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New 1000 Club Inductee: Bayonetta
I've been wanting to go back to replay Bayonetta ever since I reviewed it. Actually, I've been wanting to replay it the instant I first saw the credits roll. After finally clearing the other big must-play titles of early 2010 off of my backlog, I decided to use the current lull in the gaming release schedule to bring Bayonetta into the fold of my 1000 Club.
Unlike some other titles in this genre, all of the achievements in Bayonetta are attainable by just about any reasonably skilled player. The time investment is pretty steep (it took me about 29 hours), because it takes at least three complete playthroughs on different difficulty settings – one on normal, one on hard, and one on non-stop infinite climax. That sounds daunting, but there's one thing that makes it possible for anyone: the Climax Brace. When equipped, this accessory transforms all of your attacks into their boss-mode versions, which basically means they are all powerful wicked weaves with a huge range. Of course, this absolutely wrecks most enemies in seconds (even on harder settings), so using the Climax Brace makes your scores ineligible for the leader boards.
While tracking stats like combo score and completion time is disabled, using the Climax Brace still allows you to unlock achievements. I should stress, though, that this ruins the game's natural difficulty curve (and your personal skill progression), so don't do it on your first playthrough; do yourself a favor and experience this awesome game as it was meant to be played at least once. Once you're ready to shoot for the 1000 points, do some Internet research on halo-farming trick for the Temperantia boss fight, then look up how to unlock the Climax Brace using the phones in chapter 2.
Once you have that item equipped, it's just a matter of time...but be sure to check out the other weapons and accessories you can buy at the Gates of Hell. One of the great things about Bayonetta is how these items continue to open up new strategies. Beating the game is just the beginning; the combat system keeps ramping up and getting more intricate the more you unlock, so even after you get your 1000 points, there's still plenty of incentive to keep playing.
(Bayonetta achievements here)
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