Playing through Bayonetta now, and having a good time in spite of the player punishing difficulty. (I ignore rankings and use the hell out of items, and I can't imagine ever going above normal difficulty with this kind of abusive level of challenge) But I'm noticing more and more, especially towards the end while fighting Jeanne, that these QTE's they try to mix into the game are very poorly executed. You're essentially forced to play through some of these scenes at least twice to memorize where they are, as that is the only way to really get them on time. Very big flaw not many people or reviewers seem to call Platinum out on.
Bayonetta
Game » consists of 27 releases. Released Oct 29, 2009
- Xbox 360
- PlayStation 3
- PlayStation Network (PS3)
- Wii U
- + 4 more
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
Bayonetta is a "non-stop action game" from PlatinumGames. The titular character is a witch who can use hair-based magic, as well as firearms attached to her feet, to battle fallen angels and other foes.
QTE's are very poorly implemented
There were a few QTEs in the game I really really hated.
Not only do they sometimes come out of nowhere seemingly, the timing is what sucks. You have to press the button when the button appears on the screen, not when it makes sense to what's going on in the screen. However, the absolutely worst moment is on the collapsing bridge when it seems you should be able to jump to the right, except there is an invisible wall. What you actually have to do is just wait on the falling bridge until it almost hits the lava and you get a QTE out of nowhere. I died about 5 times there the first time until I realized the game actually wanted me to suck and just stand around to almost die. In a game like Bayonetta where sucking is rarely rewarded, that's a REALLY REALLY shitty implementation.
Worst QTE EVER!
I found the game on normal to surprisingly be a bit of a cakewalk,mainly because the dodge system works so well and is easy to pull off, I can see people having difficulty though, if it wasnt for my DMC 3 and 4 bender I went on earlier this year i doubt i'd be in a similar position. The QTEs are a bit annoying but the game does save pretty close to where they start or in the case of bossfights just takes a bit of your health and lets you try again.
I just started the next to last battle, and it really exemplifies what a fatal flaw the QTE quarter second reaction times is. Utterly stupid programming.
The one in the Jeane fight where she launches a rocket at you is the only one I consistently have trouble hitting. That said, my first time through the game pretty much all of the "Surprise! Hit X or die!" ones in the middle of cutscenes killed me. This game likes to cheap shot you with enemy attacks coming out of cutscenes as well. Very unforgiving.
I haven't found many yet, but the few that have popped up have had such a short input time, that I miss them. I took 4 tries to get the one at the Ch 3 boss fight. Even knowing it was coming, I would still miss the window.
The QTE's that I found most annoying were the ones in AC II. They always popped at moment that I would put my controller down because it was during basic dialog scenes, not action sequences. I think I managed to hit one of them
@Diamond said:
" There were a few QTEs in the game I really really hated. Not only do they sometimes come out of nowhere seemingly, the timing is what sucks. You have to press the button when the button appears on the screen, not when it makes sense to what's going on in the screen. However, the absolutely worst moment is on the collapsing bridge when it seems you should be able to jump to the right, except there is an invisible wall. What you actually have to do is just wait on the falling bridge until it almost hits the lava and you get a QTE out of nowhere. I died about 5 times there the first time until I realized the game actually wanted me to suck and just stand around to almost die. In a game like Bayonetta where sucking is rarely rewarded, that's a REALLY REALLY shitty implementation. Worst QTE EVER! "
I never waited on the bridge, you don't have to, you can run across the entire bridge and jump onto the other side.
I like them, they force you to watch the cut scenes carefully, with fingers on the buttons.
The timing is too tight and they get real annoying. You might have a megacrazy action scene with no QTEs and then suddenly PRESS X TO BREATHE OR DIEEEE! WITCH HUNT IS OVER!
" @ryanwho said:I've never experienced it. Seems like something you do when you're too lazy to work something really cinematic into the actual gameplay. I'd rather just have a cutscene if you can't make it work in the game." I wasn't aware there was any other kind of QTE. "there are, there have just been too many bad ones "
I really didn't care much for QTE's in this game, I mean they were there, but they didn't bother me. The only QTE that I can think of liking is the semi-QTE where you have to jump on the falling rocks in chapter IV (The twin headed upside-down faced dragon thing).
And I do have to admit, this game is pretty brutal above normal; however I am used to playing Ninja Gaiden (1, 2, Σ2) on the master ninja difficulties. They are truly insane; Bayonetta, IMO, feels slightly easier on the Non-Stop Climax difficulty than Ninja Gaiden does on the Master Ninja difficulty.
Another problem with bayonetta (while I am on that topic) is the gap between easy and normal. On easy (or very easy as well) the game plays itself, gives you a maxed out health bar and magic bar from the start, and even has 'combo assist' which - imo, takes out some of the fun from the game (Oh, I forgot to add auto-dodge).
Lastly, I remembered that some of the quick time events are very time-sensitive, meaning you have to hit it right when it shows up, or you fail.
I'm perfectly fine with QTEs as long as the aren't the "press X to not die" variety. Those seemed to be mostly at the start of the game and the QTEs in general got better as the game went on.
Granted the press X to not die ones shouldn't have been in the game at all and were rather annoying where they existed. All in all, I felt Bayonetta had one of the less obnoxious QTE implementations.
I never liked them at first but I pay alot more attention to what's going on now looking for those QTE. The story doesn't really engage me but I love the combat, at least this way I have some idea of what's going on.
The cutscene QTEs are awful, and I can't believe how they were included in a game with otherwise expertly tuned gameplay mechanics. Thankfully there aren't many of them.
"QTEs" outside the cutscenes, such as jumping from platform to platform and the boss battle ones were fun to me though. A few even played out like sort of a rhythm minigame.
Yeah the QTEs are shit. We're supposed to believe this woman has cat-like reactions, but then are dished QTEs that pop-up completely unexpectedly and cause instant failure. Dumb.
Lucky for us, QTE don't change each time. So if I know what's coming, I can easily counter it.
Well except for the Sapientia fight. I tend to fail at his QTE. You know the one you where your on his back and you punch him in the face. Sometimes the game doesn't read when I press the two buttons.
" You know what's even better than less obnoxious? Not at all. Darksiders didn't feel the need to include QTEs, you don't see anyone bemoaning their lack on inclusion. "Different games have different merits. In general Bayonetta was great. The quick look of Darksiders just looked boring and bland.
@PopeAnonymousVII:
I rather like the implementation of QTE in Bayonetta. I've failed my fair share the first time encountering them however my reflex time is not so hot. I know some folks who get most of these QTE's on the first try. I think it's more a practice makes perfect situation than trial and error.
Just to clarify, as I said before I do not get every QTE however I do get more now that I'm used to them popping up and the only explanation I have is that I'm getting better at the game
I think the reason people aren't calling them out is that they're implemented rather well... You don't have to hit X then Y then A then X then X then X... you just hit one button and its done.
You do have a point that they can pop up at a random time and you die because you're not ready for it the first time, but I cant think of a single instance where the game didn't bring me back to life right before the QTE hit once again -- eg. If it was mid-boss fight, you continued right from that point and didn't have to do the whole fight all over again.
The only QTEs that wasn't well implemented were the cutscene ones, and some doesn't make sense. The ones in the boss fights were fine, you just press it whenever the button pops up based on reflexes, it's not perfect, and it could use some polishing, but the ideas were great.
The ones you get from Jeanne were especially good because most of them made sense, the button mashing depends on what jeanne is hitting you with, you don't even have to trigger those, and even if you did and fail them, you could bats within and dodge her final hit, you lose nothing if you bother to dodge anything in this game, it's one of the better QTE implementation I've seen so far.
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment