Surprising enough for an action game such as Bayonetta, is that this is in fact a story driven title and I'm happy to admit the tale behind it is quite intriguing. The early stages don't reveal too much of it, merely a few pieces of the puzzle are exposed through cleverly designed cut scenes. Our heroine was found in a casket at the bottom of a lake and her memories are so faint that it's impossible for us to determine her origins.

Most of the information is gradually revealed as her increasingly frequent flashbacks are pushing us forward on a misty path, in search of a mysterious gem. Centuries ago the Lumen Sages and the Umbra Witches were protecting the balance between darkness and light, and watched over the oblivious humans. Some terrible event triggered an open conflict between these clans, the result being complete annihilation of both sages and witches. Bayonetta is the sole survivor of the massacre and everything suggests that she was the underlying cause of the tragedy.

The premise is pretty interesting and definitely very original, but we've seen plenty of games before, who entered a downward spiral and slowly sank into near irrelevance. Fortunately this is not the case here, as Bayonetta is constantly introducing brand new concepts and providing inspired explanations for all the mythical characters encountered. Since you are playing a witch it is only natural that the foes will be allegedly holy creatures such as angels and other surreal avatars of light. Every encounter pits you against these winged enemies, but the variety is huge so you won't feel like fighting the same battle over again.

Much to its credit, Bayonetta offers one of the most complex guides available for action games, recording every single enemy you fight and providing some additional information about them. It looks like there is a strict hierarchy among the angels as well, alluring correlations between the in-game aspect and their perception through mortal eyes, so there is plenty of research to do besides button mashing. It seems like our heroine is all alone in this world and for most of the time she is, but there are a few characters who are less hostile towards her.