Bayonetta celebrates ten years this year in North America. The original launch was 2009 in Japan while January 10, 2010 was the western date for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Unlike its remastered counterpart, Vanquish, this game has received more success, There was a sequel on Wii U in 2014 along with an enhanced port bundled with that game including Nintendo themed content.
On top of that there was an anime adaptation along with having the honor of joining the Super Smash Bros. roster with not one, but two Amiibo. The femme fatale has been all over, but if one never got around to this collaboration between Sega and PlatinumGames before, now is as good a time as any. Here are some handy tips for newcomers.
9 What’s New?
For returning fans one might want to know what this remaster is all about. What's in it? Like Vanquish, not much. It supports 4K resolutions and a steady 60fps. It does look better during gameplay than Vanquish and is less hiccupy during cutscenes, but again like Vanquish, the color palette is heavy on the browns and grays.
On top of that, the extras Nintendo helped put onto the Wii U and Switch versions have obviously been taken out. So in a way, this is a lesser game than the last few ports sans the frame rate and resolution bumps. At least it loads faster, but we sure do miss that sweet Nintendo content.
8 Cutscene Heavy
The action is what fans have come to enjoy from this series, but if it has been a while since playing this game, or one's first time, there is a big disclaimer. The first third of the game is heavy on the cutscenes.
This means one can go from a small fight to a cutscene then to another small fight followed by another cutscene. This repeats for a while. Be prepared to put the controller down, but keep with it. This game is worth it and it gets less problematic later on.
7 Puzzles/Platforming
Kicking major angel butt with Bayonetta's four guns is not the only gameplay in the game. There is actually a lot of platforming and puzzle-solving. This should come as no surprise to those used to Devil May Cry as the first game was also pretty heavy on small puzzles.
It did start off as a Resident Evil project after all. The point is don’t sweat the puzzles as they are simple enough.
6 Bring Records To Rodin
After defeating some of the angelic monstrosities, usually a boss, they will drop a record. What does that do? Provide some music? No, take that to Rodin at his bar and he will give Bayonetta a new weapon.
The first two are shotguns and a large katana. There are, of course, others. Eventually, these will be presented in pieces making it a bit harder to acquire them all but rest assured you'll be rewarded for collecting them all. Keep an eye out and make sure to explore.
5 Save Money
Speaking of Rodin, his shop is a tad pricey. One can get consumables pretty cheap and a few other trinkets, but the best things that will help out in battle cost 100,000 Halos and above. Based on experience, one probably won't even make that much until chapter five. The point then is to conserve money.
Save it for the highest-priced stuff first like the techniques. Don't waste it on items because there is an easier way to get them.
4 Alchemy
Items can be synthesized via an alchemy like grid system in the menu. Materials can be gathered by smashing ordinary objects like pots, or benches.
These materials can then be used to craft suckers, for example, which can either heal Bayonetta in battle or increase stats like her attack power. It's not the most robust alchemy system out there, but it is sound advice to help conserve money.
3 Stance Change
Once one does get more weapons like the aforementioned shotguns and katana, they can be equipped in the menu. Only guns can be equipped to the feet so the sword is a hand only weapon. Would have been cool to see Bayonetta dawn sword feet, right?
There is an A and a B slot, but the game does not easily explain what that is all about. Tapping the L2 button on PS4 will change the stance. Simple!
2 Difficulty Settings
Yes, Rodin does charge an arm and a leg for his skills and products, but there is a great way to get everything. Start the game on Very Easy. Once one beats it the game will then progress into Easy and every difficulty after that upon completion.
Everything carries over too. Playing the game on Very Easy is also a great way to get used to the mechanics without having to worry about victory especially for those new to this type of action game. By the time one hits the highest difficulty, they should be rolling in Halos.
1 Extras
Besides being able to carry over progress between completions, there are a few other extras to be aware of. Like Vanquish, there is also an online leaderboard, which keeps track of the medals won after each chapter. There are also all of Rodin's treasures to be aware of which can lead to secret costumes.
There are also secret characters and a level to uncover. Where are they? That is a topic for another article, but rest assured this game has more replay value than Vanquish for those that care about getting the most bang for their buck.