Platinum Games is known for its roster of hardcore, unforgiving, sometimes brutal games, and Bayonetta itself was promised to be a "sadistic" experience. Curious to find out just how hard Bayonetta will be (as opposed to how hard Bayonetta makes me), I asked Platinum producer Yusuke Hashimoto how the team is currently approaching the upcoming game's difficulty levels.
"Because Bayonetta is a game for action fans who are looking forward to a real challenge, we paid the closest attention to the adjustments for attack and defense," he explains. "I think a game which just has high a degree of difficulty is not always good. The most important thing is to be able to cater to gamers of all abilities so you’re not making the game inaccessible to people who’d want to play it.
"We prepared an 'Easy Automatic' mode for users who are interested in playing Bayonetta but aren’t very good at action games, or maybe haven’t even played one before. There’s several different difficulty modes so whatever your skill at action games is, you’re sure to find a mode that suits you."
One problem I have with a lot of Japanese action games (as much as I adore them) is that they often spend so long focusing on making a game simply "hard" that they forget to include any other important design elements. It's great to see that Platinum understand that difficulty isn't everything, and that the game has been built so that anybody can enjoy it. Both the inhumanly hardcore action junkies and the spineless casual chickenbabies get to enjoy themselves, and that's a compromise I think we can all endorse.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
3:20 PM on 09.11.2009
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Are you saying that Bayonetta looks like a button masher or all DMC action games as a whole? The former is obviously yet to be determined, but your latter comment is completely wrong. That's like saying all fighting games are button mashers; it may be possible to beat a game just by button mashing, but your missing out on a great deal of depth.
I think that warrants all the hype in the world.
Also, the DMC guy has talked much talk about being the father of great action games, and feels he's been ripped off. If he's saying he's about to more or less "take it to the next level", then I'd say the hype train is already set to on, regardless of who your protagonist is. The sex appeal, for me at least, is just a bonus.
You're doing all sorts of weapon play, with your hands and feet, summoning demons and just generally doing all sorts of over-the-top cool shit that is either hard to find or hard to find done right.
There is a lot of fantastic original stuff to it. Like her hair being the source of her power. Haven't seen hair as an asset since Mortal Kombat 3. Is it wacky? Of course. Does it fit within context? Yes. Does it really matter in the end? Not at all.
Unless, of course, you've already made up your mind that you don't like Bayonetta and will never like Bayonetta, even if you were to play it, then it becomes one more thing to add to the list of reasons that you consider to justify your point of view of why you think Bayonetta is bad.
I'll be honest with you man, I was saying the exact same things about the game. It looked so generic, so uninspired. But trust me when it comes out, give it a whirl. Getting a hands on experience with the game changed my mind completely. Definitely getting it, without question.
to the point where it's borderline broken, like Ninja Gaiden 2.
DMC1 is the only DMC game he has been involved with, after that he made Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2 and Okami.
I wouldn't call three games, and the third not yet released, a roster.
You've already admitted to not being a fan of the genre, so you have no right to say this game doesn't deserve the amount of hype it's getting (which is still insignificant compared to other titles coming out this year).
Having played the game at PAX, I don't care if it's an attractive/non-attractive witch protagonist, or a Licker from Resident Evil 2 doing the attacks on the screen; this game is one of my (if not the most) anticipated titles coming out.
Spending hours just to get through a level with little reward (except the accomplishment itself) isn't enjoyment: It's a waste of time. Time I could spend playing games that have a better understanding of difficulty and reward.