Bayonetta (video game)

This article is about the video game. For the fictional character, see Bayonetta (character).

Bayonetta
A long-haired woman dressed in black with white gloves brandishes one gun in her right hand and two attached behind her feet. A dark logo with "Bayonetta" in stylized capitals appears at her legs, and a full moon in a nightly, cloudy sky appears behind both-which she faces. Original Japanese box art
Developer(s)	Platinum Games (Team Little Angels) (XB360) Nex Entertainment (PS3)
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Hideki Kamiya (director)
Artist(s)	Mari Shimazaki (character designer)
Composer(s)	Masami Ueda Hiroshi Yamaguchi Rei Kondo Akari Kaida Erina Niwa Norihiktero Hibino Yoshitaka Suzuki Takahiro Izutani Takayasu Sodeoka
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

Template:Nihongo title is an action game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, directed by Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya at Platinum Games in cooperation with publisher Sega. Set in a fictional city in Europe, the game centers on its title character, Bayonetta, who uses pistols and magical attacks to defeat enemies. The game has five difficulty settings; its two easiest settings contain a game mode playable with only one button, similar to a mode used in Devil May Cry. Its developers designed its characters with modern style and fashion in mind, and composed for it a largely upbeat soundtrack.

Development of the game started around January 2007, and it was released in Japan in late October 2009, with a U.S. release following in January 2010. It has been promoted through a television commercial with music by Japanese pop singer MiChi, look-alike searches, a theme for the Google Chrome Web browser, a photo book, and soundtracks. In the United States and the United Kingdom, commercials have featured La Roux's "In for the Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)". Critical reviews have praised its easily learned moves, fast pace, boss battles, time slowdown or "Witch Time" mechanic, and character and stage designs. The game has sold over 1.35 million units worldwide.

Gameplay

Bayonetta is a single-player, third-person 3D action game. Its combat system is similar to that of director Hideki Kamiya's previous title, Devil May Cry. The player controls a witch named Bayonetta, and using both melee and long ranged attacks, complex combo strings, and multiple weapons, is encouraged to explore ways to dispatch angelic enemies with as much flair as possible. Special commands or actions are woven into events, finishes, executions, and unique "Torture Attacks" in which Bayonetta summons a variety of devices to deal devastating blows to her enemies. Such devices range from chainsaws to iron maidens. Bayonetta also has unique but limited abilities that her enemies do not possess, such as "Witch Time", which activates when the player makes a well-timed dodge to an attack. This temporarily slows time to allow Bayonetta to inflict massive amounts of counter damage before the enemies can react.

The player can double jump for extra height, perform evasive backflips, and destroy background objects and doors. Camera views can be rotated, enemy targets can be locked on, and weapons can be switched during play. With unlockable transformations, the player can make Bayonetta become a panther or one of various other living creatures to enhance her abilities. Lollipops can be used to heal her, replenish her magic or increase her strength, although using these items, as well as dying, lowers the score for that chapter. By finding various component items, the player can combine them into new items. Many enemies and objects drop halos, which resemble the rings from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog games, when destroyed; the player can collect the halos to buy items, techniques and weapon upgrades. The player can also use enemy weapons, either to directly attack or as props for movement. Bayonetta's strongest attacks transform her hair into giant boots, fists or monsters that assault the enemy. Bayonetta starts the game with four guns, two in her hands, two on her feet. By finding golden LP albums, some of which are in multiple pieces, players can earn new weapons, such as shotguns, a katana and a whip. These can be customized to Bayonetta's arms and legs in various combinations.

The game consists of multiple chapters, each consisting of several verses. Depending on how well the player performs, they are given one of the following medals at the end of the verse; Stone, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Pure Platinum, similar to the rating system of Viewtiful Joe. There are some medals that are earned off the beaten path, such as special areas with set challenges. At the end of the chapter, a final score and an award is given depending on the type of medals achieved, with the score being deducted for any items used and deaths occurred. In between chapters there is a minigame called 'Angel Attack', in which players use Arcade Bullets found in the main levels to shoot at angels and earn points. These points can be traded in for items, with any leftover points exhanged for halos.

The game includes five difficulty modes: "Very Easy", "Easy", "Normal", "Hard", and "Non-Stop Climax". On Easy and Very Easy, a "Very Easy Automatic" mode is made available that can be played with only one hand: the game positions Bayonetta to perform attacks on enemies, and the player only needs to press one button at certain points unless they wish to perform their own choice of movements or attacks. Kamiya, who first added such a mode to Devil May Cry, posted a video on the game's official website in which character designer Mari Shimazaki demonstrated the mode (which Kamiya "jokingly called 'Mummy Mode'") in Bayonetta. He expects players to first complete the game in 10 to 12 hours, but believes that its rating system (similar to that of Viewtiful Joe, which he directed) and the pursuit of high scores will provide replay value. The rating system has six ranks: Stone, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Pure Platinum. The player's rank on the chapter depends on all the ranks of the stage's "verses" (subdivisions of the chapter). There is also an overall rank that is calculated upon the ranks of all the chapters. The game has a fixed button configuration; Kamiya said "we found that there wasn't really a point to changing [it]".

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Bayonetta takes place in Vigrid, a fictional city in Europe. The title character (voiced by Hellena Taylor) is a witch who shapeshifts and uses various firearms, along with magical attacks she performs with her own hair, to dispatch her foes. She awakens after a 500 year sleep and finds herself in an unfamiliar area with no memories of who or what she is. Over time, she begins to remember what caused her current predicament. 500 years before the incident that caused Bayonetta's memory loss, there were two factions preserving the balance between darkness and light in the world—the Umbra Witches, who are followers of darkness and their counterparts, the Lumen Sages, are followers of light. The factions shared two distinct treasures, the 'Eyes of the World' that were separately named the 'Left Eye' and the 'Right Eye', which they used to oversee the just passage of time. Both factions mysteriously disappeared from Vigrid under unknown circumstances. Bayonetta still has an ornate piece of jewelry which contains a small red gem, and believes this gem is the 'Left Eye' of the 'Eyes of the World'. While searching for the "Right Eye", she often receives flashbacks that make her remember what caused her current predicament.

A male character known as Luka (ルカ) (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal ) had met Bayonetta as a child, and is now a "possible love interest" for her. Other characters include Bayonetta's rival and fellow Umbra Witch Jeanne (ジャンヌ, Jannu), who wields four guns like Bayonetta; Rodin (ロダン, Rodan), the owner of a bar called the Gates Of Hell where Bayonetta can buy various weapons and items; an informant named Enzo (エンツォ, Entso) who looks and sounds similar to actor Joe Pesci, and provides comic relief; a young girl named Cereza (セレッサ, Seressa) whom Bayonetta meets early in the game; and the main antagonist Balder (バルドル, Barudoru).

The dimensions Bayonetta inhabits are the game's different settings which borrow from Dante's Divine Comedy: Paradiso (heaven), which generally takes the form of a heavenly yellow or golden valley or palace and is the home of the "Angel" enemies she faces; Purgatorio (purgatory), a metarealm that functions as an "in between" for metaphysical beings and stands alongside yet outside of the plane humans exist on (all beings in and outside of Purgatorio take on a transparent, watery appearance); and Inferno (hell), which is the game's hellish realm that contains infernal demons of the sort that Bayonetta herself occasionally summons with her Witch powers. Further research uncovers that the Witches actually drew most of their power from the Demons that exist in Inferno.

Plot

In the present day, an informant named Enzo has joined up with Bayonetta, a witch who was revived twenty years ago from the bottom of a lake and has little or no memories of her past. When Enzo informs her of the possible whereabouts of the person that owns the "Right Eye," one-half of a set known as the "Eyes of the World," she sets out to find this person, hoping that it may help her regain her lost memories.

Bayonetta follows Enzo's information to a city called Vigrid, and once there she's forced to fight Angels in order to progress. Shortly after her arrival, Bayonetta is confronted by Jeanne, another Umbra Witch, who seems to have allied herself with the Angels. Afterward, she meets a young man named Luka (nicknamed "Cheshire" by Bayonetta), who has been trying to track her down because he believes she is responsible for his father's death. After fighting her way through Vigrid, Bayonetta encounters Fortitudo, one of the four Cardinal Virtues, and faces him in battle. After being dispatched, Fortitudo reveals that he is merely a sacrifice to Jubileus, the Creator, whom the Angels are trying to resurrect.

After defeating Fortitudo, Bayonetta makes her way through the Crescent and Sunrise Valleys, and upon reaching the end, finds Jeanne conversing with Temperantia, the second of the Cardinal Virtues. Jeanne attacks Bayonetta, and the two Witches face off in battle, with Bayonetta emerging victorious. Continuing on her path, she eventually meets a lost child named Cereza, who wears glasses and carries around a stuffed cat named Cheshire. Much to Bayonetta's frustration, the child believes she's her mother and follows her around. Together, they make their way to a portal leading to Paradiso, where Bayonetta is forced to defend Cereza from the Angels. Upon returning to the human world, Bayonetta leaves Cereza with Luka and confronts Temperantia, who is defeated. Continuing her search for the Right Eye, Bayonetta follows Luka and Cereza down Prominence Bridge in an attempt to reach the island known as Isla del Sol, but becomes trapped in Paradiso. After escaping, she is attacked by Iustitia, the third Cardinal Virtue, and defeats him.

Luka devises another plan to infiltrate Isla del Sol by boarding a Valkyrie jet headed for the island. However, Cereza becomes lost in the jet, and Bayonetta is forced to search for her. Interrupting her search is Jeanne, who knows full well about Cereza. The two Umbra Witches fight, with Bayonetta emerging victorious. However, during their battle the jet was shot down by Sapientia, the final Cardinal Virtue. Finally recovering Cereza, Bayonetta escapes the sinking Valkyrie with the girl and hands her to Luka. She is then attacked by Sapientia, who reveals after being defeated that the gem Bayonetta believes to be the Left Eye is nothing more than a "worthless rock." After the battle, Bayonetta heads for Isla del Sol with Luka and Cereza in a helicopter. However, their helicopter is suddenly shot down with missiles from the island. The group somehow survives, with Luka becoming ensnared in one missile's fins, and Bayonetta and Cereza safely perched on another. Bayonetta guides the missile back to Isla del Sol, shooting down attacking forces of angels, including clones of Fortitudo and Temperantia.

When they reach the island, Bayonetta is confronted once again by Jeanne, who is revealed to be the one controlling the missiles with a remote. Atop a tall building, she explains that Bayonetta was a child born from an Umbra Witch and a Lumen Sage. This was strictly forbidden by the clans' ancient commandments, as it was foretold that this would bring calamity to the world. Jeanne says that for that reason, allowing Bayonetta to exist is a danger that cannot be accepted. Luka suddenly arrives in a stolen vehicle and steals Jeanne's remote, before leaving with Cereza; however, the vehicle drives off the building and explodes. As a stunned Bayonetta looks on in stupefaction, Jeanne states, "Time is of the essence. This can wait no longer!" and the two Umbra Witches fight one last time. Their battle begins atop the building, which then collapses onto another building, where the battle continues and Jeanne's clothing changes to a white version of Bayonetta's. The battle then shifts onto two separate missiles, before culminating atop another building. Bayonetta finally defeats Jeanne, who states that the reason Bayonetta possesses the Left Eye is because she has accepted her fate. Bayonetta hands Jeanne the gem she had been carrying, which triggers a recall of the events that occurred 500 years before. Bayonetta suddenly remembers that her real name is Cereza, and that Jeanne was once her friend; it was Jeanne who sealed her away, giving Bayonetta the gem to protect her and the Left Eye. Their reunion is short-lived, however, as Jeanne sacrifices her own life to save Bayonetta from a missile attack. Bayonetta is blown through a window of the Ithavoll Building, and is joined by Luka and Cereza.

Upon walking up to a large double door, Cereza begins to hear a familiar voice and claims that it is her "Daddy." Bayonetta follows her up the tower, fighting clones of Temperantia, Iustitia, and Sapientia along the way, as well as encountering an enormous statue of Jubileus, the Creator, inside the building. Upon reaching the very top of the tower, Bayonetta finally meets Father Balder, the supposed last of the Lumen Sages, who has taken up residence in what is presumably the "highest point of Lumen hierarchy and society."

Balder reveals to Bayonetta that he is her father, and that he plans to reunite the three universes by resurrecting Jubileus, the Creator. To accomplish that, he needs the Eyes of the World, and one of those eyes - the Left Eye - is Bayonetta herself. Balder explains that due to her memory loss Bayonetta could not awaken the Left Eye, and the only way for her to realize her true potential was for her to regain those lost memories. When Bayonetta asks him where he got the girl, he reveals that Cereza is in fact her younger self and was part of the plan to make Bayonetta remember her past. Luka suddenly emerges from the shadows and ridicules Balder's "entrepreneurial philosophy." It is then that Balder reveals that it was in fact he, and not Bayonetta, who orchestrated the death of Luka's father. A furious Luka is lifted into the air by the limbs by four angels, and Balder tells him he will have the dignity of dying in the same manner as his father. Bayonetta kills the angels before they can dismember Luka; however, Balder telekinetically throws Luka out of a window. Balder further upsets Bayonetta by revealing he had mentally reprogrammed Jeanne to obey him, at which point Bayonetta attacks him. However, Balder easily overpowers her, grabbing her in a choke-hold and flinging her across the room, before absorbing Cereza to increase his power. An enormous shock wave destroys the room and begins to travel down the tower, reducing it to rubble. Bayonetta manages to recover and engages in battle with her father. Fighting amidst the falling rubble, Bayonetta ultimately manages to defeat Balder.

After the battle, Balder's lifeless body hits the ground, and Bayonetta lands safely with Cereza in her arms. A missile suddenly flies overhead, with Luka once again ensnared in its fins. Using her Umbran Watch, Bayonetta manages to open a time portal to bring the child, her younger self, back to her original timeline. However, this causes her to regain all her memories upon returning to the present time, causing her to fall unconscious. A seemingly unharmed Balder then reappears, stating that the Left Eye has now been awakened. He then transports himself and the unconscious Bayonetta towards the statue on top of the tower in order for them to begin the resurrection of Jubileus and take their places as the Eyes of the World, who would oversee a new reality for all eternity. As they both enter into the eyes of the statue, the tower's outer structure crumbles to reveal a missile which launches into space.

With Bayonetta imprisoned, Jeanne suddenly makes her reappearance. It is revealed that the gem she got from Bayonetta managed to remove Balder's mind control and allowed her to shield from the incoming missiles in the nick of time. She ascends the statue on her magically enhanced motorcycle by riding along the surface of the missile used to launch Jubileus into orbit. Arriving just in time to save Bayonetta, she pulls her out of the statue's left eye, causing Jubileus to go berserk and consume Balder in the process. Bayonetta and Jeanne manage to defeat the deity, but end up in a free-fall towards Earth. Both Bayonetta and Jeanne manage to survive the descent, and the epilogue shows them continuing their battles with the Angels.

Development

... it's been eight years since [the first Devil May Cry (DMC)], so of course I wouldn't create a game that hadn't progressed from those days! Of course, if there hadn't have been DMC, there wouldn't be Bayonetta, which has evolved from DMC.

— Kamiya, April 2009

Kamiya directed development of Bayonetta at Platinum Games since January 2007, and the game was "more-or-less complete" by October 21, 2009. The group developed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, while Sega—with Platinum Games's original data and support— handled Nex Entertainment to port the game to Sony's PlayStation 3. Shimazaki designed the game's characters to be "fashionable", with "subdued" features. She designed the titular character to fulfill Kamiya's request for a modern, female witch that wears glasses and wields four guns, and the two settled on her original concept for the character despite her work "over a year" on other concepts. Bayonetta emerged as a long-haired, black-clothed witch with a beehive hairdo (in place of the traditional pointy hat) and glasses (which Kamiya "really pushed for ... to differentiate Bayonetta from other female characters and give her a sense of mystery and intelligence"). Conversely, Shimazaki "didn't require a huge amount of effort" to design Bayonetta's short-haired, red-clothed rival Jeanne, who merely wears her glasses on her head above her eyes. She added plumes to Jeanne's handguns to add movement to the design, and thick makeup to Jeanne's face to "make [her] feel like something out of the 1960s". Though Shimazaki preferred Bayonetta, Jeanne turned out to be the more popular of the two witches among Kamiya and the development team. Still, in an April 2009 interview, Kamiya called the former "in many ways ... my ideal woman".

Sketch of two long haired, black-clothed women in two poses, side by side. To their left is a cat-shaped earring. Above the woman on the right are six circular items of gold jewelry. Around them is a white background with Japanese and English text throughout.

Mari Shimazaki tried to make the witch Bayonetta more appealing with longer limbs and adjusted proportions.

Though the game's director "deliberately created Bayonetta from scratch" and has called its story "completely original", he has admitted using "some names from Scandinavian mythology" and playing "about half of" Devil May Cry 4 for research. As a fan of folk music, he also named Bayonetta's set of four handguns after the old English ballad "Scarborough Fair", and its individual guns Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Hiroshi Yamaguchi focused on composing music for the game that has a "nice up-tempo beat" and expresses femininity through female choirs, pianos, and other "'beautiful' instruments"—though some tracks also use pure orchestra or folk instruments—while Kenichiro Yoshimura transformed Shimazaki's Bayonetta design into a game model and used the digital sculpting tool ZBrush to create normal maps for its details. He worked with Shimazaki on the model's makeup, referred to foreign models with similar bodies, and said "I really wanted to get Bayonetta's backside perfect. I guess I am into that sort of thing..."

To Kamiya, the core theme of the game and its protagonist's attacks is "sexiness". He said Bayonetta's ability to transform into a panther reflected the developers' desire to "make her a sexy witch". To emphasize "her femininity and sexuality", the developers made Bayonetta lose rose petals instead of blood when hit, and used a butterfly motif that manifests in her wings (which appear in her shadow and during double jumps), her giant fist attack (a butterfly appears on the back of the fist), and the arms of her glasses. Her giant boot, fist, and monster attacks reveal some of her body—her hair is magically formed into clothes but must be temporarily reallocated to forming offensive weapons—and when the player targets an enemy, red lips mark the enemy's chest; this led IGN to call the developing game a mix of "action and a great big helping of fan service". The game's sexual tone is reflected in its age rating in the United States: the Entertainment Software Rating Board rated the developing game "Mature" ("M", for ages 17 and older) for containing "Partial Nudity" and "Suggestive Themes", as well as "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence," and "Strong Language". (By comparison, Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization rated the game "D", also for those ages; the British Board of Film Classification rated the game "15" for "strong language and bloody violence"; and it is rated "18" under the PEGI system used in the United Kingdom and other European countries for its use of violence and language.)

Kamiya had worked on previous games such as Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil, and as such, the game makes occasional references to these games, as well as other Clover Studios titles and various Sega franchises, such as a minigame inspired by Space Harrier.

Versions and merchandise

Demos of Bayonetta were released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network in Japan on October 8, 2009, and internationally on December 3, 2009. The full game was released on October 29, 2009, in Japan, and was later released in other regions in 2010: January 5 in North America, January 7 in Australia, and January 8 in Europe. Sega announced on August 26, 2009, that Japanese pop singer MiChi would perform "Something Missing", written for a Bayonetta commercial. The commercial, which has since been shown on the game's official Japanese website, touts the game as "non-stop climax action (∞クライマックス・アクション)" and features a model dressed as Bayonetta with a lollipop.

A 150-song, five-CD soundtrack for the game was scheduled for a November 4 release. Another soundtrack CD, Rodin's Selection, was created for inclusion with pre-ordered copies of the game. It comes packaged in a brown jacket styled as a menu from Rodin's bar "The Gates of Hell". Sega of Europe released a ∞ Climax Edition (or simply Climax Edition) of the game in the UK, France, Spain, and Australia, which included the game, the Rodin's Selection tracks packaged in a black-and-red jacket with the game logo, and an artbook. Pre-orders in Australia and "most European territories" included a replica of one of Bayonetta's "Scarborough Fair" guns.

Bayonetta Witch of Vigrid, a book with pictures of the title character and an "interview" with her, was released on October 22, 2009. By then, a Bayonetta theme had been made available for the Google Chrome browser. At the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Sega chose Penny Drake to model as Bayonetta after auditioning 100 women. The company then joined men's lifestyle website Maxim.com to run a contest to find women who looked like Bayonetta. The grand prize winner, Andrea Bonaccorso, announced on November 23, 2009, received an Xbox 360, a 50-inch plasma television, and a copy of the 360 version of the game.

An update for the PlayStation 3 version was released on January 28, allowing players to install the game on their hard drive, dramatically reducing load times.

Original soundtrack

The Bayonetta original soundtrack has only been released in Japan. The album contains five discs with 150 tracks used in the game. Helena Noguerra provided the main vocals for the theme of Bayonetta.

Tracklist

Disc 1

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Opening Demo" (オープニングデモ)	0:41
2.	"One of A Kind"	5:00
3.	"EV01 Beginning" (EV01 始まり)	0:43
4.	"GM01 Chapter Start" (GM01 チャプタースタート)	1:20
5.	"EV02-1 Prologue" (EV02-1 プロローグ)	0:44
6.	"EV02-2 Angel Advent A" (EV02-2 天使降臨 A)	1:35
7.	"Riders Of The Light"	2:27
8.	"Fly Me To The Moon (∞ Climax Mix)"	5:19
9.	"EV03-1 Enzo and Drive" (EV03-1 エンツォとドライブ)	4:02
10.	"EV03-2 Jeanne Enters" (EV03-2 ジャンヌ登場)	1:37
11.	"ST01 The Falling Military Transport" (ST01 墜落する軍用輸送機)	3:11
12.	"EV04-1 Dance With Jeanne"	0:28
13.	"EV04-2 Signs of Unrest" (EV04-2 不穏な気配)	0:13
14.	"The Gates Of Hell"	4:00
15.	"EV05 Scarborough Fair Equipped" (EV05 スカボロウ フェア装着)	0:29
16.	"ST02 Vigrid—Station Home" (ST02 ヴィグリッド 駅ホーム)	5:08
17.	"Theme Of Bayonetta—Mysterious Destiny"	2:52
18.	"ST03 Vigrid: Town Areas" (ST03 ヴィグリッド 市街地)	5:45
19.	"EV06-1 Angel Advent B" (EV06-1 天使降臨 B)	0:33
20.	"EV06-2 Bayonetta Preparing for Battle A" (EV06-2 ベヨネッタ戦闘態勢 A)	0:15
21.	"The Heavies"	2:16
22.	"Demonic Beast Summon" (魔獣召喚)	2:06
23.	"Fortitudo—In labors And Dangers (Movement 1)"	2:59
24.	"GM02 Chapter Clear" (GM02 チャプタークリア)	1:52
25.	"EV07-1 Jeanne: Bike Action" (EV07-1 ジャンヌ バイクアクション)	0:53
26.	"EV07-2 Conversation with Jeanne" (EV07-2 ジャンヌとの会話)	1:19
27.	"EV07-3 In the Shambles Inside the Memories A" (EV07-3 記憶の中の修練場にて A)	0:37
28.	"Battle For The Umbra Throne"	2:24
29.	"EV08 Angel Advent C" (EV08 天使降臨 C)	0:22
30.	"EV09-1 Luka Enters" (EV09 ルカ登場)	0:49
31.	"EV09-2 Conversation with Luka A" (EV09-2 ルカとの会話 A)	1:31
32.	"EV09-3 Conversation with Luka B" (EV09-3 ルカとの会話 B)	0:34
33.	"EV09-4 Angel Advent D" (EV09-4 天使降臨 D)	0:30
34.	"EV09-5 Bayonetta Preparing for Battle B" (EV09-5 ベヨネッタ戦闘態勢 B)	0:29
35.	"In a Pinch!" (ピンチ！)	2:24
36.	"EV10-1 Mysterious Girl, Cereza Enters" (EV10-1 謎の少女、セレッサ登場)	0:47
37.	"EV10-2 Fortitudo Appears" (EV10-2 フォルティトゥード、現る)	0:21
38.	"EV11 Conversation with Fortitudo" (EV11 フォルティトゥードとの会話)	1:30

Disc 2

No.	Title	Length
1.	"ST04 Town Areas Swallowed by Lava" (ST04 溶岩にのまれる市街地)	3:23
2.	"EV12-1 A Close Call!" (EV12-1 危機一髪！)	0:09
3.	"EV12-2 Action!" (EV12-2 アクション！)	2:30
4.	"ST05 Underground Cave" (ST05 地下洞窟)	2:33
5.	"Paradiso—Paradise of Light" (パラディソ-光の楽園)	3:00
6.	"God's Voice A" (神の歌声 A)	1:17
7.	"God's Voice B" (神の歌声 B)	2:02
8.	"EV13 Fortitudo Again" (EV13 フォルティトゥード、再び)	1:07
9.	"Fortitudo—In Labors And Dangers"	4:58
10.	"Climatic Battle"	1:18
11.	"Let's Hit The Climax!"	1:36
12.	"ST06 Moonlit Valley" (ST06 月光の谷)	3:44
13.	"EV14-1 Confrontation with Jeanne A" (EV14-1 ジャンヌとの対決 A)	0:47
14.	"EV14-2 Confrontation with Jeanne B" (EV14-2 ジャンヌとの対決 B)	0:23
15.	"Red & Black"	5:16
16.	"ST07 The Witches's Forge" (ST07 魔女の鍛錬房跡)	3:21
17.	"EV15 Cereza" (EV15 セレッサ)	2:03
18.	"First Love" (初恋)	0:29
19.	"Broken Heart" (失恋)	0:12
20.	"EV16 Sexy Battle" (EV16 セクシーバトル)	0:57
21.	"EV17 Deceitful" (EV17 悪知恵)	0:32
22.	"EV18 Temperantia Enters" (EV18 テンパランチア登場)	1:50
23.	"Temperantia—In Foregoing Pleasures"	3:41
24.	"Splash Wave (∞ Climax Mix)"	4:36
25.	"After Burner (∞ Climax Mix)"	5:27
26.	"Magnificent 7 (∞ Climax Mix)"	3:22

Disc 3

No.	Title	Length
1.	"ST08 Paradiso—Graveyard of the Memories of Time" (ST08 パラディソ - 時の記憶の墓場)	6:05
2.	"EV19-1 In the Shambles Inside the Memories B" (EV19-1 記憶の中の修練場にて B)	0:40
3.	"EV19-2 In the Shambles Inside the Memories, Assault" (EV19-2 記憶の中の修練場にて、襲撃)	1:08
4.	"ST09 Paradiso—Star Ocean" (ST09 パラディソ-星の大海)	5:57
5.	"EV20 Luka Glances Bayonetta's Battle" (EV20 ベヨネッタの戦いを垣間見るルカ)	1:36
6.	"EV21-1 Iustitia Enters A" (EV21-1 ユスティジア登場 A)	0:08
7.	"EV21-2 Luka's Delusion A" (EV21-2 ルカの妄想 A)	0:19
8.	"EV21-3 Iustitia Enters B" (EV21-3 ユスティジア登場 B)	0:37
9.	"EV21-4 Iustitia Enters C" (EV21-4 ユスティジア登場 C)	0:42
10.	"Iustitia—In Giving Every Man His Due"	4:09
11.	"EV22-1 At the Airport, Talking with Luka A" (EV22-1 空港にて、ルカの語り A)	0:30
12.	"EV22-2 Eyes of the World" (EV22-2 アイズ・オブ・ザ・ワールド)	4:18
13.	"EV22-3 At the Airport, Talking with Luka B" (EV22-3 空港にて、ルカの語り B)	2:02
14.	"EV22-4 At the Airport, Assault" (EV22-4 空港にて、襲撃)	0:56
15.	"ST10 Giant Military Transport: Valkyria" (ST10 巨大軍用輸送機 ヴァルキュリア)	3:41
16.	"EV23-1 Confrontation with Jeanne C" (EV23-1 ジャンヌとの対決 C)	2:04
17.	"EV23-2 The Falling Valkyria" (EV23-2 墜落するヴァルキュリア)	1:25
18.	"ST11 Save Cereza!" (ST11 セレッソを救え！)	2:34
19.	"EV24-1 Sapientia Enters A" (EV24-1 サピエンチア登場 A)	0:41
20.	"EV24-2 Sapientia Enters B" (EV24-2 サピエンチア登場 B)	1:13
21.	"Sapientia—In The Choice Between Good And Evil"	4:03
22.	"EV25 Luka's Delusion B" (EV25 ルカの妄想 B)	0:22
23.	"Space Harrier (∞ Climax Mix)"	5:51
24.	"Wiwi Jumbo (Heaven Sent Mix)"	0:32
25.	"EV26-1 Before the Final Battle with Jeanne A" (EV26-1 ジャンヌとの最終決戦前 A)	1:59
26.	"EV26-2 Before the Final Battle with Jeanne B" (EV26-2 ジャンヌとの最終決戦前 B)	0:29
27.	"EV26-3 Before the Final Battle with Jeanne C" (EV26-3 ジャンヌとの最終決戦前 C)	1:22
28.	"Blood & Darkness"	5:34
29.	"EV27-1 Jeanne A" (EV27-1 ジャンヌ A)	1:21
30.	"EV27-2 Truth" (EV27-2 真実)	0:48
31.	"EV27-3 Jeanne B" (EV27-3 ジャンヌ B)	1:03
32.	"EV27-4 Miraculous Revival!?" (EV27-4 奇跡の生還!?)	0:14
33.	"EV27-5 Bayonetta and Luka" (EV27-5 ベヨネッタとルカ)	0:57

Disc 4

No.	Title	Length
1.	"EV28 To Isabel Building" (EV28 イザヴェルビルへ)	0:27
2.	"ST12 Isabel Building—Lower Floors" (ST12 イザヴェルビル 下層部)	2:44
3.	"ST13 Isabel Building—Upper Floors" (ST13 イザヴェルビル 上層部)	4:51
4.	"EV29-1 Talking with Balder A" (EV29-1 バルドルの語り A)	1:12
5.	"EV29-2 Talking with Balder B" (EV29-2 バルドルの語り B)	1:52
6.	"EV29-3 Talking with Balder C" (EV29-3 バルドルの語り C)	2:11
7.	"EV29-4 Talking with Balder D" (EV29-4 バルドルの語り D)	1:33
8.	"EV29-5 Luka, Deceased" (EV29-5 ルカ、死す)	1:26
9.	"EV29-6 Balder" (EV29-6 バルドル)	1:01
10.	"You May Call Me Father"	5:26
11.	"EV30-1 The Journey Ends" (EV30-1 旅の終わり)	2:06
12.	"EV30-2 Bayonetta Captured by the Statue of God" (EV30-2 神像に囚われるベヨネッタ)	3:31
13.	"EV31-1 Jeanne—To the Space A" (EV31-1 ジャンヌ、宇宙へ A)	0:31
14.	"EV31-2 Jeanne—To the Space B" (EV31-2 ジャンヌ、宇宙へ B)	0:41
15.	"Friend" (友よ)	3:43
16.	"EV32 Jeanne, Dead" (EV23 ジャンヌ、死す)	2:07
17.	"The Greatest Jubilee"	7:37
18.	"EV33 Staff Roll...?" (EV33 スタッフロール…？)	0:41
19.	"EV34 Luka Admires the Night Sky" (EV34 夜空を見上げるルカ)	0:50
20.	"EV35-1 Epilogue" (EV35-1 エピローグ)	1:52
21.	"EV35-2 Romance" (EV35-2 ロマンス)	1:04
22.	"Let's Dance Boys!"	3:39
23.	"Fly Me To The Moon"	2:24
24.	"Memory"	2:58

Disc 5

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Magical Sound Shower/Out Run"	5:30
2.	"Splash Wave/Out Run"	5:55
3.	"After Burner/After Burner"	5:03
4.	"After Burner/After Burner II"	5:23
5.	"After Burner With Melody Ver./After Burner II"	5:23
6.	"Boss/Fantasy Zone"	1:43
7.	"Theme/Space Harrier"	4:05
8.	"GM03 Angel Attack"	3:01
9.	"GM04 Versus Result Jingle" (GM04 バースリザルトジングル)	0:09
10.	"GM05 Silver Medal Acquisition Jingle" (GM05 シルバーメダル取得ジングル)	0:07
11.	"GM06 Gold Medal Acquisition" (GM06 ゴールドメダル取得ジングル)	0:07
12.	"GM07 Platinum Medal Acquisition Jingle" (GM07 プラチナメダル取得ジングル)	0:08
13.	"Angel's Voice: Military March" (天使の歌声 軍隊行進曲)	0:33
14.	"Angel's Voice: Moonlight" (天使の歌声 月光)	0:33
15.	"Angel's Voice: Fantaisie Impromptu" (天使の歌声 幻想即興曲)	0:33
16.	"Angel's Voice: Sonata for Two Pianos" (天使の歌声 2台のピアノのためのソナタ)	0:33
17.	"Angel's Voice: Skaters' Waltz" (天使の歌声 スケーターズ・ワルツ)	0:33
18.	"Angel's Voice: The Ride of the Valkyries" (天使の歌声 ワルキューレの騎行)	0:33
19.	"Angel's Voice: Hallelujah" (天使の歌声 ハレルヤ)	0:33
20.	"Angel's Voice: Jupiter" (天使の歌声 木星)	0:33
21.	"Angel's Voice: Mars" (天使の歌声 火星)	0:33
22.	"2008 Tokyo Game Show Promotion" (2008 東京ゲームショウ プロモーション)	1:17
23.	"Bayonetta Image Song: Prototype A" (ベヨネッタイメージ曲 プロトタイプ A)	1:10
24.	"Mysterious Destiny: Prototype" (Mysterious Destiny プロトタイプ)	2:47
25.	"Bayonetta Image Song: Prototype B" (ベヨネッタイメージ曲 プロトタイプ B)	5:00
26.	"Bayonetta Image Song: Prototype C" (ベヨネッタイメージ曲 プロトタイプ C)	3:28
27.	"In a Pinch!: Prototype" (ピンチ！ プロトタイプ)	4:39
28.	"Mysterious Destiny: Retro Version" (Mysterious Destiny レトロバージョン)	2:39
29.	"One Of A Kind: Retro Version" (One Of A Kind レトロバージョン)	5:19

Rodin's Selection

Rodin's Selection is a special soundtrack included with Japanese preorders of Bayonetta. Its six tracks are scheduled for inclusion in the game's Climax Edition for PAL regions.

Tracklist

No.	Title	Length
1.	"One of A Kind"	5:00
2.	"Riders Of The Light"	2:27
3.	"Battle For The Umbra Throne"	2:24
4.	"Theme Of Bayonetta—Mysterious Destiny"	2:52
5.	"The Old City Of Vigrid"	5:45
6.	"The Gates Of Hell"	4:00

Reception

Pre-release

Though one reviewer praised the game's use of "glorious European architecture", another said "Some of [Bayonetta's] larger hair-based attacks can ... obscure the action."

Cam Shea of IGN Australia praised the developing game in March 2009 as "absolutely stunning-looking" and "a balls-out action game set amongst glorious European architecture", and called its titular witch their "new favourite videogame character ever ... even cooler than [Devil May Cry's main character] Dante ... she has the playfulness and versatility of Dante, but wrapped up in some of the most visually inventive combat we've seen in a long while". Similarly, GameSpy's Gerald Villoria praised the game in July that year as highly original to the point that it could end up like the poor-selling Ōkami (another Kamiya-directed game) for it—"the premise, the characters, the action sequences, they're all entirely different from anything else I've ever seen," he wrote—and called its lead a "constantly moving", "remarkably multi-faceted" character "presented in an ultra-stylish way".

Matt Leone of 1UP.com said of a pre-release version of the game's PS3 port at E3 2009: "The first thing I noticed was that, at the end of a normal combo, you can hold down the final button in the string to continuously fire gunshots—which looks incredibly cool when you kick someone and then keep your leg pointed at their face as your foot pours bullets on it." He added, "I'll be amazed if Bayonetta doesn't end up being one of the best action games this year." Staff at GameSpot UK were also generally impressed with the PS3 port, which they played on June 3. They called the "Witch Time" mechanic a "cool move" and one of the two boss battles they fought "pretty intense", and said "it's easy to see the similarities between the two over-the-top action games [Bayonetta and Devil May Cry]". They added, "Rampant violence and sexism is par for the course" in the game. 1UP's staff again played a PS3 version for 15 minutes on the weekend of August 31 that year, at Platinum Games's "Feel Bayonetta" event in Tokyo's Roppongi district. They said that it "was very blurry" compared to a 360 version displayed there, and that its frame rate "was all over the place. ... it was often hard to keep track of the action [in one scene] because of the graphical issues on PS3."

Bayonetta was one of twelve games to receive a Japan Game Awards 2009 "Future Division" award at Tokyo Game Show 2009. At the show, Daniel Feit of Wired News played both versions and felt the 360 version was "a little brighter and more colorful ... while the PS3 version cut scenes feel like you're watching a movie through a sepia filter." He found the game's commands easy to learn and perform, but criticized the camera angles sometimes used in the game in both versions: "When Bayonetta runs too close to the edge of a scene, the camera can automatically focus on her and the wall instead of showing the enemies cornering her. Some of her larger hair-based attacks can also obscure the action." Other reviewers compared her to former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin for her appearance and her glasses in particular. Kamiya has said of the comparisons, "in the US they say Sarah Palin. In Japan, they always bring up people like [singer-songwriter] Angela Aki. I think they say something similar in every country. That country's famous glasses girl. ... The thing with that impression is, you know, we've put out plenty of trailers now, and when you play the game and see the cutscenes, I think people will recognize Bayonetta as Bayonetta. Then people will look at Sarah Palin and say that she looks like Bayonetta."

Release

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
	PS3	Xbox 360
GameRankings	86.09%	89.80%
Metacritic	86%	90%

Review scores

Publication	Score
	PS3	Xbox 360
1Up.com	A−	A
Eurogamer	—	9 out of 10
Famitsu	38 out of 40	40 out of 40
G4	4 out of 5	4 out of 5
Game Informer	9.00 out of 10	9.00 out of 10
GamePro	—
GamesRadar+	10 out of 10	10 out of 10
GameZone	8.5 out of 10	8.5 out of 10
IGN	8.2 out of 10	9.5 out of 10 (UK: 9.6)

Here in Japan, where PS3, in a bad week, outsells Xbox 360 10 to 1, the 360 version of Bayonetta had no chance of topping the PS3 version in sales. But it does seem to be performing pretty well.

Anoop Gantayat on Bayonetta release-day sales

Sinobi, a Japanese blog known for its early sales data, reported Bayonetta sold 138,000 copies—93,000 for the PS3 and 45,000 for the 360—on its day of release in the country. Media Create reported the PS3 version sold 135,242 copies and was the top-selling game during its week of release there, while the 360 version sold 64,325 copies and charted at number seven. Phil Elliott of GamesIndustry.biz called the 360 version's lower sales figures "a very strong performance for the Microsoft platform, relative to installed base". The two releases fell to number eight and number 15 respectively the following week. On February 5, 2010, Sega Sammy reported that Bayonetta has sold 1.1 million units worldwide.

A few days before Bayonetta's release, Japanese gaming publication Famitsu awarded the Xbox 360 version a perfect 40 out of 40. The PlayStation 3 version received a slightly lower 38 out of 40, due to scores of nine from two of its four reviewers. As others did pre-release, the two reviewers criticized the PS3 port's frame rate problems; one thought the difference from the 360 version was slight. One was quoted as saying, "the fun is the same, but the controls and overall look [on the PS3] feel a bit more unwieldy than the Xbox 360 one, which is a shame." UK magazine Edge awarded the eleventh 10 out of 10 score in its 16 year history to Bayonetta a month later, and called it "a beautiful and graceful fighting game that lets imagination loose, and winks before slapping Dante, Kratos and every other hero back to the drawing board". Andy Robinson of ComputerAndVideoGames.com, affiliated with Edge through Future plc, said, "We can't say we were expecting that."

Ryan Clements of IGN gave the 360 version a 9.5 out of 10 and the PS3 version an 8.2. In separate reviews for each version, he called the game "stylish, entertaining", and "unique", and its voice work "a bit campy but still extremely enjoyable", but said its "plot is all over the place" and "isn't as skillfully told as game stories like Mass Effect and Uncharted. In his 360 version review, he called the game an "incredible work" with "final moments ... alone worth the price of admission", but said it sometimes exhibited minor "screen tearing and slowdown, which happen during explorative sections and intense action sequences, respectively". He said the PS3 version was "still a fun game" but had "a lot of problems, primary among them being the excessive slowdown and loading":

When the player pauses the game during combat or a cutscene, there's noticeable loading before the pause menu is displayed. There's loading when you pick up an item and there's loading as you scroll through menus. There's even an obnoxious load time just to view a list of save files. For a game that's supposed to emphasize quick action and style, these loads are almost deal-breakers.

— Ryan Clements

Gamearena rated the game 5 out of 10, criticizing the depiction of the heroine, saying "It starts to feel awkward after not too long, and a little insulting, as it seems like the game expects you to leer and ogle her at every chance you get. You are practically begged to actively position her into sexually suggestive poses and maneuver her as you please, and at the same time think of her as a strong and sexy heroine, not some object you can... actively position into sexually suggestive poses and maneuver as you please." The review also discussed the game's lack of mass-market appeal - "Many people found DMC too campy and over-the-top, and Bayonetta makes it look monochrome in comparison. If you don't like the genre, Bayonetta will not change your mind."

GameSpot's video review lamented duller graphics and inconsistent frame rates for its PS3 port.

The Associated Press review was not as forgiving as most others. "Bayonetta feels like a game that would have blown me away 15 years ago. (It even pays tribute to Sega arcade classics like "Space Harrier" and "Hang-On.") While it introduces an exotic new vision, it doesn't give us anything to do except fight, and its strictly linear story prevents you from exploring its distinctive universe. It's high on style, but less than satisfying."

Eurogamer rated it 9 out of 10, "The result is a game that exemplifies so much of what commentators claim has died in the Japanese game industry. A blast of creative brilliance, both technically accomplished, strategically deep and infused with rare imagination, Bayonetta represents the pinnacle of its chosen niche. "

GamesRadar gave the game 10 out of 10. Nathan Irvine of their UK division said it "nails ... the epic scale of everything that unfolds before your eyes and the manner in which it's delivered", believed it was better than God of War Collection, Devil May Cry 4, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and praised its "superb action" and humor (such as "Luka doing his best Assassin's Creed impression by looking moody in an Altair/Ezio style hood"). However, he said "the only time anything makes sense with Bayonetta's story is right at the end", and complained about some of the game's Quick Time Events (QTEs):

... every now and then you’re instructed to complete them mid-cutscene to, say, dodge a falling satellite and the like. The problem is they happen so quickly that some times you’ll miss the prompt and have to re-run the whole sequence again, which is insanely frustrating.

— Nathan Irvine

In contrast to Irvine, IGN UK's Martin Robinson said "it's not Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden or God of War that's the best point of reference but Super Mario Galaxy": he felt Bayonetta, like the Nintendo game, "loves to tinker with the player's sense of perspective, and fights that begin on street surface often wind their way up the surrounding walls". Robinson praised the "fluid, intuitive and ultimately satisfying" combat system and "its conveyor belt of ever-more inventive foes. From the lowliest grunt to the most hulking of bosses", and said, "Even after two playthroughs we're discovering more and more to Bayonetta's move set each time we go back to the game." Still, he felt "a little too much time is given over to the exposition".

GameZone's Louis Bedigian gave both versions an 8.5 out of 10, saying "Bayonetta is one of those rare fantasy games that sounds crazy on paper but is absolutely genius in execution. Every level feels like a fresh journey through a hellish world – which says a lot for a game that is (believe it or not) a part of the hack-n-slash genre."

OneMetal's Graham Gough reviewed the Play.com UK exclusive Climax Edition on Xbox 360, which comes with a slipcase, art book and a CD soundtrack (as bundled with Japanese pre-orders of the game). Gough praised the game for "Taking one of the most impure gaming characters and building a game experience as pure as anything seen on next gen consoles," citing Kamiya's own Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, and "Japanese "bullet hell" shoot 'em-ups" as major influences on Bayonetta. Scoring the game 4.5/5, Gough concluded "Platinum Games have thrown down the gauntlet to Sony's God of War 3. To quote Bayonetta's bald buddy, Rodin, quoting Resident Evil 4, "Whaddya Buyin'?""

References

General

• Mielke, James (August 29, 2008). "Bayonetta (PS3): Previews: In the September EGM, we laid out "25 Things You Need To Know About Bayonetta." Now, we're happy to unveil the full-length interview behind that story". 1UP.com. Retrieved October 27, 2009. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Specific

External links

• Official website
• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Template:Dmoz