Game #12: Bayonetta 2
Wii U, 2014
15 Hours
I will preface by saying that I think that the original Bayonetta is easily the best game to come out in the last ten years. My excitement for Bayonetta 2 was off the charts, especially since I basically bought a Wii U just to play it.
Of course, it's an excellent game. How could it not be? It's the same pristine combat system and wackiness that made the original such a great game. The two games are very similar indeed, and the changes are pretty small. On the good side, Platinum seems to have learned to avoid the instadeath QTEs and Space Harrier references that were by far the worst part of the first game. In a similar vein, the non-combat parts of the stage seem generally more interesting, which is nice. You also don't gave to worry nearly as much about backtracking all the way to the beginning of the level for alfheims, which was kind of annoying. I also applaud the choice to let you play on the equivalent of hard from the outset, which I found to be a pretty good challenge.
On the bad side? I don't know. The issue that keeps getting my attention is that I still feel that the original Bayonetta is a better game because it focused more on generic enemies and less on bosses. Bayonetta 2 has so many enemies that you only fight once that I felt I was not in my groove for so much of the game. But honestly, I think this is because I played so much Bayonetta that I was expecting to breeze through the game, and the further I got the more I felt that Bayonetta 2 could be as good as its predecessor.
Anyway, as of right now this is the best game I've played this year, and I've played some damn good games this year.
5/5
Wii U, 2014
15 Hours
I will preface by saying that I think that the original Bayonetta is easily the best game to come out in the last ten years. My excitement for Bayonetta 2 was off the charts, especially since I basically bought a Wii U just to play it.
Of course, it's an excellent game. How could it not be? It's the same pristine combat system and wackiness that made the original such a great game. The two games are very similar indeed, and the changes are pretty small. On the good side, Platinum seems to have learned to avoid the instadeath QTEs and Space Harrier references that were by far the worst part of the first game. In a similar vein, the non-combat parts of the stage seem generally more interesting, which is nice. You also don't gave to worry nearly as much about backtracking all the way to the beginning of the level for alfheims, which was kind of annoying. I also applaud the choice to let you play on the equivalent of hard from the outset, which I found to be a pretty good challenge.
On the bad side? I don't know. The issue that keeps getting my attention is that I still feel that the original Bayonetta is a better game because it focused more on generic enemies and less on bosses. Bayonetta 2 has so many enemies that you only fight once that I felt I was not in my groove for so much of the game. But honestly, I think this is because I played so much Bayonetta that I was expecting to breeze through the game, and the further I got the more I felt that Bayonetta 2 could be as good as its predecessor.
Anyway, as of right now this is the best game I've played this year, and I've played some damn good games this year.
5/5
