Bayonetta is going to be “a million times better than BulletWitch”

I sat down for the Bayonetta presentation expecting something like Devil May Cry. The presenter from Sega of America wasn’t shy about acknowledging the competition in the stylish action genre when he said, “There are a couple of games that claim they are the most stylish or action packed, but we are going to set the bar for that genre.” Similar to Devil May Cry, Bayonetta has collectable halos which float to players just like Red Orbs.

Bayonetta does things different by matching a witch who attacks with giant fists made of hair (cue Kabuki Quantum Fighter theme) against angelic reptilian creatures. PlatinumGames imbued her with breakdancing moves like windmills so she can fire the guns on her feet in style. Up close Bayonetta can pick up enemy weapons and use them for a limited time.  Combos can be completed with a giant, hairy kick to the face or by summoning a torture chamber finishing move. I saw one of the saintly beasts get thrown into a guillotine that appeared out of thin air. Bayonetta can also bend time with Witchtime to turn fights into her favor while the other monsters move at partial speed.

The demo ended after a boss fight with a giant lizard creature and many, many, hair filled strikes. Bayonetta got some kind of golden record as a reward. The screen fast forwarded to fast for me to catch what the description for what the record does.

I believe the goal of the presentation was a proof of concept demo where we could see how PlatinumGames positioned a witch into a stylish action game. We’ve seen a witch in action games before and that didn’t turn out too well. I asked the presenter, “Are you ever afraid you’re going to be compared to BulletWitch?” He came back with, “BulletWitch not so much. There is another game out there we will be compared to.” Since some of the team who created Devil May Cry are working on Bayonetta this is inevitable, but I replied, “I meant more for the character design. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.” The presenter confidently stated, “We’re definitely aiming to be better than BulletWitch. We’ll be about a million times better than BulletWitch.”

Should I be relieved?

Persona 4 code #3: Sukuna Hikona. 

Images courtesy of Sega.