Bayonetta 1 & 2 First Impressions: Fast-Paced, High Octane Action at it’s Finest
Game: Bayonetta
Publisher: PlatinumGames
Developer: SEGA
Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Platinum Games are known for their high-intense hack and slash titles in which they make the player fight off high volume amount of enemies by performing combos, supers, and special attacks.
Combined with a gripping story, Bayonetta 1 and 2 are nothing short of amazing. The game follows Bayonetta on her adventure to reclaim her memories. The story of Bayonetta 1 grips you for about half of the game. After the halfway point, the story starts to get dragged out and sort of repetitive. It still has its moments but for the most part, it starts to take its toll.
Luckily, the gameplay is the game’s bread and butter. The addicting combat style Platinum Games created is just too good. You will constantly find yourself saying “Ok one more mission.”, “One more level segment.”, or “Just one more boss.”
The game is super fun to play and thanks to the Switch’s ease of portability, it means Bayonetta doesn’t need to ever really be put down. Take in on the road, watch tv while finishing off a level, or just relax in bed with it. A major point that I must address is that while playing in handheld mode, your hands will get cramped.
The preferred way to play Bayonetta is definitely with a Pro Controller. It feels better when fighting off waves and waves of enemies, but if you don’t have one yet, no worries as the joycons connected to their controller adapter is slightly better than playing in handheld.
Another gripe for the game is that Nintendo only managed to get both games to run in 720p in both handheld and docked mode. Usually, we are accustomed to having handheld games run in 720p while docked versions of the said game would at least rise to 900p, preferably 1080p. But it seems that the Switch simply could not handle the graphics of Bayonetta.
The game doesn’t look bad, but if you have an eye for such things as resolution, you will definitely spot the resolution issue. On the contrary to its resolution, Nintendo did manage to boost the frame rate of the game by a good 10 to 15 frames.
Game: Bayonetta 2
Publisher: PlatinumGames
Developer: SEGA
Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Playing on the Wii U, both titles would stutter in high-action moments, but when playing on the Switch, the game barely ever stutters. Of course, you’ll get a frame drop here and there, but it is not nearly enough to note. This is a great accomplishment for the game as it is very fast-paced and if the game was stuttering through those pinnacle boss fight moments, the value of the game would have decreased.
Lastly, Nintendo managed to bring Amiibo functionality to the game. This time around players will be able to use custom suits from other icon characters from Nintendo games such as Link’s outfit, Samus’ suit from Metroid, and Fox’s suit from Star Fox.
Playing the game in different suits add a new layer of fun to the game, but if you don’t like goofy/funny costumes don’t worry you won’t be missing out on much.
The Bayonetta collection is packed with content, from its 10-12 hour game runtime respectively, to its various challenges, costumes, and more to try and complete. The fun never stops thanks to the Nintendo Switch and its portable functionality.
If you have yet to play Bayonetta for the first time or an avid fan of the franchise, the remastered port for the Switch is absolutely phenomenal. It is really hard to find many complaints about the game, you just need to like action-packed hack and slash gameplay and you’ll be set. Plus this is the perfect time to retouch Bayonetta because Nintendo did announce last year that they are making Bayonetta 3 an exclusive title for Switch.
Did you pick up Bayonetta for Nintendo Switch? How did you like the remastered port? Let us know in the comments below!