Bayonetta 2 _best_ (2024)

Special mention goes to (the 1961 Audrey Hepburn classic), which serves as the game's second theme. Hearing Bayonetta hum this while wiping blood off her glasses is the epitome of the franchise's high-fashion, violent charm.

This simple emotional core—friendship and redemption—drives the plot forward without the confusing religious jargon that bogged down the first game’s exposition dumps. Along the way, we meet the mysterious, stoic archer (a trickster god with amnesia) and the returning masked man Loptr . The game masterfully weaves Umbra Witch lore with the mythology of the "Aesir," the first ruler of the human world. Bayonetta 2

Bayonetta 2 is a visual tour-de-force. Running at a silky 60 frames per second (on both Wii U and Switch), it maintains PlatinumGames' signature fluidity even during the most chaotic battles. The art direction shifts from the first game's gothic European vibes to a more vibrant, varied palette—from the golden, angelic spires of Paradiso to the fiery, grotesque caverns of Inferno. The character models and enemy designs are more detailed, and the set pieces are even more absurdly spectacular, including fights on the back of a jet fighter and a clock tower that collapses in real-time. Special mention goes to (the 1961 Audrey Hepburn