Hello dear readers, and welcome to another edition of Storybook-Ville with your host, Nick de Reiger. Today we read the excellent edition of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. A beautiful tale about a young girl trapped between worlds and searching for that one thing that makes her unique. Please disregard the non-children outcome of this story. If you are into that kind of thing, please go to the review of Bayonetta 1, Bayonetta 2, or Bayonetta 3. So, please sit down, relax, and enjoy the story or read our preview here.
Storytime!
A long time ago, in a land very far away, there lived a young girl. This story centers around a turning point in the life of Bayonetta as she comes to grips with her witchcraft and fights the insecurities of not being good enough for her master Morgana. Those familiar with Bayonetta (or read the reviews I posted above) will see the continuity in Cereza’s ultimate goal of saving her mom remains as her driving motivation. Anyone who’s had childhood struggles can relate to Cereza on some level, and her rich personality and the way she rises in defining moments bring those feelings to life. So, no, Bayonetta wasn’t always the confident, ass-kicking witch which we’ve known for all these years. That unexplored history makes Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon shine. This spin-off puts the usual wild, stylish action aside for a whimsical, harrowing adventure brimming with childlike wonder and genuinely heartwarming moments. It’s a fascinating side of the Bayonetta world we’ve never seen before, leaving me with a deeper appreciation for a series I already loved.
Gameplay – It Takes Two!
But Nick, what makes it unique? Even though these two aspects are close, let’s discuss the gameplay instead of reading a picture book. Bayonetta Origins takes a top-down A-RPG style of camera work, which differs from the usual third-person camera in the original Bayonetta games. Another neat feature is that Bayonetta Origins simultaneously puts you in control of both Cereza and her demon-infused cat plushie, Cheshire, when summoned. This felt like a mix between It Takes Two and your general puzzle-adventure game, in a good way!
Cereza’s movement and actions are dedicated to the left side of the controller and Cheshire to the right. Juggling two characters eventually became intuitive once I got the hang of it. Still, I found both the system itself and the challenges it’s used for don’t evolve drastically after being established. You’ll become familiar with using one character to move part of the environment or pin down an enemy to set up the other. However, these moments can still lead to neat mind-bending scenarios by the coordination required to handle the tandem effectively.
Puzzle-Platformer-Adventure-RPG?
Genre-wise, Bayonetta Origins is all over the place. It features puzzle-platformer aspects that often ask you to analyze your surroundings and determine how to use the duo’s abilities to get through it. For example, Cheshire can pull objects with his chameleon-like vine tongue, block projectiles with his hardened stone skin, or propel lily pads with a jetstream to navigate water, all of which help get Cereza where she needs to go. These elemental skills are gained throughout the story, introducing a few wrinkles to the formula to keep it fresh. Cereza herself has a fun little rhythm minigame with Witch Pulse, where she gleefully ballet dances to make various objects come alive and open the paths ahead. While these platforming puzzles never get too complex, there’s an enjoyable variety to exploring this wondrous world.
In another respect, Bayonetta Origins is a proper action-adventure RPG with combat and skill trees that has the duo working together similarly. Cereza’s primary purpose is to trap enemies in place with Thorn Bind, allowing Cheshire to wail freely on dastardly faeries with furious swipes and powerful smashes. Various enemy types gradually encouraged me to mix Cheshire’s elemental modes, such as ripping shields and throwing them back with his grass ability or casting a massive area-of-effect explosion with his fire combo. It’s not necessarily as nuanced as expected from a mainline Bayonetta game. Still, landing attacks always have a satisfying crunch, like there’s a beastly weight and impact behind every hit. And when you finish off the last few enemies with Cheshire’s chunky chomps, the dazzling art style and lively animations jump from the screen to celebrate in a way that feels like its own reward. Underneath the picturebook is still the challenge and combo mastermind of the original Bayonetta; it’s just hidden within a massive layer of faerie dust and great gameplay.
Zelda-esque?
Ranking the Bayonetta Origins game against the other Bayonetta game, I have to say that this entry is more focused on the eye-pleasing puzzle audience. Yes, it’s tricky from the perspective of managing two characters at once, but it’s not particularly difficult overall. For those who played Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Tír na nÓg trials concept will be familiar. These trials provide intriguing puzzle and combat sequences in otherworldly stages built to test your skill and reward you with items and collectibles. The story-critical Tír na nÓg is fun and relatively straightforward. Still, the optional ones are worth seeking out — if not for the gratification of clearing the map alone, then definitely for the enjoyable challenges they offer. They offer some outstanding gameplay elements, pushing you to solve certain puzzles or challenges creatively. Clearing these ‘optional’ shrines honed my skills, comparable to the Alfheim/Muspelheim challenges in the Bayonetta Main Games. No matter what they have you do, ending each one with a Witch Pulse dance and a colorful burst of energy to break the ethereal realm never gets old.
Conclusion
You know you’ve just played something special when you forget the time while playing and are reminded to charge your console before it goes into an eternal slumber. As I wrote this book report on Bayonetta Origins, I kept thinking about how it was an absolute joy through and through (and I’m not even done with it). From impressive, fantastical story moments full of childlike charm to clever platforming puzzles and satisfying battles, this is a superb action-adventure where every piece comes together to create a wondrous playable storybook. Its wild dual-character concept doesn’t evolve much once you get the hang of it, and maybe its conclusion could have done more to leave a lasting impact. But, it shows that even ‘more seasoned’ IPs can still show promise in a new, refreshing way of gameplay. Bayonetta Origins went from being ass-kicking to being bow-tastic. If this is possible for more seasoned Nintendo IPs, then I can only say yes.
