Bayonetta 2

Bayonetta 2
Developer: PlatinumGames Publisher: Nintendo Platforms: Wii U, Nintendo Switch Released in JP: September 20, 2014 (Wii U), February 17, 2018 (Nintendo Switch) Released in US: October 24, 2014 (Wii U), February 16, 2018 (Nintendo Switch) Released in EU: October 24, 2014 (Wii U), February 16, 2018 (Nintendo Switch) Released in AU: October 25, 2014 (Wii U), February 16, 2018 (Nintendo Switch) This game has unused animations. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused cinematics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has revisional differences.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: Check the sound files, and more of the models and images. Record animations and extract sounds for the models that have them. One video on the PlatinumGames development blog is utilizing a debug mode. Look to see if it can be accessed in the final release. See if there are any more differences between the Wii U and Nintendo Switch versions, besides amiibo and controller illustrations.

Bayonetta 2 is one of those few examples of a grimdark sequel done right. It also improves on and/or adds more features, such as having a much better-written, better-paced, and less convoluted plot, a larger amount of weapons to choose from (including a mech!), a new animal form that makes navigating through water easier, a wider selection of characters (with easier ways to unlock them as well), and much more. But at the same time, the combat system has arguably been made easier, especially due to the implementation of Umbran Climax.

Bayonetta 2, along with the first game, were ported to the Nintendo Switch in early 2018.

Unused Models

pl000f.dat and plffff.dat contain an early version of Bayonetta's default model, used in the E3 demo. The only noticeable difference is that her earrings contain the Triforce in them, rather than the more intricate design. (The Triforce earrings, however, did make their way into the box art of the Wii U version.)

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pl002f.dat contains an early model for Balder's Beast Within form, with differences in his watch, ribbon placement, and head design.

Early	Final

What appears to be an alternate version of Golem is in em0220.dat. It features four walls surrounding a red-eyed core with a circuit board-like texture.

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em031d.dat and em031e.dat contain models for an early revision of Insidious, with idle and attacking animations. Their textures appear to be hand-drawn, and differ from both Insidious's concept art sketches and its final model.

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es0463.dat contains an unused dagger covered in Aesir's motifs of diamonds and emerald green colors. It is located near other .dat files containing Loki's tarot cards and goggles, so it may have intended for his or Loptr's use.

A stack of cards bearing the pattern of Loptr's left side is in es0861.dat. Extracting the alpha channel of this model's texture reveals a wireframe template, possibly for applying the pattern to a human body. This texture also has "em1300" in in its filename, which corresponds to Loptr's model.

Original	Alpha channel isolated

es0862.dat and es0863.dat each have copies of a version of Father Balder's mask that would have covered the upper half of his face.

wpfffe.dat and wpffff.dat contain both the arm and leg versions of Salamandra, but with solid colors for textures. One of the textures in the .dat shows a drawn version of the weapon's blades.

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To do: Confirm if the audio is indeed from Sai Fung. There are some sounds in the .dat that definitely fit a gatling gun, but they could be leftovers from Sai Fung.

wp0014.dat contains a set of gatling guns. The wp folder contains weapons equipped by the protagonists and enemies, so these may be a scrapped weapon option. The .dat file also has some leftover animations and audio files from the weapon "Sai Fung", which is only available in the first game.

wp01a0.dat and ba0181.dat each contain a model of a large key. It has weapon data, sound effects, and various animations. Another golden key, albeit differently-designed, can also be seen in a concept art piece.

A model in bm100a.dat of a cube with a keyhole on its front, named "kari_key". It also has sound files associated with it.

Bayonetta Leftovers

The dagger Jeanne uses to seal Bayonetta away in the first game is in es0263.dat.

There are also two wooden dolls in the files, the first of which is used on Bayonetta's chapter select screen/map. The Bayonetta doll has two animations of it being picked up and placed back down, while the unpainted doll has none.

A full model of Malphas is in ba0301.dat (T-pose only), as well as pl0042.dat (has a few animations). In Bayonetta 2, only Malphas's wings are seen, and are used to allow Bayonetta to battle in mid-air.

Unused Images

• ui_test.dat is a goldmine of early/test content:
  • A font containing random Japanese characters and English letters.
  • A render based on the first game, depicting Bayonetta fighting Affinities, with the number 10 in the background.
  • A background left over from the E3 demo.
  • A repeating screenshot of a test room.
  • A texture of a red and green swirl, accompanied by normal and specular maps.
  • A screenshot of Tag Climax in development.
  • An early scoreboard or save menu, depicting the world map from Bayonetta in the background.
  • A picture reading, "AaaaaAAAAAaaaaAAAaaa" over and over.
  • An early options menu, using a whole mixture of languages, and black dots in place of the button icons.
  • An assortment of angel and demon names, and the PlatinumGames logo.
  • An inverted picture of an Acceptance, along with more angel names and a halo.
  • A group of HUD icons of the various items found in the game-- of note is an early design for Takemikazuchi.

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  Testing, testing...

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  You are feeling very, very sleepy...

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  Sheesh, calm down.

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• The test.uvd file inside ui_test.dat also reveals the names of other test images that are not shown in it, and were presumably deleted.

test_titleimg
test_tsukamoto02
test_tsukamoto_reiauto
test_tsukamoto_reiauto02
test_tsukamoto_windbg
test_wiiu_dokuro

• The uisptex folder has some concept art pieces that are not shown in the game's Gallery. A few of these unused works ended up being printed in the Bayonetta 2 artbook, "The Eyes of Bayonetta 2", each captioned with a title.
• The works that are artbook-exclusive will have their respective title beneath them. Any image without a title beneath it is in neither the Gallery nor the artbook.
  • An alternate version of used concept art, with an added blimp and angels.
  • A picture of some taxis driving on a metal bridge.
  • A picture that seems to be sequential to the one before it, with taxis and other cars now escaping explosions.
  • Some more chaos from the Prologue, as blimps above the city catch fire during the parade.
  • A picture of the railway in the Prologue.
  • The Prologue's cityscape, after Gomorrah goes berserk.
  • Noatun's main square, containing a different central building and the elevated walkway on the left rather than the right.
  • An image of Noatun's boats, along with with a yacht looming in the background.
  • Two pieces that depict Chapter 1's courtyard, each with differences such as a statue instead of a door, a pond, and a waterway running through the center.
  • An image of Bayonetta activating Witch Time with help from the wave summoned by Loki.

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  "The City - Platinum Stars"

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  "Battle on the Tracks"

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  "The Water Capital - The Port Square"

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  "The Church - Courtyard"

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  "Witch Time - Jetstream"

• The above artworks also have thumbnails that would have been shown when scrolling through the Gallery.

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• Luka's journal has some unused textures that reveal the identities of his "lovers" Claire, Ammy, Trish, and Silvia. Bizarrely, there is also a picture of his father in his death throes, with a peace sign and a man's face superimposed over him.
  • The second image shows more unused textures: a picture of Noatun, Bayonetta, and the world map from the first game. The Japanese text on the left says "ファンタズマラネア" ("Phantasmaraneae") and "首なし天使マーク2" ("Neckless angel mark 2"). Valor's concept art also labels him as "kubinashi" (首なし, "neckless"), so this may be an early or temporary name for him.

• When an enemy is first encountered, a screen appears that displays their name, halo, and title. Labolas is the only exception-- it is only fought in a secret Tag Climax verse, and gets no such introduction.
  • However, placeholder textures for its enemy introduction still remain in the game. They include an early title ("Fate Destroyer" instead of "Destroyer of Fates"), and renders of an Acceptance. The Japanese version also gives it an additional name: "Glasya-Labolas" (グラシャ・ラボラス). In the final game, it is simply known as "Labolas" (ラボラス).

Japanese	English

• An image named "title_effimg" is in ui_title.dat. Inside the magic circle, lyrics to the song "Love is Blue" are written, instead of the usual phrase ("From the darkness I draw my strength"). Below the circle is a strip of text with additional lyrics.

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One of the character select screen textures in the Switch version contains leftover graphics for Xbox 360 controller buttons.

A background extracted from bm00062.dat, which contains a low resolution model of a portion of Noatun. It shows a blocky, unfinished version of Noatun's main plaza.

To do: Is this render shown when using amiibo to unlock the Star Mercenary costume? It isn't displayed when selecting weapons in-game, even when the costume is equipped.

A render of the Arwing Guns equipped when using the Star Mercenary costumes.

(Source: @pacciuli)

A placeholder image of a missile found alongside the satellite and missile models used in Aesir's battle.

es1201.dat contains a copy of the world map shown in Chapter 1 with the kanji for "temporary" (仮) written over it.

An image with columns of colors and coordinates, titled "colorgrid".

An image of an arrow found in many files, titled "testtex".

A placeholder for effect textures.

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  "Arrow"

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  "Arrow_attraction"

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  "Arrow_repulsion"

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  "Paint_arrow_camera"

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  "Paint_restart"

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  "Waterarea"

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  "Sharch"

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  "Yougann_atari"

An assortment of small placeholder images-- their filenames are the only clues as to their use.

Unused	Used

A version of Gomorrah's enemy introduction with its name written in the game's demonic font, rather than the specific font used for these introductions.

Unused	Used

An early texture for the Noatun merchants' flower carts. Details on the top of the canopy are missing, and the prices on the labels have not been translated into Noatun's alphabet.

Unused	Used

An alternate, less-demonic version of Rodin's signature displayed when scanning amiibo.

Cutscene Placeholders

• Within the game's data are two sets of placeholder images for event cutscenes, most of which appear to be intended for Chapter 13. Some pictures use concept art as a background, while some use in-game screenshots. Many of these screenshots display Rosa's model from the first Bayonetta, indicating that her design may not have been finalized at this point of development. She is also referred to in these placeholders simply as "mama" (ママ).

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• The second set of images remain the same as the previous placeholders, except Rosa's name has been changed from "mama" to "Rosa" (ローサ), and their size has been altered a bit.

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Unused Gate

• In the texture files are several images called "gatepart", each surrounded by words and letters in the in-game angelic language, much like the unused key in wp01a0.dat. There is also a piece of background concept art where the exact design of the "gate" in the first image can be seen.

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In the same files as the above "gates" is a simple image of a white keyhole. There are also singular angelic words, titled "keyhole_word".

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Animations

To do: There are more animations in pl0043.dat.

es0069.dat contains a model of Madama Butterfly as well as various animations. There are idle, walking, and generic attacking animations (likely copied from Bayonetta's model), but there are also some animations seen only in prototype footage.

In that sequence, Bayonetta summons Madama Butterfly to perform a Climax Attack against Valiance. She picks up and slams Valiance's sword into its neck. Then, she pretends to lean in for a kiss, but instead punches it repeatedly. There are also quite a few animations where she winds up to perform a headbutt, one of which is used to finish Valiance off in the prototype.

(Source: Rikan)

Unused Text

The Evm folder contains the game's script. Within this folder's files are alternate versions of final lines, placeholder text, and completely unused messages, some of which have voice lines that go with them.

evm_phf04_3f40.mcd (located near Rodin's shop text) and evm_event_8010.mcd (the ending cutscene in which Balder dons his mask from the first game) each contain placeholder text. It appears to be from the Japanese short story "Rashomon", by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

ある日の暮方の事である。

一人の下人が、羅生門の下で雨やみを待っていた。

広い門の下には、この男のほかに誰もいない。

ただ、所々丹塗の剥げた、

大きな円柱に、蟋蟀が一匹とまっている。

羅生門が、朱雀大路にある以上は、

この男のほかにも、

雨やみをする市女笠や揉烏帽子が、

もう二三人はありそうなものである。

それが、この男のほかには誰もいない。

何故かと云うと、この二三年、京都には、

地震とか辻風とか火事とか饑饉とか云う

災がつづいて起った。

そこで洛中のさびれ方は一通りではない。

旧記によると、仏像や仏具を打砕いて、

その丹がついたり、金銀の箔がついたりした木を、

路ばたにつみ重ねて、薪の料に

売っていたと云う事である。

evm_event_1020.mcd is an early version of the scene in the Prologue where Bayonetta asks Jeanne if she got everything for the Christmas party. The characters "買い" (to buy) in Jeanne's line are absent in the final.

Unused (evm_event_1020)	Used (evm_event_9004)
キャビアを買い忘れてな 戻ってきたらこのざまだ	キャビアを忘れてな戻ったらこのざまだ

evm_ph22d_3200.mcd contains an unused line from Loki during Chapter I. When Glamor lunges at Loki for refusing to come with her, his exclamation of surprise is different.

Unused (evm_ph22d_3200)	Used (evm_ph22d_0010)
Bloody hell!!	Whoa!

A voiced version of this line can also be found in the files.

evm_ph22b_3200.mcd has an extra line from Loki that isn't present in the final. It was intended for the event in Chapter I where Bayonetta approaches Loki, who is trapped under Valiance's remains. The line may imply Loki was intended to be captured by Valiance while he was still alive.

Dammit, let me go, you piece of...

It, too, has an unused voice line. Afterward, the script proceeds as the final does, as Bayonetta responds "So, they're after you too then".

(Source: Rikan)

Unused Sounds

There is alternate take of Balder's title call in the game's files, with only the slightest difference in inflection at the beginning of the audio.

Unused
Used

Balder's voice bank also has two unused files, one of which is a man saying "lurfando" (one of his Enochian lines in the first game), and another of a shout. The man's voice doesn't match Balder's in either of the games, in English or Japanese, so their identity remains a mystery.

Lurfando!
Shout

vo_r581.dat has a few voice clips that were intended for the Diomedes chase sequence in Chapter 12.

Good boy!
More, more!
Faster!

During the Jetfighter Assault minigame in Chapter 16, Jeanne speaks to you from the jet's cockpit over the course of the sequence. All of her voice lines begin and end with the crackle of a transmitter, and have a filter put over them. One line that is spoken has an unedited version that remains in the files.

I'll take care of them, Cereza. Hurry to the temple!

vo_pl0212.dat contains audio files of Enzo screaming for help, with a robotic filter over them. This filter is used when characters speak from the human realm while Bayonetta is in Purgatorio. pl0212.dat itself has a model of Enzo flailing his arms (used in the Prologue as his car goes out of control). Unlike the one used in-game, this particular model is shaded in grey, much like how characters are seen while in Purgatorio.

There is an unused instrumental for the battle theme "Tomorrow is Mine" with the BGM files in the sound folder. Also within that folder is a copy of the credits version of "Moon River" (sung by Andy Williams). However, its purpose is unknown, as the credits have their own "Moon River" audio file within the movie folder.

The sound folder also contains many short beeps in different audio channels (along with a single sine wave).

(Source: Rikan)

E3 Leftovers

ui_title.dat and ui_trial.dat contain leftover images used in the E3 2013 demo's tutorial.

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The movie folder has a file named "ToBeContinued" which displays the short video shown after completing the E3 2013 demo.

(Source: Rikan)

Revisional Differences

To do: Other changes.

Bayonetta 2 was ported to the Nintendo Switch, and some additions and changes were made in the process.

• The copyright information on the title screen has been updated to reflect the Switch version's 2018 release.
• The overall frame-rate was improved. Docked mode's frame-rate is much more stable than the Wii U version, while Portable mode's frame-rate is only slightly better.
• The addition of amiibo functionality in Rodin's shop, "The Gates of Hell". Players can scan in amiibo to unlock costumes, items, and in-game currency.
• There are some additional written notes by Rodin that appear on-screen when a specific amiibo is scanned. These references include nods to other Nintendo series such as Super Mario, Super Smash Bros., Splatoon, Pikmin, Yoshi's Woolly World, Animal Crossing, and more.
• The names of the difficulty settings have been changed, and are now referred to as "Easy", "Medium", and "Hard" instead of "1st Climax", "2nd Climax", and "3rd Climax". "∞ Climax" remains untouched.
• Controller illustrations were changed in the controller configuration menu to match the Nintendo Switch controllers.