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But while Bayonetta may appear to be little more than the product of a bored man’s fantasies and a healthy dollop of fan service, there are some intriguing layers to the nature of the character. We’ve discussed feminism and the kinds of female characters that we see in the world of video games a fair bit in the past at Nintendojo and while I’ve not been too favourable towards the large-chested, empty shells of characters who appear only to cater to the sexually-frustrated teenager, the dynamic nature and effective characterisation of Bayonetta has shown an ability to cut through the tits-and-ass image she initially projects to the player. While she may not have the gender equality credentials of Samus Aran or even Princess Zelda, Bayonetta’s strident independence and self-determination can be seen to actually align itself with her sexually aggressive persona as opposed to negating her validity as a work of narrative. Despite her curves, Bayonetta is a woman with a story to tell and we’d be foolish not to listen.
In the most young reader-friendly trailer for the game I could find, Bayonetta shoots enemies in the head, dodges attacks aimed at her crotch, turns into a road-burning panther and informs a load of angels that they “are in need of a good spanking”. It’s not the kind of thing the Dead or Alive girls get up to in between rounds of volleyball, is it?
And so to the future of Bayonetta! Despite glittering reviews and a near-legendary cult following (presumably fans are somehow trapped in Bayonetta’s ass-gravity) news of a sequel to the original game was slow to emerge. Fans slumped, you know what it’s like when your favourite ever game is destined to remain in the recycling bin of gaming forever. (Now you know how I feel about Chibi-Robo!) And then, by some act of dark magic/potential gas leak at Nintendo headquarters, we found out back in September that not only was Bayonetta 2 in development and was actually coming to Wii U, it would be a console exclusive and published by Nintendo themselves! What a turn up for the books and a surprise move by Nintendo to put their money on the line for a niche franchise that means a lot to its fans. Good work, Ninty.
And did fans of the franchise rejoice at the news of a highly-desired sequel finally being confirmed? Did they shit. The Twittersphere erupted in shock, awe and outrage as “Bayonetta 2” started trending worldwide and loving fans of the series formed an orderly queue to spew every expletive, damnation and good-old-fashioned death threat at anyone remotely involved with the games. It got a little bit ugly, we won’t lie. Personally, I can understand the fact that a lot of people only own one games console and if they’ve played a game on it and then said game’s sequel is released on another they could be in some way disappointed but life is full of disappointment! (If you would like a fuller understanding of the nature of disappointment, please consult my father.) What’s more, for every utterly pissed off Bayonetta fan, I can guarantee there are two prospective Wii U owners doing a little happy dance and judging by Nintendo’s past track record on taking chances with niche games (no one even dare to mention Earthbound) this is a real victory for core gamers everywhere. Surely the important fact is that a sequel is being made, period?
Bask in the glory of this teaser trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Bayonetta and feel free to bask in your superiority over PS3 and 360 owners. It’s a rare moment for Nintendo gamers in the world of multiformat titles.
Despite the passion of that speech, I somehow doubt it shall quell the legions of irked fanboys but the good news is, forget them! Bayonetta 2 is coming exclusively to Wii U and we get to enjoy every second of its gut exploding, ass shaking, bullet timing, sword swinging, destruction wielding, overblown sexiness on Nintendo’s next console, which hits American shelves in less than a week. Mario, we thank you.
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In all honesty(besides the oversexualized part) This game is an amazing hack n slash that to me, could be the best I’ve ever played. And I really understand what you talk about when you say oversexualized (try playing the game while your family is in the same room and it just gets wierd.
Aside from Vanquish, this is my favorite title from Platinum Games. So pumped to play it on Wii U.
When did angels fighting evil are considered rogue? And why did you need to take a cheap shot at Palin here? ultra violent world of the Umbra Witch herself Sarah Palin Bayonetta.
I’m not an expert on the storyline of the first game but I think the idea is that the balance of good and evil in the world has fallen apart and without the idea of Yin and Yang to balance out each other, heaven does turn bad and angels begin to overpower the world. Bayonetta doesn’t start the onslaught against, they pretty much just start attacking her and her quest in the game (to obtain the Eyes of the World) is an attempt to restore balance and order. I think this storyline was used to allow Bayonetta to be a villain-esque anti-hero with the attitude of the bad guy but still with the potential to be redeemable, to save the day.
As for the Sarah Palin thing, it’s just a well documented joke of the franchise since both Palin and Bayonetta hit the cultural mainstream at similar times. There’s an endless ream of comparison memes and even Hideki Kamiya has discussed the likeness with Kotaku. Bayonetta is a playful franchise with its tongue firmly in its cheek so I wanted to reflect that in the article!
Thanks you for that information and this story about the ’08 video game in 2012. I still don’t see why she should be used as joke.