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Bundle Package with both the Bayonetta 2 Game Card and a download code for Bayonetta game Bayonetta 2 Bayonetta is a butt-kicking, havoc-wreaking witch who wields sweet weapons like pistols, whips, hammers, flamethrowers, and poison bows. But it's not just about brawn-it's also about style. For years, the Wii U exclusive Bayonetta 2 has been like that amazing restaurant that’s tucked away in a depressing mall on the far side of town. It’s fantastic, sure, but it’d be so much.
Naturally, “perfect” is a contentious word in arts criticism, games criticism not immune. And Bayonetta 2 arguably does have problems, which we’ll talk about later. But when I say it’s perfect I mean it’s the most fully realized, uncompromising version of itself, of what it wants to be. It’s a flawless, sharp, masterfully cut diamond.
Lean and mean with zero fat. However, a masterpiece like this doesn’t spring up fully formed.
Bayonetta 2 is the phenomenal current endpoint of a fascinating gaming subgenre, and it’s worth understanding that subgenre to better celebrate Bayonetta 2’s successes. Bayonetta 2 is of course the sequel to the first Bayonetta, which is also now available on Switch. But really both games are follow-ups/parodies of Capcom’s Devil May Cry series, developed by lots of the same folks (Hideki Kamiya most famously) who would go on to form Bayonetta’s developer Platinum Games. Whereas Devil May Cry is about a cool, swaggering dude demon-hunter made by Team Little Devils, Bayonetta is an over-the-top farce about a burlesque witch who kills horrifying stone-faced fleshy buff cherub bird angels with her hair clothing made by Team Little Angels.
It’s just the logical extension. A pop idol cover of “Moon River” to accompany the murder? Both series are also prime examples of the buzzwordy “stylish action” genre. These games are about defeating groups of increasingly ridiculous enemies with your own increasingly ridiculous bullet and melee combos. They allow for fighting game-style technical combat precision but in a single-player beat ‘em up framework.
A Western counterpart to this would be something like.And what makes Bayonetta 2 so special is how ruthlessly it cuts right to the heart of what makes these games so appealing. Devil May Cry, and to an extent the first Bayonetta, for whatever reason still felt the need to pace themselves like traditional video games. Sure you have lots of thrilling combat but in-between encounters there’s slow filler like puzzles and jumping sections. You can still feel some of this genre’s residual Resident Evil roots while grappling with the camera angles in Bayonetta’s opening subway station or Devil May Cry 4’s repeated use of gothic locations. But Bayonetta 2 is so casually, confidently disinterested in all of that fluff and distraction. Shit is constantly popping off in Bayonetta 2.
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The propulsion is unbelievable. The tutorial has you slaughtering the divine on a fighter jet during Christmas before Godzilla-sized demons break out of your weave.
The moon peeks out from behind clouds and suddenly you’re walking straight up buildings. You ride something called a Climax Horse in Hell.
The sequel can’t quite ramp up scale the way the first game does, but that’s because it’s at 11 from the very start. And it dances right up to the delirious edge before becoming too stimulating and therefore numbing.
At the core of the pleasure remains the pitch-perfect combat system. Choosing all sorts of guns and swords and demon limbs to strap to your feet as well as new techniques to complement them gives the fighting ongoing depth. And the sheer tactile pleasure of wailing on enemies, dodging at the right moment to slow down time, and wailing on them again can’t be matched. The combo system encourages you to fight as fast and fluidly as possible. It feels, and looks like, an expressive performance, a dance starring the perfect leading lady.
It’s a beautiful melding of visual and gameplay aesthetics. The only game that maybe comes close is the rapid and visceral demon slaughtering of.Bayonetta 2’s inspiring complete commitment to being the most it can be itself extends to its presentation, too. It ditches the weird gray haze of the first game for a much more vibrant, colorful sheen. On Switch, it stays closer to a consistent 60 FPS even in portable mode, which is a great way to experience the bite-sized finger workouts. Other Switch improvements include scanning amiibo for unlocking Nintendo-themed costumes and local multiplayer for the Tag Climax co-op mode. But even more so than with other Nintendo Switch game ports, the best part of Bayonetta 2 on Switch is that it’s Bayonetta 2 on Switch. There are perfectly valid issues one could have with Bayonetta 2.
You could dislike the optional touch controls. You may feel unsatisfied if you breeze through the brief campaign without worrying about scores. You could not care about the nonsense anime story. You could find the hyper-sexualization of famous Smash Bro Bayonetta herself gross rather than empowering. And even as someone who loves Bayonetta 2, I hope there’s room for improvement if just for Bayonetta 3’s sake.But none of these surface imperfections, for me, can diminish the core perfection that is Bayonetta 2.
You owe it to yourself to play it, and thanks to Nintendo Switch, you have one less excuse.
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