HOLY HOT-DAMN! If Bayonetta isn't the absolute and utter redefinition of "Stylish Action" I don't know what is! I don't believe I am too far into the game yet, but WOW! The weapons. The moves. The COMPLETELY over-the-top Torture and Climax Moves!! I LOVE the Game references scattered throughout. Out Run music. Viewtiful Joe references. Mocking the Resident Evil 4 weapon saleman! Luka naming all the women in his life: Claire, Trish and Ammy, etc! Rodin saying he wants to be a Bald Space Marine and him telling Bayonetta he WON'T attach a Chainsaw to her arm (Madworld)!!  HOLY CRAP!!  

Everyone can now officially start posting: "Told 'ya So!" I wouldn't mind in the least!

'cept you!

Well, for all of what you said there -- I told ya so.  That was the part of the game I was absolutely in love with.

I played the PS3 version. So I had the deal I talked about yesterday where I never knew where or when it was checkpointing.  Once I shut it down thinking it had checkpointed and then I had to re-do a whole chunk, so from that point on I slogged through longer gaming sessions than I otherwise would not have just to get to the end of the level.

I also found the camera too far away from Bayonetta and the combat unsatisfying.  I did not feel like I was "connecting" any assaults, but rather I was mashing around hitting a bunch of win buttons.  And then with the level design, I often found myself aimless, not knowing where to go next.

I loved the character, the SEGA references throughout, the humor, the entire over-the-top nature of everything in the game, the art design -- historic art references, the writing and presentation.  I'm hoping the inevitable sequel (it sold well) tightens down some of the gameplay.

=-=-

Also Leo, I had a thought yesterday -- did you ever play Sword of the beserk on Dreamcast?

Added two rare games to my collection!

*See what I did there?*

*I bet CARNAGE would get the joke!*

You have to be careful with those checkpoints.

It does save your progress in so far that if you choose to continue when it has auto-saved at a checkpoint, you will start FROM that checkpoint.

IF, at any time, you DO NOT continue when you die, it boots you back to the beginning of the whole Chapter and then SAVES it there!

That got me a couple of times, but I generally LOVE just playing the game, so I don't mind retracing my steps, ESPECIALLY if I fight better the second time!

_______

It's NOT just Sega references! They take lots of shots at Capcom and their own games too! That would be instant lawsuit in the U.S.! Luckily, it seems the Japanese have more of a sense of humor!

I'm gonna break one of my rules I've been touting for the last few weeks for a moment. I'm starting to feel rather ill, and didn't feel like playing anything too taxing (Bayonetta) tonight. I instead played a bit of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and, I must say, it is QUITE a surprise!

Playing with Banjo and Kazooie kinda saddened me, as they brought me back to a much simpler time in my life, that is far, far gone. The game pokes fun at itself and presents B and K as forgotten, failed characters which, in itself, is even kinda sad (cuz it's true!). Waves of nostalgia washed over me as I was reminded of not only their games, but Killer Instinct references are in there, too. Rare almost insults themselves as, at one point, Banjo and Grunty are turned into Viva Piñata characters, but then are mocked by the Lord of the Games (L.O.G. for short) that "The Players want to PARTICIPATE in the game!" meaning Viva is fun, but you don't actually control a character directly in there and most current gamers wouldn't enjoy that. They take the self-depreciation even further by presenting Grunty and Banjo with a "Collect as Many Meaningless Objects" challenge where Grunty and Banjo begin to race each other as an endless line of spinning, golden, collectibles stretches out in front of them as far as the eye could see... The race stops after a few seconds as Rare acknowledges one of the biggest flaws of their older games was the endless collectible fetch quests. Yeah, they are really pounding it into your head that, THAT particular genre and style of platformer is deader than dead!

Getting the sad stuff out of the way, you come to discover the game is INCREDIBLY creative! It's also VERY hard to describe! It's NOT a platformer AT ALL. Yes, you can run around on foot, but it's REALLY only to locate blue-prints, construction parts, and musical notes (they are currency in the game) --AND-- to find your way to the next Challenge. In each world you are pretty much presented with a vehicular challenge. It seems most of the time  you will race... and the interesting thing here is it's almost a Racing Adventure game, a-la Diddy Kong Racing, complete with Land, Sea and Air races... but not ALWAYS! There are times when you have to Transport a Ticking Bomb to someone to diffuse it in time --AND-- there was one challenge where you have to use a Bull-Dozer type vehicle to push Meteors into bodies of water before they can pollute the areas around them. The nostalgia machine kicked into over-drive here as this part reminded me VERY MUCH of Blast Corps! One of the most under-rated games, launch window games for the N64!

If you only did these challenges with the vehicles they provide you with ALONE, the game could be seen as kinda dull. The REALLY intriguing part of this game though is YOU CAN EDIT THE VEHICLES THEY GIVE YOU, replacing small engines with bigger ones, for example, or adding weapons where there were none before... IF all you want to do is tinker a bit --BUT-- Rare REALLY went all out as you can BUILD YOUR VEHICLES FROM THE GROUND UP, if you so desire, out of parts you collect and buy --AND-- these creations actually, REALLY WORK! Think the Gummi Ship from Kingdom Hearts (except this time the execution doesn't SUCK) and you get the general idea! Throw in the fact that there's a highly competent physics engine going on in the game and you REALLY begin to appreciate the vehicles you build THAT MUCH MORE!

This game is something extra special and something extra ironic, as well. On one hand Rare REALLY shows off how skillful a developer they can be by making an incredibly unique game and engine, but on the other hand, they kinda step all over their game-developing past too, burning bridges, as they say... BUT on the other, other hand they trash their current stuff too! It seems as if they aren't doing what they want to do now under Microsoft, either! What's left for them then? Before anyone says Kinect games... What we REALLY mean to say is: Nothing!

How cool and sad, all at the same time.

*See what's sitting beside the 360? Awww... Memories!*

Welcome to MY Fantasy Zone! Get Ready!  

FUCKING!!! AWWWWESSSSOOOMMMME!!!  

*I know, crappy pic, but STILL!!*

FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!

GGGGGRRRR...

I have --NEVER-- beaten a Devil-May-Cry-Like-Stylish-Action-Game Before ! ! !

This MONUMENTAL DOUCHE is the --ONLY-- thing standing between me and --FINALLY-- being able to say I did ! ! !