Bayonetta is a game which is really rather a wonderful. It’s full of over the top action sequences, extreme violence, wonderful Japanese music and creepy religious iconography. In a way, it’s a little hard to talk about because it is a very unique experience, but I shall do my best. I will say, simply though, that this is a good game and I enjoyed it.

The story follows an “Umbra Witch” named Bayonetta who, on modern day Earth, sets out to wipe out the angels who are not quite as benevolent as people might imagine. She has a mysterious past which we find out more about as the story progresses. “How do witches and angels move around in modern-day Earth without drawing attention to themselves?” I hear you ask. Well, the game introduces three different realms: Paradiso (which is a heavenly version of the world), Purgatorio (essentially a middle ground) and Inferno (which is full of demons) and you switch between them in order to avoid being detected.

The lore of Bayonetta seems to be quite deep and it’s clear that a lot of attention has gone into it. I feel like it’s the kind of thing which will make more sense the more times you play through it. This could potentially be a turn-off for some people (as it is occasionally hard to know what’s going on) but I kind of liked the bizarre and bewildering aspect of the game’s story. With so much thought put into the mythology, it’s not hard to imagine it as real.

So, how does it play? Well, as Bayonetta, you explore different areas and then fight groups of angelic beasts. You can use different weapons and do different attacks by pressing different button combos. By dodging at just the right times, you can slow down time, which is very useful for fighting against tougher enemies. Honestly, the combat is very difficult and you will probably die a lot. Sometimes it’s a little too hard and can even get frustrating, but then when you win a level you feel like you’ve actually achieved something. Also, if you put in the time, you will start to master the combat system and things will get easier. If all else fails, you can just play it on an easier mode.

One of the biggest appeals (for me) was the character of Bayonetta herself. Yes, she is heavily sexualised, which might put some people off, but sexualisation doesn’t cancel out the fact that she is very well developed. She’s funny and the mystery around her makes her quite interesting. She’s really quite endearing, I think.

The game was originally released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but it did later come to Wii U. The Wii U version is essentially the same, but it did add some very nice Nintendo-themed outfits. In that version, she can dress as Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Princess Zelda or Samus Aran. These costumes provide special sound effects (from their games) and give you new moves as well – for example, when wearing the Peach or Daisy outfits, you can have Bowser attack enemies by punching or kicking through portals – I found that pretty cool.

It’s a fun game and full of bizarre and interesting settings and locations. Some of the environments and enemies have amazing designs (borrowing from old, Christian iconography) and you’ll do pretty cool things, like fighting angels on the side of a falling chunk of rock. It’s crazy. But, while it is fun, it is also quite frustrating sometimes and is definitely not a “casual” experience. Overall though, an excellent game.

Rating: 8.8/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

In 2015, Splatoon was advertised as the big, new Nintendo franchise. There was a lot of buzz about it and a lot of people were excited. To be honest, from what I saw of it, I wasn’t that interested. Sure, I’m a big Nintendo fan, but online-based third person shooters just aren’t my thing. I’ll pick it up cheap at some point down the line, I thought to myself. Then one day I happened to play it at a friend’s house. It seemed pretty good. So I did buy it and I loved it. If you’ve not been impressed by what you’ve seen, the same my happen to you.

Splatoon is set in a city called Inkopolis and you play as an Inkling. Inklings are a race of humanoid squids who can swim through ink. They participate in ink-based shoot-outs where each participant has a different type of weapon which spreads ink. The battles are broken into two teams, each a different colour. If your Inkling is shot by rival ink, they’ll explode and reform at the stage’s starting point. However, it is also possible to turn into squid form and swim through the spatterings of ink of your colour on the floors and walls at higher speeds. The winner is the team who have managed to cover more of the stage in their colour of ink, rather than the team who kill the most rivals.

Battles in Splatoon are fast paced and fun. Your Inkling can level up (gaining different numbers of experience points based on how well they did in battle) and while leveling up has no real baring on the character or their power levels, your level is a good indicator of the number of times you’ve won. I found it really addictive and could easily pass a lot of time playing battle after battle.

Part of what makes playing Splatoon so fun is the fact that all of the levels had a really great, urban atmosphere to them. One stage takes place on the roof of some tower blocks, one of them takes place around some apartment buildings, another within a factory and one is even in a game developer’s head quarters. They’re all excellent locations and you can tell they’ve all had a lot of effort put into them. They’ve got some really great little details (that you’ll notice if you look out for them) including pictures of Bloopers (from Super Mario games) and Octoroks (from The Legend of Zelda games) which I felt were a good reflection of the game’s Nintendo pedigree. The music compliments the feel of these locations really well too and it made the world feel really immersive.

While the multiplayer is by far the better part of the game, there is still a moderately substantial single player mode. The levels in this mode were fun, but were mostly made up of platforms floating in a void (a bit like Super Mario Galaxy) which was a lot less immersive. Having said that, there are secret items called “Sunken Scrolls” which you can collect in these levels – these are records of the history of Inkopolis and, I don’t want to spoil anything, but Splatoon has an amazing backstory which is actually pretty dark.

An interesting feature of the online mode (which sadly has been discontinued) was something called Splatfests. These would have you voting between one of two things (e.g. dogs vs. cats) and then fighting in a team to decide your side, with a winner announced at the end of a set period. During these events, everything was changed to a nighttime aesthetic and cool, new music played. These were fun to take part in and often had odd themes, there were questions about SpongeBob SquarePants, about whether Pokémon Red Version or Pokémon Blue Version was better and even one about Miitomo.

That covers just about everything. There’s also a less good local multiplayer mode (which you likely will ignore) and you can unlock single player level variations and items by using Amiibo. Everything you do in the game also earns you money, which significantly increases replayability due to the fact that there are shops you can visit to buy new clothes and weapons. Overall, it’s a fantastically addictive game and one of the best games on the Wii U. I look forward to the future of the franchise.

Rating: 9.5/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)