Bayonetta

Bayonetta is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega. It was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan in October 2009, and in North America and Europe in January 2010. It was released on Wii U in September 2014, Windows in April 2017, Nintendo Switch in February 2018, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in February 2020. Bayonetta takes place in Vigrid, a fictional city in Europe. Bayonetta (voiced by Hellena Taylor / Atsuko Tanaka) is a witch who shapeshifts and uses various firearms, along with magical attacks she performs with her hair by summoning demons to dispatch her foes.

She awakens after a 500-year sleep and finds herself in an unfamiliar area with no memories of who or what she is. Over time, she begins to remember what caused her current predicament. Five hundred years before the incident that caused Bayonetta’s memory loss, there were two factions preserving the balance between darkness and light in the world: the Umbra Witches, who are followers of darkness, and their counterparts, the Lumen Sages, who are followers of light. The factions shared two distinct treasures, the ‘Eyes of the World’ (separately named the ‘Left Eye of Darkness’ and the ‘Right Eye of Light’) which they used to oversee the just passage of time. Both factions mysteriously disappeared from Vigrid under unknown circumstances. 

Bayonetta has an ornate piece of jewelry which contains a small red gem, and believes this gem is the Left Eye of the World. While searching for the Right Eye, she occasionally receives flashbacks that make her remember what happened. Bayonetta is a single-player, third-person 3D action-adventure and hack and slash game. The player controls a witch named Bayonetta, is able to use melee and long ranged attacks and is able to select multiple weapons. By pressing a combination of buttons, they are able to use “Wicked Weave” attacks and they are also able to use “Torture Attacks” in which Bayonetta summons a variety of devices to deal strong damage to enemies. Such devices range from chainsaws to iron maidens. 

One ability Bayonetta has is “Witch Time”, which activates when the player makes a well-timed dodge to an attack. This temporarily increases her speed, causing enemies to appear to move in slow-motion, allowing Bayonetta to inflict massive amounts of counter damage before the enemies can react. The player can double jump for extra height, perform evasive backflips, and destroy background objects and doors. Camera views can be rotated, enemy targets can be locked on, and weapons can be switched during play. With unlockable transformations, the player can make Bayonetta become a panther or one of various other living creatures to enhance her abilities. 

Lollipops can be used to heal her, replenish her magic, induce invincibility or increase her strength, although using these items, as well as dying, lowers the score for that chapter. By finding various component items, the player can combine them into new items. Many enemies and objects drop halos when destroyed, which the player can use to buy items, techniques and weapon upgrades. The player can use enemy weapons, either to directly attack or as props for movement. Bayonetta’s strongest attacks allow her to summon parts of Madama Butterfly and other demons with her hair.