I really liked the Nintendo Direct presentation of this game....I´m not into these type of kid-looking games, but the presentation was just spectacular, so I will try the trailer (although I had no intentions to buy the game).
I can understand Japanese getting hand on the demo and games first...but why Europe?...Europe has been very bad for Nintendo, they do not deserve this exclusives 1st....the way I see it is that the markets who support the games and consoles better should get this things first. That's why I never complain against Japan...but Europe?....meh, they only care about PS there.

Downloading the demo.

Loved this Kamiya Direct.

You probably want to update the story now. Iwata apparently posted on Miiverse that NA is getting the demo later today. Please Understand.

For real?!

For real.

Source

Would each territory downloading it all at once be something Nintendo wanted to avoid? Maybe that's why we are getting it some hours later.

I'm halfway through the demo so far and it feels really, REALLY similar to Bayonetta. Also very, very weird.

Similarities:

Items crafting is the same -- you collect three components that you combine according to recipes to get items
Block/Deflect -- pudding -- Moon of Maha-Kala
Dodge action -- no witch time in W101 obviously
Somewhat similar structure to combos

Unite actions also feel similar to Metal Gear Rising's sword action -- you start moving right stick, time slows down a bit and you have to move the stick in specific way to do something. I didn't liked this mechanic in the demo and have a bit of hard time adjusting to it here as well. I'm confident i'll get used to it though.

Main thing that throws me off the loop is probably isometric perspective. Now you have to be aware of entire area surrounding you and not just what you see like in 3d action games. I constantly get hit by a monster who jumped from the corner i wasn't paying attention to.

Demo has 15 plays on it. This sucks, especially considering demo, like the game, has multiplayer component, at least i was getting the game anyway.

Okay i finished it and went for second round.

It went MUCH better second time. I'm feeling the combat much better. Still not confident enough with jello blocking timing -- it lasts just for about a second and then fall apart so you need to know timing of the attack that you're blocking from.

Rating system (while again, very, very similar) is much more forgiving than in Bayonetta. On my first playthrough i was thrown all over the place by enemies and yet still got gold medals.

Off TV play is very interesting, it actually has three modes: regular game, off tv play and picture in picture mode where you can see tv and gamepad visuals on both screens (you will need this mode to play two screen sequences when playing only on gamepad). You can't use touchscreen when in off tv play mode.

Demo doesn't use my Wii Classic Controller for singleplayer game, which is a shame. I can't use CCPro as my main controller but it's available in co-op challenges. Full game might still support it fully. Regular Gamepad control work just fine though.

Wonderful 101 song you get when finish mission is made of saturday morning cartoon cheese.

The North American demo is live. It's 933 MB.

According to our own Daan Koopman, the full amount of space required to download and install is 1537 MB.

I sure hope to the Great Murloc, for he forever mrrrbl, that is not the case.  Their should be at the minimum a server per Region.  Should be many download servers per region though.

I was at the downloading part. :)

I've got 20 plays to start with, do Americans get more?


It was really confusing at first but I really started to catch on by the end. I like using my thumb for the circle more than the control stick but prefer the stick with the gun and sword.


There is so much going on it's hard to comprehend at first. Can't wait for the rest of the game.

There a few secrets in the demo, make sure to scan the buildings.

I found one wonderful statue and one geathjerk file.

Here is a glorious song from demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df_nTBwmgX0

So awesome.

I hope it's a permanent demo so that I can try it out later.

It's permanent, but it's only 15 tries.

That's why i kept my Wii U on for two days now.

This demo is so slick and smooth! Wonder Blue's sword is my favorite so far.

15 tries? My Wii U says 20.

That's because you live in Obamastan.

Please tell me this demo isn't what they meant when they teased "something special" at this direct. A demo? The thing most games get on the other platforms? Oh Nintendo, you spoil us.I've already seen enough of this game to know I'm gonna get it. I wish Platinum would port over the first Bayonetta game.

Nintendo didn't tease anything. That was Platinum.

What's the last release that had demo on PS3 or Xbox360? Think fast.

And demo WAS indeed something special. I saw this demo was the bet thing happened to Wii U so far.

Can't wait for full game.

Well, Fuse was the last "big" release I can think of that had a demo on the HD consoles.

I don't even remember when that was. So, thanks for proving my point.

At this point, i think retail release having a demo is not guaranteed at all.

Demos have never been especially common on Sony's platforms. XBLA games all have demos, because Microsoft mandates it, but outside of that it's something of a crap shoot no matter what platform you're on.