gameplay is 5 stars
but the game overall gets points off because im an angry and disappointed lesbian
but the game overall gets points off because im an angry and disappointed lesbian
Bayonetta 3 felt like an unnecessary sequel with no real passion behind its creation. Platinum always has had to balance the passion projects with games that were made to just pay the bills and keep the lights on and its depressing to think that Bayonetta 3 fell into the latter category. I honestly think there was more hype and passion from Platinum Games over Sol Cresta.
Theres one good boss encounter near the end of the game and its over right as you realize "Oh wow, I'm finally having FUN!"
Aside from Jeanne's Elevator Action Returns-like side levels which was great to see Platinum games homage one of the best arcade games of all time, I honestly couldn't tell you a single level in the main game that really stood out or that was enjoyable. They really go overboard with the set pieces in this one its almost Wonderful 101 levels of whiplash.
Theres one good boss encounter near the end of the game and its over right as you realize "Oh wow, I'm finally having FUN!"
Aside from Jeanne's Elevator Action Returns-like side levels which was great to see Platinum games homage one of the best arcade games of all time, I honestly couldn't tell you a single level in the main game that really stood out or that was enjoyable. They really go overboard with the set pieces in this one its almost Wonderful 101 levels of whiplash.
Bayonetta 3 really wants you to like it, evidenced by how often the threequel runs through gamplay ideas before tossing them away. There are probably a dozen unique characters you control over the course of the game, maybe more. Some homages to other games. Setpiece after setpiece after setpiece.
I like Bayonetta 3 because I like character action games. They get your blood pumping and make you feel like a god in 10 hours or less. Everything is spectacle and technical combat, and the replayability is delicious.
And yet, when I think about my time with the new Bayonetta, I get annoyed and frustrated and disappointed to some extent. This sure looks more expensive than any Platinum game I've played before, but as far as the level design, story, character action, and style go? There are 10 year old Platinum games that do it better.
The spectacle is great when you see giant bosses come down from the sky, but it's way less cool when the enemies look mostly the same and the story is so outrageously underwritten that there's little context keeping you invested. It's great that this game is one of Platinum's beefier options, but many of the encounters -- including boss fights -- repeat multiple times to some extent. The game drags itself out until the very last moment, and I got bored at times.
And getting back to the story, Bayonetta 3 has ideas -- good ones, even -- but its best ideas are presented in moments that the game doesn't remotely earn. Things happen, and you're supposed to accept them despite buildup being nowhere to be found. It feels like the story budget went into the action setpieces, and so Bayonetta is so loud and flashy that you at times forget how little substance there is here.
Viola, the new core character added to the series (in addition to Bayo, Jeanne, Rodin), I kind of like. She's not a bad comic relief and her gameplay is pretty fun. She also feel like she's been picked out of a budget Devil May Cry V with her edge and theme song. I think she has potential if they do more with her, but it wasn't realized here.
I also like the new monster controlling gameplay despite its clunkiness and framiness on Switch. It does a good bit to separate Bayonetta from other Platinum games, except maybe Astral Chain to some degree.
I don't know. I'm gonna probably play a bit more to see what unlockable content Platinum left for the dedicated. Platinum games are kind of addicting that way. Still, if I had to choose my favorite Platinum title, I don't know that this would make Top 5.
I like Bayonetta 3 because I like character action games. They get your blood pumping and make you feel like a god in 10 hours or less. Everything is spectacle and technical combat, and the replayability is delicious.
And yet, when I think about my time with the new Bayonetta, I get annoyed and frustrated and disappointed to some extent. This sure looks more expensive than any Platinum game I've played before, but as far as the level design, story, character action, and style go? There are 10 year old Platinum games that do it better.
The spectacle is great when you see giant bosses come down from the sky, but it's way less cool when the enemies look mostly the same and the story is so outrageously underwritten that there's little context keeping you invested. It's great that this game is one of Platinum's beefier options, but many of the encounters -- including boss fights -- repeat multiple times to some extent. The game drags itself out until the very last moment, and I got bored at times.
And getting back to the story, Bayonetta 3 has ideas -- good ones, even -- but its best ideas are presented in moments that the game doesn't remotely earn. Things happen, and you're supposed to accept them despite buildup being nowhere to be found. It feels like the story budget went into the action setpieces, and so Bayonetta is so loud and flashy that you at times forget how little substance there is here.
Viola, the new core character added to the series (in addition to Bayo, Jeanne, Rodin), I kind of like. She's not a bad comic relief and her gameplay is pretty fun. She also feel like she's been picked out of a budget Devil May Cry V with her edge and theme song. I think she has potential if they do more with her, but it wasn't realized here.
I also like the new monster controlling gameplay despite its clunkiness and framiness on Switch. It does a good bit to separate Bayonetta from other Platinum games, except maybe Astral Chain to some degree.
I don't know. I'm gonna probably play a bit more to see what unlockable content Platinum left for the dedicated. Platinum games are kind of addicting that way. Still, if I had to choose my favorite Platinum title, I don't know that this would make Top 5.
A product of pure videogame fun that lets me long for better Nintendo hardware once again.
A complete misunderstanding of what made the first Bayonetta game fun
When I think of Bayonetta, I think of fast, fluid combat. There's a lot going on, but the signature "Witch Time" mechanic of temporary slow motion when dodging an attack with precise timing allows you to embody the hero: seeing thru the chaos and enacting an elegant balet of fists, feet, and bullets.
Sadly, I don't think the directors of Bayonetta 3 and agree on that as the core of the Bayonetta series. It seems that they were more caught up in the spectacle of Bayonetta.
The game opens with a literal apocalypse, and abruptly thrusts you into a story where multiverse theory is real, and new protagonist Viola can hop between universes to battle Singularity, a villain who is absorbing power from every universe in order to challenge Paradiso & Inferno (Heaven & Hell).
In the opening moments of the game, Manhattan is completely destroyed by a cataclysmic wave created by an enormous kaiju-sized aquatic beast. Many games would wait a bit to up the ante like this, but Bayonetta 3 starts at "11" and doesn't let up.
I did not enjoy the pacing of the story because of this. The stakes immediately feel at max and never let up, causing no single moment to actually feel important.
From a gameplay perspective, it honestly feels like Platinum has become bored of the bread & butter smooth combat they're known for. A massive amount of this game is the player controlling either boss-sized beasts (which move as slowly and unresponsivly as you would imagine), or full-on Godzilla-sized kaiju creatures.
The first two Bayonetta games had their occasional frustrating QTEs that could result in instant death, as well as novelty levels based on shmup games and driving games of old. I never liked these levels, but someone at Platinum sure does.
Bayonetta 3 features:
• 1v1 skyscraper-sized kaiju fighting game (and you have to play it twice)
• A stealth minigame featuring Jeanne that plays out like a mediocre Xbox Live Arcade game
• Several different "shmup" sections that are completely inscrutable (some are "airplane" style and others are "on rails")
• A rhythm game during a boss fight
• A "treasure hunt" game with a proximity sensor, with absolutely no explanation
The game is constantly name-dropping weird things that are never really explained, but also not interesting. I'm definitely a "show, don't tell" kind of person when it comes to stories, but I was frequently confused and uninterested in this game due to the amount of "Arch-Eve" and "Arch-Adam" nonsense being spewn.
Another thing about pacing: these weird mini-games popup in so many missions I lost count. They are frequently used as the capstone verse of a chapter to make a boss fight feel "epic", but given how boring these modes are it feels more like a punishment than an epic finale.
In short, I do not recommend anyone play this game. And frankly, I'm confused as to how it currently has an 88/100 on Metacritic. I've seen many people say the game is "fantastic" until the story gets bad, but frankly I didn't like this game from the opening hours thru the finale. It's just not fun and not what people expect out of a Bayonetta game.
TO THAT END, I really wanna talk about the story and go into spoiler territory:
Serious spoiler territory starts now
Um, so you may have heard by now that Bayonetta falls in love with Luka, the bumbling moron who follows her around in the first two games and is infatuated with her.
Unfortunately, this is true, and the setup for it is basically nonexistent.
One of the main story concepts of this game is watching Bayonettas from other universes die, and Luka has a tender moment with Bayonetta as she's dying and being dragged to hell. Luka holds her in his arms and comforts her, and she eats it up like a romanceable little lady, in stark contrast to her behavior in the other games.
I knew about this ahead of time, so I was bracing for it rather than taken by surprise. It's really stupid and feels like it was written by someone who wishes they could marry Bayonetta, and who imagines Luka as the self-insert character.
Also, Luka is actually extremely powerful in this game. It's hinted at early on but eventually everyone realizes he can transform into a crystal werewolf thing that beats the crap out of Bayonetta with ease. He has some weird narration about how he's always felt useless or something and this power grew in him. Like what a weird character arc no one was asking for.
Which, let's back up and talk about Bayonetta's sexuality for a moment. When the first game came out, it was highly criticized for the hypersexual portrayal of Bayonetta. This was at a time when Feminist Frequency was highly relevant, and the male gaze was the phrase of the day.
Many people suggested that Bayonetta's design is that of pure sexual fetish: she's basically a walking sexy British dominatrix witch action figure.
I tend to think this is a pretty accurate assessment of Bayonetta's design, but a new opinion started to emerge around the time of Bayonetta 2. In that game, her BFF Jeanne is hinted at being her lesbian lover (they go out shopping together and talk about going home together... also Jeanne sacrifices herself to save Bayonetta in the early game, and much of the story content is Bayonetta literally going thru actual Hell to save Jeanne; y'know, just "gal pal" stuff).
So there was a new popular head canon of Bayonetta as the lesbian witch full of female empowerment.
I tend to think that her repeated humilation of Luka in the first game is less of "I'm not into men" and more of "I'm a dominatrix lol", but perhaps some people saw it as an affirmation of her sapphic-only love interests.
I personally think this is nothing more than a head canon, and that what sapphic quality the Bayonetta series has is just more of a result of Bayonetta's hyper sexuality and all the combat-capable protagonists being women.
This is not to say that I dislike the head canon. I think it's cool if you see a super hot woman kicking ass and you're like "it me, the power lesbian". That's cool and I'm happy for you. I just don't think the creators of Bayonetta ever had that in mind, and I think Bayonetta's newfound love for Luka is more evidence of that.
And OMG I completely forgot the other thing about her love for Luka. Well, now we're going neck deep into massive endgame spoilers for Bayonetta 3, btw.
The new main character Viola is literally Bayonetta and Luka's daughter from another timeline lol.
And Bayonetta "passes on" the family name to Viola, who is referred to as Viola Bayonetta by Rodin at the end of the game, where she's seen wearing Bayonetta's glasses and Luka's scarf before going out to hunt demons.
For me, the story has never been a motivating or key factor for the series, so I don't really care. It just feels like more mediocre decoration as I expected.
The real issue for me is that the core gameplay is just embarrassingly NOT THERE and constantly replaced with half polished mini games.
Based on timing from announcement to release, Bayonetta 2 was in development for around 2 years, whereas Bayonetta 3 took 5 years. I feel like they must've had some internal development hell with this game, because it is jam packed full of ideas and feels incredibly disjointed.
Random note: I uploaded my score after beating the game and apparenlty I had the 23rd fastest run on "standard" difficulty. Kinda surprised to see that, since I wasn't really trying too hard lol.
ANYWAY there's so much more I could write about this game, but it's an actual miracle if you've read this far, so I'm going to wrap this up.
PLEASE go play a better character action game instead:
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PC)
• Devil May Cry 5 (multiple platforms)
• Bayonetta 1 (Switch)
• Nier: Automata (multiple platforms)
THE WITCH HUNTS ARE OVER
ADDENDUM: I've been informed that Bayonetta's original designer (who is a woman) may have intended Bayonetta to be a lesbian from her initial creation. I wouldn't be surprised if this was de-emphasized from her character strategically due to misogyny and a desire to reach a "larger" (more cishet male) audience. My interpretation of Bayonetta's lesbian sexuality as a head canon is not meant to be offensive to Bayonetta's original designer, but as a contrast of people's interpretations of some ambiguous presentation in the games.
When I think of Bayonetta, I think of fast, fluid combat. There's a lot going on, but the signature "Witch Time" mechanic of temporary slow motion when dodging an attack with precise timing allows you to embody the hero: seeing thru the chaos and enacting an elegant balet of fists, feet, and bullets.
Sadly, I don't think the directors of Bayonetta 3 and agree on that as the core of the Bayonetta series. It seems that they were more caught up in the spectacle of Bayonetta.
The game opens with a literal apocalypse, and abruptly thrusts you into a story where multiverse theory is real, and new protagonist Viola can hop between universes to battle Singularity, a villain who is absorbing power from every universe in order to challenge Paradiso & Inferno (Heaven & Hell).
In the opening moments of the game, Manhattan is completely destroyed by a cataclysmic wave created by an enormous kaiju-sized aquatic beast. Many games would wait a bit to up the ante like this, but Bayonetta 3 starts at "11" and doesn't let up.
I did not enjoy the pacing of the story because of this. The stakes immediately feel at max and never let up, causing no single moment to actually feel important.
From a gameplay perspective, it honestly feels like Platinum has become bored of the bread & butter smooth combat they're known for. A massive amount of this game is the player controlling either boss-sized beasts (which move as slowly and unresponsivly as you would imagine), or full-on Godzilla-sized kaiju creatures.
The first two Bayonetta games had their occasional frustrating QTEs that could result in instant death, as well as novelty levels based on shmup games and driving games of old. I never liked these levels, but someone at Platinum sure does.
Bayonetta 3 features:
• 1v1 skyscraper-sized kaiju fighting game (and you have to play it twice)
• A stealth minigame featuring Jeanne that plays out like a mediocre Xbox Live Arcade game
• Several different "shmup" sections that are completely inscrutable (some are "airplane" style and others are "on rails")
• A rhythm game during a boss fight
• A "treasure hunt" game with a proximity sensor, with absolutely no explanation
The game is constantly name-dropping weird things that are never really explained, but also not interesting. I'm definitely a "show, don't tell" kind of person when it comes to stories, but I was frequently confused and uninterested in this game due to the amount of "Arch-Eve" and "Arch-Adam" nonsense being spewn.
Another thing about pacing: these weird mini-games popup in so many missions I lost count. They are frequently used as the capstone verse of a chapter to make a boss fight feel "epic", but given how boring these modes are it feels more like a punishment than an epic finale.
In short, I do not recommend anyone play this game. And frankly, I'm confused as to how it currently has an 88/100 on Metacritic. I've seen many people say the game is "fantastic" until the story gets bad, but frankly I didn't like this game from the opening hours thru the finale. It's just not fun and not what people expect out of a Bayonetta game.
TO THAT END, I really wanna talk about the story and go into spoiler territory:
Serious spoiler territory starts now
Um, so you may have heard by now that Bayonetta falls in love with Luka, the bumbling moron who follows her around in the first two games and is infatuated with her.
Unfortunately, this is true, and the setup for it is basically nonexistent.
One of the main story concepts of this game is watching Bayonettas from other universes die, and Luka has a tender moment with Bayonetta as she's dying and being dragged to hell. Luka holds her in his arms and comforts her, and she eats it up like a romanceable little lady, in stark contrast to her behavior in the other games.
I knew about this ahead of time, so I was bracing for it rather than taken by surprise. It's really stupid and feels like it was written by someone who wishes they could marry Bayonetta, and who imagines Luka as the self-insert character.
Also, Luka is actually extremely powerful in this game. It's hinted at early on but eventually everyone realizes he can transform into a crystal werewolf thing that beats the crap out of Bayonetta with ease. He has some weird narration about how he's always felt useless or something and this power grew in him. Like what a weird character arc no one was asking for.
Which, let's back up and talk about Bayonetta's sexuality for a moment. When the first game came out, it was highly criticized for the hypersexual portrayal of Bayonetta. This was at a time when Feminist Frequency was highly relevant, and the male gaze was the phrase of the day.
Many people suggested that Bayonetta's design is that of pure sexual fetish: she's basically a walking sexy British dominatrix witch action figure.
I tend to think this is a pretty accurate assessment of Bayonetta's design, but a new opinion started to emerge around the time of Bayonetta 2. In that game, her BFF Jeanne is hinted at being her lesbian lover (they go out shopping together and talk about going home together... also Jeanne sacrifices herself to save Bayonetta in the early game, and much of the story content is Bayonetta literally going thru actual Hell to save Jeanne; y'know, just "gal pal" stuff).
So there was a new popular head canon of Bayonetta as the lesbian witch full of female empowerment.
I tend to think that her repeated humilation of Luka in the first game is less of "I'm not into men" and more of "I'm a dominatrix lol", but perhaps some people saw it as an affirmation of her sapphic-only love interests.
I personally think this is nothing more than a head canon, and that what sapphic quality the Bayonetta series has is just more of a result of Bayonetta's hyper sexuality and all the combat-capable protagonists being women.
This is not to say that I dislike the head canon. I think it's cool if you see a super hot woman kicking ass and you're like "it me, the power lesbian". That's cool and I'm happy for you. I just don't think the creators of Bayonetta ever had that in mind, and I think Bayonetta's newfound love for Luka is more evidence of that.
And OMG I completely forgot the other thing about her love for Luka. Well, now we're going neck deep into massive endgame spoilers for Bayonetta 3, btw.
The new main character Viola is literally Bayonetta and Luka's daughter from another timeline lol.
And Bayonetta "passes on" the family name to Viola, who is referred to as Viola Bayonetta by Rodin at the end of the game, where she's seen wearing Bayonetta's glasses and Luka's scarf before going out to hunt demons.
For me, the story has never been a motivating or key factor for the series, so I don't really care. It just feels like more mediocre decoration as I expected.
The real issue for me is that the core gameplay is just embarrassingly NOT THERE and constantly replaced with half polished mini games.
Based on timing from announcement to release, Bayonetta 2 was in development for around 2 years, whereas Bayonetta 3 took 5 years. I feel like they must've had some internal development hell with this game, because it is jam packed full of ideas and feels incredibly disjointed.
Random note: I uploaded my score after beating the game and apparenlty I had the 23rd fastest run on "standard" difficulty. Kinda surprised to see that, since I wasn't really trying too hard lol.
ANYWAY there's so much more I could write about this game, but it's an actual miracle if you've read this far, so I'm going to wrap this up.
PLEASE go play a better character action game instead:
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PC)
• Devil May Cry 5 (multiple platforms)
• Bayonetta 1 (Switch)
• Nier: Automata (multiple platforms)
THE WITCH HUNTS ARE OVER
ADDENDUM: I've been informed that Bayonetta's original designer (who is a woman) may have intended Bayonetta to be a lesbian from her initial creation. I wouldn't be surprised if this was de-emphasized from her character strategically due to misogyny and a desire to reach a "larger" (more cishet male) audience. My interpretation of Bayonetta's lesbian sexuality as a head canon is not meant to be offensive to Bayonetta's original designer, but as a contrast of people's interpretations of some ambiguous presentation in the games.
Juan Antonio Bayonetta
Wow! What a great game with an incredibly deep and complex combat system, really awesome art direction, banging soundtrack, multiple fun play styles, and an overall zany wacky energy to it! Sure, the nintendo switch holds it back a bit technically, but that's just a minor gripe! What an incredible game! I wonder how it ends!
God. Where do i start. First things first this game isnt the unmitigated disaster that some were expecting, and its definitely not the unimpeachable action messiah that even fewer were. It's Fun(tm), but with some strikingly obvious warts.
The moment-to-moment action is really enjoyable when playing as bayonetta herself; unlike Bayo2, witch time is strong but not overly generous - the new enemies have tricky attack animations that "catch" less frequently on your dodge frames, in addition to tighter hitboxes. The problem here is mostly that its Easy To Not Have To Dodge At All because the enemies just Dont Hit You.
The new weapon system leaves something to be desired. Designwise the new tools are great, as always, but losing the interchangeable hands/feet weapon equip slots hurts. You never feel like you have enough options, despite having roughly the same amount of discrete tools at your disposal at a given time.
The summon system is fun, if not spectacular in motion. Having madama butterfly explode out of a circle of blood and do a seismic tetsuzanko that clears an entire room is viscerally satisfying, but the thrill leaves just as fast as it sets in. The summons are either crushingly powerful or pathetically limp and difficult to parse, often grinding the forward momentum of individual verses to a painful, tooth-grinding crawl. you Can just elect to not use them, but you then cut the nose off of your proverbial face.
---
I have a sneaking suspicion that some in the platinum games office enjoyed working on Nier Automata a bit too much, to bayonetta's detriment. The quirky direction changes of automata rear their head in a much uglier way here - derailing the action for many, Many slow and gimmicky setpieces. 1 had them, 2 had them in spades, and 3 follows its elder sibling's precedent. They totally kill the pace of the game and make me never want to replay this one, even if it sucks to know ill never get those platinums.
This is the main issue 3 seems to have, it doesn't know when to turn off the charm and just make you fucking play. Automata's gameplay left-turns were largely a carryover from Nier Replicant's tortured, low-budget development - the gameplay version of Citizen Kane's parrot to keep the audience awake. Here, they just seem baffling. They're cool to watch, occasionally cool to play (thank you, wartrain gouon), but crushingly boring to think about replaying. I just wanna do combos for fucks sake.
---
Ive finished it. The great beast is dead.
Team little angels, there is not a force on this earth that could shield you from my wrath.
The moment-to-moment action is really enjoyable when playing as bayonetta herself; unlike Bayo2, witch time is strong but not overly generous - the new enemies have tricky attack animations that "catch" less frequently on your dodge frames, in addition to tighter hitboxes. The problem here is mostly that its Easy To Not Have To Dodge At All because the enemies just Dont Hit You.
The new weapon system leaves something to be desired. Designwise the new tools are great, as always, but losing the interchangeable hands/feet weapon equip slots hurts. You never feel like you have enough options, despite having roughly the same amount of discrete tools at your disposal at a given time.
The summon system is fun, if not spectacular in motion. Having madama butterfly explode out of a circle of blood and do a seismic tetsuzanko that clears an entire room is viscerally satisfying, but the thrill leaves just as fast as it sets in. The summons are either crushingly powerful or pathetically limp and difficult to parse, often grinding the forward momentum of individual verses to a painful, tooth-grinding crawl. you Can just elect to not use them, but you then cut the nose off of your proverbial face.
---
I have a sneaking suspicion that some in the platinum games office enjoyed working on Nier Automata a bit too much, to bayonetta's detriment. The quirky direction changes of automata rear their head in a much uglier way here - derailing the action for many, Many slow and gimmicky setpieces. 1 had them, 2 had them in spades, and 3 follows its elder sibling's precedent. They totally kill the pace of the game and make me never want to replay this one, even if it sucks to know ill never get those platinums.
This is the main issue 3 seems to have, it doesn't know when to turn off the charm and just make you fucking play. Automata's gameplay left-turns were largely a carryover from Nier Replicant's tortured, low-budget development - the gameplay version of Citizen Kane's parrot to keep the audience awake. Here, they just seem baffling. They're cool to watch, occasionally cool to play (thank you, wartrain gouon), but crushingly boring to think about replaying. I just wanna do combos for fucks sake.
---
Ive finished it. The great beast is dead.
Team little angels, there is not a force on this earth that could shield you from my wrath.
Bayonetta kicks ass as always but I also want to make it clear that me giving this game anything less than four stars should say a lot about how negatively I feel towards this game. I'll start with the good. The music is absolutely glorious as always, and visually it looks pretty good. Voice acting is excellent, with the exception of Viola, who sounded iffy at points but was otherwise decent.
The gameplay rules, as expected of a game made by PG. It really feels like they wanted to change up the Bayonetta formula, and I think overall they succeeded. Combat is really fun, and having demonic transformations as well as being able to summon demons at any time (even mid-combo!) rules. Viola was also pretty fun (although she felt a little shoehorned in, she was only playable for three levels), she took a little bit to get used to (and god I wish Witch Time wasn't activated by tightly-timed parries, that sucks) but once I got past the growing pains I found to like her too. Jeanne had a few levels of 2D semi-stealth segments, which I enjoyed a lot. The boss fights were also peak, and I think they're best saved as a surprise. I think that like all of PlatinumGames' best, this is a game you can replay over and over again while also learning something new about it each time. Phenomenal.
Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to the story. It was really not good, honestly. Most PG games have simple but effective stories just in that they're so over the top and goofy it's impossible not to have a good time. They're not typically ones to be taken seriously – with the exception of Astral Chain, which was just a retread of Evangelion (I wasn't a fan of the story of Astral Chain either though, tbh) – but for some reason, they decided that Bayonetta 3 would be a story they would sit down and write as seriously as they possibly could, it felt like. Bayonetta herself even seems pissed and angry all the time for no reason, suppressing a lot of the cheekiness she usually has on display. Aside from that, the story was just pretty nonsensically written, with most stuff happening for no reason at all. I don't know if there's something I'm not getting, but the main antagonist sucked hard. Their goal was to combine all worlds in the multiverse into one, for some reason, and there wasn't any explanation why, or what the purpose was. They just kind of existed to be a final boss, I guess. One returning character is also now a werewolf, for some reason. Viola and Jeanne get completely shafted storywise and are only given three levels each, and are just kind of there in the background. Most of the pre-established lore is also disregarded or completely ignored, with nothing tying in from the other two games. There was also a half-assed romance subplot which showed up at the very end, between two characters who had barely any of that chemistry in previous games; just abysmal.
The TL;DR is that thankfully the gameplay carries hard, but honestly you may as well skip every cutscene or story segment in this game.
The gameplay rules, as expected of a game made by PG. It really feels like they wanted to change up the Bayonetta formula, and I think overall they succeeded. Combat is really fun, and having demonic transformations as well as being able to summon demons at any time (even mid-combo!) rules. Viola was also pretty fun (although she felt a little shoehorned in, she was only playable for three levels), she took a little bit to get used to (and god I wish Witch Time wasn't activated by tightly-timed parries, that sucks) but once I got past the growing pains I found to like her too. Jeanne had a few levels of 2D semi-stealth segments, which I enjoyed a lot. The boss fights were also peak, and I think they're best saved as a surprise. I think that like all of PlatinumGames' best, this is a game you can replay over and over again while also learning something new about it each time. Phenomenal.
Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to the story. It was really not good, honestly. Most PG games have simple but effective stories just in that they're so over the top and goofy it's impossible not to have a good time. They're not typically ones to be taken seriously – with the exception of Astral Chain, which was just a retread of Evangelion (I wasn't a fan of the story of Astral Chain either though, tbh) – but for some reason, they decided that Bayonetta 3 would be a story they would sit down and write as seriously as they possibly could, it felt like. Bayonetta herself even seems pissed and angry all the time for no reason, suppressing a lot of the cheekiness she usually has on display. Aside from that, the story was just pretty nonsensically written, with most stuff happening for no reason at all. I don't know if there's something I'm not getting, but the main antagonist sucked hard. Their goal was to combine all worlds in the multiverse into one, for some reason, and there wasn't any explanation why, or what the purpose was. They just kind of existed to be a final boss, I guess. One returning character is also now a werewolf, for some reason. Viola and Jeanne get completely shafted storywise and are only given three levels each, and are just kind of there in the background. Most of the pre-established lore is also disregarded or completely ignored, with nothing tying in from the other two games. There was also a half-assed romance subplot which showed up at the very end, between two characters who had barely any of that chemistry in previous games; just abysmal.
The TL;DR is that thankfully the gameplay carries hard, but honestly you may as well skip every cutscene or story segment in this game.
If nothing else, Bayo3 is an ambitious game, but it simply cannot excuse most of the ambitions it shoots for, some of that is down to being on the Switch; some of it is questionable game design.
As a fan of the original, I’m delighted 2 & 3 even got to happen thanks to Nintendo, but my feelings the towards series have significantly waned with each entry.
The overall target aimed for is “spectacle” which comes at a heavy price, as the overall fidelity of combat is thrown out the window in favour of a continuing upscaling of kaiju-style battles that feel like little more than mindless button-mashing sessions. There’s also the issue that Bayo3 barely feels like an evolution graphically from the original, and of course, heavy concessions have been made to make this game run as well as it can on the Switch, but many parts of the environment just don’t hold up in 2022 and are on part with Sonic ‘06 at best.
I’d have loved for Bayo3 to hit me with the same feelings I had all those years ago, but outside of select moments, I just wanted to get it over with.
As a fan of the original, I’m delighted 2 & 3 even got to happen thanks to Nintendo, but my feelings the towards series have significantly waned with each entry.
The overall target aimed for is “spectacle” which comes at a heavy price, as the overall fidelity of combat is thrown out the window in favour of a continuing upscaling of kaiju-style battles that feel like little more than mindless button-mashing sessions. There’s also the issue that Bayo3 barely feels like an evolution graphically from the original, and of course, heavy concessions have been made to make this game run as well as it can on the Switch, but many parts of the environment just don’t hold up in 2022 and are on part with Sonic ‘06 at best.
I’d have loved for Bayo3 to hit me with the same feelings I had all those years ago, but outside of select moments, I just wanted to get it over with.
This review contains spoilers
Bayonetta has been a personal favorite of mine since I discovered the first two games back when I primarily played Wii U, of all systems. Bayonetta 1 was great, but Bayonetta 2 blew me away. This was further solidified by the Switch ports as well. While I love DMC, Bayonetta just always resonated with me more. So leading up to Bayonetta 3, I was full of as much hype and eagerness as anyone. Now that I have finished the main story, I can say this: Bayonetta 3 is equal parts amazing and disappointing. Despite my gripes with the game, I still really enjoyed my experience overall.
Let's start with the most controversial and divisive part of B3: its story. I'm not going to sit here and proclaim that the Bayo series has had amazing narratives in the past. They haven't been bad, but to say that they're "well written" would be a bit of an overstatement. Still, they've always been very fun romps with really fun characters. Bayo 3 somewhat continues this trend, but loses a lot of its momentum really quickly. Bayo 3 is by far the most repetitive of the series when it comes to its story beats: go to an alternate universe, see that world's bayo get killed, do a gimmicky boss battle, repeat. Do this until the final encounter of the game, and you're all done! The past two Bayo games certainly weren't perfect in storytelling, but it always kept things interesting and intriguing with its characters and world building. Bayo 3 shoves us into the all-too familiar multiverse plot (which I'm SERIOUSLY getting tired of) with a half-baked and VERY predictable villain that doesn't get enough true screen time.
As if this wasn't enough, Bayo 3's biggest issue is its characters. The game doesn't know who it wants to focus on. Is this Bayonetta's final romp? Sure. Do we give Jeanne some more screen time and purpose? Sort of. Do we give Viola a really good and compelling reason to exist? Hell no. That's not to say I don't like Viola, but she seems like Platinum's version of Nero from DMC: a new, young protagonist who is supposed to have enough mark differences from the series' iconic protagonist, but also fill their shoes. Jeanne is also given a lot more to do, sort of, but the way they implement her is really lackluster. I was a fan of how big of a role Luka ended up playing in the story, as he was always a personal favorite character of mine, but the story even messes up his character as well. I'll wait a bit before going into spoilers, but more on this in a bit.
Before getting into spoilery stuff, let's cover the gameplay. Its as fast-paced and awesome as ever. Well, at least for Bayonetta's sections. Bayo's sections are absolutely phenomenal. The core gameplay has been polished to perfection, and the newly added demon masquerade is so much fun to play with. There are a ton of new weapons to unlock throughout the course of the game, and this time none of them are missable. You'll easily be able to find a few that fit your playstyle and go crazy discovering all of the insane combos you can get.
We also get a new playable character in Viola. I'll admit, at first I wasn't a big fan of her gameplay. But after I got used to her, I found it pretty fun. Viola doesn't get multiple weapons or demons to use, but she does have a unique skill: parrying. The way Viola triggers witch time is through her parry, and its honestly pretty fun to learn the timing for this. Viola's gameplay keeps the core gameplay of Bayonetta in tact, but simply adding a different mechanic makes you have to look at combat differently.
Levels for Bayo and Viola are much bigger than previous entries, making exploration vital to getting collectibles and finding all of the hidden verses in the level. I really enjoyed the exploration here. Though there are still some awkward feeling platforming challenges, they are used to a minimum here, making me not mind them as much. The extra challenges can definitely vary in terms of difficulty, but they all do a good job of learning more about what Bayo/Viola can do and pull off in enemy encounters.
That's not to say that the gameplay is perfect. For some reason, Platinum decided to give Bayo 3 a lot of gimmicky boss fights. Now yes, these boss fights are visually spectacular (for the Switch at least) and lead to some really cool moments. However, isn't the focus supposed to be on the incredibly deep and rewarding combat system that we've spent 2 games building and refining? Instead the game likes to recycle a lot of the same bosses again and again, such as a certain wolf-like enemy that I believe you end up fighting 4-5 times? That's not to say that there aren't some really great bosses here that utilize the combat system to its fullest, cause there are plenty here. It's just strange how every big boss towards the end of an area is an odd gimmick. These fights barely get any explanation at all and require you to figure it out for yourself. This can provide a fair bit of frustration. In fact, now that I think about it, the game does lack tutorials on very crucial sections. But that is more of a nitpick.
Jeanne gets featured more in gameplay, this time in the main story (although she is again an unlockable character once you beat the game once), but it is as average gameplay wise at it gets. For some reason, Jeanne gets thrown in the Metal Gear Solid wannabe, 2d stealth game??? Some sections of Jeanne's levels can be fun, but they're all incredibly short and really easy to beat. These missions are so easy to perfect platinum that I'm sure most people will be able to do it in 1-2 tries. It feels like some kind of Xbox Live Arcade game or something. I also have no idea why they're labeled as "side missions" as the game makes you complete them before you can continue with the story. Its a very bizarre design decision imo.
The game looks and sounds incredible. The art direction here is phenomenal. The art team did a great job with all of these different time periods and locations, as they look distinct enough where you never get two confused, but they all look like the belong in the same game-universe. It's also a given that the soundtrack kicks so much ass. This is a great soundtrack for working out or just jamming out.
Let's get into spoiler stuff now. If you ignored the warning and are still reading this, just skip where the spoilers end for my final thoughts.
STORY SPOILERS
Okay, now lets talk about that ending. Bayonetta and Luka...don't work as a couple whatsoever. I love the idea of Bayo being with Jeanne, or just gay in general, but I would've accepted Bayo and Luka being together if ANYTHING from the previous two games, or even this one, set up their relationship in the slightest. I interpreted their relationship as nothing more than a platonic rivalry at most. To see that they end up together, and have a kid nonetheless, was shocking and just stupid. It reads as completely out of character for Bayonetta, and seems like it was only done to make Viola Bayonetta's child.
Viola just doesn't work as a character. She was fun to play as, but I can't say I ever cared about her character. Her being Bayonetta's daughter just seemed like a half-assed reason for us to like her and for her to become the series' new protagonist. Unfortunately, not enough is done for that to feel like its been earned. Fans will be begging for Cereza, the REAL Bayonetta to come back for the inevitable Bayo 4.
That being said, I'm not gonna lied, I got emotional seeing Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 coming back with their UI in the game as well when they showed up for the final fight. That was such a great moment and great little detail.
END STORY SPOILERS
Although I certainly have my gripes with the game, I did really like Bayonetta 3 overall. Its an overall good conclusion to the trilogy, though we all know that Bayonetta 4 is inevitable. While the story is certainly mixed in a lot of areas, the superbly well polished combat system, level design, art direction, and badass music hold up this game to being a satisfying conclusion.
It is also worth mentioning that the controversy with Hellena Taylor (Bayo's original voice actor) overshadowed an important conversation about voice actors being fairly compensated for their work. Pay your talent a livable wage, please and thank you.
Let's start with the most controversial and divisive part of B3: its story. I'm not going to sit here and proclaim that the Bayo series has had amazing narratives in the past. They haven't been bad, but to say that they're "well written" would be a bit of an overstatement. Still, they've always been very fun romps with really fun characters. Bayo 3 somewhat continues this trend, but loses a lot of its momentum really quickly. Bayo 3 is by far the most repetitive of the series when it comes to its story beats: go to an alternate universe, see that world's bayo get killed, do a gimmicky boss battle, repeat. Do this until the final encounter of the game, and you're all done! The past two Bayo games certainly weren't perfect in storytelling, but it always kept things interesting and intriguing with its characters and world building. Bayo 3 shoves us into the all-too familiar multiverse plot (which I'm SERIOUSLY getting tired of) with a half-baked and VERY predictable villain that doesn't get enough true screen time.
As if this wasn't enough, Bayo 3's biggest issue is its characters. The game doesn't know who it wants to focus on. Is this Bayonetta's final romp? Sure. Do we give Jeanne some more screen time and purpose? Sort of. Do we give Viola a really good and compelling reason to exist? Hell no. That's not to say I don't like Viola, but she seems like Platinum's version of Nero from DMC: a new, young protagonist who is supposed to have enough mark differences from the series' iconic protagonist, but also fill their shoes. Jeanne is also given a lot more to do, sort of, but the way they implement her is really lackluster. I was a fan of how big of a role Luka ended up playing in the story, as he was always a personal favorite character of mine, but the story even messes up his character as well. I'll wait a bit before going into spoilers, but more on this in a bit.
Before getting into spoilery stuff, let's cover the gameplay. Its as fast-paced and awesome as ever. Well, at least for Bayonetta's sections. Bayo's sections are absolutely phenomenal. The core gameplay has been polished to perfection, and the newly added demon masquerade is so much fun to play with. There are a ton of new weapons to unlock throughout the course of the game, and this time none of them are missable. You'll easily be able to find a few that fit your playstyle and go crazy discovering all of the insane combos you can get.
We also get a new playable character in Viola. I'll admit, at first I wasn't a big fan of her gameplay. But after I got used to her, I found it pretty fun. Viola doesn't get multiple weapons or demons to use, but she does have a unique skill: parrying. The way Viola triggers witch time is through her parry, and its honestly pretty fun to learn the timing for this. Viola's gameplay keeps the core gameplay of Bayonetta in tact, but simply adding a different mechanic makes you have to look at combat differently.
Levels for Bayo and Viola are much bigger than previous entries, making exploration vital to getting collectibles and finding all of the hidden verses in the level. I really enjoyed the exploration here. Though there are still some awkward feeling platforming challenges, they are used to a minimum here, making me not mind them as much. The extra challenges can definitely vary in terms of difficulty, but they all do a good job of learning more about what Bayo/Viola can do and pull off in enemy encounters.
That's not to say that the gameplay is perfect. For some reason, Platinum decided to give Bayo 3 a lot of gimmicky boss fights. Now yes, these boss fights are visually spectacular (for the Switch at least) and lead to some really cool moments. However, isn't the focus supposed to be on the incredibly deep and rewarding combat system that we've spent 2 games building and refining? Instead the game likes to recycle a lot of the same bosses again and again, such as a certain wolf-like enemy that I believe you end up fighting 4-5 times? That's not to say that there aren't some really great bosses here that utilize the combat system to its fullest, cause there are plenty here. It's just strange how every big boss towards the end of an area is an odd gimmick. These fights barely get any explanation at all and require you to figure it out for yourself. This can provide a fair bit of frustration. In fact, now that I think about it, the game does lack tutorials on very crucial sections. But that is more of a nitpick.
Jeanne gets featured more in gameplay, this time in the main story (although she is again an unlockable character once you beat the game once), but it is as average gameplay wise at it gets. For some reason, Jeanne gets thrown in the Metal Gear Solid wannabe, 2d stealth game??? Some sections of Jeanne's levels can be fun, but they're all incredibly short and really easy to beat. These missions are so easy to perfect platinum that I'm sure most people will be able to do it in 1-2 tries. It feels like some kind of Xbox Live Arcade game or something. I also have no idea why they're labeled as "side missions" as the game makes you complete them before you can continue with the story. Its a very bizarre design decision imo.
The game looks and sounds incredible. The art direction here is phenomenal. The art team did a great job with all of these different time periods and locations, as they look distinct enough where you never get two confused, but they all look like the belong in the same game-universe. It's also a given that the soundtrack kicks so much ass. This is a great soundtrack for working out or just jamming out.
Let's get into spoiler stuff now. If you ignored the warning and are still reading this, just skip where the spoilers end for my final thoughts.
STORY SPOILERS
Okay, now lets talk about that ending. Bayonetta and Luka...don't work as a couple whatsoever. I love the idea of Bayo being with Jeanne, or just gay in general, but I would've accepted Bayo and Luka being together if ANYTHING from the previous two games, or even this one, set up their relationship in the slightest. I interpreted their relationship as nothing more than a platonic rivalry at most. To see that they end up together, and have a kid nonetheless, was shocking and just stupid. It reads as completely out of character for Bayonetta, and seems like it was only done to make Viola Bayonetta's child.
Viola just doesn't work as a character. She was fun to play as, but I can't say I ever cared about her character. Her being Bayonetta's daughter just seemed like a half-assed reason for us to like her and for her to become the series' new protagonist. Unfortunately, not enough is done for that to feel like its been earned. Fans will be begging for Cereza, the REAL Bayonetta to come back for the inevitable Bayo 4.
That being said, I'm not gonna lied, I got emotional seeing Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 coming back with their UI in the game as well when they showed up for the final fight. That was such a great moment and great little detail.
END STORY SPOILERS
Although I certainly have my gripes with the game, I did really like Bayonetta 3 overall. Its an overall good conclusion to the trilogy, though we all know that Bayonetta 4 is inevitable. While the story is certainly mixed in a lot of areas, the superbly well polished combat system, level design, art direction, and badass music hold up this game to being a satisfying conclusion.
It is also worth mentioning that the controversy with Hellena Taylor (Bayo's original voice actor) overshadowed an important conversation about voice actors being fairly compensated for their work. Pay your talent a livable wage, please and thank you.
Bayonetta 3 es un juego donde el "más" prevalece por encima de cualquier cosa sin importar el por qué. Es indudablemente el peor de los tres en todos los apartados; y pese a que los momentos Bayonetta son muy Bayonetta, no quita que el juego llegue un punto -sobre todo en su segunda mitad- en el que se convierte en una obra dejada y abandonada a la repetición y desgana, acompañada por una historia sin sentido, inorgánica, hueca y sin carisma, a diferencia de lo que ocurría en las partes anteriores, añadiendo personajes jugables pobres, mal equilibrados y a medio camino en comparación al buque insignia que es Cereza.
Por mi parte se podría quedar aquí, no necesito más Bayonetta.
Por mi parte se podría quedar aquí, no necesito más Bayonetta.
Overall fucking amazing. Possibly the best game in series, but it feels like its from over 10 years ago. (for two reasons: how it looks and some performance issues. and how it feels like its from the era of great sequels to games on a psp you wish were on console) okay i understand they arent going to spend a lot of money on bayonetta games because no one buys them. but oh my god this is low budget. it feels so much cheaper than the first 2 :( The gameplay is 10/10 but it feels like im playing a lower budget PSP sequel to a Bayo game. Bayos levels and combat are all so good. Absolutely great, Viola too but I am still adapting to it and learning how to use her so I get that same flow (love her character btw, real standout.) But yes a lot of things feel cheap. Doesnt kill fun, but it’s noticeable. I really like the new mechanics and there is so much to play with here. But I do think some levels are going to be a slug to play again due to the long kaiju sequences that grind the game to a hault. It may sound like im being negative here but I love the game!
This review contains spoilers
i really don't know what to think about this game. on one hand it's my favorite in the series while on the other it's my least favorite. i think it does a lot of things right gameplay wise, even though some of the changes were hard to adjust to. the story is ok up until the absolutely awful ending, complete waste of the multiverse concept and felt like a spit in the face to fans of the series. i think overall it's a good game but it feels like a lot of things were introduced to set up a sequel
why would you do this to my beautiful wife
Breaks more ground than Bayo 2 by virtue of not simply being a worse version of the first game (which is perfect). This has so many differences in visuals, engine, gamefeel and story that it doesn't even feel like the same developer.
The sheer amount of stuff fucking crammed into every corner of this game is in of itself incredible and it makes for a fun time overall even if the general balancing isn't close to being as tight as the first game.
I didn't see what the fuss with the ending was about until the literal last five minutes of gameplay. They could have stopped the game just a tiny bit sooner. Probably could have gone down better if it didn't play out so rushed but the story in general feels like a million ideas happening at once that they attempted to make coherent (fitting metaphor for the game). The series was never known for it's incredible writing but the characters definitely feel even more inconsistent than in Bayo 2.
Sadly lends itself very poorly to replays thanks to very weak setpieces and gameplay that wears thin. Like Bayonetta 2 the poor animation timings for enemies really comes out on higher difficulties.
Despite all of my issues I'm still glad a game like this got made even if it only resembles my all-time favourite game in spirit, but really what other series would lend itself so well as an excuse to just put EVERYTHING in a single cartridge? Truly bananas game development, we may not get another like it.
The sheer amount of stuff fucking crammed into every corner of this game is in of itself incredible and it makes for a fun time overall even if the general balancing isn't close to being as tight as the first game.
I didn't see what the fuss with the ending was about until the literal last five minutes of gameplay. They could have stopped the game just a tiny bit sooner. Probably could have gone down better if it didn't play out so rushed but the story in general feels like a million ideas happening at once that they attempted to make coherent (fitting metaphor for the game). The series was never known for it's incredible writing but the characters definitely feel even more inconsistent than in Bayo 2.
Sadly lends itself very poorly to replays thanks to very weak setpieces and gameplay that wears thin. Like Bayonetta 2 the poor animation timings for enemies really comes out on higher difficulties.
Despite all of my issues I'm still glad a game like this got made even if it only resembles my all-time favourite game in spirit, but really what other series would lend itself so well as an excuse to just put EVERYTHING in a single cartridge? Truly bananas game development, we may not get another like it.
Honestly there's a lot to say about this game, but I personally don't feel qualified for all the nitty gritty details, mainly since I've only played Bayo 2 a few months ago for the first time and haven't touched Bayo 1 yet. This feels like game for longtime Bayo fans, though it can disappoint them with how troubled this game is in general. Lot of plot points not amounting to a lot, lopsided focus on the less interesting parts of the story, and critical moments that didn't feel earned. But I feel because I'm not a long time fan of the franchise, these were things I could just brush aside. I've already seen hard-core Bayo fans being pretty split on this one, but to answer why exactly is not something I can do.
So I did like Bayo 2, how was 3? I think, at this moment, I like it as much as 2. Both have their highs and lows, with I think Bayo 3 having higher highs and lower lows. (EDIT: After playing 3 on and off over several more weeks, I'm thinking I like 3 more then 2, but would probably recommend 2 first to a newcomer since 3 feels like your expected to have played the other games beforehand) To get the lows outta the way, as someone who scours every inch of an area in a game for secrets, many places are too big. I feel, not just this game, but a lot of games can get exhausting to hunt for items if there's a lot to find in a huge place. I love exploration, but not when it starts to feel I'm going through the motions or worse, a chore. I feel Bayo 2 had a better balance of size and secrets for a fast paced action game.
While there wasn't any bad minigames, there is still a ton of them. A lot of them are insane in looks and in concept, plus are rarely frustrating, but I'd prefer to see them less often, mostly since I did not buy this game for this spectacle (that's what Asura's Wrath is for), I played it for the combat.
Framerate aside, I think this part of the game is much better then Bayo 2. Umbran Climax was fun to use but didn't require a lot of thought. Demon Slaves offer a lot of customization and options in battle, but your magic meter, standing in place during summoning, and the chance of your demon going into rage mode makes it a tool that you really need to think on how to use it. Won't deny that it can feel like a crutch at points, but I'm unsure how that holds up on the higher difficulties at this point. Plus it adds a lot of player expression since there's a loooooot of demons in this game to choose from, every one of which being huge and very creative. Demon Slaves are honestly the perfect addition to add to the insane spectacle during combat since it really feels like the carnage your causing is from your own doing and not from some scripted event. That's really why I'm just kind of "whatever" about scripted events in these games. Yes, you can't control literal Godzilla during normal combat, but to me manually summoning a giant spider to self-destruct itself and kill everything around it just always feel way better since that was my plan I made during the heat of battle.... and now I'm down a giant spider... oops.
The creativity also extends to the new weapons. At the cost of no longer equipping weapons to your hands and your feet individually (some weapons in the first two games being only for hands OR feet) every weapon now has an entire moveset with their own ways of shooting range attacks, mode of travel, and able to transform into these demon hybrids which can make these weapons looks amazing during a fight. I was going to describe some of them, but frankly I rather leave that as a surprise, even if there's one that I kept on through the whole game for how crazy concept it was.
Right there's the new character too. She's fine... gameplay wise. As a character she's fun, but when actually playing as her she takes a while to get the feel for. Not much to say being real.
So yeah, despite the four stars I'm giving this, I'm truthfully mixed on this game. That might come down to high expectations that were met... but only sometimes. Regardless I did have a lot of fun, even with the problems this and Bayo 2 have I'd be insane to call them boring.
So I did like Bayo 2, how was 3? I think, at this moment, I like it as much as 2. Both have their highs and lows, with I think Bayo 3 having higher highs and lower lows. (EDIT: After playing 3 on and off over several more weeks, I'm thinking I like 3 more then 2, but would probably recommend 2 first to a newcomer since 3 feels like your expected to have played the other games beforehand) To get the lows outta the way, as someone who scours every inch of an area in a game for secrets, many places are too big. I feel, not just this game, but a lot of games can get exhausting to hunt for items if there's a lot to find in a huge place. I love exploration, but not when it starts to feel I'm going through the motions or worse, a chore. I feel Bayo 2 had a better balance of size and secrets for a fast paced action game.
While there wasn't any bad minigames, there is still a ton of them. A lot of them are insane in looks and in concept, plus are rarely frustrating, but I'd prefer to see them less often, mostly since I did not buy this game for this spectacle (that's what Asura's Wrath is for), I played it for the combat.
Framerate aside, I think this part of the game is much better then Bayo 2. Umbran Climax was fun to use but didn't require a lot of thought. Demon Slaves offer a lot of customization and options in battle, but your magic meter, standing in place during summoning, and the chance of your demon going into rage mode makes it a tool that you really need to think on how to use it. Won't deny that it can feel like a crutch at points, but I'm unsure how that holds up on the higher difficulties at this point. Plus it adds a lot of player expression since there's a loooooot of demons in this game to choose from, every one of which being huge and very creative. Demon Slaves are honestly the perfect addition to add to the insane spectacle during combat since it really feels like the carnage your causing is from your own doing and not from some scripted event. That's really why I'm just kind of "whatever" about scripted events in these games. Yes, you can't control literal Godzilla during normal combat, but to me manually summoning a giant spider to self-destruct itself and kill everything around it just always feel way better since that was my plan I made during the heat of battle.... and now I'm down a giant spider... oops.
The creativity also extends to the new weapons. At the cost of no longer equipping weapons to your hands and your feet individually (some weapons in the first two games being only for hands OR feet) every weapon now has an entire moveset with their own ways of shooting range attacks, mode of travel, and able to transform into these demon hybrids which can make these weapons looks amazing during a fight. I was going to describe some of them, but frankly I rather leave that as a surprise, even if there's one that I kept on through the whole game for how crazy concept it was.
Right there's the new character too. She's fine... gameplay wise. As a character she's fun, but when actually playing as her she takes a while to get the feel for. Not much to say being real.
So yeah, despite the four stars I'm giving this, I'm truthfully mixed on this game. That might come down to high expectations that were met... but only sometimes. Regardless I did have a lot of fun, even with the problems this and Bayo 2 have I'd be insane to call them boring.
Understandably divisive but man I love it. Stands as a very interesting contrast to DMCV to me. V felt like a game that cut as much of the fat as possible to focus solely on arena combat, and it was incredible at that at (what could be argued was) the cost of variety, level design, etc. Bayo 3 revels in excess. It has a weird elevator action side game. It has copious amounts of gimmick sequences. It has extremely expansive and interesting level design, filled with secrets. I think as an alternate path for action games it manages to do this all really well in its own right.
The combat is much improved on 2, if not as elegant in design as 1, due to the enemies not busting out of combos and juggling being more consistent. Enemy design is well considered compared to 2 as well, there's still some bs but there is a lot more clarity in tells I find. Demon slave is a better implemented core mechanic than Umbran Climax, turning the game into a big brain dance between two characters instead of a mash fest. The weapons are some of the best in any character action game. That said, I think the scoring system needs a bit of a rework to properly incentivize this type of play. Less strict time requirements and rebalanced combo score that would lessen the effectiveness of focusing solely on the demons would go a long way here. Viola is pretty good but it's insane that block offset is not explained anywhere and the parry itself is not nearly as satisfying as it could be on a kinesthetic level.
The story is a bit all over the place. Equal parts extremely hype spectacle as you'd expect and also a bit frustratingly undercooked with respect to the villain and especially the ending, which I actually didn't hate at all but completely understand why people did. It doesn't help that it does not feel very well set up and weirdly the cutscene direction (normally super solid as always) falls apart somewhat in these final moments as well, leaving the final dramatic moment feeling a bit limp. Appreciate the fact that this is a really big swing though.
The best version of this game is definitely yet to come. I've put up with a lot when it comes to technical issues on Switch games but I think this is the one that pushed me over the edge into thinking that new hardware from Nintendo is actually necessary if they want 3rd parties to be able to work properly on ambitious games like this. Framerate is not atrocious but certainly isn't good and the visual quality is just so muddy/aliased, it's a bit disheartening and you can see them fighting against the constraints in ways they didn't have to in 1 or 2. Modern rendering techniques just don't work on this old thing.
Pros and cons all over the place but imo this is a beautiful mess that shoots for the moon and hits it quite often. It's nice to see a game made in 2022 that feels like it's still exceling with that PS2 era design ethos of just having a super strong single player campaign filled with sick unlockables and secrets. Long live Bayonetta.
The combat is much improved on 2, if not as elegant in design as 1, due to the enemies not busting out of combos and juggling being more consistent. Enemy design is well considered compared to 2 as well, there's still some bs but there is a lot more clarity in tells I find. Demon slave is a better implemented core mechanic than Umbran Climax, turning the game into a big brain dance between two characters instead of a mash fest. The weapons are some of the best in any character action game. That said, I think the scoring system needs a bit of a rework to properly incentivize this type of play. Less strict time requirements and rebalanced combo score that would lessen the effectiveness of focusing solely on the demons would go a long way here. Viola is pretty good but it's insane that block offset is not explained anywhere and the parry itself is not nearly as satisfying as it could be on a kinesthetic level.
The story is a bit all over the place. Equal parts extremely hype spectacle as you'd expect and also a bit frustratingly undercooked with respect to the villain and especially the ending, which I actually didn't hate at all but completely understand why people did. It doesn't help that it does not feel very well set up and weirdly the cutscene direction (normally super solid as always) falls apart somewhat in these final moments as well, leaving the final dramatic moment feeling a bit limp. Appreciate the fact that this is a really big swing though.
The best version of this game is definitely yet to come. I've put up with a lot when it comes to technical issues on Switch games but I think this is the one that pushed me over the edge into thinking that new hardware from Nintendo is actually necessary if they want 3rd parties to be able to work properly on ambitious games like this. Framerate is not atrocious but certainly isn't good and the visual quality is just so muddy/aliased, it's a bit disheartening and you can see them fighting against the constraints in ways they didn't have to in 1 or 2. Modern rendering techniques just don't work on this old thing.
Pros and cons all over the place but imo this is a beautiful mess that shoots for the moon and hits it quite often. It's nice to see a game made in 2022 that feels like it's still exceling with that PS2 era design ethos of just having a super strong single player campaign filled with sick unlockables and secrets. Long live Bayonetta.
Bayonetta 3
Hay cosas que me molan mucho, la variedad de diseños, mapas, armas, bosses, etc. y la trama está ok.
Lo malo es que con tanta variedad hay muy poca variedad de enemigos normales y todos gigantes.
(7/10)
Si este juego no fuera de switch...
Hay cosas que me molan mucho, la variedad de diseños, mapas, armas, bosses, etc. y la trama está ok.
Lo malo es que con tanta variedad hay muy poca variedad de enemigos normales y todos gigantes.
(7/10)
Si este juego no fuera de switch...
fuck Bayonetta 3: Tokyo Drift
Okay but seriously I was on the fuck Bayonetta bandwagon before it was mainstream so suck it nerds 🤓
Okay but seriously I was on the fuck Bayonetta bandwagon before it was mainstream so suck it nerds 🤓
Awesome game, love the hell out of it
about as good as any game platinum games ever made, albeit with some caveats.
the gimmicks are dialed up to 11 and some of the new combat mechanics don't play quite as nice as i'd like with series mainstay stuff. oftentimes the optimal solution to problems is effectively just outright negating some new mechanics.
still, very fun and rewarding. looks great, feels great, runs great.
idk if its better than bayonetta 2 tho lol
the gimmicks are dialed up to 11 and some of the new combat mechanics don't play quite as nice as i'd like with series mainstay stuff. oftentimes the optimal solution to problems is effectively just outright negating some new mechanics.
still, very fun and rewarding. looks great, feels great, runs great.
idk if its better than bayonetta 2 tho lol
No es, ni por asomo, el desastre técnico que algunos lamentan y en lo jugable es el más variado y, a la vez, sólido de la trilogía. El nuevo sistema de armas es brillante y con el juego en plena acción, los movimientos y combos están mejor ajustados que nunca.
La historia sigue siendo una mamarrachada (y honestamente, si intentas analizarla de forma seria, no es más que un remake de El Único, pero haciendo aguas por todas partes) pero se atreven a meter un regustillo emocional al final que, inesperadamente, es efectivo.
Y Viola es mi hija. Tenía miedo de que fuese un personaje demasiado edgy, pero es tontísima en el mejor de los sentidos y deja muchas ganas por ver qué harán con el personaje en el futuro. Porque está claro que habrá uno.
La historia sigue siendo una mamarrachada (y honestamente, si intentas analizarla de forma seria, no es más que un remake de El Único, pero haciendo aguas por todas partes) pero se atreven a meter un regustillo emocional al final que, inesperadamente, es efectivo.
Y Viola es mi hija. Tenía miedo de que fuese un personaje demasiado edgy, pero es tontísima en el mejor de los sentidos y deja muchas ganas por ver qué harán con el personaje en el futuro. Porque está claro que habrá uno.
I'm just gonna get it out of the way so I don't focus on it in the review- I didn't like the story at all and I don't think there was really a single redeeming aspect of the plot. It says nothing about any characters including the new ones it adds and kinda just weighs down everything else.
With that out of the way, I thought Bayonetta 3 was overall pretty good. I liked the more open area design and thought it was a much better way to seek out hidden verses than the old linear design.
The levels themselves were a little disappointing (in a game about crossing the multiverse as a demon sunmoning witch, your best idea for levels is 4 real world cities??)
Enemy variety was about as good as you'd expect from the series, my only real issue being that I personally don't like the design of the new enemy type over Angels, but I doesn't matter much.
The combat is the most important part, and I thought it was done pretty well. It's closer to Bayonetta 2 than 1, but has a lot more options available. The game is honestly overflowing with combat mechanics and combinations, so if you care about getting good you could probably sink a lot of time into perfecting your combos. That said, as a casual player who just went through, a lot of it also felt very superfluous, partially because the game on normal difficulty is much easier than the last two on normal. That basically means if you take advantage of all the systems, you'll absolutely steamroll through the game so consider bumping up to hard if you care about improving.
There's also a lot of optional unlocks and things to do for 100% on top of getting platinum medals, so if you enjoy the ~15hr campaign there's plenty of replayability for you too.
Overall- Bayonetta 3 is a mess, but it's a fun mess that I'd recommend to fans of Character Action games
With that out of the way, I thought Bayonetta 3 was overall pretty good. I liked the more open area design and thought it was a much better way to seek out hidden verses than the old linear design.
The levels themselves were a little disappointing (in a game about crossing the multiverse as a demon sunmoning witch, your best idea for levels is 4 real world cities??)
Enemy variety was about as good as you'd expect from the series, my only real issue being that I personally don't like the design of the new enemy type over Angels, but I doesn't matter much.
The combat is the most important part, and I thought it was done pretty well. It's closer to Bayonetta 2 than 1, but has a lot more options available. The game is honestly overflowing with combat mechanics and combinations, so if you care about getting good you could probably sink a lot of time into perfecting your combos. That said, as a casual player who just went through, a lot of it also felt very superfluous, partially because the game on normal difficulty is much easier than the last two on normal. That basically means if you take advantage of all the systems, you'll absolutely steamroll through the game so consider bumping up to hard if you care about improving.
There's also a lot of optional unlocks and things to do for 100% on top of getting platinum medals, so if you enjoy the ~15hr campaign there's plenty of replayability for you too.
Overall- Bayonetta 3 is a mess, but it's a fun mess that I'd recommend to fans of Character Action games
The gameplay is stellar, it's so much fun to lay waste on the enemies with the new arsenal at Bayo's disposal, and the soundtrack going with it is incredibly amazing. The story, while not being that good, isn't as bad as people like to say, just some parts of the ending got me somewhat mad.
I only wish there was more fighting and less of everything else.
What a weird game. It's good but so flawed throughout. While it takes fresh steps forward from the previous two games, it also tries things that just do not work. I really do not know how to feel about this.
There is so much packed in:
Disney-like Credits, a 30 min. final bossfight, surprises and a nice fluid gameplay.
My favourite moment has to be the end of chapter 12 (opera guitar Hero). Amazing moment!
But why only 3.5*?
- Because Bayonetta has always been too crazy for me. Escalation to the maximum and beyond is just not mine. But I'm happy Switch owners finally got a exclusive which has no mario or link in it.
And Viola did not fit in. Gameplaywise and bit storywise, too. At least in my opinion.
Disney-like Credits, a 30 min. final bossfight, surprises and a nice fluid gameplay.
My favourite moment has to be the end of chapter 12 (opera guitar Hero). Amazing moment!
But why only 3.5*?
- Because Bayonetta has always been too crazy for me. Escalation to the maximum and beyond is just not mine. But I'm happy Switch owners finally got a exclusive which has no mario or link in it.
And Viola did not fit in. Gameplaywise and bit storywise, too. At least in my opinion.
A game that for better and for worse is stuck 10 years in the past. It's refreshing to play something so straightforward and linear without all the unnecessary padding a lot of games have now and the basic combat system is still fantastic, but all the attempts at innovation just did not work out for me. The summoning system is fun when it's used in specific set pieces, but ultimately never feels as good as just controlling Bayonetta. The second playable character, Viola, just isn't that fun to play as, in fact it gets quite frustrating and feels clunky compared to the perfect fluidity of Bayonetta. Also, the story is even more nonsensical than the first two games and graphically it looks dated and doesn't run very well.
The first game was an incredible first entry and at least tried to tell a cool story you could care about a little. The second game ironed out and perfect the combat system and fully realised the over-the-top style. The third game is more of the same thing with new additions that just aren't that good.
The first game was an incredible first entry and at least tried to tell a cool story you could care about a little. The second game ironed out and perfect the combat system and fully realised the over-the-top style. The third game is more of the same thing with new additions that just aren't that good.
Unsure how I felt about the ending... but gameplay wise? funnnnnnn af .. mixed about the story tho