Bayonetta 2

Bayonetta 2 (ベヨネッタ2) is a 2014 action game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo exclusively for Wii U and Nintendo Switch. The sequel to the first game, Bayonetta, it was first announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on September 13, 2012, and was released on September 20th, 2014 in Japan and October 24th, 2014 in North America and Europe. Hideki Kamiya, the director of the previous game, stayed on as a supervisor for the project. Yusuke Hashimoto, a producer on the original Bayonetta, took over the role of director.

The titular protagonist sports a new hairstyle and costume, and the game features a new mutiiplayer mode called Tag Climax. Unique to the game is Umbran Climax, a technique that allows Bayonetta to perform supercharged versions of combos at the expense of their magical power.

The game's plot centers around Bayonetta having to rescue her friend Jeanne's soul, who was dragged to Inferno, as well as Loki, an amnesiac boy who yearns to get to the sacred mountain of Fimbulventr, and possesses mysterious powers that play an important role in the story.

The "Special" and "First Print" editions of Bayonetta 2 were released along with a Wii U port of Bayonetta as a bonus addition. The two games were available on the Nintendo eShop for Wii U, originally with a special discount on one game if the other is purchased on its own. On February 16, 2016, to promote the debut of Bayonetta as a paid downloadable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Bayonetta 2 received a reprint in the United States that omitted the bonus disc of the first game. This resulted in the price being lowered to $29.99 both in stores and on the Nintendo eShop. Bayonetta 2 and Bayonetta were both delisted from the Wii U Nintendo eShop in all regions on September 18, 2019.

Upon release, the game was critically acclaimed by reviewers, who lauded it as an improvement over the first game, particularly addressing quality-of-life elements such as quick-time events.

During The Game Awards 2017, it was announced that Nintendo Switch ports of both games would be released on February 16, 2018. Additionally, a sequel, Bayonetta 3, was also announced for the Switch and is currently in development.

Plot
In the middle of a bustling city during the holiday season a few months after the events of the first game, Bayonetta is doing some Christmas shopping with Enzo in tow to carry her large amount of presents, meeting Jeanne in the process. The trip is interrupted when angels hijack a performance of the Platinum Stars stunt plane team, forcing Bayonetta to suit up and fight back. Eventually, after receiving a new set of guns from Rodin and teaming up with Jeanne to take down Belief, things take a turn for the worse when the demonic dragon Gomorrah escapes his portal after being summoned, attacking Jeanne and causing her soul to be dragged down to Inferno as part of a witch's pact. Despite being able to put down Gomorrah, Bayonetta is left with her friend's lifeless body.

At The Gates of Hell, Bayonetta says that she intends to rescue her friend from Inferno, an act which Rodin claims does not have odds in her favor. Nonetheless, he also explains how she only has a limited amount of time to save Jeanne before she becomes permanently trapped in Inferno for good and says that he will put Jeanne's body 'on ice' to preserve it. She is told that reuniting Jeanne's soul with her Umbran Watch, the source of an Umbra Witch's eternal life is the only way to get her out. With this in mind, Bayonetta snags Enzo and makes him take her to the sacred mountain Fimbulventr. It is said that the mountain is the only place on Earth that connects the human realm to both Inferno and Paradiso. Enzo also mentions information that the portal to Inferno, the literal Gates of Hell, is hidden there and it has so far never been discovered by human hands.

Bayonetta arrives in the city at the base of the mountain, Noatun, to find a way to get into Inferno and rescue Jeanne from her fate. She meets a mysterious boy in Purgatorio named Loki, who expresses his surprise that she can see and interact with him. The boy is hounded by the angels who seem to want to take prevent him from reaching the mountain. Sensing that their goals to reach the mountain are the same, Loki strikes a deal with Bayonetta to get both of them to Fimbulventr whilst explaining that she will need his powers to get her inside. Luka also arrives in Noatun shortly after Bayonetta's arrival, offering to find out any extra information that can help her find the gateway to Inferno. The journey to the mountain suffers various setbacks from angels and demons alike and Bayonetta also finds herself facing off against a Lumen Sage who seems intent on killing her guide.

Eventually, Bayonetta and Loki reach the Gates, only to be stopped in their tracks by the Masked Lumen and an astral projection of Loptr, a mysterious being who seems to know Loki personally. Unable to prevent the Sage from attacking Loki, Bayonetta manages to hold her own against Loptr until he beats her back. Loptr encourages her to 'see' with the power of the Left Eye and shows her a vision of the past using the Remembrance of Time. Bayonetta is shocked to see that her father was not responsible for the Witch Hunts and that he tried to save her mother from her death before he was snatched away. She also sees a figure that looks like Loki as the murderer. As Loptr explains that it is the truth as it really happened, the Masked Lumen prepares to strike Loki down. The boy fires his cards at the Gates and tells Bayonetta to jump in with him to escape. She complies and wakes to find herself in Inferno. Realizing she has little time to rescue Jeanne, she makes her way into its depths.

Bayonetta eventually meets the Demoness Alraune inside her palace, learning that she has taken Jeanne's soul for her own in order to become more powerful. Realizing that Bayonetta is an Umbra Witch as well as the fact she has a pact with Madama Butterfly, Alraune savagely attacks but is no match for Bayonetta's powers. Before the witch can deal the final blow, Rodin intervenes and instead seals Alraune in a new weapon. Bayonetta finally rescues Jeanne's soul and reunites it with the watch. When her friend doesn't initially wake up, Bayonetta falters and pleads with her to open her eyes. Jeanne then wakes up to Bayonetta's relief and begins to return to her body. As she leaves, Jeanne warns Bayonetta that something big is going to happen to the world. With her mission complete, Bayonetta turns her attention back to Loki, who she sees being attacked by the Masked Lumen. Interfering in his revenge once again, the Masked Lumen sheds his mask and reveals himself to be a younger Balder. Just as he has gained the upper hand in a fight, Loki suddenly reappears and lets out an uncontrollable shockwave of blue energy, sweeping up Balder and Bayonetta into it.

Bayonetta wakes and realizes she is 500 years in the past in Vigrid, during the Witch Hunts. To her shock, she meets Rosa alive and well, and the two witches team up to fight back against the influx of angels determined to destroy their sanctuary. Aiding her mother in combat with both her powers and Umbran Armour, Bayonetta meets the younger version of Loptr, Loki's doppelganger. It's here that she realizes her mother's eventual murderer would be at the hands of Loptr, not Loki, and she is blasted away in an explosion to the Crescent Valley. Balder, who has been transported back in time with her, enters the sanctuary to find Loptr having just killed Rosa. Bayonetta figures out that that Loptr is the one Balder should be seeking revenge for and not Loki. She opens a portal back to the present and implores her father to follow her, whispering 'Mummy...' under her breath in a final farewell to Rosa. In the present day, Loki has managed to escape Inferno thanks to his powers and is found by Luka. He implores the journalist to take him to the mountain, having remembered who he really is and that he has to stop the evil that is 'all that's left'. Loptr then apprehends both of them.

In the present day, with the help of Jeanne and a fighter jet, Bayonetta and Balder arrive at the top of Fimbulventr and witness the older Loptr having taken hold of Loki. Loptr explains that he and Loki were once two halves of the same soul and that together they were originally the God of Chaos, Aesir. The good part of Aesir, which would eventually become Loki, had decided to split his very soul apart when he had divided his power into the Eyes of the World to maintain the balance that such a division would bring. Loki was given the Sovereign power, the power to control the Eyes as he saw fit whereas Loptr, now revealed to be the evil half of Aesir, had been given the Prophetic power and the ability to oversee history using the Remembrance of Time. Feeling that he needed his power back, Loptr had decided to take the Eyes back for his own use 500 years in the past and regain Aesir's power to rule over the realm. However, Loki had escaped to the future by realizing Loptr would need his power and had subsequently lost his memory in the process. Loptr would need to wait to find his 'better half' again in order to gain the power to take the Eyes and decided to bring the younger Balder to the present because his older self had died along with the Right Eye after Bayonetta defeated Jubileus. Balder promptly has the Right Eye taken from him. Bayonetta fights back valiantly against Loptr, but is ultimately subdued and has the Left Eye taken as well. Loptr, now having gained the power of his original self and become Aesir, mocks human free will and claims that he is the rightful ruler of the human realm of chaos. Whilst Bayonetta and Balder fight back against the deity, Loki remembers his hidden power besides his ability to control the Eyes. Claiming that the real power of Aesir is over "nothingness" and the ability to erase anything he wants from the world, Loki uses that power to destroy the Eyes from the present and weaken Loptr back to his original state. Bayonetta and Balder then perform a summon together and bring forth a fusion of Jubileus and Queen Sheba. The hybrid kicks Loptr, propelling his physical body out to the ocean where a Jeanne-summoned Gomorrah lies in wait to swallow him whole.

As Loptr's soul tries to escape to the spirit realm to be reborn elsewhere and try his plan again, Balder intervenes and absorbs him despite warnings from Loki that Loptr will corrupt him forever if he remains inside. Balder is content with the sacrifice to show the strength of human free will and reveals that he knew Bayonetta was Cereza all along. He makes her promise to be the one to stop him should he ever stray from his path thanks to Loptr's influence and she obliges in his request to call him "Daddy" once more. She cries after him when he is transported back into his time, finally realizing that he was not to blame for his schemes with Jubileus. Loki, having now done what he set out to do and restored the balance to the world with the destruction of both Eyes, begins to fade away. Bayonetta asks whether she'll see him again the boy replies that they may do so in the future when he is reborn again after taking a break. He remarks that she still doesn't strike him as a Cereza before disappearing in a blue haze.

Several days pass since the events at Fimbulventr and both Bayonetta and Jeanne are enjoying another shopping trip to take advantage of the after-holiday sales. As the pair witness Luka helping Rodin out with advertising his bar, a woman and a baby in a pram walk by just as one of Loki's cards flutter out of it, implying that his return would be sooner than Bayonetta thought. Bayonetta then remembers that she completely forgot about Enzo back in Noatun. Enzo returns in a crash landing down the street in the plane he was left in with angels in pursuit. Despite her annoyance at ruining a second dress in a month, Bayonetta takes to the plane's wings with Jeanne to fight against their aggressors as they always have.

Development
Shortly after the release of the original Bayonetta, Kamiya and Hashimoto discussed potential ideas for a sequel or spinoff of the game. The original concept for Bayonetta 2 was soon pitched to original publisher Sega, but financial difficulties forced them to reject the title's development and the project was in danger of being scrapped when other publishers refused to take it on. When PlatinumGames partnered with Nintendo for Kamiya's new project, The Wonderful 101, Nintendo also decided to finance Bayonetta 2 and came on as publisher, making the game an exclusive title for the Wii U. In response to backlash from fans of the first game, which had been released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, PlatinumGames producer Atsushi Inaba stated that Bayonetta 2 would not exist if Nintendo had not partnered with them, hence its exclusivity. Sega served as an adviser during the game's development.

Bayonetta 2 was officially announced during a Nintendo Direct, and a Wii U Preview event in the United States, on September 13, 2012. Nintendo was not involved in the making of the game other than as an observer, and PlatinumGames have stated they were pleased with their experience working together.

Nintendo Switch version
It was announced at The Game Awards 2017 on December 7th, 2017 that Bayonetta, along with Bayonetta 2, would receive ports to the Nintendo Switch. This port retains all the features of the Wii U version of the game, as well as additional content.


 * Tag Climax now includes a local wireless co-op option, as well as a hidden "LAN Play" option enabled by holding the L and R buttons and pressing on the Left Stick. Each player must have a Nintendo Switch system and a copy of Bayonetta 2.
 * Compatibility with amiibo has been added as an option in The Gates of Hell. Scanning amiibo unlock costumes, items, and Halos. The Bayonetta and Bayonetta Player 2 amiibo unlock costumes in the game, and certain amiibo from the Super Mario line unlock the Chain Chomp weapon. amiibo from other Nintendo characters, such as Samus Aran and Fox McCloud, unlock their respective costumes. Rodin provides written notes in The Gates of Hell that are related to specific amiibo if scanned.

Although the Nintendo Switch version maintains the 720p resolution of the original Wii U release, it benefits from a more consistent framerate on both Handheld and TV modes. The physical version of Bayonetta 2 contains a download code for Bayonetta in the United States and Europe. If players chose to buy the games on the Nintendo eShop, buying one results in a discount on the other. Purchasing Bayonetta 2 for the standard $49.99 will give the purchaser a $20 discount on the first Bayonetta, making the cost of that game $9.99. Purchasing Bayonetta first for $29.99 gives a $20 discount on Bayonetta 2, making the cost of that game $29.99.

Reception
Bayonetta 2 received "universal acclaim" reviews and was tagged as a "Must-Play" game on Metacritic holding a Metascore of 91/100 on Wii U and 92/100 on Nintendo Switch.

Gallery
For more pictures and screenshots of Bayonetta 2, click here.

Trivia

 * The Bayonetta 2 logo features a blue and gold color scheme, replacing the original Bayonetta logo's red hues. Bayonetta's new outfit has also changed to reflect this.
 * In a Nintendo Developer interview with Atsushi Inaba, the producer commented on Bayonetta's new design of short hair and a new costume. They stated this was to reflect how they saw Bayonetta's character as someone who would make a drastic change like this to her appearance in order to stay fashionable and up to date with a look she preferred.
 * Instead of reusing enemies from the first game, Bayonetta 2 features brand new angelic enemies, some of which were cut concepts from the first game that was unable to be used. These include the new 'common' enemy of Acceptance which is a centaur-like angel, Valiance which takes the appearance of a fearsome knight with its face in its sword, Cachet & Compassion which act as new versions of Dear &amp; Decorations, Urbane which acts as a large miniboss similar to Beloved, and Belief which acts a boss angel in the Prologue section of the game.
 * Bayonetta 2 is the first game in the series that features combat with both angels and the Infernal Demons.
 * In Bayonetta 2, the attack animations for Bayonetta have been completely redone instead of reusing older animations from the first game. More flips and acrobatic prowess are shown in her movements, making the newer combos appear similar to the more complex fight choreography seen in cutscenes.
 * In the development trailer for Bayonetta 2, it was revealed that the inside of Bayonetta's gloves were originally purple instead of the dark blue that is in the final game.
 * Interestingly enough, Jeanne retains purple gloves in her Umbran battle uniform.
 * In the development trailer for Bayonetta 2, concept art for Umbran Resting Places was shown in locations, hinting at their return. This was later confirmed to be the case in later demo footage, including the addition of a new type of Resting Place related to the 'Remembrance Of Time'
 * Bayonetta 2 is the first game in the series to be released on a Nintendo system.
 * Bayonetta 2 is the fourth M-rated game to be published by Nintendo. The other three being Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Gamecube, 2001), Geist (Gamecube, 2005), and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (Wii U, 2012).
 * When talking to Loki, Bayonetta refers to him as 'little one' just as she did with Cereza in the first game.
 * Bayonetta 2 has been at the center of numerous fan outcries and complaints in regards to being a Wii U exclusive. Despite the fact that the game would not have been possible without the support and funding of Nintendo for the entire project, JP Kellams of PlatinumGames has stated on his twitter that PlatinumGames initially didn't want to talk about Bayonetta 2 or make announcements about it for a long time. This was because such information would cause other console supporters to begin demanding that the game be ported to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
 * Hideki Kamiya has stated on his twitter that he hates the Bayonetta 2 box-art. The original version of the art featured a silver crescent moon with clouds in front of it, with Bayonetta placed in the center. This reflects the original render of her new character model that was released around E3 2013. However, 'higher-ups' (unclear as to whether it was Sega or Nintendo) removed the clouds, making the moon full and golden as well the "2" in the logo red. It is currently unknown why these changes to the box-art were made. The US and Japanese releases use this box-art. However, the UK and Australian releases use the unchanged art. This same unchanged art is also used in all Nintendo Switch versions of Bayonetta 2.
 * Takaaki Yamaguchi, the lead motion designer for Bayonetta 2, explained in his developer blog that the number of damage animations added on to enemies makes them react to attacks depending on the kind of attack being performed (an uppercut makes them stumble upwards for example). Yamaguchi states that compared to the original Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 enemies have 3.5x more reaction animations on average.
 * Bayonetta breaks the fourth wall for the first time in the series in Bayonetta 2. This is when she winks at the player during her pole dance.

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