Bayonetta

Developed by Platinum Games, Bayonetta is an action game with an unusual heroine and a very engaging combat system. Its tone is bonkers all around, and the action is appropriately over-the-top and insane: it’s high octane madness in videogame form… that’s being constantly interrupted by long cutscenes that tell a boring, barebones story.

The main character, Bayonetta, is one of those who suffers from amnesia: she only knows that she is an Umbra Witch, which is a European sect in collusion with demons that is locked in eternal war with the forces of Paradise and its Lumen Priests. Nowadays, the witches are virtually extinct, and the priests are missing. So, when Bayonetta discovers that a mystical artifact of her sect, the Eyes of the World – which isn’t related to The Wheel of Time in any way, shape or form – has appeared on the black market, she sees the opportunity to unravel the mystery of her past and so travels to the holy city of Vigrid.

Let’s start with Bayonetta herself because, well, watch the trailer below and you’ll instinctively understand why. She’s not only the clear star of the show, but a striking character in her own right, especially due to how her sexuality is presented. You could notice that the camera is very keen to focus on her breasts and other… body parts (who wouldn’t notice), and hear that there’s a scene in the game where it spins around while she sucks a lollipop, and conclude that Bayonetta is being objecified. But you would be wrong. Kind of. You could notice that she uses her clothes as a power source, which means that she basically gets naked during more powerful attacks (who wouldn’t notice), and claim that there’s no way that this isn’t objectification of the female body. But you would be wrong once again. Sort of.

You see, her development complicates the analysis: in the story, she is a woman who appears to be both strong and independent. It’s Bayonetta who often saves her companions and not the other way around; it’s Bayonetta who often determines the course of events – repeatedly interrupting her enemies’ speeches and being the first to strike a blow – and not the other way around. Her actions rarely take men into account and, because of her encounters with a witch named Jeanne, we can even state that the game curiously passes the Bechdel test – for all this is worth.

There’s no denying that she’s overly sexualized, though: Bayonetta is sadistic and dominant, she uses her body to provoke and subjugate her enemies. But sexualization by itself is not a problem; it’s always how it’s framed. In a revealing moment, Bayonetta comes across a doppelganger and, to prove that she’s the real Bayonetta, she challenges her opponent to a duel of… sexy moves. In other words, for the character, her sexuality is a matter of identity. So, it’s thematically fitting that the source of her power forms her clothes, leaving her barely naked when in use.

Looking directly at the camera during some of her most intense actions, Bayonetta also constantly breaks the fourth wall. The goal is to subvert the male gaze typical of these camera movements: it may look like she is being treated like a trophy, but the character is actually provoking the observer. This is the game’s secret: it’s Bayonetta who is in control, challenging that male gaze. If you paid attention to her while watching the trailer, it’s because she wanted and welcomed that attention.

Yes, Bayonetta is a flat character in the sense that she never evolves and lacks a proper narrative arc, but this is a widespread problem in the game’s writing: every character here suffers from this. But Bayonetta still manages to be fascinating despite that: she’s also a round character in the sense that she’s constantly surprising us with her outlandish movements and actions. Bayonetta defies surface-level interpretation and easy categorization. She’s a sight to behold, and that’s precisely what she wants to be.

The game’s story is its weakest part by far, however, achieving the feat of being one-dimensional even though its protagonist is fighting for hell instead of paradise: the Lumen Priest she faces is hopelessly evil, for instance, never hesitating before killing members of his own sect if it profits him, whereas Bayonetta protects the innocent and fights to save the world. If you were expecting to find moral complexity here, you would be wrong again. Please, do better.

The game’s opening chapters are its best segment. The main mystery, Bayonetta’s striking personality, and the quirky supporting characters are all very well established – Luka, a womanizer journalist who initially believes Bayonetta killed his father, is a highlight. Even the battle against the first boss has a proper build-up to it, with the player facing it at a disadvantage twice before the main fight, which reinforces the climax of the third confrontation.

The narrative, however, completely stalls right after that third clash. Nothing more is discovered about the protagonist until the last two chapters – and there are sixteen. Characters often repeat the same interactions, too: it’s amusing to notice Luka’s discomfort when he gets that, despite his best efforts, it’s Bayonetta who has control over him and not the other way around – but only the first couple of times this happens. There’s not even a build-up to the bosses anymore, with them appearing out of nowhere in a level and being promptly defeated. Their last lines are also basically the same, repeating many times that they are only preparing Bayonetta for the rebirth of their god –  so, if you think Bayonetta will discover in the very last chapter that the villain was all along preparing her for the rebirth of his god… you would be right. Congratulations, you finally did it, buy yourself some cake as a treat, you deserve it.

Of course, it doesn’t really matter if the plot in a game is predictable and shallow as long as it’s not the focus of the experience (no one writes theses about Super Mario Odyssey‘s story and that game is brilliant), but that’s not the case with Bayonetta, where battles are regularly interrupted by looooong cutscenes. The one that finally presents the villain, for example, lasts nothing less than eleven bloody minutes. It’s Metal Gear Solid level of cutscene length with Super Mario level of story complexity: not a great combo by any stretch of the imagination. And this particular scene is also marred by too much exposition, basically telling the whole story of the game again, explaining every detail with a huge amount of repetition – it’s even possible, although not recommended, to make a drinking game with the number of times the term “the left eye” is mentioned. Please, don’t sue me if someone ends up at the hospital.

The area in which the game truly shines is the animation work, which is largely responsible for the combat system’s success. The movements Bayonetta makes during battles are impressive in their complexity and fluidity. The Umbra Witch seems to be dancing while fighting the angels: she stretches her legs – with guns attached to her feet, no less –, crosses her arms, and contorts her torso all without pause, with one movement naturally leading to the next. The combos we perform, then, not only defeat enemies but also create a great visual spectacle.

Another important element of the combat is its simplicity: there are only two main attack buttons – punch and kick – and two for support – shoot and dodge. The latter is responsible for activating the so-called “Witch Time”, when used right when we’re about to be hit: the time pauses for a few moments, allowing Bayonetta to move freely and attack enemies frozen in time. Witch Time grants a constant element of risk and reward to the combat, challenging us to wait longer than usual to escape a blow. The combat in Bayonetta is not based on elaborate, complex combos – although they do exist – but on the study of the enemy’s attack pattern: to know when to dodge is far more vital than to know how to strike back.

With a scoring system that evaluates each battle, Bayonetta allows less experienced players to win the main challenges without many problems, but always with the reminder that they can improve. The only problem with the score lies in the Quick Time Events that appear suddenly, offer very few seconds for us to act, and punish failure with instant death, disregarding Bayonetta’s health bar. In other words, a player who achieves the best possible score in each battle of a chapter can have their total score greatly reduced by a single mistake in a QTE, which is a shame (read “shame” here as an euphemism for the “I had to display high levels of self-restraint not to throw the controller at the TV while cursing all gods, live and dead” kind of infuriating).

A final point worthy of praise is the unusual soundtrack, which prefers to capture the protagonist’s irreverence rather than follow the furious mood of the battles. So, instead of an epic instrumental track, the fights are usually accompanied by jazz and, especially, energetic J-pop songs, with the highlight being the brilliant remix of Fly Me To the Moon. The epic orchestral score only comes into play during boss battles, generating a contrast with the rest of the game that increases the tension of these climactic clashes.

Bayonetta, then, is a great action game that presents a memorable protagonist and a fun combat system but is ultimately dragged down by its boring and repetitive story.

December 16, 2024.