I rented Bayonetta to give it a try, and after only a few hours or so I've already decided not to bother any further. Considering the highly praising reviews it has been getting so far I'm wondering now if there's just something wrong with me or with everyone else.
First of all, it's WAAAY too artsy fartsy for my tastes. There's so much gaudiness and extremely over-the-top character visual styles and action that I feel confused 90% of the time. I guess it's just a matter of whether you like this kind of stuff or not. Admittedly it's not a HUGE concern of mine. I like recent Final Fantasy games fine so I guess it depends on the genre.
Secondly, the combat itself seems very awkward and hard to control. While there's a mind bogglingly huge amount of variety in attacks, combos, weapons and finishers, most of the time the controls just don't seem to respond the way I want them to. During loading screens you're able to practice your combos complete with a display showing your button presses, and a lot of times it'll come up saying I've pressed buttons I actually haven't. Plus I'm sure a lot of split second timing comes into it and quite frankly I have enough extremely gaudy over-the-top action going on to even worry about it. The only reason I don't actually struggle at all is just because I have it on the lowest difficulty, which I'm not sure makes up for it.
Some of this might be forgivable if it weren't for the third and by far worst problem I have with Bayonetta: QUICKTIME EVENTS. Do I really need to go over all this again? If my gaming fingers end up getting worn out because of the umpteenth time I have to rapidly mash either X or B (tends to be random thus can't be prepared for it) to build up a power meter on a time limit or if I have to go through a setup procedure again because I didn't hit Y+B at the right time when it was flashed up then something has definitely gone wrong somewhere.
When oh when are developers ever going to realize that people don't praise a game because of its quicktime events but rather they're praising the other stuff in the game despite the quicktime events? QTEs only ever bring an action game down and in some cases, like with The Force Unleashed and now Bayonetta, they can spell the difference between a game worth buying and not worth buying.
The next game on my list to try is Darksiders. Seriously, developers, I dare you to try your hidden QTE bulls#*t on me just one more time.
First of all, it's WAAAY too artsy fartsy for my tastes. There's so much gaudiness and extremely over-the-top character visual styles and action that I feel confused 90% of the time. I guess it's just a matter of whether you like this kind of stuff or not. Admittedly it's not a HUGE concern of mine. I like recent Final Fantasy games fine so I guess it depends on the genre.
Secondly, the combat itself seems very awkward and hard to control. While there's a mind bogglingly huge amount of variety in attacks, combos, weapons and finishers, most of the time the controls just don't seem to respond the way I want them to. During loading screens you're able to practice your combos complete with a display showing your button presses, and a lot of times it'll come up saying I've pressed buttons I actually haven't. Plus I'm sure a lot of split second timing comes into it and quite frankly I have enough extremely gaudy over-the-top action going on to even worry about it. The only reason I don't actually struggle at all is just because I have it on the lowest difficulty, which I'm not sure makes up for it.
Some of this might be forgivable if it weren't for the third and by far worst problem I have with Bayonetta: QUICKTIME EVENTS. Do I really need to go over all this again? If my gaming fingers end up getting worn out because of the umpteenth time I have to rapidly mash either X or B (tends to be random thus can't be prepared for it) to build up a power meter on a time limit or if I have to go through a setup procedure again because I didn't hit Y+B at the right time when it was flashed up then something has definitely gone wrong somewhere.
When oh when are developers ever going to realize that people don't praise a game because of its quicktime events but rather they're praising the other stuff in the game despite the quicktime events? QTEs only ever bring an action game down and in some cases, like with The Force Unleashed and now Bayonetta, they can spell the difference between a game worth buying and not worth buying.
The next game on my list to try is Darksiders. Seriously, developers, I dare you to try your hidden QTE bulls#*t on me just one more time.
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