Bayonetta is merciless. She taunts enemies of epic-proportions without a care. She summons sadistic instruments of death to humiliate her foes. And she does it in style. Plus, she looks like Sarah Palin. These things combined with some of the best controls in an action game, make Bayonetta game of the year material and my personal game of choice for 2010.
In order for Platinum Games to make this game stand out, the developer had to make a few design choices I thought were well executed. Bayonetta (the character) gained attention for being last year's femme fatale for some gaming journalists and fans. But many overlooked the fact that Bayonetta is a strong female lead character. She is an independent woman. She is not afraid to flaunt it in her own way either. It is obvious Platinum Games wanted to craft her with the best of both worlds: strong and independent, yet beautiful and sexual.
Bayonetta is the game’s star. Everything revolves around this woman. And I mean everything. Often times, developers add in other people to their game without fleshing out why their inclusion is necessary, let alone important. In Bayonetta, secondary characters are just that, secondary, and do not add much to the plot. The only reason they are in the game is to make the star shine even brighter. This is not everyone's cup of tea, but crafting the game in this way was for the better. No need to worry about distracting secondary characters muddying the story. This problem does not exist in this paper-thin story.
Speaking of which, the story focuses on Bayonetta’s lost memory and some characters from her lost past. But what makes this game game-of-the-year material though is the game's style. Prevalent sexual overtones abound in this rump through Vigrid, a fictional European city. Some might call Bayonetta's stripper acrobatics distasteful, perhaps even pornographic, but it gives the game a distinct personality; a uniqueness not seen in many 2010's sea of remakes and sequels. This might hit or miss with gamers. This is the best non-mechanical design decision the developer made; by making Bayonetta the only performer, they could pour all their effort into perfecting the lead character. This includes perfecting the combat system and making some of the most stylistic non-stop action to ever grace a console.
It's true action games do not need over the top theatrics and epic enemies. However in Bayonetta’s case, it is to the game’s benefit. When I fight a boss, I want to get a feeling of accomplishment, like I did something. When I do a quick-time event, I want a sense of powerful, unrealistic force. Bayonetta does this well from the get-go. Players can grasp the basics of the witch’s moves quickly and soon progress to ripping off the head of a double-headed dragon beast before you know it. This makes for a very satisfying gaming experience.
As above, players can learn how to play Bayonetta pretty easily. Many action games fall shy of glory because of awkward combat controls. Metal Gear Solid 4 comes to mind. Fortunately, Bayonetta lacks this failing. The controls (on Playstation 3) are easy to remember: press the X button to jump, Triangle to punch/shoot your gun, Circle to kick/shoot your gun, and Square to fire your guns. Sound simple? Well, it is. The basics are easy to grasp, though longer combos are difficult to master. At times, I admit, I found myself sticking to only a few moves, just because they work. But Platinum Games included a myriad of moves to master when slaying legions of angels. All of this is here to make Bayonetta look cool and you will feel cool too executing these attacks. For this, Platinum Games deserves a round of applause.
There are games out there possessing that cool factor. Few, if any, of them have a strong female lead killing with grandiose moves and oozing with style; and did it while maintaining a rock-solid control scheme. So bravo Platinum! Not only did you all make a unique game, but you did it without ruining the fundamentals. This is why I can call Bayonetta my 2010 game of the year.