Hideki Kamiya hopes Bayonetta will be 'sadistically hard'

by Majed Athab { Apr 2nd 2009 at 5:45AM }

Director Hideki Kamiya wants to be upfront about his new project, Bayonetta, as much as possible and wants to let gamers know what they're getting into. "With Bayonetta, we would hate for someone to think it is a heartwarming tale and then buy the game to discover it is really a sadistically hard game (I hope...)," says Kamiya in his first entry on Bayo-Blog.

Kamiya warns not to let the gentle-looking female lead fool you, pointing out that Bayonetta is full of "hardcore battle action." We think this comes through clearly enough, judging from the Devil May Cry vibe we've picked up from the past couple of screenshots and vids.

Tags: action, bayonetta, hideki-kamiya, platinum-games

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jampirow @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:02AM

Thank. You. Very. Much. Day-one.
Devil May Cry 4 failed in so many ways, but my biggest issue with it was that it was way too easy (not as easy as DMC2 though). Hopefully this means Bayonetta will have a "Ninja Gaiden" difficulty.

whazam1337 @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:07PM

It was easy and short TOO short

Lars @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:25PM

Yep, I was just thinking DMC clone, meh... But sadistically difficult? Count me in!

peekupthekimono @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:10AM

I must say this is a vastly interesting concept.. I will have to try it out. She's.. cute?

Great Golem+ @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:44AM

Watch the trailer, her clothes run off and kill people!

Hedgeson @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:45AM

Her hair is what forms her clothes. It seems to be possessed of some great, evil power of awesomeness.

FullyShadow @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:12AM

So sadistically hard? I hope it makes my hand bleed. And while their at it, make sadistically hard achievements/trophies.

meist3r @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:20AM

OK, anyone else think this spells out "we won't sell this"? I know there are hardcore freaks out there that enjoy breaking a sweat while playing, also like to get cramps from trying to beat a level.

Then, and that's the vast majority, there are the people that are the meat and 'taters of game dev revenue and those people want an enjoyable game that they can play without engaging in illegal substances or multi-hour training periods. I'd like to see a statistics how many people bought Megaman 9 and how many of those actually finished it. Call me whatever but I don't have enough time to play a level a hundred times anymore.

DiggyStyle @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:53AM

I have to agree here. This game was slightly on my radar. OK so it was mostly because of the hair-suit, hair "magic" , the gun foot thing and, well... boobies but I can't be bothered with robo-difficult gameplay anymore. It would be even worse if it was artificially hard with difficult controls. I will probably pass on this one.

I do believe there is still a place and audience for "sadistically hard" games. If the controls are tight, then there are people out there that will make the combat flow beautifully. Personally, I have enough frustration and anger at work so I won't need it at home for the few hours a week that I get to play games.

I have a buddy that probably wasn't even thinking about this game but once I tell him about the supposed difficulty, he will probably rush to get it day one. If so, he will start telling me about nightmares that have him waking up and checking his fingers for blood. Ninja Gaiden 2 and Mega Man 8 are a couple of his favorites and I think he secretly likes to throw controllers.

C @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:07AM

If your speaking from a selling perspective...it doesn't matter whether they complete it or not...as long as they buy it.

Ninja Gaiden was considered a success while being considered as 'sadistically hard'. Just don't expect CallofDuty type sales (it is an obscure japanese game after all).

The key with games that like to be difficult now-a-days is if the producers make it hard to break your spirit..a-la Alpha 152...hard by simply throwing more at you...like CallofDuty...or hard to push you and making you look baddass...which is Ninja Gaiden.

Few games catch that balance.

meist3r @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:19AM

@C: I beg to differ, mouth to mouth and game reviews are a huge factor in sales numbers. All obscure japanese game/weird looks/etc. aside if a reviewer and/or a couple of reliable friends tell you "this game is way hard" you probably will get the next best thing instead. Given the prices of games and the amount of choice one has nowadays I can hardly see how this can turn into a profitable venture for the developer. If I have a weird IP like the one here I would make sure that it's accessible to as many people as possible. Maybe they're pushing for cult status. Unfortunately that never saved anyone from going out of business. I'd think to include this sadistically hard version of the game as an option much like Madworld for Wii has a fairly easy singleplayer the first time around and brutally punishing "Hard" option.

McWilly @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:16AM

First we have people who complain about games these days being too easy or too short now we have people who put down developers who take bold steps to actually promise something that I and what gamers I think have been asking for a while, that is "Please stop treating us like 8 year old pussy's?".
And I don't understand the mentality of "This game won't sell well therefore I won't even consider this game" and why you even care about sales at all in the first place. If your only interests are based solely on what hits the top of this weeks sales char then you must be a very dull and gullible person.

meist3r @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:30AM

@McWilly: Did you even read any of the comments? Apparently not. Nobody bases their decision to buy this game on how well it will sell. I uttered a suspicion that making the game very hard would put lots of people off buying it. I myself couldn't care less. I don't even own a 360 and I bought several games for other systems that had painfully low sales figures but I adore them nonetheless (namely No More Heroes and Zack & Wiki). The point I was trying to make is that by raising the bar to a Ninja Gaiden Black level of difficulty, many people will not live up to the challenge and keep others from buying the game because they clearly know it's too hard for most. That will in turn decrease sales numbers so for the developer it's a bad move.

That's like making a car that only jet pilots can drive. It's a really cool thing for those jet pilots that feel underwhelmed by the regular cars but no ordinary driver will ever buy one because it's much too complicated. There are ways to balance games to not treat people like 8 year old pussies (hell I bet some 8y/o can kick my ass in Halo) and on the other hand make it hard enough to be challenging but not impossible. Imagine Halo 3 came out with Legendary as default and only option ... how well would that have sold? Probably not as much as it did. Other than that making a game easy doesn't say much about how long it is. Zelda Twilight Princess was laughably easy to complete and it still took me 60 hours. 60! hours ... even though I progressed as quickly as possible. I died maybe half a dozen times during that game three of which I missed a jump towards one of the bosses caves. That should tell you something about difficulty and game length and the lack of connection thereof.

sc00by_y00 @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:17AM

meist3r,

Im completely with you. Theres fun and then there is wasting time. I like games to be fun, not to be so difficult that I have to repeat sections continuously it stops being challenging and just becomes frustrating.. Im getting old and have too much stress around me already to sit there getting frustrated.. I will be avoiding this also... Whats the point to buyng a game if I know from the start there is no hope of me clocking it ?

Mister Bogus (Mr. ESC) @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:20PM

Yeah me too.There is a time for hard games but when you grow up and you get a job and stuff is really hard to just stick to one game and master it,lately I'm just finishing the games I bought last year in normal and move on.

squeehunter @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:26AM

I'll tell you what's going to be sadistically hard.

Dave @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:45AM

i lol'd

eNrique @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:05PM

...

What?

squeehunter @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:33PM

I'm talkin' about my weiner.

Nuclear Chauffeur @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:20PM

If your post wouldn't have been up-voted, I would have completely missed that.

Kamizar @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:30AM

As long as it's not, Bayonetta - Normal Mode = Ninja Gaiden - Master Ninja Mode, we(Hideki and I) will have no problems.

tmmoore_nc @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:44AM

And because of this I will be playing another game, which will not be sadistic.

silverwolf761 @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:50AM

Well, if that is true, there is almost zero chance I will pick this game up. I don't have the patience anymore to fight tooth-and-nail to get through even early levels. Can't say I was ALL that interested in this anyway though.

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:59AM

This is disappointing. All I really wanted was a fun slacker romp. I outgrew the need to show off my gaming cock sometime during the PSX era.

Moe @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:21AM

He can take his sadistically hard game and shove it up his ass and sit on it. I'll wait for DMC5

iag25 @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:16AM

Hopefully DMC5 will be hard. DMC4 was to easy. no sense of accomplishment compared to 1 and 3. I actually would expect it since hideki left. Some people just thrive on the difficult stuff. RE5 and DMC4 wasn't even hard at all and short. I personally am not a hardcore fan but it's great to see that hideki hasn't followed the trend and made something for his DMC fans.

fred @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:47PM

I agree, iag. Frankly I'm hoping DMC5 will be as hard as DMC3 was

MLS @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:36AM

I think something got lost in translation here. What does a heartwarming story have to do with the game's difficulty? He could perhaps mean hard in comparison to someone who doesn't play games and just wants to play it for the female lead. Then again, the main character looks like a dominatrix. There is no way anyone could look at all the guns and leather and think it's a "girly game". How could he think anyone would confuse this lead character with a Princess Peach or something?

Whatever, I'm not playing it anyway. if I didn't like Devil May Cry or God of War, I can't see myself liking this.

KingOfHearts @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:12AM

Am i the only one who thinks she looks like a sexy librarian?

AAAAAAARRGH! I cant wait for this game..

Zsavior @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:30AM

I don't mind difficulty in my games but I hope "sadistically Hard" doesn't take the place of game play and originality. I don't want DMC just with a sexy librarian, and Constantly on dante Must die Difficulty. I will be bored and angry at the same time.

Mr Khan @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:37AM

It'll be interesting to see how this does against MadWorld. Platinum was (and rightfully so, being the first of the two by far) putting all their hype to MadWorld, and so we haven't seen the hype for this, and it'll be interesting how they stack up in the end.

Roto13 @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:34AM

I think the amount of hype has a lot to do with the fact that MadWorld came first and Bayonetta won't be out for quite a while.

Watcher @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:50AM

There is a difference between a challenging game and an annoyingly difficult game.
If a publisher is going to make a game challenging, then the controls, character / enemy balance, and in game options have to be tuned correctly. Giving enemies cheap overpowering abilities just makes games frustrating.

Similar to what was already mentioned, I play games to release stress and have fun. I don't shy away from challenging games, but I don't have the desire to muddle through games that are extremely difficult just for the sake of being so.

The whole purpose of having difficulty settings is to allow the player to set the challenge. When a game set to normal is hair-pulling difficult, it's no longer enjoyable.

This game looks and plays so much like Devil may Cry. I like the choice of having a female character, but I think she's could use a few pounds.

I’m probably going to pass on this one. I enjoyed Devil may Cry, but I don’t see myself buying an extremely difficult clone for full price.

I know TAICHI! @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:12AM

THANK YOU! FUCK YES! FUCK YES! FUCK YES! GOOD! Videogames are waaaaaay too easy nowadays.

The Baron @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:58AM

Hard does not equal fun.

KryptiK_420 @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:27AM

That's (not) what she said...

AwesomeTown @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:30PM

I 100% agree.

I don't get why everyone is saying that DMC4 was too easy. I didn't think that game was easy at all. It's one thing to have difficulty levels for those who really want to and really can master the game. It's another thing entirely to not let those people who aren't as crazy good not even be able to enjoy it.

Nytemare @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:25AM

TBA 2009 can't get here fast enough...

Griffin83 @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:35AM

Am I the only one who looks at that character design and thinks ... well ... that she kind of ... uh ... looks like a dude ... dude. Her head to hip ratio is way out of wack and her face just looks kinda mannish ... I've seen the videos .. and it leaves me with no desire to play ... she's just not sexy, and that wouldn't be a problem except that I think the designers think she's sexy and there-in lies the rub.

Roto13 @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:36AM

I have to wonder how many people here have actually played any of Kamiya's games. They tend to be pretty tough anyway, but never cheaply tough. And the harder difficulties are actually more fun than the easier ones.

*caresses Viewtiful Joe*

badbob001 @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:41AM

Would it be Gunvalkyrie "break the controller or my fingers" hard?

Levi (God Hand Defense Force) @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:43AM

LOL at the rubber playground generation comments. I'm ready for a challenge. Bring it Platinum!

Josh @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:51AM

I have no reason to buy a sadistically hard game.

Sorry man, but the whole style of the game never appealed to me, anyway.

Jacksons @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:54PM

Me either. Skipped.

FireLord91 @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:17PM

Sadistically hard is good just as long as it is challenging and not mostly based on luck as I found the ninja gaiden games to be.

UserDoesNotExist @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:58PM

Define sadistically hard. Are we talking original Ninja Gaiden or DMC3 normal difficulty, which were hard but fair, encouraging you to get good at the game? You can beat NG1 without getting hit a single time. Granted, few people will ever get that good, but contrary to popular opinion, the enemies are predictable and all their attacks are dodgeable. Or Ninja Gaiden 2, which was hard and unfair (random things coming in fast from off the screen from enemies you couldn't even see taking off a third of your life) to the point where even a good portion of hardcore gamers gave up?

The first will make this a day 1 purchase for me.