Platinum Games' Beyonetta was a completely over-the-top action game in the vein of Devil May Cry. Everything from the hair-inspired attacks to the ridiculous set pieces including one that involved riding a motorcycle on the side of a rocket. It was outrageous and quite challenging to boot.
This is what made the announcement of its sequel Beyonetta 2 being a Wii U exclusively published by Nintendo so strange. Then again, strange is this game's claim to fame. From it's playable build at Nintendo's E3 booth, Beyonetta 2 is set to be one of the best action titles for the struggling console by simply trying to outdo the original Playstation 3 and Xbox360 game in every single way.
Beyonetta 2 plays exactly like it's predecessor from the looks of things outside of the ability to play using the Wii U Gamepad's touchscreen. For those who are looking for more accessibility can approach safety knowing that the "Easy Automatic" feature will be making its return. Combos, shoe-guns, witch time dodges and everything in-between that made Beyonetta so beautifully visceral remains the same.
The demo starts atop a stealth fighter with angelic centaurs-like enemies welding spears. Once dispatching them, Beyonetta's former antagonist Jeanne joins the titular heroine against enemies before ending up fighting more baddies on a train going at a ridiculous speed. This is where the first boss fight takes place which features help from Jeanne. Once defeated, Beyonetta's signature finishers come into play into a messy and absurd fatality.
Then the real boss appears in a cut scene where Jeanne's soul gets knocked out of her body by a dragon-like beast that's just as tall as the tower where the fight takes place, right before getting dragged to some other dimension.
In an interesting twist, the boss battle takes place in the air without changing the move-set. The dragon meets its demise in gory fashion with Beyonetta summoning a spider-like creator to terminate it.
Alongside Mario Kart 8, Beyonetta 2 may be the Wii U's most visually spectacular upcoming release. Everything just fittingly enhances the same visual blueprint and takes things up more than a few notches. The closing boss fight with the dragon is simply epic and grand in scope. Interestingly enough, Beyonetta also sports a new character design that involves a new haircut.
Beyonetta 2 is shaping up to be fantastic sequel and improves on everything great about the original as it looks for a 2014 release.