Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon

All Bayonetta games are weird—after all, she's a witch who fights demons with her hair. But Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (A$79.95) is especially strange. Mere months after Bayonetta 3 wrapped up a terrific trilogy of explosive character action games, Platinum Games now turns its marquee franchise into a lo-fi indie game. That contrast never quite resolves, as if the game’s roots aren’t fully comfortable with this puzzling new direction. However, charming storytelling, an awesome aesthetic, and cool combat twists make Bayonetta Origins a great Nintendo Switch game.

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A Simpler Bayonetta

You'll immediately notice the difference between Bayonetta Origins and previous Bayo games. Developer Platinum Games exchanges absurd action set pieces for a children’s storybook aesthetic. The soothing narrator gets you up to speed on the opening chapters of Cereza’s life (Cereza is Bayonetta’s real name) before introducing monsters. The change of pace may prove jarring for veteran Bayonetta fans, with the ratio between cutscenes and gameplay tilting more toward storytelling. However, that change makes you quickly realize that this is a different game with different priorities and goals.

It also helps that Bayonetta Origins’ story is simpler and more coherent than past titles. No amnesia, no time travel shenanigans, no multiverse romance. This is a straightforward fairy tale that happens to use Bayonetta’s established lore and a smattering of Celtic mythology. As a forbidden love child between two warring magical clans, Cereza is a classic scared orphan heroine. While training in the dark arts under a mean caregiver, she becomes lost in a mystical forest teeming with hostile faerie pranksters. After accidentally summoning the ferocious newborn demon, Chesire, Cereza teams up with the creature to find a way home.

While many storybooks take mere minutes to complete, Bayonetta Origins is a full-length game. So the tale evolves and features several diversions. Fans may also notice ways in which the events may reference prior games. But this spin-off really feels like a game meant to be a clean starting point for folks intrigued by Bayonetta’s increasingly iconic character but intimidated by the actual games. The story doesn’t have as much baggage. The lower age rating widens the potential audience.

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Bayonetta Origins' Gameplay

This desire to widen the audience also explains the genre change. Many people can't wrap their heads around the traditional Bayonetta games' technical, lightning-fast, score-based combat system. You don’t have to master those systems to finish the games, but it's demoralizing to get a poor score after a fight. Bayonetta Origins, on the other hand, just wants you to enjoy the adventure.

You’ll spend much of your time wandering through Avalon Forest. The top-down perspective makes it feel like a classic role-playing game. Frequently, you’ll run into obstacles that Cereza and Cheshire can only solve by teaming up. Usually, this means splitting up the characters to solve an environmental puzzle. Like in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, you control Cereza and Cheshire separately using their unique abilities. Cereza can’t fight, but she can dance to reveal hidden objects. Cheshire can’t cross certain magical barriers, but he can break through walls. You’ll also gain elemental abilities for Cheshire, such as vine swinging or turning into a stone barrier. Technically, Bayonetta Origins lacks a multiplayer mode, but two players might be able to get by if each holds their own Joy-Con controller. If you want to experience a sweet, co-op adventure, check out Blanc.

As with the story, Bayonetta Origins’ gameplay is a relatively straightforward affair. In fact, I wish it were more nonlinear. Eventually, you gain the ability to travel to past areas and search for treasure. Still, it’s difficult to break free from the main path, even if you turn off the glowing wolf footprints directing you to the next objective. It makes the sprawling forest feel like an illusion. At least that set path is filled with fun things to do on a moment-to-moment basis.

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Playing Rough

Although the exploration and puzzle-based challenges are fresh territory for this franchise, that old Bayonetta magic can’t help but reemerge during the surprisingly frequent combat encounters. However, the fighting features plenty of new twists. You still separately control Cereza and Cheshire, but you must think symbiotically. For example, Cereza uses her limited magic to bind enemies in place so Cheshire can pummel them (or focus on another enemy). In addition, you can swap Cheshire’s elemental forms depending on the encounter.

The combat never becomes quite as elaborate as a traditional Bayonetta game, but it grows more complicated as you unlock the skill tree. With it, you learn how to dodge, tactically retreat, and charge and delay attacks for maximum efficiency. Even without the gore, fighting the faeries with Cheshire’s sharp teeth and claws feels crunchy and satisfying. Numerous accessibility options make the combat as easy or hard as you want.

Bayonetta Origins has excellent combat, but the way it’s deployed somewhat harms the game’s overall flow. Sometimes you’ll fight enemies in the overworld, but you’ll experience most of the combat in standalone challenge rooms called Tír na nÓgs. Sometimes these rooms present you with another multi-character puzzle to solve, similar to shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But most simply lock you in an arena with enemies to fight. These repetitive encounters feel disconnected from the rest of the game, not an organic part of the journey. Some Tír na nÓgs are optional, and you can replay ones you particularly enjoy, but many are mandatory. The boss fights do a better job of mixing combat with puzzle-solving challenges.

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A Pretty Picture Book

Without being able to rely on shocking violence, Bayonetta Origins uses a beautiful visual style to keep your eyes entertained. It looks like a storybook made of watercolor paintings on faded parchment. The more modest visuals help the game maintain solid performance.

The faeries also have a fascinating, inhuman appearance; they resemble wooden, insectoid aliens. The Tír na nÓgs are surreal, shattered crystal dreamscapes, a separate dimension made of deeply stained glass. Bayonetta Origins is whimsical and sinister all at once, which describes the game's soundtrack, too.

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My First Bayonetta

It’s a bit tough to figure out Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon's target audience. The relaxed pacing and puzzles may turn off action purists, while the strong combat mechanics may scare off people intrigued by the cozy story. Like Cereza herself, the game comes from two different worlds. Fortunately, even if they don’t fully congeal, the elements work extremely well on their own terms. No matter how old she is, Bayonetta is too powerful to fit inside a single box.

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