10 Days In: Bayonetta & Darksiders

On January 5th, North America saw the release of their first two action titles of 2010 of arguably what might be a saturation of genre for the start of the year.  Well, that’s at least what the debate has been thus far.  If you’ve been frustrated over which action title you should dedicate yourself to, you might as well stop because Bayonetta and Darksiders aren’t even in the same club.  From reports of various sources, I picked up both in their respective “better” versions, 360 for Bayonetta, and PS3 for Darksiders.

Bayonetta (360)
Thus far, I’ve played through the prologue and first chapter of Bayonetta.  I realize that is barely even scratching the surface of the game, but there are some things that are immediately recognizable from that much play.  The biggest and most exciting is that the combat is deep, and much moreso deep than the demo led me to believe.  It hinges on all of the same things that I love about the Ninja Gaiden series: accurate timing, deliberate button presses, a general flow, and the necessity to learn enemy models and patterns.  I truly believe this facet is going to be the thing that carries me through the experience.  The story, characters and movie sequences are way over the top and this is the thing that scares me.  Bayonetta seems to be very self-aware, very tongue in cheek, but even walking into it with that mentality the story-telling seems a little much for my tastes.  I doubt that will change the fact that I’ll play through it, the combat is just that engaging.

Darksiders (PS3)
The reason why I’ve barely scratched the surface of Bayonetta is mostly due to my absolute infatuation with Darksiders.  I’m roughly 10 hours in, through the third dungeon, and loving every minute of it.  You’ve probably heard the obvious comparisons to Zelda and God of War in relation to this title, and those comparisons are not far off.  The combat starts out a bit button-mashy, but also gets deeper when you start to get new items and equipment.  It’s certainly more complex than Zelda in this respect, which will appeal to the action side of your gaming, but it’s also no where near as complex as Ninja Gaiden, DMC or Bayonetta.  The Zelda side of the game is very well realized.  The puzzles seem very creative, but have a familiar format to them.  It has those mild rpg elements that will keep you wanting to collect more, and it’s paced rather well between the combat and non-combat gameplay.

Bayonetta v. Darksiders
These really don’t belong in the same comparison, so if you’re one of those that likes to piss and moan about which one is better, just stop.  Aside from the fact that they both came out on the same day and are classified as Action/Adventure, they are fundamentally different experiences.  There’s no reason why you wouldn’t find enjoyment from both, and certainly no reason why they can’t co-exist in the gaming world.  Truth is, if you love the puzzles of a good 3D Zelda, you’ll love Darksiders.  If you love a challenging, combo & counter combat heavy experience, you’ll love Bayonetta.  Buck up, buy both.

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