To be perfectly honest, I have a major soft spot for Platinum Games. I feel like they're real underdogs in the video game world of today. They're always turning in fantastic work without the sales to show for it. They don't load down their games with gratuitous DLC. Bonuses, costumes, and goodies can always be unlocked with enough patience and skill (or if that proves too tough, in-game cheats so you're not blocked off forever). Even minor stuff like a game I played with online multiplayer had zero online achievements. It's the little stuff that shines through.

The polish and consideration they put into their products is not something you see very often these days. They're doing video games right... but not enough people buy their stuff so I feel like they won't be around for long. I'm doing my best to enjoy them now.

So in many ways it's mind blowing to me that a sequel to Bayonetta came out in this day and age. I want to say that if you like character action games, or a game with plenty of spectacle and the gameplay to match, or a good product with amazing controls, go buy Bayonetta 2! But I realize that it came out on the Wii U (a console with a spotty reputation) and features a protagonist who uses her hair to summon demons, often getting next to naked many, many times throughout the game. I trust people know where they stand on that kind of thing.

I'll try to rein it in, but god damn Bayonetta 2 (and its predecessor) is one hell of a video game.

Bayonetta 2 (The Return of Non-Stop Infinite Fun)

The wicked witch of the weave returns for all kind of entertaining nonsense and some minor tweaks to the gameplay you wouldn't think would make a huge deal. But if you try to go back to the first Bayonetta you can tell with the handling. The pacing for Bayonetta 2 is way, way better and ever so slightly easier difficulty wise. You are no longer penalized for using healing items. Instant death QTEs have been removed. But don't worry, if you're looking for challenge you'll get there eventually as things ramp up. This game has the same kind of spirit that carried the original through all the ridiculous spectacle and absurdity. Hair demons, giant lightning hammers, bosses so big you have to fly around them, quad chainsaws, Punch-Out!! references, magic mecha, and sick duels on par with the Jeanne fights from the first game.

It can be kind of overwhelming sometimes. The inclusion of the new mechanic Umbran Climax that changes all of your regular attacks in to heavy hitting wicked weaves can add to the confusion. There are more than a few boss fights where there is so much going on, it can be hard to keep track of your character or know when to use your dodge to get in Witch Time (temporary slo-mo bonus for evading attacks). That's really one of my biggest complaints. It's not a very big complaint in the grand scheme of things, but I definitely thought about it. Sometimes bosses feel way harder than they really are, but I guess I feel conflicted because I want to watch what's going on in the background but there's really no opportunity unless I'm watching someone else play. Either way, there's really nothing else like it.

The controls are especially solid. For all the insanity that happens on the screen, you're never fighting the controller. It's true that the Wii U offers the ability to play on the touch screen of the Wii Pad. I messed around with it a bit, but Bayonetta 1 and 2 are way too demanding for me to make that manageable on the default difficulty. Buttons and sticks are what you need to dodge and weave your way to victory as you string together combos to get satisfying flourishes in the form of punches and kicks from your demonic stand known as Madama Butterfly. In Bayonetta 2 she gets a little more screen time with some torture attacks and major boss showdowns.

Dancing Through Heaven and Hell

The thing I really enjoyed in Bayonetta 2 is shedding more light on the game's version of Hell known as Inferno. As a result of the story, Demons now make up another set of enemies trying to collect Bayonetta's soul and really freshen things up from all the angel killing done throughout this game and the first one. They all have some pretty fantastic designs and even better names. Hatred. Insidious. Greed. Deception. And probably my favorite name of the bunch: Pain, Driver of Agony. These creatures from hell, appropriately, can be a real pain in the ass so you have to be on your toes. But I definitely was not let down after all the teasing from the original Bayonetta. They even drop different currency in the form of orbs that even the devil may cry about.

Tag Climax

There's also a multiplayer mode known as Tag Climax which I can only describe as competitive co-op. You team up with another player (or a CPU) in a series of six fights you can bet Halos on (the game's currency) for varying levels of difficulty. While you're trying to survive the fight, you're also trying to outdo your partner in terms of combos. Whoever scores the longest, greatest combo while taking the least amount of damage is the winner. I really love this mode. It also serves as a good warmup for the main game and works surprisingly well given how Nintendo does online play. There's even an option to mess with the computer while you wait for someone to match up with you.

You can expect a fair number of surprises and some really tough-as-nails battles if for some reason the story mode leaves you wanting. Not to mention, secret characters! You will still have to beat the story mode in order to get the most out of Tag Climax, as it unlocks fights for you to pick from based on set pieces from the single player. Also it lets you get a hold of money really quickly to afford some of the more ridiculously priced items in the game.

Still it's surprisingly well done since I never expected or wanted multiplayer in a Bayonetta game.

Fire the Afterburners Again

I don't know how much I could recommend Bayonetta 2 without overdoing it. I do have to say that the game's tone and sense of humor is just as ridiculous as the first game. So if you didn't like the idea of the main character stripping down every time she summons a demon to crush her latest enemy, that hasn't changed here. The plot line, while a little more reigned in, still does pretzel twists with the same kind of tongue and cheek you can come to expect from a game where you can head butt a dragon into the side of a skyscraper. The supporting characters can be pretty polarizing. And the ending of Bayonetta 2 is a little disappointing as it doesn't get quite as grand as the first game. Still, it's a well polished experience that easily plays better than the first outing.

Again, I'm amazed this sequel even exists, so I've taken great care to cherish the experience. I'm not going to say that you'll never see character action games again after Bayonetta 2. But I don't think you'll get a game like this in a long, long time.

Bayonetta (Wii U Edition)

Bonus time! If the idea of getting two games for the price of one is appealing to you, act now as the first Bayonetta comes in the same case as Bayonetta 2!

I decided to replay this game after beating Bayo 2, and I'm really glad I did because I forgot just how brutal this game is. The original Bayonetta is a great game, don't get me wrong, but the pacing is kind of all over the place and it reminded me just how hard it was to score well. Maybe Bayonetta 2 is just that good, I don't know. There are some long stages in this game, with QTEs that kill you instantly if you fail them. Some of the early bosses take awhile to beat without having all of your weapons or the accessories and skills to speed them up. Not to mention those two assholes Gracious and Glorious. Bayonetta is unforgiving and demanding. But if you can hang with it, there is a lot of fun to be had here.

Bayonetta still features one of my favorite boss battles ever in the form of Jeanne. Her boss music, Red and Black, is fantastic and she's such a joy to keep up with since she has your moves. That fight on the wing of a crashing plane is too good. There's no trick to Jeanne fights, no gimmick. It's just a matter of "how well can you play Bayonetta?" For me? Not too good, but they're still fun none the less. I had to break down and use pay phone cheats to unlock her since scoring Platinum for every stage of the game was never going to happen in my lifetime.

The Wii U Experience

For the most part, Bayonetta plays just as good as it does on the 360 when it first came out. I did notice some hits to the frame rate on some of the crazier boss battles where there's a ton of stuff going on at once. I don't know if it's my system or something else (as I had been playing a bunch of Bayonetta 2 beforehand) but I went back to the 360 version and didn't notice the same chug. It's not a huge deal breaker. You can certainly use the reaction time, but it's noticeable for sure. You can use the touchpad if you're feeling adventurous, but I don't know how you could possibly stand it considering everything Bayonetta throws at you. This does get kind of annoying as it relies on motion controls as default for the vehicle sections... but it's easy to switch to more manageable controls.

In any case, if you didn't see Bayonetta the first time on the PS3 and 360, it's not a bad time to start now as it plays just as well on the Wii U. Considering I got it with Bayonetta 2, I couldn't help but play through again if only to relive that absolutely ridiculous final boss. Big Bang Bonus punch, right into the sun. I still haven't seen anything like it. There's ridiculous, and then there's Bayonetta. I'm only left feeling very glad these games exist.

Thank you very much, Platinum Games.

The more I played of it the more certain things about it disappointed me. I honestly do think the first game is better. I'm glad the instant death QTE's are gone, they were never fun, but this new one at times rewards very sloppy play, and I'm not the biggest fan of that. The removal of enemies that can only be damaged in witch time just adds to the increased mashy nature of the game.

Any of the huge bosses where you are flying/floating have these insanely huge windows to dodge where it seems like you're more likely to get punished for leaving it til the last moment to dodge, and many of the human enemies can be cheesed by spamming the dodge as fast as possible instead of any kind of timing. I wish there were a few more unpredictable enemies like the centaurs with the star shield and flamey whip as almost everything in the game seems to have these huge tells.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but I feel like I've seen and done almost everything I want to with the game in half the time it took me to with the first. Tag Climax is cool and all, but what is there to see other than filling up bars to get to the next letter rank. The only two interesting things to unlock in that mode come at random, and you might unlock them in your first play session.

Even the best unlocks are tied to the not-so-hard hard mode.

Gracious and Glorious ruin my day every time. And they are EVERYWHERE in Nonstop Climax.

It's been a bit since I played the first Bayonetta, but I immediately recognized those jerks with the gauntlets and their ability to ruin my day. I liked it quite a bit, though maybe not on the same level as Devil May Cry 3, which might as well be my personal high watermark for the genre despite being ludicrously hard for my weak-person reflexes.

I'm pretty excited to try out Bayonetta 2 though. Not sure how I'm going to regain access to a Wii U short of going home for a weekend, but that might just happen anyways.

@arbitrarywater: I had never messed around with the Devil May Cry series when they first came out. Usually I had second hand exposure through friends. I heard a lot of good things about 3, so hopefully Bayonetta 2 works out well for you. I can't really make any first hand comparisons myself.

@gunstarred: I will say that Bayonetta 2's hardest is nowhere near as tough as Bayonetta's hardest. So if that's where the bar is, I can see why you would be left a little cold. Personally, I found Bayonetta a little too vicious as fun as it is. By the third chapter you have the enemies on fire that you can't approach unless you're in Witch Time and by chapter five you have The Lost Holy Grounds which ends on a Jeanne fight. Not to mention the Tower to Truth. That level is long. And hard. And has a boss rush.

I find Bayonetta 2 just right difficulty wise. I can actually use the other weapons rather than feel like I always have to get serious with one weapon combination. I still find plenty of fights in that game hard, but I was a little bummed they don't have new enemy placements in Third Climax like they do in Bayonetta's Hard Mode.

Both are great games though.

The first time I fought those guys I died so hard. I thought Grace and Glory were bad. Gracious and Glorious are nightmares. And yes, they like own Nonstop Climax.

I'm playing through Bayonetta 1 right now and it has a lot of framerate issues during cutscenes. I can't remember it ever happening during combat though so that's good.

Bayonetta one is really good but it's kicking my ass a bit.

STONE STATUE, STONE STATUE, STONE STATUE, ETC.

Grace and Glory/cousins are fun things to fight against, air shuraba weaves with durga booms are the best way to fight them as far as I could tell (you can infinite juggle them up with the weave into the explosions, of course if they hit you before you get the first juggle off you die); works on Nonstop Infinite Climax too. Jeanne is a bit easier than DMC3 Vergil but still reminiscent enough and fun to fight. The Bullshit QTEs were definitely the worst part of the first game, what stopped me from going for pure platinum medals; happy to hear they're not as bad in Bayonetta 2. I've discovered that Bayonetta is fun to play in Anarchy Reigns though, so that's something to hold me over for 5 or 6 years.

@fredchuckdave: Those QTEs are still hard. I know they're coming, and I still mess them up. The window is ridiculously tight. Never knew about the juggle stuff. The only trick I ever heard about was the Lt. Colonel Kilgore bug where you could launch tons of rockets with a kick combo.