Bayonetta 2 - how to make the best better

So Sega is left with a dilemma. Witha massive franchise on their hands before it's even hit game number two, what they do right now will determine the fate of the entire series. So here's what you could add to make a better Bayonetta.

Add co-op

Bayonetta isa single-player game. Yet you'll often find yourself fighting alongside Jeanne, so it's not like the game can't handle a buddy. The game doesn't get muddled when you're attacking the same enemy - all it needs is player control instead of AI.

Above: Ladies, stop fighting. Team up and make Bayonetta 2 already

Add full multiplayer

Going one step further, there's already perfect foundations for a four-player Streets of Rage-style game. Bayonetta and Jeanne could be joined by Rodin and Enzo. If anyone could pull off Enzo's transition from comic relief cutscene fodder to playable buffoon, it's Platinum Games. Hell, why not have a full-on 2D side-scrolling levelin homage to Axel and co?

Above: Imagine this done in Bayonetta-style 3D. It'd be superb

Make a spin-off game with Jeanne

What's Jeanne's story? She's enigmatic throughout most of the game and although some questions get answered at the end, we'd still love to know what she's been doing for the past couple of hundredyears. Not to mention some people find her more attractive than Bayonetta. (Blasphemy!)

Or with Rodin

C'mon, Rodin is clearly a badass. He forges guns, runs a bar called 'The Gates of Hell' and makes a mean cocktail without spilling anything. For those who found Bayonetta's posturing a little too much to stomach, Rodin would make for a much more traditional videogame hero.

Above: Don't you want to see what he can do when he gets angry?

What we definitely wouldn't do:

An RPG. Not that the game world wouldn't support it (it would be better than the majority of RPG worlds out there in truth), but more because once Bayonetta moves away from all-out action, it'll probably never come back. The game needs to stay slick, sharp, focused and action-packed, or they might as well not make a sequel at all.

So... more of the same, with co-op, more playable characters and more fantastic nods to classic games? It may be the obvious answer, but you know what they say. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Except on PS3, of course. Still waiting for that patch...

19 Mar, 2010