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Bayonetta is an utter farce, and it’s perhaps this trait that gives it the edge over so many other games vying for our attention. It’s a game crammed to the brim with pop culture references, many of which will be familiar to the gaming populace. It’s a game where anything can and will happen, a game where everything we know as gamers is thrown out of the window and blown a kiss goodbye. Bayonetta is a game like no other and that is its strength.

Bayonetta has been compared to the likes of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, and while there are certainly similarities between them, it’s hardly a carbon copy. Bayonetta is a game that never really takes itself seriously; how can it be serious when each fight tends to finish off with an obligatory crotch shot of our heroine? Or a blown kiss and a tantalising suck of a lollipop? This is what gives Bayonetta a charm. In a world full of games that tackle serious topics or the tragedies of war, Bayonetta puts her high-heeled foot down and demands you play with a smile.

From the game’s opening moments of fighting angels in a graveyard to a J-Pop remix of ‘fly me to the moon’, it moves from one ridiculous moment to the next. The story itself begins by confusing the hell out of you, making you wonder if there really is an intelligent narrative under there or just dialogue to move us from one fight to the next. However as the game plays out you realise that the story has a heart and you genuinely begin to feel something for the characters, no matter how ludicrously over the top they are.

Our heroine, Bayonetta, is an Umbra witch aided by dark magic, woken after centuries she must answer questions about herself, her past and the mysterious Lumen Sages. It’s all very bonkers, but it matches the games design perfectly. We wouldn’t want to deal with a serious and deeply pondering storyline whilst we smash angels to pieces with demons created from Bayonetta’s hair. The story is heightened by the fact that each line of dialogue is designed to make you cringe or make you laugh. Innuendo slimes its way into each line spoken, sex sells and for Bayonetta it’s heaped on by the bucket load.

Innuedno slimes its way into each line spoken, sex sells and here it’s sold by the bucket load

Bayonetta is akin to a pissed off Tarantino version of Mary Poppins, her British accent slides over the sexual content beautifully, making it all the more naughty. Enjoying this game is like taboo; you smile at each line and moment of action, glancing round to see if anyone noticed. But it’s not just the cutscenes and banter that’s wrapped up with a farcical bow.

This game is all about the action, the fighting and the enemies. The combat itself is simple enough to pick up, and both button mashers and die hard fanatics will have a great time controlling our witch. Combos are frequent, juggling enemies from move to move, kicking and punching, maybe even sprinkling in a few bullets to hammer your point home. If you’ve held your combos up and filled your combo bar, then it’s time to unleash a torture move. This can be anything from kicking someone into a spiked sarcophagus to tying up an angel with chains in an almost S&M position before they explode.

Some may say that this is a bit much, but you have to look at Bayonetta as a farce, any other way and you find yourself turning away at the site of raindrops dripping from her nipple or as she strokes her body after a fight. If taken as it is, a piece of entertainment, it’s pure unadulterated fun. That is until you change the difficulty.

When playing on easy you’ll rarely encounter a challenge, dying is usually caused by a mistake on your part – something simple like falling off of a cliff while fighting in the air. But move up to normal or further and you will find yourself faced with the game over screen more often than not. This is perhaps Bayonettas downside, button bashers will find themselves enjoying the game immensely on easy but playing again on normal may end up putting them off, especially if they don’t want to have to memorise all of the moves.

You’ll smile at every line, constantly checking to see if anyone is behind you

And there’s certainly a lot to think about, this is both a blessing and a curse. With so much to learn in can feel a little overwhelming, luckily you’re helped along by a training mode within every loading screen. But it’s not just the moves that require an intricate knowledge, but dodging at crucial moments will start witch time. This slows everyone around you, allowing you to string together combos and deal with the onslaught of your foe.

But even if that is a problem, you should still find plenty of reasons to return to the game. There’s plenty of items to unlock and hidden areas and items to find, so you will still enjoy your next run through as much as the first, maybe even more so if you keep an eye out for the many videogame references scattered throughout. It’s great to see so many nods to past games that mean a lot to the people that play them. Mentions of Eggman and the fantasy zone from Space Harrier are accompanied by visual cues from Viewtiful Joe and Okami, these are interspersed with tips of the hat to Resident Evil 4 and Assassins Creed. Bayonetta creates a world where a gamer can feel at home.

Every inch of Bayonetta, the game and the character, are lovingly created. There’s always just enough magic happening on the screen to keep you dumbfounded but never distracted. Hulking bosses are bizarre but wondrous to look at and the worlds that you’ll pass through are beautiful to admire. It’s the design of visuals that are so mindblowing, every enemy is well imagined, each flower bursts with colour and every inch of the environment breathes character.

This helps to hide an otherwise linear pathway through the game, a fact that never really bothers you. So what if the road is plain and boring, as long as there are sights to see along the way. But it isn’t all just running around towns and strange worlds, one level sees you blazing down a highway on a motorbike and another sees you riding a missile over a body of water. Both of these levels alone are enough to break the trend of previous levels.

Bayonetta is a game with its tongue planted squarely in its cheek, everything that happens throughout the game points a finger at those bound to mock its journey. So what if it’s oversexed, Bayonetta herself knows that more than anyone else. This game is rightly a work of genius and should be viewed as such, a game that can revel in its sexuality whilst wagging the finger each time you admire our heroine’s rear end. From an over the top beginning to an even more over the top ending, Bayonetta is an experience like no other.