Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): March 17, 2023
- Release Date (EU): March 17, 2023
- Release Date (JP): March 17, 2023
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Platinum Games
- Genres: Action, Puzzle, Adventure
Game Features:
Known for its sassy dialogue and fast-paced, combo-heavy gameplay, the Bayonetta series has grown to be hugely popular since its debut in 2009. Each game upping the ante from the last and continuing the titular character’s tale, we now take a step back to look into her past, and who she was before the stylish witch we know today.
Bayonetta Origins starts with a chapter of a picture book, lovingly narrated like a parent reading to a child. I’ll keep the details here brief, since you can experience this part for yourself with the free demo, but the gist is that Cereza is a child shunned by her village for being born of both an Umbra Witch and a Lumen Sage. Her father sent away and her mother imprisoned, she gets taken in by an exiled witch named Morgana who trains her in the dark arts, with Cereza’s goal being to accrue the power she needs to rescue her mother. Our first glimpse of gameplay sees us wander through a recurring dream of Cereza’s, tempting the power she so hungers for, and telling her to enter the dangerous Avalon Forest and follow a white wolf to retrieve it. After a short tutorial and against Morgana’s best advice, Cereza wanders into the woods, and the game really begins.
The forest is fraught with danger, but as little more than a child, Cereza is ill-equipped to fend it off. This is where the core of the Bayonetta Origins’ gameplay comes in: Cheshire. While Cereza can’t fight for herself, she does have a demon possessing her stuffed cat and it’s somewhat willing to fight for her, itself motivated to chase the same power as Cereza so it can be sent back to where it was summoned from. The majority of the game revolves around using both Cereza and Cheshire in different ways to navigate environmental puzzles and the intricacies of battle. At its core, you have each character being controlled by their respective half of the controller: Cereza on the left stick, and Cheshire on the right. You can attack with Cheshire using ZR, and you can cast spells with Cereza using ZL. The general idea is that Cereza is kept away from direct danger, but can assist with binding magic to support as Cheshire deals the damage. This system takes some getting used to, but I would say it’s to the game’s merit. You almost gain a sense of empathy towards the difficulties of controlling a demon, and as Cereza grows on this journey, you feel as though you grow with her as you better understand the controls and how each character can best support the other. Outside of this growth through play, you also have a more direct sense of growth in the available skill trees and elemental unlockables, further boosting your repertoire as you delve deeper into the woods. These act to keep the game fresh both in and out of combat, and when paired with a surprisingly good variety of enemies there’s more than enough to keep you interested as the game progresses.
I won’t beat around the bush here though, the gameplay on offer won’t be for everybody. Where the Bayonetta series is known primarily for its fast-paced and combo-heavy combat, Origins puts forward a much slower and more methodical tale. Combat feels more tactical, and outside of it you’ll find yourself moving steadily through a tailored environment. It’s completely different, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The puzzles on offer are rarely over-complicated, but throughout the game they do manage to maintain a good sense of satisfaction for solving them. If this aspect of the game is what you enjoy in particular, and not the combat, I do also feel it worth commending the game for its great assortment of difficulty options. If you want to play the game without taking damage, you can do. If you want your magic to always be full, it can be. You can make the game into an incredibly engaging picture book if that suits your taste, and in a game like this I can only see that as a good thing. While there appears to be no way to make the game harder out of the gate, there is in fact a hidden difficulty setting you would usually unlock on beating the game. If you want this for your first play through, you can access this using the Platinum Code on the title screen. For the uninitiated, this is holding ZR, then pressing Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, X, B, Y, and A in sequence. Note you can only start a file with this harder difficulty, and it's not something you can switch in or out of on the fly, so make sure it is something you actually want before jumping in. It would have been nice to have a bit of nuance in the upwards difficulty scaling, but it is good to see both audiences catered for in some way at least.
Looking at the game’s artistic direction, Bayonetta Origins is utterly charming through and through, enthralling me from the start. The world feels alive in a completely whimsical way, capturing the art of storytelling in a way I haven’t seen until now. From the watercolour style to the magical musical score to the fantastic narration that presents this story to you, you feel as though you’re walking through a picture book. It’s cohesive and manages to look great on the Switch regardless of whether you’re playing in handheld or docked mode. There are a few blemishes on show, with small things like the page turning animation feeling a little lacking on frames, but you’ve soon forgotten about that once the latest page begins to appear.
As a package, Bayonetta Origins impressed me in ways I could never have expected from the larger series. Platinum Games did a stellar job in delivering a game entirely unlike its predecessors but marvellous all the same. It can certainly feel a little slow, granted, and with you able to beat the game in as little as ten hours, some will question the value on offer for a £50 game (though it is worth noting that it is readily available for £40 via certain retailers and will naturally be cheaper still pre-owned). As an experience it’s one I still recommend however, and would really encourage anybody remotely interested to give the demo a shot, regardless of prior experience with the series. This is a charming tale that I sincerely hope more people will pick up and give a chance.
Verdict
- Great story with equally great storytelling
- Magical atmosphere created by art style and soundtrack
- Completely voiced with narration
- Fun puzzles and interesting combat system
- Accessibility options to just enjoy the story
- A few odd animations
- Can feel a little short for the price of entry
- Harder difficulty is all or nothing, and can't be changed
