The prequel that I never knew I needed | First Impressions - Bayonetta Origins

Bayonetta is a series that has never been known for its immersive storytelling and child friendly nature, but that is about to change with the release of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. Teased as a secret chapter in Bayonetta 3, it is a full blown adventure game with a children’s book style approach. It is now available for the Nintendo Switch as an exclusive, following Bayonetta 2 and 3.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon’s art style, soundtrack, are accordingly tailored as a children’s book presentation. It features hand-drawn watercolor-esque artwork rendered in vibrant cel-shaded graphics, while the soundtrack is a mix of whimsical, lighthearted, with a faint touch of Bayonetta’s music style.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, or Bayonetta Origins for short, tells the story of the girl Cereza — the main character of the series — also known as Bayonetta later on, many, many years before the events of the trilogy.

The gameplay is a far departure from the hack-and-slash stylish intense action of the trilogy and instead a classic puzzling adventure game with modern 3D controls. It still has combat, but not anywhere close to the action-packed combat that we’ve known.

Players control the two eponymous characters — Cereza and the Lost Demon — simultaneously, Cereza using the left stick and two left bumpers, while the Demon — named Cheshire — is controlled using the right stick and two right bumpers.

There are two main modes to the controls, since Cheshire is bound to a doll, he can return to it at will and be carried by Cereza in a Hug mode form. While Cereza is in charge of the two’s movements, you can still control Cheshire in this mode, by extending his body from Cereza to reach stuff out.

On the other hand, Cereza can summon Cheshire to a full blown demon monster form and both move independently from each other. The seamless alternating change from summoning to returning to the doll reminds me a bit of Pokemon.

Cereza possesses a witch magic called Umbran Arts that she can use to alter the environment, manipulate plants, grow them to form bridges, and hold off enemy attacks. She can also do lightweight stuff like crossing thin vine bridges or throwing Cheshire as a doll to reach high ground. Using Umbran Arts requires a bunch of left stick gestures to be performed in order to pull out the spells, however as an accessibility feature, you can make these spells automated, needing just a hold of a button.

Cheshire can, on the other hand, does heavyweight and offensive actions such as destroying obstacles, attacking enemies, and throwing Cereze to perform a jump boost.

Aside from the kind of slow start, Bayonetta Origins never felt dull during the first few chapters that I’ve played so far, it’s a very engaging experience that is easy to pick up, fun to play, and is varied enough not to feel repetitive. The very premise of having to simultaneously control two characters in alternating different modes, plus the varying obstacles that you have to creatively surmount makes this adventure game a solid entry into the genre and a testament to how game franchises shouldn’t be just constricted and walled off by their own usual genre, and can instead try out new things.

Full Review will be posted soon here on Taptap! Stay tuned!