Bayonetta (video game)

Bayonetta is an action-adventure video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega. It was originally released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on October 29th 2009. It is the first installment in the Bayonetta series. A sequel of the game, Bayonetta 2, was released in 2014.

Plot
Bayonetta, a witch awakened from a 500-year-old slumber and has amnesia, must fight the angels of Paradiso to obtain the Right Eye, a magic jewel that is paired with the Left Eye to form the Eyes of the World.

Why It's Dance Time, Boys

 * 1) The combat is eary smooth and easy to learn, but it doesn't affect challenge.
 * 2) The game's graphics, especially after being remastered, look amazing for a game that was released in the year 2009, with well detailed environments, smoothly animated character animations, interesting character designs, and beautiful lighting.
 * 3) Impressive boss battles.
 * 4) The Witch Time ability activates when Bayonetta dodges an attack at the right moment. Witch Time causes time to slow down around her allowing her to easily perform combos on her enemies.
 * 5) Bayonetta can use both melees and ranged weapons to take down different types of opponents.
 * 6) Bayonetta can shapeshift into several beasts, the most common being a panther for swift travel and jumping over large gaps.
 * 7) Tons of unlockables and documents.
 * 8) Well thought out story: A compelling story about a witch who fights against the angels of Paradiso.
 * 9) Bayonetta is a smart, confident protagonist who shows no fear in the face of danger.
 * 10) Epic movie-level music composed by a total of nine composers, including Norihiko Hibino and Takahiro Izutani, who also did the music for many games in the Metal Gear franchise. The "Fly Me to the Moon" cover, sang by Helena Noguerra, is easly the best song in the game.
 * 11) Even though the Easy modes are automatic, the gameplay is still fun and rewarding.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The PlayStation 3 version (while not unplayable) is infamous for being one of the worst ports on the console, since Sega was tasked with handling the port to another company named Nex Entertainment. It has muddier and blurry graphics, long loading times, and a unstable framerate that stutters between 15 and 55 frames per second endlessly. Even after the patch that allows players to install the game to the hard drive to reduce the load times, it still has issues.
 * 2) * As of result, PlatinumGames prohibited outsourcing their games to other porters (but rather as the assistance by the other porting teams).
 * 3) Certain events during the game will instantly kill you (such as a wave of fire chasing you and a collapsing bridge) and instant-death QTEs during some cutscenes.
 * 4) Button mashing segments barely fill up the meter unless you memorize the buttons.
 * 5) 90% of the cutscenes in the game are basically slideshows with still images and voices instead of being actual cutscenes, which is just cheap and lazy.

Reception
The game received generally positive reviews. The game was praised for its combat, presentation and soundtrack, but drew criticism for its story and quick time events. Bayonetta was nominated for and won several end-of-the-year accolades, and had sold over a million units worldwide by 2010. Bayonetta is often considered a woman's power fantasy since she doesn't require rescue, uses her sexuality to humiliate her enemies and saves the world by herself. Edge gave this game a 10 out of 10. Famitsu gave this game a 40 out of 40.

Trivia

 * Bayonetta: Bloody Fates story was adapted from this game.
 * Hideki Kamiya used Devil May Cry 4 as research for the combat of the game.
 * A movie adaptation of the game by Gonzo, called Bayonetta: Bloody fate was released by Gonzo in Japan in November 2013.
 * This is the first and possibly only game in the Bayonetta franchise to be on a PlayStation or an Xbox console, due to the rest of the games in the series being exclusive to Nintendo consoles.