Bayonetta 2 review: heaven and hell | Polygon

Bayonetta 2 is unapologetically, even defiantly old-school.

[animegamingnerd]

"BAYONETTA 2'S BLATANT OVER-SEXUALIZATION PUTS A BIG DENT IN AN OTHERWISE GREAT GAME"

its like your actively trying to get gamers to hate you Polygon

[LOL_WUT]

Even I can tell this was written purely for hits when most other sites are giving this game a 9/10 ;)

[Gazondaily]

They just LOVE to stick out like a sore thumb.

They remind of those really silly nerdy try-hard pranksters on YouTube who get the s*** kicked out of them for pulling out outrageous pranks desperately trying to be like Vitaly or RomanAtWood.

I have to say, this review is ridiculous. Just have a read of this:

"When Platinum Games is on, it's really, really on, and Bayonetta 2 is in almost any respect that counts a better game than the first, whose mechanics were already exemplary."

Well that sounds good surely. No but wait:

"But every time I'd feel on a roll, enjoying my time with Bayonetta 2 immensely, I'd be broken out of it by another cheap shot of T&A. "

Maybe Polygon needs to hire writers that are not overbearingly asexual?

T&A are preventing him from enjoying the game. Right. This just strikes me as one pandering to the whims of Social Justice Warriors. And to me, that's downright pathetic in a review where you're supposed to make your best efforts to formulate an objective assessment of a game on its merits.

So there you have it folks. Gameplay isn't as important as the thin veneer of visual representation.

[HighResHero]

So we shouldn't give them any. Writing click-bait garbage while pretending to take the moral high ground is a no no.
Pretending/assuming they are some kind of moral authority is also annoying. Just one part of their game they are playing.

[TheWackyMan]

I'm so sick and tired of their agenda pushing. I know video game reviews are subjective by nature, but you can at least TRY putting out an non-biased objective review, Polygon. Jesus christ.

[Dunban67]

Just because the guy that did the review does not like women - should not cause him to give it a lower score?

I guess he would give it a 10 if Bayo was a man- go figure

[Dunban67]

Where are his scathing critisisms of Lady Gaga and her "cheap" sexualization ploys?

[Fatty]

If Bayonetta was a man, it'd get an even lower score than me at a beauty pagent because the developers "should have used a powerful woman character instead of perpetuating the patriarchy".

Polygon: Winners of the best "You Can't Win Theater" productions 3 years in a row.

[Dunban67]

I think you are right Fatty- these guys writing stuff like this don t have an original thought on the matter or apparently other matters- it's a bandwagon non issue that a bunch of insecure game sight contributors think they need to get bring up to be "in the club".

No guy is offended by Cleavage - some may be more into it than others but no guy is offended by it

[Magicite]

A fair review.

[solidjun5]

Geis?

[3-4-5]

Polygon.....really?

Your not even trying to hide it anymore.

It's like Polygon is so dumb, they don't even know they are dumb, they actually think they are smart.

Nobody.....and I MEAN NOBODY was talking about sex and this game, until.....Polygon.

OBVIOUSLY, Sex in the game industry sells, they are trying to ACT like they are against it, while USING IT to get hits and attention.

They are complaining about the very thing that they are using to gain attention and money.

BEYOND HYPOCRITICAL...

Whoever is in charge there....Has no shame.

Polygon's Logic:

* There is a women in the game = Sexist
* Not enough women in the game = Sexist
* Women are portrayed as sexy = sexist
* Women portrayed as not sexy = sexist

Polygon.....You are not professional.

Keep your OPINION out of anything associated with being professional.

Polygon has NO ETHICS.....NO INTEGRITY.

[solidjun5]

Yep. No need to read Polygon's tripe. Especially from Geis.

[Walker]

LOL gies hates sexuality :)

[arbitor365]

im not even a fan of bayonetta, but wow. just wow. injecting your political views into game reviews is "professional" now? this is why #gamergate exists. this is why people are sick of feminists and SJWs tampering with gaming.

and for the record, there is nothing wrong with sexualization in video games and media. feminists are the ones who say that women should be able to show off their bodies in any way and that there is nothing shameful about it, and any opinion to the contrary is "slut shaming." so what the hell do you call this, polygon? why is it sexism if men are appreciating the female body? why am I even asking this? third wave feminists make no pretense of objectivity or making any logical sense whatsoever.

polygon, you, gamasutra and kotaku can take this hypocritical propaganda and promptly shove it in the only place it will do anyone any good. and that is where the sun doesnt shine.

[TheWackyMan]

You are a beautiful person. I can't believe im actually reading this on N4G right now. Kudos to you.

[morganfell]

"... injecting your political views into game reviews is "professional" now?"

I have tried to tell people on this site for years about this type of writing. It is in my post history repeatedly. People just became angry and told me "Game reviews are opinions."

I replied by telling them this used to not be wholly the case and how once upon a time reviews were far more objective with as much of the writer removed from the equation as possible. This was done by the review being an amalgam of findings from other reviewers at the magazine as well as a very strong and effective editor in chief.

It is a welcome sight to see more people becoming fed up with this tripe.

In addition, did these morons not play the first game? What did they expect? Never mind, it doesn't matter.

Day one purchase for me.

[Fatty]

Very well said; I'd give you more bubbles than I have in my Double Big Gulp cup of Pepsi if I could.

[PCBOX]

What is the purpose of those guys? TLOU, FH2 now this who the f*** do you think you are?

[Neixus]

Yeah this is The Last of Us all over again..

Smh polygon..

[mydyingparadiselost]

For anyone looking for a real, well thought out explanation to how the "sexualization" in Bayo is a character strengthening, woman empowering characteristic I think this article has a thought provoking take on the entire idea of the Bayo character
http://obligatoryspiderquee...
Also, although not my favorite analyst, Moviebob had a pretty good video on the subject as well
http://m.youtube.com/watch?...
Shame on you Polygon, you're supposed to review games but instead you review how a game stacks up to your own social ideology

[Chrischi1988]

Yeah, how dare them. Feminists complain about no women main character in games, they get one, oh, she is to pretty. Whatever man, like anyone would want some old hag in that game. Feminists try to hard, it is not like the male protagonists are not oversexualized, full of muscles, smart, know what they want and so on... So how can anyone really take that serious.

[bass4g]

The other interesting thing is that one of the main producers on the game who's done a lot of the dev commentaries is a woman. There is often a blurry line but bayonetta is definitely meant to be empowering not degrading.

[antikbaka]

the only thing i don't like about Bayonetta 2 is that she looks younger (IMO) than in the first game

[recto85]

the gymnophobic feminist polygon returns

and I can't care less about it

[Ryuk_2007]

Complaining about sexualization in bayonetta is like saying a porn film is bad b/c people are nude in it.

[Gazondaily]

Lmao! The comment with the profile pic. Perfect

[scark92]

Can Polygon please just go..

[FarEastOrient]

N4G won't let them go as much as they won't let VGChartz go

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

But if it was an Xbone exclusive they probably would've gave it a 10.

[PraxxtorCruel]

Forza Horizon 2 got a 7/10. Where's the supposed 10 you're mentioning?

[Master-H]

Oh noes, Lolygon is at it again.

[DeadlyOreo]

Lolygon lol

[gamer7804]

what a terrible review, complaining about what a game isn't. This overt quirkiness and sexual nature is part of the character and the game.

I applaud platinum for sticking to the game they want to create. Despite publisher or the chance of a review like this.

Now i have a reason to not read Polygon as much.

[Spotie]

Not saying they're not guilty- cuz we all know they are- but weren't you just in a Drive Club article or two doing the same?

[gamer7804]

I don't know, i've posted in several drive club spots. I was very excited for the game initially, but given the difficult development was going to wait on the psplus version to try out. I was disappointed in the lack of american cars and Now with all the issues i'm pretty bummed about the whole game. Still definitely want to try it out, but its hard not to be disappointed right now :(.

[stalepie]

You should still get DC - they'll probably fix the server issues soon. The offline Tour mode is actually quite substantial if you just like regular track racing. Yes it's all European cars, but that's just its focus or interest. (The developers are British..) But it has really good tracks, beautiful lighting, scenery, cars and engine sounds. It's pretty fun.

[Deadpool616]

"I demand to know who's responsible for the over-sexualization of this female character?!"

Answer: https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

"Well, I..um...um...um...um...I knew that! You see..um..um..um...what had happen was the woman was brainwashed into making the character. Yeah! That's it!"

Goodbye Polygon. I hardly knew ye...and even knowing that much was too much.

[Baccra17]

I guess poly is an equal opportunity hater now.

[aviator189]

That's it.
I officially give up on polygon.
Well, I gave up on them when they scored the last of us. But, this is official.

[voodoochild346]

Polygon is Ice T in the player haters club skit. Showing the rest of the industry what real hating's all about.

[Activemessiah]

The content of the review betrays the overall score.

[JacketsNest101]

Typical of Polygon.

[Fatty]

In the newest production of Polygon's famous "You Can't Win Theater", Polygon wants more female characters in games, but not if they're attractive/sexy.

Meanwhile, they'll punish developers who may have a Metacritic score-based bonus payment because the character model wasn't what they wanted.

Polygon is an absolute joke, and shows why gamers are disgusted with so much of gaming journalism.