Hands On: Bayonetta Demo Version

A demo of Bayonetta is set to hit Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN on Thursday. But there's no need to wait if you live in Tokyo (and if you have a time machine to go back to yesterday). Sega had the demo build set up at select retailers on Saturday, and they were even giving away bonus DVDs, clear files and mouse pads to those who played.

I'd previously only played Bayonetta through the Xbox 360 version at the Feel Bayonetta event last month. That build was the same as the Tokyo Game Show and E3 builds of the game, a Sega rep told me at the event. While I'd wanted to try out the PS3 build at TGS in order to confirm some of the technical issues I'd been hearing about, the lengthy lines prevented that. I used yesterday's demo event to play through the PS3 demo a few times.

Those technical issues are pretty obvious as soon as you look at the two games lined up next to one another. The PS3 version has a lower framerate. It's consistently lower, rather than inconsistently dropping here and there (although there's some of that too). I also noticed tearing issues here and there and lesser image quality. Some of the differences could be due to different monitors, but I'd describe the PS3 version as being overall less polished than the 360 version, with the lower framerate being the biggest issue.

Shinjuku Sakuraya had the PS3 and 360 versions next to each other, running on the same type of monitor. Yodobashi had just the PS3 version. Bic had the PS3 and 360 versions, but the 360 version was on a standard 360 demo kiosk with its unfortunately small screen.

Don't take this to mean that the PS3 version looks terrible though. It looks bad in comparison to the 360 version, but I have a feeling that with nothing to compare it to, you'll still be impressed. A lot of what makes Bayonetta look so great is its stylish presentation. Having a giant Zeus-like boss tear the bridge you're walking on apart and swing it around like a block is an impressive sight even on the PS3.

There are some differences between the two demos outside of the visuals. The PS3 version starts off with the message "Converted By Sega" -- something that's not on the 360 version, presumably because Sega didn't "convert" it. Once you get past the title screen, you can select three stages in the 360 version: a tutorial, the Falling Clock Tower prologue stage, and The Angel's Metropolis stage. The Falling Clock Tower stage is missing from the PS3 demo -- an unfortunate omission, as it's one of the most stunning action sequences I've ever seen.

You won't be seeing this in the PS3 demo.

PS3 owners do get some exclusive content, though. The 360 version demo ends just like the E3 and TGS demos ended: in a face-off against a giant Zeus-like boss on a bridge. The demo just comes to an end, somewhat abruptly. Back when I played the game at Feel Bayonetta, a Sega rep told me that you'd actually be facing off against the Zeus guy multiple times.

That may have been incorrect information, though, as in the PS3 demo, you get to play after this. Once you've knocked all his energy off, Zeus gets pissed and tosses the bridge away -- while you're still on it, of course. You're instructed to press up on the analogue and jump. Do so, and Bayonetta will land on a stone pathway below, taking the time to do a nice pose for the camera. Run down the path a bit, and Zeus breaks through a plaza area in the distance. He starts rampaging towards you, tearing up the pathway as he approaches. This allows you to put Bayonetta's auto aim fire skills to good use, as you back away and continue firing.

The two parts of the fight against the Zeus-like boss. The scene to the left is in both demos. The scene to the right appears to be PS3 only.

After fighting (and defeating) Zeus again, you find yourself in a room in a face off with a lady, whom a look at the Bayonetta official site confirmed to be Jeanne. I didn't pay much attention to the text (not that it would have necessarily made any sense), but I think Jeanne mentioned something about this being a final battle between them. I found this funny because this is technically the game's first level.

Following a stylish little introduction clip, set up like a film reel cycling through various pics of Jeanne and Bayonetta, you face off one on one with Jeanne. You're in a relatively small room, but you have access to a new move here. According to the instructions on the screen, when the moon lights up, you can walk on a wall by jumping towards the wall. This is called your Witch Walk. I ignored the part about the moon lighting up and just jumped at the wall. The wall basically becomes like the floor, with the camera switching around. If you want to go back to normal gravity, you can jump up and press L3.

You'll have to use this Witch Walk to chase Jeanne around the walls and ceilings of the room. It makes for a great display of acrobatics, and shows that the game can impress even when you're not combating a giant beast. Jeanne is a normal human-sized character, afterall. After defeating Jeanne, the PS3 demo came to an end.

To the left, a stylish cinematic that precedes the Jeanne fight. To the right, a terribly captured screenshot Sega handed out last week from the Jeanne combat area.

I snuck a couple of shots of the new areas being played at the Yodobashi demo event.

I didn't play the 360 version, so I can't say for sure that these two extra sequences aren't in there. However, while waiting to play the PS3 version (the lines to play were pretty long -- and filled with hot, stylish ladies too!), I saw a number of play throughs of the 360 version. They all came to an end during the first Zeus attack.

The inclusion of the extra sequences may help to explain why the PS3 demo is so much bigger than the Xbox 360 demo (aside from the fact that PS3 demos are usually larger than their 360 counterparts). There's a lengthy cinematic sequence prior to the start of your battle with Jeanne, which could add some to the file size, more than the all-gameplay Clock Tower sequence would add to the 360.

So it looks like both PS3 and 360 owners have a good amount of content to look forward to with Thursday's demo. On top of the multiple levels, the demo also offers easy and normal play modes. According to the select screen, easy mode lets you press triangle to get all sorts of wild moves. I wanted to make sure that I got to try out the new PS3 area, so I played easy in both of my play sessions (I died the first time because I forgot to jump when Zeus tossed the bridge). Even under easy mode, I still felt like I had plenty of control over Bayonetta, and was able to put Witch Time (this is where you dodge at the last minute, sending the game into a brief period of slow motion) and the two fighting styles to good use.

Sega appears to be giving Bayonetta a big push. To the left, the mouse pad you get on the spot for pre-ordering. Not shown are the clear file and trailer DVD you get for sampling the game.

Outside of just being able to play the PS3 version for the first time, I noticed one major change from my Feel Bayonetta play experience: load times. The Feel Bayonetta demo took a while to load up its stages. This wasn't too much of a problem, as the load screen allows you to move Bayonetta around and practice your moves, but the load times did feel long. In the demo rev, the you can still move around and practice your moves during the load screens, but the actual loading takes just a few seconds. This is true both for the PS3 and Xbox 360 demo builds. It will hopefully be just as fast when played off disc.

There may have been some doubts amongst PS3 owners when Sega's announcement of the demo appeared to suggest that the PS3 demo would be lacking content, but based off my play session yesterday, the demo is a must download on either system. The graphical discrepancies on the PS3 do stand out, but I think that once you start to play, and are running up walls and ceilings and performing screen filling finishing moves, you'll be able to ignore them as you're absorbed in Platinum Games' Climax Action sampler.

That's right, Sega. Let the little schoolgirls play Bayonetta. It should be noted that these girls lined up for at least 40 minutes to play the game.