Sidekick battles in Bayonetta 2.
☆ NintendObs Weekly – Monday, September 29, 2014 – Sunday, October 5, 2014.
OCTOBER 3RD, 2014
Hello everyone, my name is Ryoya Sakabe. I’m a game designer here at PlatinumGames. It’s nice to get a chance to write to everyone.
I was a member of the team that made Bayonetta 2. In fact, it was the first game I ever worked on. When I saw my name roll by in the credits I got a little choked up. I had to move all the way from Hokkaido (1,500km away) to work at PlatinumGames, but it was totally worth it!
Alright, enough about me, let’s talk about Bayonetta 2! Today, I would like to focus on team battles!
It goes without saying that there are co-op battles in the new Tag Climax co-op mode. However, there are also scenes in the story mode where you fight alongside A.I. controlled characters. These make for some really exciting battles, and are one of the cool new features Bayonetta 2 brings to the table. You can do crazy torture attacks together, and see some cool teamwork. Definitely keep an eye out for these scenes when you play the game.
Of course, actually getting this feature into the game was a serious challenge. A great example is Loki, a key character in the story of Bayonetta 2. You fight together with him in many battles throughout the game.
(Loki and Bayonetta mid-battle. At first I was so fixated on showing how cool Loki was, I designed him so all his attacks sent enemies flying! I ended up having to tone things down after various members of the team pointed out how ridiculous it was.)
Yet, there was a time when, outside of cut scenes, he only fought in a single scene (the one right after you meet him.)
Fast forward to the last leg of the project. With the deadline looming, I was trying desperately to improve the sections I was in charge of in any way possible. One day, I received a request from Director Hashimoto:
“I want Loki to do more in this part.”
(Note: just what “part” he was referring to, you’ll have to wait and see!)
Where did that come from!? Sure, having two characters fight together had been part of the plan since early in production…but there were schedule constraints to consider, not to mention the effect these battles would have on the game’s tempo.
As the game designer in charge of Loki’s moves, I started to panic. I was concerned that we wouldn’t be able to implement the feature in time. But, putting those fears aside, I decided to take on the challenge.
Why, you ask? Because I knew it would make the game more interesting, that’s why!
And so, Operation Make Loki Less of a Wimp was underway.
— Ryoya Sakabe
Source: Platinum Games.
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