Bayonetta Remaster (10th Anniversary) review: An interesting time capsule

The Bayonetta Remaster is an interesting time capsule that could have been cleaned up a bit more for its 10th Anniversary.

Title: Bayonetta Remaster (10th Anniversary)
Developer: PlatinumGames Inc.
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: PlayStation 4 (version reviewed), Xbox One
Release date: February 18, 2020

Here’s a little note about me. I love the Bayonetta games. I also love Astral Chain. I love the controls and the over-the-top nature of the storytelling. Because of this, I jumped at the chance to dig into the Bayonetta HD remaster that’s coming out in celebration of the game’s 10th anniversary.

Oh boy is this a thing that exists.

First off, I’m just going to come right out and say it; Bayonetta 2 spoiled us rotten. I forgot how rough the first game is. The camera gets weirdly tight, often when you don’t need it too, and it’s so weirdly trying to always be sexual without understanding how to be, or even needing to be — sort of like Tik Tok. The second game really mastered the style and personality of Bayonetta but the first game is like a Halloween party at a Hooters.

But let’s get into the remaster itself. I call it a remaster only because it calls itself a remaster. This is pretty much just a port, nothing else.

If they changed up anything in this game, I couldn’t tell you. I even went into my office popped in the original PS3 game to compare the two. If this game is cleaned up in any capacity, I must be too blind to see it.

The graphics and colors are still exceptionally muddied. The cutscenes are still not animated despite the fact you can see hair moving in the wind (which tells me they probably could have animated them). The camera wasn’t fixed, so I still found myself in many situations where I was hit by enemies I couldn’t see. It’s rough.

If you’ve never played Bayonetta before and wanted to see what the fuss is about, I would say that it might be worth trying as it is definitely something you’ve never played before. Despite its myriad of flaws, the controls are stunning. I still found myself having fun with a lot of the fights.

I would normally say “if you’re a big fan of this game then this is for you,” but considering how damn good the sequel was, you’re better off just giving it a 20th playthrough instead of traveling back into this weird mess again. You’ll still have fun and you won’t have to deal with that painful fight with Golem.

If you do decide you want to play the first game, or just really want to hear as many covers of Bart Howard’s famous song “Fly Me to the Moon” as possible the game officially releases on February 18th on the PS4.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.