Reader Review: Bayonetta

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This review was submitted by Joshua Marlow. If you’ve played Bayonetta, or just want to ask Josh more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Bayonetta (360, PS3)

It’s marketed to us as a heavily-sexualised adventure game starring female genitalia… but is it?

Loved
She be smooth: The game is absolutely one of the most easy-flowing games I’ve ever played. Sure, a lot of action-adventure games are talked about as flowing well, but none have done so as much as Bayonetta. Kicking, shooting, and doing both at the same time can blend into a perfect little movie you construct yourself, and it is absolutely beautiful.

Be not Ashamed, my Child: Sure, she’s well-endowed, but the game hardly focuses on her being put into compromising positions. It’s not, as many people have claimed, killing enemies by sex. Chalking the game’s calibre up to sexual appeal discounts an extremely good game.

That’s… New: Perhaps the second most prominent things mentioned about the game is that the story is indecipherable. I would have to disagree, saying that you can follow it to a certain extent, and that the oddities and craziness of the rest fits in perfectly with wacky, fast-paced gameplay.

Realistic Anime: The architecture is beautifully detailed, as are the characters. At the same time, the characters are somewhat accentuated in all respects and with the very subtle sexuality, the game feels like what anime would look like in real life.

Hated
Stop! Bullet time! It may sound like a petty thing, but when you shoot your guns, sometimes the animations aren’t perfectly blended, meaning that Bayonetta’s limbs occasionally just teleport from place to place. 90% of the animations work perfectly, but it breaks from both the small sense of realism and the smooth flow of the game when her position drastically changes.

The game is nearly perfect, and the only real problems I have with it is the taboo that comes with it. You tell someone you’re playing Bayonetta, they think you’re doing it for the sex appeal. If that’s what’s stopping you from getting the game – as it was for me – don’t. I feel awkward whenever I see nudity or sexuality in a game, but I feel absolutely none while playing Bayonetta. It’s a fun, anime romp, perfect for any fans of the action-adventure genre, and even those who don’t usually play action-adventure games (like me).

Reviewed by: Joshua Marlow

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