Fortunately, Bayonetta is not one of them. This is one action game you may either intensely like or deeply despise, but despite of all the hype it stands out from the pack because of one thing; Witch Time.

Witch Time to Bayonetta is what Issen is to Onismusha and Tate is to Shinobi/Kunoichi of the PlayStation 2. The only game which has an almost similar move is God Hand for the PlayStation 2 by Capcom but that is no surprise.

The guys who made God Hand have joined forces to make Platinum Games which just to happens to be the bastion of Bayonetta’s creator, Hideki Kamiya.

The Royal Guard move of Devil May Cry seems to be similar to a certain move which will be discussed later on, but then again Hideki Kamiya was the creator of Devil May Cry.

No more discussions about Bayonetta vs. Devil May Cry, please. Let’s leave it to the diehard fan boys to spam/troll war each other to death about that over-discussed topic.

Witch time, simply put, is when Bayonetta evades or dodges an attack before getting hit and thereby temporarily slows down time and become invincible. During this stage, dish out a string of Wicked Weave attacks and as much hell and mayhem as you wish without taking any damage.

It is the heart and soul of the game, the meat and potatoes of the whole thing. Take away Witch Time and Bayonetta is perhaps no better than any of the dime a dozen hack and slash titles cluttering the gaming scene. Notice that Witch Time involves dodging, not outright blocking. It can even be executed while countering an attack, but more on that later.

Blocking has been done many times before, and as game creator Hideki Kamiya puts it, dodging instead of blocking means you already have one over your opponent. Getting Witch Time right involves precise timing.

Press R2 a split second before getting whacked with the Angelic Weapons your enemies intend to smash Bayonetta with. Voila! Witch Time. This actually takes a degree of skill to pull off and takes some practice before you can do it automatically without even consciously thinking about it. Master it, and you own half the game.

Even if you do manage to unlock through sheer brilliance and unparalleled perfection (or through good old fashioned cheating by using a cheat code like almost every one does) all the accessories or weapons like the Climax Bracelet, Bracelet of Time, Bazillions or Pillow Talk, you are still and will forever be a noob if you cannot pull off a decent Witch Time ten times out of ten.

Later on, you will be able to buy the ability “The Bat Within” from Rodin at the 7-11 of the game, The Gates of Hell. This ability will allow you to transform into a swarm of bats ( which look more like a flock of crows ) and take no damage if you messed up a split second in performing Witch Time. Be sure to buy this ability, you will need it.

Finally, there is what is referred to as “countered” Witch Time. This is what will separate the men from the boys, the elite from the unwashed masses. It requires that you have the Moon of Mahaa-Kalaa ( MK ), which you can buy from Rodin at the Gates of Hell. How does it work?

The exact moment that you get hit, you will see a rose pop up atop of Bayonetta’s head ( No, I am not making this up ). Immediately and very quickly press the directional stick towards the direction of the attack. You get to stop an enemy’s combo attack, trigger a much longer Witch Time, sometimes even perform an instant Wicked Weave hair attack, deflect projectiles, and execute Witch Time with some enemies with whom you almost cannot execute it, like Jeanne and Beavis and Butthead, aka Gracious and Glorious.

Take note that if you attempt to counter a second too early, you merely block an attack. That would be lame, but it is still useful when getting pummeled in a combo string by Gracious and Glorious or Jeanne. The bottom line is to equip MK ALL THE TIME, unless you are doing a few tricks at the Alfheim Portals or are Halo farming. This where other accessories will come in handy.

If you do have trouble triggering Witch Time or are Halo farming ,buy Selene’s Light. Instant Witch time whenever you get hit, but it will turn you into a scrub and dumb down your ability to perform Witch Time. Or unlock (either through a cheat or pure blood and sweat) the Bracelet of Time, where you can execute Witch Time ANYTIME simply by pressing L1 but you do get to consume magic orbs when doing so.

It would be a moot point in the latter option since by then you would have mastered Witch Time and can execute it even in your sleep. Selene’s Light and Bracelet of Time may be looked down upon by purists, but you will find it very useful in some situations.

It will take a few tries to get Witch Time right and a lot more practice and patience to perfect a “countered” Witch Time, but it will spell the difference between a Platinum Trophy and a Stone award. Also, what’s a cheeseburger without a beef patty inside? What good is it to play Bayonetta and not be able to execute an excellent Witch Time on the fly? Start practicing and enjoy.

But you can’t use Witch Time in Non-Stop Pure Climax Mode, you may say. Well, we will get to that on another topic.