There’s only one word I can label Platinum Games’ latest high-octane action game: loud. The game visually assaults you with an introduction where you control the main character Bayonetta fending off angels (not the cherubic kind; but rather the demon-mutant hybrid made unique by this game) on top of huge debris falling to the ground. The cutscenes have our heroine killing off said angels and making it look comedic (in a graveyard, no less) before throwing you into the fray. Even after playing through the entire game once, I’m still not sure about some aspects of the story.

Yet I smiled like a hyperactive school girl whenever I got control of the game or just watched how ridiculous the action was in the cut scenes. You can’t call what Bayonetta throws at you dull. Everything about Bayonetta will make a huge impression on you. You show me something odd in a videogame, and I’ll show you a boss battle involving flora-inspired tentacles and a baby’s head attached to an elongated neck.

To put it bluntly; Bayonetta controls like a dream. Just performing combos and dodging with alacrity becomes second nature once you have your hands on the controller. My only complaint is that the lock-on is on the R1 button: it’s a little hard for me to dodge and lock-on while using my right thumb to initiate Wicked Weave combos. It’s not a complete detriment to the experience, but it’s just something you’ll have to get used to if you’re used to targeting enemies using the left triggers of a joypad.

Oh, did I also mention that the game is pretty hard? Enemies that hit you will take a significant portion of your life, and you can’t just rely too much on green lollipops to heal you. The game’s difficulty and enemy patterns are tailored to a point so that you use that dodge button often and counter-attack with Witch Time. As soon as you dodge an enemy’s attack within a specific window frame, you activate the game’s version of slow-motion and can proceed to wail away with combos and counterattacks without fear of punishment for a few seconds. There’s also replay value after completing the game: Hard mode gets unlocked and boy, does it certainly live up to its moniker. Perfect for those who mastered Ninja Gaiden 2/Sigma 2.

Perhaps the only sore point for Bayonetta is the insertion of Quick Time Events that happen in a blink of an eye that ends up killing you if you fail to input it within a millisecond. Sure, you will restart at that particular scene if you blow it, but there’s nothing quite infuriating as you getting through a level unscathed in hopes of a Platinum rating for a stage, only to suddenly die 5 to 6 times because of one stupid QTE. They should have made this segment fairer: instead of instant death, why not a fraction of your health gone instead? Plus, multiple deaths due to lack of skill and QTE bulls*** shows that the game’s load times are horrendous.

In the end, while Bayonetta is really fun, I’d suggest waiting a month or so until the game’s out for the rest of the world and, as a result, cost less than the S$100+ I paid for. Unless, of course, you absolutely love anything Hideki Kamiya touches with his magic developing hands.