Bayonetta 2 Longplay Wrap-up: Witch Time
Bob and Kat share their final thoughts on their Bayonetta 2 longplay. Plus: Find all six parts within.
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Last week, Bob and Kat finished their official Bayonetta 2 longplay, which basically turned into an impromptu podcast as they battled through the legions of heaven and hell. Happen to miss it? You can find the entire series below (the Youtube playlist is right here), along with their final thoughts on USgamer's 2014 Action Game of the Year.
Bob Mackey, Senior Writer
Hey all, and thanks for checking out this complete package of our Bayonetta 2 longplay. If you weren't able to catch any of these segments live—a minor, though recoverable tragedy—they'll be here forever, long after the heat death of the universe. (We can only assume Google will one day install server farms in alternate dimensions.)
So, you may be thinking, "Why Bayonetta 2?" Well, we were originally going to play through the Resident Evil remake's HD re-release, but someone else (unintentionally) stole our fire. I'm glad we went with Bayonetta 2, though, and not just because it's more fun to watch; if anything, this is a game in desperate need of promotion. While Resident Evil made for Capcom's fastest-selling digital release to date, Bayonetta 2 hasn't been quite as lucky—and being a Wii U exclusive certainly doesn't help. True, we're not on this side of the industry to be salesmen, but we do like to advocate for games we like; if my adulation can somehow cause Bayonetta 3 to materialize (or keep Platinum Games in business), so be it.
You may notice with this playthrough that I'm not the best Bayonetta 2 player out there, so I'll hope you forgive me; trying to stay entertaining while playing takes a lot of coordination, so I was a little sloppier than usual. Even so, I don't really rely on Bayonetta's special moves all that much: Most of the action you see has me alternating between basic punch and kick attacks, building to some pretty standard combos. Really, though, that's one of the things I love best about the game: Most play styles are viable. Even if you're not well-versed in this kind of an action game, Bayonetta's basic moves can do most of the work—it's even possible to play with the stylus alone, and from what I hear, this method actually works. (Even if it sounds like an unthinkable proposition.)
If you get anything out of watching these videos, I hope it's a sincere appreciation for Platinum's creative brand of madness. Their games shine with a bounty of craftsmanship and polish, and few details are left unaddressed—just look at the little changes Bayonetta's Nintendo costumes add to the game (a few even surprised me during the live stream). And I know I said it roughly 5000 times in these videos, but Bayonetta achieves a level of sheer spectacle most games only dream of; it starts big, and only gets bigger from there. Anyone setting out to make an action game at this point has an incredibly high standard to meet—and that includes Platinum, as well. I don't know what they have in store for the upcoming Scalebound, but they're going to have to work really hard to outdo Bayonetta 2.
Again, thanks for joining us, and if you have any suggestions that could improve future longplays, please let us know in the comments! We definitely have plans for another one, and we'd like to have all of you on board.
Kat Bailey, Senior Editor
Bayonetta is great. I love that we live in a world where Platinum's style of nutty but highly technical action game can co-exist along the slower but equally excellent Bloodborne. I wish that there were more of both.
A few takeaways after marathoning Bayonetta 2 along with Bob:
- Bayonetta 2 is more proof that 60 fps/1080p and really good art can go a long way toward closing the gap between the PlayStation 4/Xbox One and the supposedly underpowered Wii U. Whether battling on an F-16 or surfing up to the gates of heaven, Bayonetta 2 looks amazing.
- Bob is fond of saying that Bayonetta 2 begins with a setpiece that would constitute the grand finale in many other games, then keeps ramping things up from there. Few studios do pure energy better than Platinum, and Bayonetta 2 is one of their very best games.
- This game is longer than expected. That's not a bad thing! But it got pretty comical when Bob and I thought we were pretty close to being done, and we were in fact only around halfway through the game. But we marathoned that last four hours like champions.
- If you buy the Star Fox costume, you get to fly an Arwing to the final stage. Amazing.
- Bob is being falsely modest in his comments above. Bayonetta 2 is not an easy game, but he managed to make it through pretty much the entire game without dying once. As for whether he actually makes it, you'll have to watch for yourself.
Thanks again to those who joined us for our Bayonetta 2 longplay. If you enjoyed it, then please give it a thumbs-up on Youtube and share it around. We'll be doing a few more longplays over the next few months, with Bob next taking on the LucasArts adventure classic Full Throttle at the end of April. Please look forward to it!
In the meantime, you can find our Bayonetta 2 longplay below, and make sure to subscribe to our Youtube and Twitch channels. Enjoy!
