I first played Bayonetta a few years ago following its initial release. My first impressions were damning. Was it the over the top approach? The gameplay? To be perfectly honest I didn’t even get that far. I didn’t even make it through the prologue. The characters in Bayonetta are excruciating! Fast forward a couple of years, I’m currently on Chapter 10 and thoroughly enjoying it. So what changed? Well, I simply changed the audio to Japanese.
Last month Bayonetta was re-released on the Wii U as part of the Bayonetta 2 fanfare. Once again the internet was lit up by glowing commendations from pundits and fans alike. At the time of writing, Bayonetta 1 and 2 are sitting at 90 and 91 respectively on Metacritic. This is no mean feat. Clearly I hadn’t given the game enough opportunity to shine, and if nothing else, I felt I had to give it another shot.
Upon firing up the game I was instantly reminded of the fantastic artwork and presentation. This game knows exactly what it is and runs with it. There’s something about the supernatural yet biblical set-up that really appeals to me, perhaps harking back to my early Castlevania days. So far so good... Cue the first cut scene.
The opening exchange is one between Bayonetta, the protagonist, and Enzo, a squat, balding, middle age Italian American. Within seconds of it starting I knew my initial reaction had been fair. The voice acting is truly dreadful. It’s enough to make you squirm in your seat, or worse, power down your console. Each character is a poorly delivered cliché and frankly, rather embarrassing to watch. These were not characters I wanted to spend any time with.
Some might point out that the storyline is merely a backdrop to the gameplay and that these scenes can quite easily be skipped. This is true and I do appreciate that many will do just that, however, I’m a sucker for detail. I play games as a form of escapism. I play games to be immersed in a different world. I want to be compelled and recruited to a cause. For me personally, it was all or nothing. Skipping these scenes was not an option.
Before returning to Bayonetta I’d vowed to make it further than I had before. I’d returned to the game to give it a chance so I had to push my prejudices aside and plough on. But as hard as I tried I was pelted with terrible cut scene after cut scene until I’d almost had enough. But then I had a brain wave! I thought of a way around it! Crossing my fingers I dove into the audio menu and there it was. An option to switch the English voice acting to Japanese!
This may sound strange but I cannot convey the difference this has made to my Bayonetta experience. It seems to have glued the whole game together transforming it into a wonderful slice of Japanese fiction. The characters are wacky, playful and hell, even likeable. They now coalesce perfectly into the surrounding game world and it wasn’t until I’d made this change that I was allowed to be taken along for the ride.
Needless to say, Bayonetta 2 is currently sat next to my Wii U and, short of a quick tweak in the options, is ready to roll.
Log in to comment