Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

Bayonetta has been high on my radar since I got a chance to play it at E3 this year, and it was a bit irritating when it was pushed back to January 2010 here in the states.  I mean, the game takes the action of a Devil May Cry title, but mixes in a very provocative female hero, while throwing some rather unique creatures at the player.  All of that said, the Japanese market will receive Bayonetta a couple months ahead of the US, and a demo has been dropped on the PSN store in Japan.  So being a good PS3 citizen, I setup a Japanese account, and proceeded to download the demo for two reasons.  One was to get my hands on this fast and furious action that the game delivers, but also, to see if the PS3 version is as horrendous as reports have detailed.

After getting the Bayonetta demo downloaded and installed, I started it up, and was a little disappointed to find that it looks to be very similar to the Bayonetta demo that we saw at E3.  This means that you will be playing through the first few bits of the intro level of the game.

The demo starts you off on a train, with Bayonetta not remembering much of anything, including why she was on the train in the first place.  It was very reminiscent of the beginning of Half Life 2 in this respect, but I doubt that Platinum Games was looking at creating homage to Gordon Freeman.  Walking off the train, it does not take long to get into your first bit of combat, and from that point on, the combat does come rather fast and furious.

Bayonetta dispatches foes with either her guns or melee attacks.  You have your standard punch attacks, but you also have melee weapons you can find along the way that increase the amount of damage you inflict on the enemy.  However, these melee weapons have a duration effect, where they wear out and disappear over time.  You can also fall back and use your guns to take out enemies from afar, but for some bosses, you will have to get close up for guns to hit their mark.  The button layout was intuitive, and combat was sort of an ordered chaos.  Foes come from all sides, but you never feel out of control or overwhelmed.

The nicest part of the combat that really raises it above the Devil May Cry series is that I actually found myself being competent with fighting enemies.  I always feel like I have to die several times, and can never put together a string of combos to really be effective with these types of games, but in Bayonetta, I easily grasped the controls and combo system.  Pulling off a finishing move ends up being more about timing your button presses, rather than some abstract turn of the stick while pushing out a button combo.

The Bayonetta demo also throws out a nice boss that just hints at the size and scope of the enemies that you will have to deal with during the course of the game.  The enemy was a huge giant that slowly destroys the environment, while you have to attack certain sections of his body.  The battle is frantic, taking place over several sections of the level.  Again, the boss battle was challenging, without causing me any stress.

This was the first time that I have had a chance to see Bayonetta running on an actual Playstation 3, and I do have to say that while there are some visual differences between the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the title, it was not as bad as it had been made out.  The graphics seemed a bit muddy at times, and there was a lack of visual pop from character models, but it was by no means a red headed stepchild.  But there is enough there in visual differences, that it will give the “PS3 is difficult to develop on” argument more fuel.  Also, while I cannot confirm it, as I cannot read Japanese, there is supposedly a statement at the beginning of the game that makes mention of the fact this version of Bayonetta is developed by Sega, not Platinum Games.

So far, I am impressed with what Bayonetta is delivering on, with its chaotic action, and interesting main character.  It is disappointing that PS3 owners will not get the exact same visual experience, which can be seen in the demo, but it looks good enough to be a day one purchase for those that want a fun gaming experience.  Also, if you would like to try the demo on your PS3, but get lost in the account creation process as soon as the screen turns to the Japanese character set, may I recommend this excellent tutorial over on YouTube for creating a Japanese PSN account.  It takes you through each step, explaining each menu.  Get yourself in and select the first option on the left side of the store, and look through until you find the demo.