Now there are certain games that hit my sweet spot.  Games like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden or even Ninja Blade fulfill my Highlander desire to kick ass and carry a sword.  Bayonetta builds on the foundation of Devil May Cry and creates a story you'd expect to of came out of junior high boy.  You play as Bayonetta, a hot witch, killing all kinds of angelic forms on your way to recover your forgotten past.  To say the story is over the top is an understatement as you pull off maneuvers in a fighting style that is a mix of poll dancer, samurai and trick shot artist.

What Bayonetta does right is they make the game extremely approachable with an Easy and Very Easy setting available (I beat the game on normal).  The game has a combination of sword play and shooting where you have guns in both of your hands and connected to your shoes.  You will be asked to perform multiple combos kicking, shooting and slashing your way to killing angels and gathering halos.  The combat is very enjoyable as you will be rewarded for learning the combos and mastering Witch Time.  Witch Time is Bayonetta's version of bullet time which is activated by dodging an enemies strike at the last possible moment.  This will slow down time and allow you to inflict as much damage as possible in a short period of time.

Even though Bayonetta is a Japanese developed game it does not fall into many of the pitfalls previous actions games have.  The best thing I can tell you is you will not back track in any of the levels.  This is a very welcome decision because in Devil May Cry 4 you essentially played every level twice and fought every boss three times.  You will also be thankful the quick time action events are done well.  You will have to hit keys but they flow very will with the existing combat in the game.

Now Bayonetta is not all roses.  There are a few things the game does not do well.  For the most part you will face some fairly moderate challenges in the game but some enemies will frustrate the hell out of you.  I found that I needed to rely on making magic items to recover health, deflect damage or increase the damage of your attacks.  In a very typical  Japanese game attribute, you can get items from destroying benches, statues, potted plants and there will be items hidden in the levels for you to find.  Over time you can gather enough elements to create items of either a weak or strong form.  You will also collect halos to spend on items, techniques and accessories to help you become a better fighter.  

If you do get stuck and need halos, there is an area to grind and get cheap halos and collect elements.  At the beginning of chapter one you will arrive at a train station.  Run around and break all the benches on the second level then hop on the train as it leaves the station.  You'll get an easy 10,000 halos plus any items you find for breaking all those benches.  There is also a nice reward sitting on the tracks after the train has left.  This can be repeated indefinitely.