Bayonetta

[FuryFox]

You weren't meant to watch any of that.

[Do You Like Erotic?]

Cereza is young Bayonetta ripped from time by Father Balter, when Bayonetta places Cereza back after the Father Balter fight she glows red her timeline is changed but she remains. Shouldn't Bayonetta not exist if she was torn out of time?

Oh, that. I don't remember him actually saying that, but I thought that Cereza was just some kind of magical manifestation of Bayonetta's innocence.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Shouldn't Bayonetta not exist ...?

I'd like to live in this timeline.

[Dipstick]

I'd like to live in this timeline.

I hate you.

Playing the game through on Climax right now, and I kind of wish the game did what Ninja Gaiden did in throwing completely new enemies and enemy patterns at you on the higher difficulty levels. Here it's just "some enemies get swapped out, they have more health, break hitstun more frequently, and you have less health. Oh, you can't use Witch Time out of dodges/counters either." Just kind of difficulty by the numbers; once you learn the enemy behavior and patterns it seems a lot easier than it should be. I'm not having the "omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgI'mgonnadieeeeeeeeeeeefuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!!!" moments I was expecting.

Basically, I wish the game got harder and more interesting. I guess I could start trying to Pure Platinum chapters... whee.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Here it's just "some enemies ... break hitstun more frequently, and you have less health."

Yeah, this is more annoying than hard. I do like how it tests your ability to dodge while keeping a combo alive, though.

Some of the advantages of these accessories should've been woven into the combat and not tucked away to be unlocked on a second playthrough. The butterfly bracelet and the genei-jin shadow thing flesh the combat out and a add a nice "Do I save up for Torture or use my magic for accessories" friction that was sorely missing. The parry bracelet practically makes it an entirely new game. An actual videogame, turns out!

[Prince Planet]

You should stop mashing if only for the simple fact that if you hold a button down with an attack, you get a stunning burst of damage. I mean stunning in the sense that you will stun the enemy and shoot them for a large chunk of damage that they can't do anything about, and every weapon in the game does something like this even though the applications may be a little different. For instance, with Durga, you can be killing everything in 2 or 3 hits just by not mashing.

This is good advice. I spent some time messing around in an Alfheim portal just practicing hold combos. The depth is crazy since, as you say, the combo/hold effects also vary with each weapon loadout. Also, practicing hold combos is a nice step toward practicing dodge offsets, which I assume is necessary on the harder difficulties since the enemies will presumably break long combos.

[Gymkata]

One thing I find works wonders on bosses and larger enemies, is using the X button for the gun. Just go ahead and let Bayonetta wail on the boss with her turbo shootin ability. It will get you magic and it will sometimes lead to a stun on certain enemies. Jawesome. Oh and ARBM is Un-American.

[James]

I must have one of the longer first playthroughs of Bayonetta- 16 hours and counting. I keep going back and doing earlier levels, trying for better scores, or finding the trickier album pieces in the later levels. I've also done a pile of the bonus rooms and left an equally large pile uncompleted. Some of those are a stone bitch.

James

[Prince Planet]

My first run clocked in at around 17 or more hours, doing much the same thing -- lots of exploring and repeating various verses, and getting schooled in a few of the Alfheim portals. My second playthrough (again on Normal) went a lot quicker, and managed to get rid of most of those "Stone" awards...lots of golds, and even a platinum. I'll tackle Hard next, now that I'm more comfortable with the combos, holds, and dodge offsets. I'm surprised at how many Alfheims I missed. A little backtracking is fine...but some of them are REALLY ridiculous.

[bbobb]

Some of the Alfheim can be rough. I need to go back and get the last few birds on Hard still, I quit because I got stuck on one that basically forced you to play an Alfheim portal in order to get it.

Try to do those portals on hard is just plain bullshit.