Why Is Bayonetta Rated M?

Torture attack finishing moves are surely part of the reason Bayonetta got rated M and CERO D in Japan. What kind of crazy deaths can you conjure in Bayonetta? Let’s see what the ESRB says.

This is an action game in which players assume the role of an ancient witch who battles angels and demons while uncovering the mystery of her past. Players use hand-to-hand combat, magic attacks, and pistols to kill enemy creatures that often spray blood when hit. Players can also perform an assortment of over-the-top finishing moves – referred to in the game as “torture attacks” – on the creatures: impalement with an iron maiden; decapitation with a guillotine; dismemberment with a chainsaw; and summoning a demon that bites, then rips characters apart. During the course of the game, some female characters perform suggestive taunts and poses, including opening their legs or gyrating their hips. Some of the more provocative outfits are shed during battle, resulting in brief depictions of buttocks and breasts. The camera occasionally pans close-up on breasts as they are jiggling. Strong profanity (e.g., “f*ck,” sh*t,” and “a*shole”) can be heard throughout the dialogue.

Lots of violence, lots of jiggling, and lots of f-bombs. Bayonetta might be even more over the top than Madworld.