Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
If you happened to read our preview of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon a few weeks ago, you know that after the first five chapters of the game, we were very excited to continue our adventures in through the fascinating PlatinumGames spin-off. Bayonetta main series. We were impressed with its combination of gameplay mechanics and the overall charming atmosphere, and felt like it turned into a ride through a forbidden forest with lots of well-designed puzzles and battles that unfold. would build on what we had already done. seen.
However, it turns out that Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon never in reality manages to take off as we hoped. While it’s certainly entertaining and endearing, what we’re left with is an experience that feels like a missed opportunity, especially given its success in style and overall tone.
The game introduces us to a young Cherry, the forbidden daughter of a Lumen Sage and an Umbra Witch, who desperately wants to become as powerful as possible in order to save her mother from the prison she has been in due to her history of outlaw love. . After a dream sequence in which a mysterious boy tells Cherry that the power she seeks lies deep within the forest of Avalon, the young witch wanders off into the night, abandoning her stern mentor, Morgana, and immediately finds himself in all sorts of trouble. During a failed attempt to summon an infernal demon to ward off mischievous and malevolent fairies, Cherry manages to send said demon into the body of her stuffed animal, Cheshire.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
With the young witch and the cuddly cat now under your control, you use a dual-stick system to maneuver Cherry and Cheshire at the same time. On top of that, Cheshire can be switched between Unleashed Mode, where he can stomp and destroy enemies and barriers, and Embrace Mode, where he retracts into toy form, allowing Cherry to use him to punch the enemies, jump small spaces or throw. to inaccessible platforms.
Using these different methods of traversal, the early sections of the game feature light environmental puzzles that require you to use Cheshire’s dual forms and your ability to command the two protagonists separately to progress. There are a few other twists here: Demons hate rosemary, apparently, so Cheshire can’t get near populated areas of the plant, and he can’t keep the pair a great distance apart. for a long time, as indicated by a small indicator that appears when they have moved too far apart.
In terms of combat, the heavy R-rated combo action of the Bayonetta series proper has been replaced with a much simpler and more direct system. Initially, Cherry can use her magic to bind enemies with thorns while Cheshire mauls them with her massive claws. As you progress you discover that Cherry must find and destroy four elemental cores and each one will imbue Cheshire with a new elemental form which he can use to solve puzzles and fight enemies. The wooden form, for example, allows him to cling to various crowbars and hooks using a leafy whip that extends from his body, but he can also grab enemy shields, rip them from enemies, then launch them in their direction.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
Once you’ve unlocked a few elemental forms, combat is even livelier by introducing enemies that have various elemental barriers that can be broken with a corresponding elemental attack. It adds a little more pacing and strategy to the proceedings beyond just tying down enemies and punching them. There’s also a pretty impressive lineup of fairies thrown into the mix, with types that fire rockets, armored tanks, drillers that dig under stages, plus a selection of larger mini-bosses that can warp objects. areas and use fire, ice and the like. elemental attacks to get you in trouble. On top of all that, as you progress you’ll unlock more moves for Cherry and Cheshire through skill trees that allow you to lock onto multiple enemies, dodge them, and use charged strikes and finishers on downed enemies.
The highlight of the combat and puzzle aspects here come in the form of the Tir Na Nog sections of the game, short mini-dungeons that allow you to engage in battle, then solve a short environmental puzzle, and beat them. completing unlocks a chest full of goodies on the way to your escape. These goodies, which can also be found through levels as you explore, are used to concoct various potions that can be used to heal, boost Cheshire attacks, stun enemies, and more.
As we mentioned in our preview, this all goes beyond what we expected to find in this family spin-off at first glance, especially given its storybook style. Initially, it seemed like it would focus a lot more on the narrative aspects, rather than spending a lot of time on the combat or puzzle elements, but there’s actually a surprisingly wide variety of mechanics in the mix here. Had the game continued to up the ante and explore it to its fullest, we could have envisioned a top-notch origin adventure for young Bayonetta. Too bad then that in the second part of this adventure of about 10 hours, things get bogged down in terms of experimentation.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
Yeah, while Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is pretty compelling for the first four or five hours, it gets to a point where it seems happy to sit back and tell the rest of its story as the fight and confusion begin to suffer from reruns. , and later areas fail to introduce enough new tricks or beats to keep things engaged throughout. You’ll face the same handful of puzzle types, moving platforms, and more, and the combat, while still fun, gets to a point where every battle starts to feel too familiar. There’s also the feeling that most fights can be solved without thinking far beyond the weird elemental switch to bring down a shield, and there’s also a slight issue with the dual controls that sometimes get a bit awkward during scraps, especially when multiple enemies spawn and protagonist locations become a little harder to read.
In fairness to PlatinumGames, it still manages to generate a few more explosive streaks in the later stages of the game, but the original promise just doesn’t consistently deliver. For example, we expected Tir Na Nogs to get quite difficult by the time we got to the end of the game, but they never felt like they were getting harder, and what we’re experiencing in the early dungeons is too similar to what we encounter in the later stages.
Perhaps we were expecting too much from a Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon challenge; This is, after all, a T-rated family getaway that eliminates the crazy, hard-hitting action of the main franchise in favor of a much more laid-back adventure. But that then feeds into our other main problem with the game: who exactly is it for? It seems primarily aimed at kids in terms of its difficulty and content of its narrative, but kids aren’t long-term fans of Bayo, and beyond a few late-game nods and links to the adult Bayonetta, well, that’s tough. to find out what those same hack and slash fans will get out of it.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
Taken entirely on its own, it’s a graphically impressive and well-crafted adventure that tells a good fairy tale while still providing enough of a challenge to keep younger or more casual gamers entertained. In fact, it’s one of the best kids’ games we’ve played in some time, with production standards far exceeding those found in titles aimed at this demographic. There’s fantastic dynamic camera work in the style of NieR:Automata, with lots of nifty depth-of-field effects that really immerse you in the Forbidden Forest setting. The voice acting is strong, and the soundtrack and art are stellar stuff that makes the most of its heavy Celtic influences. There are also plenty of accessibility options, with the ability to disable damage and configure other aspects of combat and confusion so you can wade through the story without asking questions.
If you’re looking for a colorful adventure for your kids to explore, we highly recommend what’s on offer here. However, there’s no doubt that mainstream Bayo fans will also be looking to get involved to see how this origin story merges with the series proper, and for those players it’s a tougher recommendation. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon offers plenty of fun mechanics, an engaging narrative, and plenty of collectibles to bolster the runtime, but the fact remains that in terms of overall challenge and growing your gameplay at as the adventure progresses. unfolds, hardcore Bayonetta fans may be left behind.