After getting a glimpse of Platinum Games' Bayonetta at E3 2008 it has made its way on to my radar, and each delay has felt like a blow to the gut. It was shown at the same time as MadWorld, and while the black and white beat-em-up took the spotlight, Baynoetta it still stood out in its own right. After MadWorld proved Platinum knew what they were doing, all signs pointed towards Bayonetta turning out very good. Not just all right, or "fine," but very good, maybe even great. After playing it at a few recent events I am happy to report that it is, indeed, worth paying attention to for reasons other than the ability to play with one hand. Though, you know, that doesn't hurt.

I've actually gotten to try the game twice, once at a New York event a few months ago and once at a more recent convention. Both times I've found different things to like about it, despite playing essentially the same section. It's deeper than it appears at first glance, and has the same flare that makes Devil May Cry addictive. Yes, that's right, I barely made it a paragraph and a half before bringing up DMC. Though it's not made by the same team that brought Devil May Cry into the world, Bayonetta certainly feels as though it was cut from the same cloth. The blend of melee/ranged attacks has that signature flare that made Dante/Neiro's wonderful ballet of death so appealing, improved tenfold by the curvaceous protagonist. Being able to pick up enemy weapons helps, too, since they're usually unique as well.


Even the character design seems to draw inspiration from Devil May Cry 4's later levels, with warped, angelic creations serving as the main villains. Bayonetta is a witch, who uses the power of darkness (see: her hair) to fight her opponents. When I played DMC4 I couldn't stop talking about the design. It brought a new, unique style to cliche angels, which too often are done injustice by looking the same they have looked for two thousand years of fiction. They have enough distinguishing features that turning the concept on its head by giving winged beasts a crooked halo is simply wonderful, and comes off as wholly unique despite being rooted in some of the oldest literature. With Bayonetta as a witch, it makes perfect sense that the foes, too, are warped biblical figures, and Platinum has done a wonderful job at making everything look like it belongs in some sort of abhorrent cathedral.

But it all rests in the heroine, and despite some visual parallels to a certain vice presidential candidate she definitely fills the role well. When she walks, she struts, looking like she is making her way down a catwalk. Her attacks are fluid and, more importantly, fun to execute, ending in gigantic torture moves that throw enemies into different medieval devices to finish them off. While it was fun to shoot a marionette full of lead in Devil May Cry, nothing compares to spawning an iron maiden and kicking a foe into it. Or creating a giant hair monster to eat a boss after a lengthy encounter. Or a giant hair boot.



Bayonetta, both the character and the game, is like that chick you obsessed over in high school that was really, really sexy and knew it. She didn't hide the fact that she could have anyone, and you had to respect her for having the guts to flaunt it, and loved her even though she never really paid attention to you, even though you made her that awesome mix tape. Wait, I think I got off track.

The point is the developers know that they have lightning in a bottle, and that bottle takes the form of a leather-clad witch with librarian glasses. It's silly, it's wacky, and it looks and plays well - which is very important. I've only had a chance to try out a few sections of the game, but I can confidently say that this looks like it will be worth picking up in the first half of 2010, despite competing with the huge amount of of high-quality games releasing before June. Will it be better than God of War III or Mass Effect 2? Odds are it won't, but neither of those games have her as the main character.

Bayonetta is due out on January 5th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.