Bayonetta 2 feels like it came from an alternate dimension where the Sega Dreamcast and its bright blue skies arcade style won the console war. A world in which immediate fun AND an abundance of depth lived in harmony, and were awarded with millions of adoring fans. A place where games were expected to be polished affairs filled with bonus unlockable content and actually worked day one without day one patches or retailer exclusive DLC. A masterpiece that almost didn't actually get made in our world, but we're all a little lucky that it did.
Bayonetta 2 is like playing with all of DMC4 Dante's Styles as the same time and married it to God of War's bombast. It has the slick aggressive defense of Ninja Gaiden Black that will occasionally explode into a DMC Devil Trigger. It has Battletoad's satisfying combo enders of enlarged limbs and Streets of Rage 3's weapon pick-ups with a limited bar for special move usage.
Bayonetta 2 has a dodge, a completely invincible, free-wheeling dodge on the right trigger that for a brief moment allows you to dodge everything from laser swords to kung-fu strikes by cosmic deities. A dodge that encourages the player to learn their opponents tells both visual and audio, to stylishly avoid a hit and continue the relentless offensive. A dodge that, when pressed twice in quick succession turns you into a panther that controls like sex, so smooth in its movements and so right in its weight.
Bayonetta 2 was not satisfied with the many heights its predecessor reached. The first game's piss filter is gone, replaced with an HD sheen and vibrant colors. Weapons have been expanded from their default movesets, with all new animations and effects to make them more differentiated and viable. The arcadey variety segments have been shortened, their camera angles improved for proper visibility, tuned to maximum efficiency. Bosses have been improved, with a larger focus on one-on-one fights and less giant platforming challenges. Level design has been streamlined, almost every chapter a string of memorable, replayable encounters, with almost twice as many enemy types as before.
Bayonetta 2 is hardly satisfied with just delivering bang for your buck. It wants to overdeliver. It must grant the player a stupid amount of delectable distractions, ooddles of collectibles and secret fights and a dozen costumes and cheats and modes in the vein that modern AAA games just don't do very much of anymore. It even throws in the best version of Bayonetta 1 entirely for free, out of the kindness of its heart. There's even a fuckin' Star Fox 64 section, complete with original visual designs and sound effects.
Bayonetta 2 is like the feeling you get when you play Virtua Cop with both hands. Its like dodging a tight bullet pattern in DoDonPachi. Its like taking on Nemesis with just the knife. Its like following up a Hadouken and going in for a tic throw in Street Fighter 2. Its the sound of time of distorting when you come in and out of slow-mo in F.E.A.R. Its like running up a wall in Sonic and jumping off, using the momentum to reach heights you couldn't at walking speed. Its like discovering how to wall jump in Super Metroid. Its like completing Contra without the Konami Code. Its like discovering a secret chest in Zelda. Its like getting the high score in Time Crisis 2 in the arcade, a small following of on-lookers gazing at awe at the grace in which you dispatch its color-coded criminals. Its like main-lining PURE FUCKIN' VIDEO GAME for close to a dozen hours straight. And then you do it again in a blue Chinese dress with whips on your feet and chainsaw gauntlets.
