Strength.

ANOTHER Bayonetta post?

Yes.

Because this game is exceptional. Excellent, even. But I rave on about it enough. One thing that particularly stood out for me was her design, and it's a driving force behind why I'm never embarassed to show people this game no matter how over-the-top things get. Almost brilliantly, the things she says, does wouldn't work for any other character, and if it was attempted, it'd be a failure, indeed.

Anyone who's spoken to me aloud about her knows what's coming next, but instead of subjecting you to one of my rants, I'll instead show this very well put together collection of thoughts from the Game OverThinker, because he's spot on with my opinion.

I always smile inwardly when things I've said appear elsewhere in the mainstream..it means I definitely picked the right field. Video after the jump.



Agree? Disagree? Comments please. There aren't enough of them around here ;)

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This looks amazing. Here are three ways to have it NOT suck, Sega.

Watch this.



Looks great, doesn't it? Here's how Sega can keep from screwing it up. Again.

1 - MAKE SURE WE'RE ONLY USING SONIC. REAL SONIC.

I may be one of the only fans left keeping track, but ever since this generation started, Sonic Team's taken to promising the fans that each new title is a return to form, that we'll only be using Sonic, no sidekicks along for the ride, and that we'll do what he does best.

Then they turn it on us.

This bait-and-switch tactic worked with the godawful Sonic The Hedgehog when they pulled Shadow's vehicles and Silver's physics sandbox gameplay out of a hat months before release, and of course, in Sonic Unleashed when they revealed that Sonic would be transforming into a damned werehog, again veering off of normal Sonic gameplay and forcing players into a cheap, slow paced brawler. Oh yeah. They managed to sneak Tails and another new annoying sidekick in the form of Chip in there as well. Sega, understand that we don't need to play as Sonic, his brothers, sisters, extended family, second cousins, THEIR cousins, AND the black sheep inbetween. Running and jumping is a pastime in gaming that'll never grow old. Sonic doing this has not gotten old. Variety of this sort is atrocious and the #1 thing ruining Sonic games post 1995.


NO.

2 - More Platforming, less (yes, I said LESS) Speed.

Ever since Sonic's transition from 2D to 3D, the design seems to have been running in reverse. Sonic games of the Genesis era were tricky, filled with secrets, and had great platforming in huge, multi-tiered levels. Almost as if it were a present for making it through, they were always bookended with short stretches that allowed Sonic to show off his trademark speed. They were brief moments, but they were always rewarding and a blast to experience.


(What a REAL Sonic level used to look like. Click to enlarge)

Sonic games in the post-Dreamcast era have had an emphasis on speed, with platforming either falling by the wayside, or being an afterthought. This has forced the game's structure into a psuedo on rails trial-and-error affair, with success coming not from how well tuned your reflexes are, but how well you've memorized a stage after failing countless times. Even my recent favorite of the series, Sonic Unleashed suffers from this. The stages are amazing rollercoaster rides, yes, but the bottleneck it forces players into, essentially having to play a level the way the developers want you to instead of encouraging exploration and multiple paths is one of the things that has been killing the series since 2000.

A return to the secret filled, challenging platform days would be amazing. Sonic's fast. This has been established. But it's a character trait, not a singular gameplay rule. Imagine if everything Mario did in his games was centered around plumbing.

Yep.

3 - Please no "epic" plotlines.

Am I the only person who remembers when Sonic was just a tree hugging, chili dog eating, 'tude filled advocate for animal rights? Robotnik captures the animals and enslaves them, then Sonic sets out to rescue them. That's the motivation. All Mario had was a princess, a bunch of mushroom men, or his brother, but Sonic? He was rescuing the entire damn wilderness. But while Mario has been content rescuing Peach for over 20 years with nary a deviation in plot, Sonic's adventures just keep getting more epic, and simultaneously more ridiculous. Emerald legends, strange relics, plots to destroy the earth, mystical beings, clones, prophetic destinies, it ended up coming to a head (at least for me) in 2006 when he had a love interest in Princess Elise.


Fuck.

I don't need to explain what's wrong with this picture and I'm not going to. All I'm going to say is, if I get ahold of this and I find some radical overarching plot that involves Sonic being thrown back in time due to the activation of a mystical device powered by the tears of an ancient mole race who've been controlling time through the whims of a mystical plant being who speaks through his ass, I'm going down to San Francisco myself and shooting someone in the face.

Sega, you look over this carefully and we'll be golden. Otherwise, you're bound to lose a longtime fan. I know I'm not the only one tired of perpetuating The Sonic Cycle over and over again.


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Quick Thought - Bayonetta

Bayonetta is the best action game this year, Period. Yes I realize I'm saying this when God of War 3 is on the cusp of release. Yes, I realize the year just started.

But my definition of what makes a great action game, and an epic action game what they are are two different things.

While there isn't any doubt in my mind that God of War will be an epic spectacle, a graphical and aural marvel with some of the most cinematic and downright visceral moments in gaming coupled with a stellar storyline, these are all bullet points.

Genuinely?

On its merits as an infinitely playable action game, I don't think it'll top Bayonetta.

Bayonetta is fun, fast, gorgeous and has unprecedented depth. It's as much a celebration of action games as it is gaming in general, refuses to take itself too seriously, and in terms of creativity and completely off-the-wall game design, I've never played ANYTHING like it.

It has a very endearing, self-referential arcade game quality to it that makes it addictive, and the sheer number of weapons and combat situations, coupled with some of the most over the top setpieces I've ever seen, ensure there's a reason to play it over and over, discovering something new nearly every time. No really. When your character's potential moveset has enough depth to rival that of a Virtua Fighter character, something special is going on there.

God of War cannot claim this. As polished as its combat engine is, it's still an intensely cinematic game that's meant to be experienced, not replayed like a traditional game. When it's over, it's over, and there will be stories, but revisiting is just smoothing over familiar territory. A replay of God of War is nostalgic at best.

Replaying Bayonetta is peeling back layers. I've gone through the game twice, have replayed countless missions and boss fights, and I'm STILL finding out new things, still having as much fun as I had the first go-around.

Similar to what Rockstar did with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in reminding everyone in the industry exactly who the master of the open-world genre was, Hideki Kamiya and Platinum Games just stepped in and reminded everyone exactly who redefined the action genre in 2001 in the first place.


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Yes, I paid $99.99 for this.

If you ask me, it was worth every penny.

I mean...LOOK AT IT.

Kinda want that other one though...

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How did...but isn't that...huh? Awesome.

Among a bunch of amazing announcements from Capcom two days ago, Monster Hunter Frontier on the 360, Super Street Fighter 4 being released April 27th, They still had one in store, curiously about Lost Planet 2, and it was more than its May 18th release date.

There aren't words. Though YouTube's own embedding scheme already ruins my buildup, you're still going to watch. Because it truly has to be seen to be believed.



(I love how sure of themselves they are. Pff. Not that they're strangers to battling monsters that are several stories tall)

THIS is why I tell anyone who will listen that the 360 is the successor to the Dreamcast, and Capcom's open love/support for the system is similarly indicative of this.

Just look at the signs like this one.

I never would've guessed.

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Gameplay demo of...Bioshock 2?

While I realize this may make me seem like a huge hypocrite in retrospect, in the passing months, I've found much to be excited about.

Mind you, my opinion hasn't changed, but a revised direction in the story on the developers' side, plus a very recent playthrough of the original on mine has much to do with why February 9th seems so far away.

I don't expect the same impact as the original. That may be unreasonable. But if you can bring me back to Rapture in 1970 and have me feel it, well..

Then I can't wait.


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Innovative black sheep..of COURSE it'll continue!

Despite the naysayers (but really, wasn't it a bit much calling it out that early on it's October sales numbers when it was out for THREE days of the entire month?) and even somewhat underwhelming sales numbers, DJ Hero is apparently the highest grossing new IP of 2009, according to a press release from Activision themselves.

While the announcement in itself is a bit skewed given the right perspective (it's the highest grossing, not selling, and the entry fee for the game stands at $120), I for one think it's great that the game is getting the respect I feel it deserves instead of being written off as another soulless Activision-styled regurgitation of the music genre. The game rightfully earned a few 'Best of' awards last year despite its weak sales numbers, and this announcement among others just ensures that a bigger, better sequel is pretty much a given.

This is great news in my book, not just for the franchise, but in general. The IP not making any money should've been a death knell for the series, innovation be damned. Personally, I found it more entertaining than another game you might've heard of that released from Activision these past holidays, what was it...Modern Warfare 2?

Forget the profits, (even though they'll be MUCH more important this time around) here's hoping Freestyle Games can strike gold once again and come up with something even better this year that doesn't feel like a completely phoned-in, soulless add-on to what has been a fresh new start for the genre.

Yeah. I went there.

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