PlatinumGames specializes in fast-paced, stylish, and over-the-top action games and is responsible for action classics like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Vanquish, Nier games, Astral Chain, and most prominently, the Bayonetta series. Bayonetta stands out in Nintendo's family-friendly catalog of exclusive games with its mature themes. Hot on the heels of Bayonetta 3's release, PlatinumGames and Nintendo announced the series' T-rated spinoff adventure title Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon at The Game Awards 2022.
Bayonetta is the longest running series out of all the games developed by Platinum. When Platinum was struggling to find a publisher for the second game in the franchise, Nintendo came to its rescue. From that point onwards, the successful partnership has resulted in long-term sustenance for the series. Hideki Kamiya, the creator of Bayonetta has stated that he has envisioned the series to last for around nine entries in total. This would also include spinoffs like Bayonetta Origins, which could occasionally alter the inherent series formula.
Shift in Bayonetta Graphics, Narrative, and Gameplay
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon is a prequel story that centers around Cereza, the younger version of Bayonetta who is training to become a witch. Players will control both Cereza and her first ever demonic summon, Cheshire. Cereza uses magic to solve puzzles and ensnare enemies in combat, but in order to attack enemies, Cheshire has to be summoned. The blistering pace and brutality of combat from the mainline installments will be replaced by slower combat where Cheshire does the heavy lifting and Cereza engages from a distance. The left Joy-Con controller is used to control Cereza and the right Joy-Con controller handles Cheshire.
Bayonetta games feature stories that involve convergence of multiple worlds where players face off against powerful primordial beings, but the prequel seems to be opting for a much simpler story with very personal stakes. Cereza has to brave the forbidden Avalon Forest in search of a magical power that will aid her in saving her mother. The threat that her mother faces is not revealed in the trailer, but it appears that she is trapped in the dangerous forest. Cereza will have multiple characters and animals guiding her in her quest to rescue her mother.
The game is adopting a painterly aesthetic reminiscent of a children's storybook with the scenery and characters rendered as if painted using sketch pens and watercolors. The camera style follows an isometric perspective. The narration style and visual presentation evoke a fairytale feel, with inspiration drawn from classic stories like Alice in Wonderland. The setting and tone for the prequel game are a notable departure from that of the earlier entries in the franchise, but the whimsical and cutesy art style is very much in line with Cereza's character and the fable-like story.
Connection Between Bayonetta 3 and Bayonetta Origins
Bayonetta gains access to multiple infernal demons throughout the course of the trilogy, but her repertoire never contained Cheshire before. Instead, Cheshire is bound to the katana of the playable character Viola in Bayonetta 3. He seems to display a tendency to willingly bind with his chosen hosts without entering into a contract, which is uncharacteristic of an infernal demon. In Origins, Cheshire possesses Cereza's stuffed cat toy to become a summonable demon. He is shown to be treated like a pet by Cereza and could prove to be an integral part of the narrative in the game. It will be interesting to see how Bayonetta and Cheshire's origin story fits into the overarching timeline.
Bayonetta 3 secretly contained an unlockable chapter that served as a playable teaser for Bayonetta Origins which ran for about 6-7 minutes. Players assumed that this section of the game hinted at a future DLC for Bayonetta 3, so a full-fledged game in this vein was a bit of a surprise. The fourth main game in the franchise might not be announced soon, but Bayonetta Origins should tide the fans over in the meantime. Exploring Bayonetta's childhood in a title that offers a drastically different experience than the mainline games could turn out to be a welcome novelty.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon will launch on March 17, 2023, for Nintendo Switch.
