The announcement of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, we’ll tell you honestly, it caught us very off guard. This is not so much because the release of the last chapter of the series was only a few months ago, but because the work that we have been able to play for many hours radically diverges from what has been done in the past in the franchise. Even more surprising is that Platinum Games he basically worked on this project synchronously with the development of Bayonet 3 (here is our review), a title with which, not surprisingly, it has some elements in common.
In fact, Nintendo and PlatinumGames have made no secret that Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a prequel particularly close to the third chapter of the series, with some elements that make up the narrative in the final stages of the story that suggest this connection in a very direct way. The plot of the work, in any case, lays the premises that we already knew.
Lost in the rabbit hole
Cereza, the result of the forbidden union between a Witch of Umbra and a Sage of Lumen, has always been mocked by her fellow men because of her nature, and decides to escape. In her escape, she meets a Witch of Umbra also exiled who decides to teach her to use her powers. After a dream of her that she seems to incite her, however, Cereza decides to go on an adventure in the woods to find a mysterious power and save his mother from captivity. We will thus discover some unpublished characters and others already seen – although, unfortunately, the latter will not be present very much – who will season the adventure with a good dose of secondary missions and insights into the plot.
This is the narrative premise that lays the foundation for the story and gameplay of Bayonetta Origins. After entering the forest, our little witch manages to summon a demon who takes possession of her puppet, Cheshire, and takes her name. After this moment, in fact, we come to understand in a more concrete way what kind of play system the title offers: Cereza and Cheshire can be controlled simultaneously, using a controller analog stick to move each. We will also be able to return the beast to the girl’s arms, to find ourselves controlling only one character.
A colorful but confusing adventure
The dynamics of the “double check” is undoubtedly very interesting and opens up a myriad of puzzle facets for the play system, of which the work constantly and always refers to in original and never predictable ways. Likewise, the combat system is also linked to the possibility of moving both characters at the same time. Cereza, specifically, will have the task of keeping a distance and using her spells to block enemies; Cheshire will be the real fighter of the situation and will, at the same time, have the need to protect the girl because she is the only one who has a life bar.
It goes without saying that there are two separate skill trees: one dedicated to the Witch and the other designed for the attacks of the Demon. Even the collectibles that we will be able to find around the forest are divided by character, which can cause some confusion in the first hours of the game, but which it is certainly possible to familiarize yourself with. To be more cumbersome they are all Cereza’s abilities they Cheshire attacks to remember, above all because often a single key can be used to perform more than one move (due to the “double control”) and it is therefore the context that makes the difference. What suffers most from the confusion created by the couple’s movement system is the combat system, when we have to make quick decisions or push one of the two protagonists away from the attack trajectory.
Different speech for the puzzle mechanics of the title, where the two modes of movement always open the doors to a surprising quantity and quality of puzzles to say the least. Progressing through the story and unlocking new portions of the map always takes a few moments, necessary to understand how to get to a platform or how to get to a switch in particular, which is a good thing: the presence of two characters, with unique abilities, offered the PlatinumGames team aenormous creative possibilities in terms of puzzle design and developmentand the results are more than evident.
Even more, to give a pinch of pepper to the gameplay, offering different and decidedly more complex levels, there are the Tír na nÓg, alternate worlds created by the power of the fairies. Through portals, Cereza and Cheshire can reach these areas, other than the forest of Avalon, where they will be called upon to complete particularly more complex puzzles which will test the player's skills. Not only that, the two will also have to fight against enemies that will be slightly stronger of those that can be found around the woods. The Tír na nÓg thus represent an interesting novelty, raising the level of challenge proposed without almost never appearing too punitive.
The gameplay of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is therefore a mix Of mechanics and dynamics game unreleased and sometimes confusingbut always especially charming and original. It undoubtedly appears less frenetic and more carefree than what we have seen in the previous chapters of the series and, to be honest, we are more than fine with it. This does not mean that there is not a good dose of action, mind you, but it is certainly an interesting experience, which we have never seen outside the offices of PlatinumGames.
The Japanese team was able to surprise even for what was there Artistic direction, graphics and sound, choice for the title. The delicate tones of colors and the images on the screen that seem to be taken directly from a painting or a drawing on paper, make Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon a unique title as we never expected. We are faced with a real feast for the eyes, with its simple but effective light effects, where every element that makes up the graphic layout exudes great attention to detail.
The visual transitions from one level to another are also almost always spectacular, especially those that show up when completing a Tír na nÓg. The graphic optimization work, however, coincides very well with the technical capabilities of the console, given that the appearance or disappearance of distant elements on the screen is correctly contextualized with the artistic direction and is never forced. In reverse, we didn't like the narrative cutscenes told through the pages of a book, instead of real animated phases, but we are aware that it could be a deliberate choice to stay in line with the first two chapters of the series.
We could then open a parenthesis regarding the accessibility options, which in the case of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon have the important task of making gameplay easier. We were surprised to see how much attention has been paid to this area, above all because many of the available options allow to make the work much easier, talking about the difficulty itself. Maybe we can choose to reduce the damage received or increase the one inflicted, just to give some examples.
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