A short update regarding the leaderboards, and a casual reminder.

Due to a recent request influx, and also support, for individual level categories, the decision has been made to add these ILs to the board, as well. The categories for these ILs are the same for the NG+ ones. The reason for this being, on a new game, you can fairly easy obtain everything from the shop, and unlocking other weapons through Platinum codes, with a bit of grinding, making the term "new game" obsolete. Difficulties are also the same as the full run categories, and are done in RTA.

As a casual reminder, we have a discord, for anyone interested in running the game, or just want to learn about either bayo 1 or 2, and 3 when it releases. https://discord.gg/DkVK85x

Alright, so this suggestion has been going around the discord already, but I'm posting it here as well for others that might not be in there.

My suggestion was that we got rid of the intro chapter: "Records of Time - The End". I don't mean that we should bring the old timer offset back, either. The suggestion is that it's cut from the run completely, and that the timing for the run begins on pressing start on the prologue. However, should it go like this, then there are a few parameters that the file that's run should follow, and must be shown in the video of said run. (These are the ones I came up with)

1. The In game time of the file must not exceed 4 minutes
2. The halo count on the file must be 0
3. The file must have the image/ title of the intro chapter (Records of Time - The End) on it.
4. The prologue's chapter card has to appear into existence.

Now, there's been valid reasoning both for removing and keeping the intro chapter, of which I will name a few.

In favor of keeping:

1. While the intro chapter can sometimes be tedious, mostly if you are a heavy resetter. The intro chapter is still part of the game and should be in its full run
2. There are other games that do not get the luxury of just cutting off part of their run just bacause the intro might be tedious for those runs.

In favor of removing:

1. While you are indeed in control during the chapter, the fact that it will always play out the same means this is a glorified cutscene, that will also lose you time depending on which version you run. (however, this counts for the entire run)
2. It basically means it takes nearly 4 minutes to actually start up a run, and while you can save maybe a few seconds, leaving such a timesave on the bulk of a "cutscene" in a 2 hour run, feels a bit mundane.

The gist of this post, though, is to gauge how others feel about this new rule. If you are for or against it, please also respond with the reason why.

(As an added note, after a bit of time to think about this. Even though I was the one to propose this, I've become neutral to this rule, myself.)

Alright, I decided to add a quick sort of update to the forum, regarding the leaderboard and some other stuff I will be addressing.

First off, the Speedrunning Discord: For those that are interested in running, or just learning about Bayonetta 1 or 2 (and 3 when it releases in the future), here is the link to the Bayonetta speedrunning discord: https://discord.gg/DkVK85x (never expiring link)

Second, there have been a few requests to add categories to the leaderboard. While I agree that could be a good idea, I am hesitant to do so in fear of it only being there for just one runner (and to an extent, a "one run and done" kinda thing), or worse, just to have the category remain empty. This is why I'd like to urge any potential runner to request their category on the forum, so we can at least see if it also spikes other peoples interest.

Third, there are some resources and guides available. Among the resources are save files and splits for certain categories (and the discord server link). The guide section has some general information and also stuff partaining to particular runs. If you feel there's resources or guides that should be there, please feel free to ask, or put it on there yourself. (The resources tab doesn't allow you to add stuff unless you've done a run for some reason, though.)

Lastly, if there's anything unclear about any existing runs, rule etc, or you just have questions about the game, please feel free to ask.

I'd like to suggest, and am also wondering if people are interested, in a Tag Climax category. The rules for this would look like this:

Category: Tag Climax Subcategories: 6 cards & All Cards, and 0 Stars & 3 Stars Difficulty 2 players, second player can be either human or CPU controlled All characters allowed No Restrictions Timer starts on starting the first card, and stops when the medal jingle of the last card's verse result screen plays Emulators are banned Video is required for submission

Quick rundown on the rules,

1. 6 cards is just one round of TC and you gotta select the cards that are gonna be the fastest. All Cards is about 9 rounds of TC. (the last round, should you do them without dying, is only 5 battles)
2. I chose 0 stars and 3 stars, because 1 and 2 stars are basically the same as 0 stars, except enemies are just harder to kill and do more damage. 3 Star difficulty however, gives you more enemies to beat, making the fights different and more difficult. It also cuts down on the subcategories. (This rule is up for debate, though)
3. Human or CPU controlled partner, because maybe you wanna go at it alone, or your internet might not be the best. (This rule is also up for debate).
4. All characters allowed, because some might be faster than others, and on 3 stars, you might choose survivability over power.
5. No Restrictions because the amount of accessories you can use is already limited in TC (Balder and Rodin cannot even equip accessories)
6. Not too sure about the timing rules, but at the top of my head this seems like this seems alright. If anyone knows a better way to time it, lemme know.

Note: All versions of Bayonetta compete in the same categories and are timed in real time.

If you start running Bayonetta, it is highly recommended that you run it on PC, as it has a near constant 60FPS and minimal/ non existant loading times.

Should you run it on console, then the order from best to worst system to run it on is probably: Switch/ Xbox One Xbox 360 Wii U PS3

As you go down the list, the game is going to have more framerate problems at times and longer loading screens. Also keep in mind, that installed versions of the game run smoother than physical copies.

The rules of this run are simple: Start a New Game Pick Rosa as the character Choose 1st Climax as the difficulty. Timer starts on pressing A on the textbox that appears after choose whether or not you want to have the Immortal Marionette equipped, and ends on the last hit on the last enemy in the credits.

There are a few runners that have done this run already, but since this category is not added, none have submitted a run yet. Therefore, I'm requesting one now.