After facing an entire celestial host in the first episode to regain memory, and defeating the exact opposite, which is an army of demons, in the second chapter to save a dear friend, this time Bayonetta will have to contend with a danger for which she does not we hesitate to coin a new term: “Marvelian”.
Even in the Platinum Games series, in fact, the concept of the multiverse is cleared and in this third episode they face his sexy witch and his tight but powerful team of man-made biological weapons called Homunculus. And above all an entity known as The Singularity, which is slowly destroying all known universes.
Perhaps it is a relative of Dormammu, a distant cousin of Galactus or perhaps the neighbor of Thanos, the fact remains that it will be up to Bayonetta, Jeanne and Viola (the new entry of this third chapter) to foil this umpteenth threat that already in the first hour game sets an entire city on fire. Together with them will obviously return the wiry Rodin, ex-angel owner of the exclusive door of Hell as well as skilled barman, adviser and gunsmith. Other well-known faces of the franchise will also pop up from time to time to give their “support”.
Having played the first two Bayonettas is therefore essential in order not to lose the numerous references to previous adventures and to better understand the history of the franchise, which from chapter to chapter becomes wider and more twisted. We are not at the levels of madness of Kingdom Hearts but also in the Platinum Games title being able to follow all the timelines and the characters that follow each other is not easy. If you want, however, you could also give a damn about it and enjoy the action without thinking too much about it.
And what an action !!! With Bayonetta 3 Platinum Games has pushed even further on the accelerator of exaggeration and boorishness. In previous games we have seen several scenes worthy of a Bollywood triple A action but believe us, what awaits you in this third release is perhaps even more excessive.
Only in the first hour of the game did we have to deal with worlds that twist like in the mirror dimension of Dr. Strange, bio-mechanical (and even a little spirit) sharks flying and, why not … even a giant ship cruiser used as a surf. The list of things we can’t tell you yet is really long, so to avoid dangerous spoilers and evade demonic surveillance hosts, we stop here.
Just enough time to stretch your legs and arms and we have put our hand to the renewed combat system of Bayonetta 3. Perhaps calling it “renewed” is excessive, let’s say “enhanced” and certainly more stylish than ever. The long-limbed protagonist, in fact, has all the skills we remembered from previous titles, slightly remapped to be even more immediate to use. To these will be added some delicious and devastating new skills related to the weapons that we will alternate in combat. These will range from the classic multiple pistols that Bayonetta wears with the same elegance as a 12 heel, to far more raw and powerful tools of death.
We will be able to decide at any time the best set-up based on game conditions and situations, taking into account that the chosen weapon is directly linked to a special attack called Demonic Mimicry, which allows you to summon gigantic demons of various shapes. Each monster has a different set of attacks and its use gives access (linked to the filling of a bar) to hits of devastating power. In order not to make this element of the combat system too unbalanced, Platinum Games has ensured that during its use Bayonetta is totally helpless and exposed to enemy attacks.
It will be up to us to decide if and how much to exploit it, however, risking the safety of the protagonist, but from our test it emerged that its use is recommended above all against oversized enemies because its power is counterbalanced by a rather poor mobility. To give a judgment to this novelty, however, we will have to wait to delve deeper into the adventure, putting our hand to new types of evocations. Among the new powers related to weapons there are also passive abilities that are useful not only in combat but also in the exploratory phases.
The one with which you start the adventure is already known, it is Madame Butterfly who in the form of a succubus demon allows Bayonetta to soar like a butterfly, while once she has descended on the battlefield she can eliminate enemies with a lethal kiss . This is just one of the sidekicks that we will have available in the course of the game, others will be much less fascinating and will unlock brutal “animalistic” powers. Pay attention to how you will use them because in extreme cases (which we will avoid disclosing to you) you could also lose control with consequences that are not exactly pleasant.
So far we have not yet sunk our teeth to the bone of Bayonetta 3, but as of now the grafts made by the development team give the feeling of having in front of a more organic and harmonious product, which from the point of view of the action promises damn well. . From the plot we certainly do not expect a script worthy of academic awards, it is enough that the sequences bordering on the grotesque seen in the early stages do not decrease in tone but rather that they push the bar of videogame ignorance higher and higher.
Aesthetically speaking, the game marks another step forward in Platinum’s exploitation of Switch, but at the same time it gives the feeling of having pushed almost to the limit of the possibilities of Nintendo’s hardware. Titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are perhaps even more technically advanced, but the pace that takes place in Bayonetta 3 is a whole other level and the goal of a stable 60 fps for the duration of the experience is nothing short of ambitious. Also in this case we still have some time to understand if this goal has been achieved.
We had to wait a full eight years to get our hands on Bayonetta 3 and in all this time we have often feared for the fate of the series. Finally the long-awaited moment is now near: was it worth waiting for so long? To find out you will have to wait a little longer, the review will arrive soon. In the meantime, stretch your thumbs a little and train your reflexes – you’ll need it.
#Bayonetta #Tested #Preview