The newly remastered Bayonetta brings with it buttery-smooth, 60 FPS gameplay

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We all know this mysterious website PlatinumGames launched twoo weeks ago is for the next Bayonetta, right? What better way to build hype for that announcement than to re-release the original Bayonetta as an HD remaster for modern consoles?

In case you forgot what Bayonetta looks like, or if you’d like a refresher, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s the opening area in all its buttery smooth, 60 FPS, remastered glory

Whenever I try to describe Bayonetta I feel like I just woke up from a fever dream and I’m trying to get all of the details out before I forget about them. Alright there’s this witch, right? Wait no, she’s dressed as a nun and then she’s a witch.

Okay, actually there are two witches? Hold on, there’s a whole coven of witches, but almost all of them are gone except for one, except maybe there’s another one in red and they’re either friends or mortal enemies? They fight angels, which are actually monsters and probably kinda evil? Anyway, she has guns. Is she holding guns? Yes, duh, but she also has guns attached to her boots. YES, I SAID HER BOOTS, GOD JUST WRITE THIS DOWN. Also, her clothing is actually made of her hair, which I think is probably magic or something.

The whole game is just a stream of consciousness punch to the brain and god I love it. It is so quintessentially PlatinumGames in that they took a theme, riffed on it to make it dramatically more and more ridiculous, and then made that game.

Bayonetta is to occult action as Vanquish is to sci-fi action, so it’s no surprise that they both just dropped their HD remasters today. You can buy them individually or you can get them together in a beautiful steel case split.

There was a debate when this game first came out as to whether the character Bayonetta was empowering or designed for the male gaze

I think the answer to both of those questions is “yes.” She’s all awkward proportions and impossible angles, but somehow everything just kind of works even though it shouldn’t. She’s liquid confidence, utterly sure of herself while she stylishly slays everything that might cross her. Bayonetta the character and Bayonetta the game have that in common, because playing the game feels exactly like you’d expect it to based on one glance at the character.

Character debates aside, the action in Bayonetta strongly holds up a decade later. If you like arcade-style, combo-heavy action games that share gameplay DNA with classics like Devil May Cry, you owe it to yourself to play Bayonetta. If you start now, I bet you could get through 1 and 2 before the next game is inevitably announced in the near future.

Bayonetta (Remaster) is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. You can get it individually for $24.99 (according to the press release) or bundled with Vanquish (Remaster) for $39.99.

What do you think? Plan on checking out the remastered Bayonetta? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here for more. This article and accompanying gameplay footage was made possible with a code from the developer.