Book Review: The Eyes of Bayonetta 2

Kudos to publisher Udon Entertainment for translating yet another Japanese video game artbook to English. The original Japanese artbook ベヨネッタ2 公式設定資料集 was released in 2014, the same year as Bayonetta 2 was released.

This artbook is a 208-page hardcover that's filled with concept art for the game. The artworks is a mix of in-game stills and hand drawn art. The character designs are all hand drawn while the weapons, enemies and environment are all game stills. I prefer more actual concept art rather than the final visuals that were used in the games. Having said that, the art and design still look great. They are very detailed, and designs are cool. There's a celestial feel to all the enemies.

As for character designs, there are lots of costumes to check out for Bayonetta. There are also designs for Jeanne, Balder, Rosa, Loki, Luka, Rodin, Enzo, Loptr and the people of Noatun.

The environment designs are breathtaking. They look really good. There are also designs for the Verse Cards.

The only downside to the artworks is, they could be printed bigger. The size is alright as it is, but it would be so much better if the artworks were the same size as those from the first artbook.

All the visuals are accompanied by insightful staff commentary which is one of the highlights of the book.

Overall, it's a pretty cool artbook worth collecting if you're into game art.

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook.

The Eyes of Bayonetta 2 is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | AU | JP | CN)

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