Bayonetta

Developed by Platinum Games, Bayonetta is an action game that has an unusual heroine and a simple but very exciting combat system. The action, however, is constantly interrupted by long cutscenes that tell a considerably boring story.

The game’s protagonist, Bayonetta, suffers from amnesia. She is an Umbra Witch, which is a European sect that is in collusion with demons and at war with the forces of Paradise and the Lumen Priests. Now, the witches are virtually extinct and the priests are missing. When Bayonetta discovers that a lost mystical artifact of her sect, the Eyes of the World, 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.

Bayonetta is a striking and complex female character when it comes to how her sexuality is presented. It would be easy to claim that she’s objectified throughout the whole game, since the camera regularly zooms in on her breasts and goes down to her loins, spinning around as she sucks a lollipop. Her personality, however, complicates the analysis: in the narrative, she is a woman who appears 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 – interrupting her enemies’ speeches and being the first to strike a blow. Her actions rarely take into account men, and because of her encounters with a witch named Jeanne, the game – curiously – even passes the Bechdel test with flying colors.

The protagonist, however, is overly sexualized: she is sadistic and dominant, using her body to provoke and subjugate her enemies. In a revealing moment, Bayonetta comes across a doppelganger and, to prove she is the real deal, challenges her opponent to a duel… of sexy moves. In other words, her sexuality is a matter of identity. It is fitting, then, that the source of her power also forms her clothing, leaving her almost naked when used.

Looking directly at the camera during some of her most intense movements, the character 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 as a trophy, but she is actually provoking the observer. It’s Bayonetta who is in control, challenging that gaze.

It’s a shame, then, to notice that the character is limited to her sexuality, having few additional traits developed by the story, besides a brief question about motherhood. In this sense, she is a flat character – like everyone in the game –, lacking a proper narrative arc. Bayonetta finds out about her past eventually, but the revelation changes absolutely nothing about the way she sees herself or the world, serving only the needs of the villain. Therefore, no matter how strong and independent she is, it’s undeniable that Bayonetta continues to be a female character that is confined to her sexual traits.

Much of this is due to the game’s story being very weak, achieving the feat of presenting a binary conflict even though the protagonist fights for hell instead of heaven: the Lumen Priest she faces is hopelessly evil, causing the death of members of his own sect when it profits him to do so, whereas Bayonetta protects the innocent and fights to save the world.

The beginning of the game is its best part. The main mystery, the bizarre and unique characteristics of that universe, and the personality of the protagonist and of the supporting characters are all perfectly established – Luka, a womanizer journalist who believes Bayonetta killed his father is an early highlight. Even the battle against the first boss has a proper build-up, with the player facing it at a disadvantage twice before the main fight, which reinforces the climax of the third confrontation.

The narrative, however, stalls right after that third clash. Nothing more is discovered about the protagonist right until the last two chapters – and there are 16 of them. And the characters often repeat the same interactions: it’s interesting, for example, to note the journalist’s discomfort when he understands that it’s Bayonetta who has control over him and not the other way around – but only the first time it happens. Not even the bosses have a long build-up to their fights anymore, appearing out of nowhere and being defeated at the same stage. Their last lines before dying are all basically the same, hammering home that they are only preparing Bayonetta for the rebirth of their god – what a surprise, then, when she discovers in the last chapter that the great villain was preparing her for the rebirth of their god…

It usually doesn’t really matter if the plot of a game is predictable and shallow as long as it’s not the focus of the experience, but that’s not the case of Bayonetta, where battles are regularly interrupted by long cutscenes. The one that finally presents the villain, for example, is eleven minutes long. 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 is even possible, although not recommended, to make a drinking game with the number of times the term “the left eye” is mentioned in this scene.

The area in which the game certainly shines is the animation department, which is the biggest responsible for the success of the combat system. The movements Bayonetta makes during battles are impressive for their complexity and fluidity. The character dances while fighting, stretching her legs – with guns attached to her feet –, crossing her arms, twisting her torso, all without pause, with one movement naturally leading to the next. The combos performed by the player, then, are not only useful for eliminating enemies but also make a great visual spectacle, fulfilling director Hideki Kamiya’s philosophy of “fighting with style”.

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 seconds before the protagonist is going to be hit: the time pauses for a few moments, but Bayonetta can still move freely and attack her now frozen enemies. Witch Time grants a constant element of risk and reward to the combat, challenging the player to wait longer than usual to escape a blow, so the dodge can trigger Witch Time. Therefore, 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 it always points out that they can improve. The only problem with the score lies in the “Quick Time Events” that appear suddenly, offering very few seconds for the player to act, and punish the failure with instant death. In other words, a player that 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.

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

Bayonetta, then, is an action game that surprises with its challenging protagonist and entertains with its great combat system, being dragged down only by its boring, intrusive, and repetitive story.

March 03, 2020.

Review originally published in Portuguese on October 28, 2016.