I ain't trollin. If anybody wants a mint Hong Kong copy, region free with all the trimmings (dual instructions booklets, Japanese cover etc), then it's £35. Eventually I'll snap a pic and get it in the trading station.

I don't know if I'm an old fogey at 28, but this stuff just does nothing for me. It's very good glossy 'meh', the kind of trite waffle that turns up ten times a year. Shattered Soldier - now that's a real man's action game. This kind of nasty, boring mess is stealing my life away. And Bayonetta has the figure of a Thai transvestite.
Back to Mario Galaxy!

[Rob]

I am also disappointed that I can't enjoy this masterpiece.

[CMoon]

Back to Mario Galaxy!

[Skykid]

Back to Mario Galaxy!

Ha ha, don't be embarrassed for me man. It's ACTUALLY a really good game.

[CMoon]

Actually I concur. I just wasn't quite sure what to say because they are both VERY different games and was pretty sure you'd be blasted over it. Personally I think you're being very, very harsh on Bayonetta, but perhaps it just isn't your thing. Did you like Godhand?

[chempop]

I'm also be interested in knowing what you thought of Godhand, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, etc. Those are some of my favorite games from last generation but I haven't picked up Bayonetta yet (I will soon though). It sounds like you were expecting it to be all serious when it obviously trying to be a complete joke (silly script and absurd characters and whatnot). I mean, Viewtiful Joe and Godhand are goofy in this kinda way too but I can't imagine it being any other way...

[Zaarock]

I've played Okami and the Viewtiful Joe games, havent gotten to playing God Hand(should get this soon) and the DMC series yet. I found the humor to be similar to viewtiful joe and okami in a way, so I was expecting more of the same. One of the main bad guys is a big joke and so on. Some of the action cutscenes are really well done (eg. fights with Jeanne). The story is pretty silly, but its clearly designed on purpose that you dont know what the hell is going on at the start of the game. You do get clues around various subjects which is cool imo.

A pretty cool thing to notice is that the majority of the soundtrack is made by Masami Ueda and Rei Kondoh, same guys who did most of the soundtrack for Okami. Its pretty hard to find similarities because the styles are so different, but I think one of the paradiso songs sounded a bit familiar.

[Skykid]

Did you like Godhand?

Viewtiful Joe, Okami, etc.

With Godhand I'll find out in a bit. Funnily enough I happen to have a copy already bought and on the way, so I should know in a couple weeks.
Okami is incredible and Viewtiful Joe was awesome but so difficult I'll admit it frustrated me and I didn't end up getting through it. But both of those are very different indeed. This is a proper current gen experience (the kind you've seen already a million times, just dressed up in new clothes) and doesn't have the originality of either Joe or Okami.

Bayonetta isn't difficult, and there's room in it to perform to exemplary levels of combat and not even take a hit - but there's tons of trial and error in it. I totally dislike the fact that the fighting is the only real meat on its bones too, and that it tends to be almost exactly the same every time. Once you've seen a few torture moves it wears thin, or seen Bayonetta doing some flash acrobatics you're not in control of - just pretty tired stuff, you've seen it all before.

I can't pass proper judgement until it's finished (if it suddenly does a stratospheric leap in quality after chapter 5 pls let me know), but the game itself is about a 7 for me so far - and that's taking into account what other people like. It's not so much the game that disgusts me but the perfect review scores from Edge and Famitsu - they must be out of their minds.

The common joe is NOT going to enjoy Bayonetta. It's 'goofy' incomprehensible story is not cool or funny, even in a Japanese way. In fact it's tasteless and mind numbingly skippable in the worst kind of Japanese way.

Man call me impatient but I hate long opening cinemas. I've turned it off twice already before playing. Once during the cinema, and once when they started spoonfeeding me on the buttons.

This. Immediately took it down a few notches. If it was going to be a ten before I opened the box, warning signs started going off here, and then again...

The entire prologue level is subpar and could have been dropped from the game.

Here. In fact, I'd go as far as to say the Prologue section is a complete and utter shambles.

A perfect scoring game should be a lot, lot more than this.

[Zaarock]

I totally dislike the fact that the fighting is the only real meat on its bones too, and that it tends to be almost exactly the same every time. Once you've seen a few torture moves it wears thin, or seen Bayonetta doing some flash acrobatics you're not in control of - just pretty tired stuff, you've seen it all before.

I can't pass proper judgement until it's finished (if it suddenly does a stratospheric leap in quality after chapter 5 pls let me know), but the game itself is about a 7 for me so far - and that's taking into account what other people like. It's not so much the game that disgusts me but the perfect review scores from Edge and Famitsu - they must be out of their minds.

I found the enemy types and weapons to vary the game a lot than in any beat-em-up I remember and starting to play for high combo scores changed the game a lot for me, so personally I dont see the point about the combat being repetitive. Spamming torture attacks is bad for your combo score(its a good way to finish combos?), so the game sort of balances that out a bit.

The bosses get better after Fortitudo(chapter 4) and the finale of the game is pretty damn over the top. I love good boss fights and this game didnt dissappoint me at least. Also, the story is explained near the end of the game, the start is mostly just bayonetta goofing around. IMO the Chapter 2 boss is the worst in the game, it makes the camera go in an awkward angle and its hard to predicts its attacks.. weird to have such a thing as the first "big" boss.

[Skykid]

Well I just finished Fortitudo and it was fairly lacklustre. Perhaps I'll press on a little further.

Let me just clear something up - I don't think the combat is poor or anything, I think it's the best aspect of the game. As you mentioned, playing it for platinum medals and combo count is rewarding if you dig that sort of thing. I just don't much appreciate the way the rest of the game is built around the combat. It's so thin and forgettable it makes the combat feel like grinding because that's all there is to do.

Besides, being good at any game is rewarding, even if the game is broken. Someone just posted up a youtube vid of them finishing Ushio and Tora on the SFC in ten minutes! If you've ever tried to tackle that game you wouldn't believe it could even be played properly - but it can. Whether or not you should bother though is another story.

In the first five chapters of Bayonetta the enemies aren't really varied at all, the same big and little bastards keep cropping up over and over. Except sometimes there's more than one of them, or... they're on fire. Regardless, you tackle them exactly the same way.

But its a mess half of the time, and the cutscenes make me want to lob the controller out of the window and go for a walk in the park. Games can be wacky and weird, Japanese gaming has managed that for a long time - but incoherent, puerile and annoying? No thanks.