Bayonetta 3 is a classic hack and slash game developed exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. As the title suggests, it's a sequel to two other games.
Regarding the gameplay, there's not much to say. It's a hack and slash game with combat mechanics reminiscent of the old games from the God of War franchise, for example. In my opinion, there's almost no significant improvement when compared to the other two Bayonetta games, especially the second one.
I would consider it a step back when it comes to the story. The first two Bayonetta games had better plots. While the third episode of this franchise isn't a huge problem, it's not as good as what we've seen before, making it somewhat forgettable. In my opinion, this game relies heavily on the charisma of its characters for its storyline.
As for performance, I can say it's almost the best that Nintendo Switch can offer at this point in the generation. I haven't noticed any significant FPS drops during my gameplay, which is crucial for a hack and slash game. The graphics may not reach their full potential on this hardware, but they are acceptable.
Bayonetta 3 was a highly anticipated game that, in my opinion, didn't fully meet expectations. It's definitely not a bad game, but it lacks the same impact as the previous two. It's an enjoyable game, but whether it's worth the $60 price tag is debatable.
Regarding the gameplay, there's not much to say. It's a hack and slash game with combat mechanics reminiscent of the old games from the God of War franchise, for example. In my opinion, there's almost no significant improvement when compared to the other two Bayonetta games, especially the second one.
I would consider it a step back when it comes to the story. The first two Bayonetta games had better plots. While the third episode of this franchise isn't a huge problem, it's not as good as what we've seen before, making it somewhat forgettable. In my opinion, this game relies heavily on the charisma of its characters for its storyline.
As for performance, I can say it's almost the best that Nintendo Switch can offer at this point in the generation. I haven't noticed any significant FPS drops during my gameplay, which is crucial for a hack and slash game. The graphics may not reach their full potential on this hardware, but they are acceptable.
Bayonetta 3 was a highly anticipated game that, in my opinion, didn't fully meet expectations. It's definitely not a bad game, but it lacks the same impact as the previous two. It's an enjoyable game, but whether it's worth the $60 price tag is debatable.
Bayonetta 3 is the textbook definition of too many cooks in the kitchen. It throws the kitchen sink at you, not realizing how badly it kills the pacing, storytelling and replay value.
So much of this game is bad. Yes, playing as Bayonetta against monsters is better than ever, but its also the Bayonetta game with the least of it. Viola and Jeanne stages are atrocious and ever frequent. It took me a year to slog through this 13 hour game because I dreaded having to play for 30-45 minutes playing a mission with a character that isnt fun. (Jeannes levels are way shorter, but they're the jankiest and ugliest to make up for it).
The less said about the story, the better. Seriously. Even if I ranted about how Platinum massacred Bayonetta as a character and sandblasted at least 80% of the original's camp comedic writing away for self-serious multiverse bullshit, it wouldn't help. The joy of Bayonetta 1 was that the ridiculously fun gameplay was matched in energy by over the top, funny cutscenes with lovable characters. Just...fuck Bayonetta 3 for doing this.
The aliasing in this game is genuinely hideous. Like, everything is shimmering and jagged and the lighting is weird and the textures are shining like a students first unreal project, its a mess. I know its not the end of the world, but I had to play on a CRT to hide how ugly this game is. (To my TVs credit, it worked wonders and made it look decent).
Most importantly of all, Bayonetta 3 keeps thinking the player hates playing Bayonetta. Every chapter has some stupid puzzle mechanic or new gimmicky demon to learn to use for 10 minutes, or a shitty boring shmup section, or bad platforming, or clunky kaiju fights that actually remove happiness from the universe statistically; Bayonetta 3 is an unfocused mess of gameplay ideas that got thrown in as a first draft. Much like this meandering review.
To wrap up my rant, the game is still a begrudging 2 stars because playing Bayonetta is still good fun. Its not as constant as I'd like, but around 40% of the total experience is good. I wouldnt buy it for 60 dollars when DMC5 launched at the same price and is also Bayonetta 3 except they nail it on every level and don't kill the franchise.
I know the reception isn't that bad, but with a dev hell stillbirth like this and the departure of Kamiya, Im not expecting a new game starring "the next generation". Fuck man, did Platinum not notice how hard Capcom had to sell the fans on Nero to make him popular? What made them think Bayo 3's ending was a good idea?
Final rant: Why is the enemy design dogshit? Remember the Joy fight? Now everything is just nickelodeon slime dinosaurs and mannequins.
So much of this game is bad. Yes, playing as Bayonetta against monsters is better than ever, but its also the Bayonetta game with the least of it. Viola and Jeanne stages are atrocious and ever frequent. It took me a year to slog through this 13 hour game because I dreaded having to play for 30-45 minutes playing a mission with a character that isnt fun. (Jeannes levels are way shorter, but they're the jankiest and ugliest to make up for it).
The less said about the story, the better. Seriously. Even if I ranted about how Platinum massacred Bayonetta as a character and sandblasted at least 80% of the original's camp comedic writing away for self-serious multiverse bullshit, it wouldn't help. The joy of Bayonetta 1 was that the ridiculously fun gameplay was matched in energy by over the top, funny cutscenes with lovable characters. Just...fuck Bayonetta 3 for doing this.
The aliasing in this game is genuinely hideous. Like, everything is shimmering and jagged and the lighting is weird and the textures are shining like a students first unreal project, its a mess. I know its not the end of the world, but I had to play on a CRT to hide how ugly this game is. (To my TVs credit, it worked wonders and made it look decent).
Most importantly of all, Bayonetta 3 keeps thinking the player hates playing Bayonetta. Every chapter has some stupid puzzle mechanic or new gimmicky demon to learn to use for 10 minutes, or a shitty boring shmup section, or bad platforming, or clunky kaiju fights that actually remove happiness from the universe statistically; Bayonetta 3 is an unfocused mess of gameplay ideas that got thrown in as a first draft. Much like this meandering review.
To wrap up my rant, the game is still a begrudging 2 stars because playing Bayonetta is still good fun. Its not as constant as I'd like, but around 40% of the total experience is good. I wouldnt buy it for 60 dollars when DMC5 launched at the same price and is also Bayonetta 3 except they nail it on every level and don't kill the franchise.
I know the reception isn't that bad, but with a dev hell stillbirth like this and the departure of Kamiya, Im not expecting a new game starring "the next generation". Fuck man, did Platinum not notice how hard Capcom had to sell the fans on Nero to make him popular? What made them think Bayo 3's ending was a good idea?
Final rant: Why is the enemy design dogshit? Remember the Joy fight? Now everything is just nickelodeon slime dinosaurs and mannequins.
It really frustrates me that this game is like, probably the most fun and dense mechanically of every Bayo game because its not a good game. And that makes me really upset cause I had a lot riding on this game. Bad story, really poor character writing, lacking in features that were in every game prior, really poor balance on Viola, kinda lackluster monster design, its really a shame. This game needed two more years to cook and I would've been happy to wait.
É "melhor" que bayoneta 1 em combate, levemente superior ao 2 e é isso.
É galhofa pura, mais que o 1 e o 2 e foi divertido pkrl, mas que história merda hein e que final decepcionante.
esse jogo tambem é mais feio que bayonetta 2, a direção de arte desse aqui tbm é bem fraca, é triste.
tem umas referências boas e a missão a la tom clancy antigo com a jeanne é muito bacana, a viola é uma personagem ok, ela me agradou com o tempo e seu combate foi definitavamente uma boa adição.
no fim do dia, eu nao vou me recordar tanto de bayonetta 3 e vou seguir adiante, graças a seus o bayoneta origins é interessante.
É galhofa pura, mais que o 1 e o 2 e foi divertido pkrl, mas que história merda hein e que final decepcionante.
esse jogo tambem é mais feio que bayonetta 2, a direção de arte desse aqui tbm é bem fraca, é triste.
tem umas referências boas e a missão a la tom clancy antigo com a jeanne é muito bacana, a viola é uma personagem ok, ela me agradou com o tempo e seu combate foi definitavamente uma boa adição.
no fim do dia, eu nao vou me recordar tanto de bayonetta 3 e vou seguir adiante, graças a seus o bayoneta origins é interessante.
This review contains spoilers
BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
Well, to preface this, I absolutely adore Bayonetta as a character. As far as the games go, I love the first one and thought the second one was a bit weaker, but still good, which seems to be an unpopular opinion. Then, there is this one…
This is really hard to write a review for. I am giving it 3.5 stars because while the gameplay was all over the place with seemingly no structure, especially at first, it was fun in a guilty pleasure kind of way. I should probably elaborate on “all over the place.” For me, it seemed to go from traditional Bayonetta gameplay to everything else under the sun. First of all, you have three playable characters. One is fun…guess who? Bayonetta. The others, Jeanne and newcomer Viola, just don’t play well. Jeanne’s stealth missions were short, and that was their saving grace. They weren’t satisfying or interesting at all. I was not even stealthy, and still beat them all pretty easily. This desperate attempt to switch up gameplay didn’t gel with me. Viola’s? Her levels made me a tad ragey. They were considerably more difficult than all the others…yet they were mixed in here and there (I think one for every two Bayonetta and one Jeanne chapters?) I have a pet peeve in games when the difficulty jumps around. I like when things progressively get more difficult. Difficulty spikes are fine, but Viola’s levels made some of Bayonetta’s later ones very underwhelming difficulty wise. I am not sure how many people would agree…could have been me.
The demon summons took forever for me to like. Most of them move so incredibly slow, and just aren’t enjoyable to fight as. Also, meeting a new demon in almost or maybe even every chapter got tiring and very formulaic. I might have actually liked one or two of them as characters. Baal stands out for me.
Speaking of characters, well…all the good ol’ faces are there, but I don’t always love their execution. Bayonetta seems not quite as badass as she once was, Jeanne seems like an extension of her, and why is Luka such a hero now? His clumsiness and ineptness is part of why I liked him! Switching up the gender roles made the series fun…as did Bayo (who I always perceived as bisexual) having a sort of “love triangle” with him and Jeanne. I don’t like having a canon couple, but unlike a lot of other people, I wouldn’t have been happy if she ended up with Jeanne either. The playfulness and casualness between Bayonetta and the other two spiced up the series. I don’t think it was cut out to be romantic.
We also have newcomer Viola. For the most part, I found her annoying, probably until the last few chapters where she became endearing. Fighting as her is a pain in the ass, as I mentioned, and everything about her is…lacking. I hate to say it, but I could have done without her.
The ending? I can’t tell you how sad the part after the first credits made me. Annoying “true” final boss aside, Viola taking center stage is just painful. I kind of felt viewing that ending like I did when my favorite band broke up: empty and numb. I guess I will buy the fourth game, but am I looking forward to it? Can’t say I am. Such a shame too, since it was one of my favorite series with one of my favorite protagonists.
All in all, fun, but a disappointment. I don’t know why the writers thought that direction was okay to go in. I love a good multiverse plot too, but this one made me kind of sad, especially at the end, where a story should truly shine.
Glad I played it, but won’t return to it. RIP Bayonetta!
Well, to preface this, I absolutely adore Bayonetta as a character. As far as the games go, I love the first one and thought the second one was a bit weaker, but still good, which seems to be an unpopular opinion. Then, there is this one…
This is really hard to write a review for. I am giving it 3.5 stars because while the gameplay was all over the place with seemingly no structure, especially at first, it was fun in a guilty pleasure kind of way. I should probably elaborate on “all over the place.” For me, it seemed to go from traditional Bayonetta gameplay to everything else under the sun. First of all, you have three playable characters. One is fun…guess who? Bayonetta. The others, Jeanne and newcomer Viola, just don’t play well. Jeanne’s stealth missions were short, and that was their saving grace. They weren’t satisfying or interesting at all. I was not even stealthy, and still beat them all pretty easily. This desperate attempt to switch up gameplay didn’t gel with me. Viola’s? Her levels made me a tad ragey. They were considerably more difficult than all the others…yet they were mixed in here and there (I think one for every two Bayonetta and one Jeanne chapters?) I have a pet peeve in games when the difficulty jumps around. I like when things progressively get more difficult. Difficulty spikes are fine, but Viola’s levels made some of Bayonetta’s later ones very underwhelming difficulty wise. I am not sure how many people would agree…could have been me.
The demon summons took forever for me to like. Most of them move so incredibly slow, and just aren’t enjoyable to fight as. Also, meeting a new demon in almost or maybe even every chapter got tiring and very formulaic. I might have actually liked one or two of them as characters. Baal stands out for me.
Speaking of characters, well…all the good ol’ faces are there, but I don’t always love their execution. Bayonetta seems not quite as badass as she once was, Jeanne seems like an extension of her, and why is Luka such a hero now? His clumsiness and ineptness is part of why I liked him! Switching up the gender roles made the series fun…as did Bayo (who I always perceived as bisexual) having a sort of “love triangle” with him and Jeanne. I don’t like having a canon couple, but unlike a lot of other people, I wouldn’t have been happy if she ended up with Jeanne either. The playfulness and casualness between Bayonetta and the other two spiced up the series. I don’t think it was cut out to be romantic.
We also have newcomer Viola. For the most part, I found her annoying, probably until the last few chapters where she became endearing. Fighting as her is a pain in the ass, as I mentioned, and everything about her is…lacking. I hate to say it, but I could have done without her.
The ending? I can’t tell you how sad the part after the first credits made me. Annoying “true” final boss aside, Viola taking center stage is just painful. I kind of felt viewing that ending like I did when my favorite band broke up: empty and numb. I guess I will buy the fourth game, but am I looking forward to it? Can’t say I am. Such a shame too, since it was one of my favorite series with one of my favorite protagonists.
All in all, fun, but a disappointment. I don’t know why the writers thought that direction was okay to go in. I love a good multiverse plot too, but this one made me kind of sad, especially at the end, where a story should truly shine.
Glad I played it, but won’t return to it. RIP Bayonetta!
Ganha uma estrela pelo combate, que costuma carregar o resto do jogo nas costas mas aqui teve que trabalhar dobrado. As armas que a Bayonetta consegue usar aqui são de longe as mais criativas da série, e toda vez que eu desbloqueava uma eu ia direto pro training mode e testava todos os seus golpes especiais e combos. Minhas duas favoritas foram o microfone que você usa como uma lança e consegue cantar para se buffar e a serra elétrica tremzinho locomotiva que mistura movimentação rápida e golpes lentos e fortes, muito doido fera top épico neuron activation
Tirando isso, esse era um dos meus jogos mais aguardados e umas das razões de eu ter comprado um switch, e é triste dizer que ele não alcança as expectativas. O pacing é muito ruim, o plot do multiverso é formulaico e repetitivo, e todos os capítulos onde você não joga com a Bayonetta (são mais do que você pensa) sofrem com excesso de mecânicas rasas que são usadas uma vez e descartadas. Eu me recuso a levar a história dos bayonettas tão a sério quanto o jogo leva, e eu não acho que uma (1) pessoa gostou desse final desastroso
O combate de kaiju também é bem chatinho e atrapalha o flow do combate, we get it bro you wanted to make scalebound (Ele melhora depois que você consegue o mecha, depois que eu consegui o mecha eu nunca mais invoquei outra coisa até o final do jogo)
Tirando isso, esse era um dos meus jogos mais aguardados e umas das razões de eu ter comprado um switch, e é triste dizer que ele não alcança as expectativas. O pacing é muito ruim, o plot do multiverso é formulaico e repetitivo, e todos os capítulos onde você não joga com a Bayonetta (são mais do que você pensa) sofrem com excesso de mecânicas rasas que são usadas uma vez e descartadas. Eu me recuso a levar a história dos bayonettas tão a sério quanto o jogo leva, e eu não acho que uma (1) pessoa gostou desse final desastroso
O combate de kaiju também é bem chatinho e atrapalha o flow do combate, we get it bro you wanted to make scalebound (Ele melhora depois que você consegue o mecha, depois que eu consegui o mecha eu nunca mais invoquei outra coisa até o final do jogo)
This game needs to be studied in how not to end a game, I am not joking when I say that I felt the entire series had been made retroactively worse due to the ending of this one. Its contrived, its insulting, and more than anything its undeserved.
The gameplays also extremely weak this entry as well, the summoning system isn't all that fun and there's often no reason to use other ones once you find those magic three.
The gameplays also extremely weak this entry as well, the summoning system isn't all that fun and there's often no reason to use other ones once you find those magic three.
Bayonetta é uma daquelas franquias que possui uma excelência tão enraizada no seu simples conceito básico, que podem seguir sua simples fórmula com pouquíssimas mudança por décadas e todos os jogos valerão o tempo e investimento. O terceiro jogo, lançado 8 anos após seu antecessor e 5 após seu anúncio, segue à risca o que define e destaca a saga em meio ao mar de jogos de ação no qual está imersa. Estiloso, divertido e confuso, Bayonetta 3 é Bayonetta em todos os sentidos, para o bem e para o mal.
Isso não quer dizer, é claro, que essa nova experiencia não tem a sua identidade própria dentro da trilogia. Não só visualmente, como seus antecessores, mas também em sua estrutura e gameplay principal. Bayonetta continua sendo a personagem principal e seu potencial para customização e curva de aprendizado estão mais extensos do que nunca. Seus ataques padrões funcionam da mesma forma de sempre, mas com um novo leque de armas únicas e extremamente criativas. Os Demon Slaves, a grande nova mecânica única à esse novo jogo, trazem uma nova dimensão ao combate, tanto em escala quanto em profundidade. Cada uma possui suas fraquezas e vantagens, e são tão criativas e intrigantes quanto podem. A dinâmica de poder controlar uma dessas grandes feras ao mesmo tempo que a bruxa que as invoca é divertida, complexa e muito bem vinda.
Além disso, existem mais duas personagens jogáveis durante a campanha: a companheira clássica de Cereza, Jeanne, e a novata Viola. A primeira estrela em um tipo de missão único, que mistura plataforma com stealth, e que por mais que não acerte em nenhum dos dois, consegue entreter e não se extende por muito tempo, contando com poucas missões de curta duração, trazendo variedade à estrutura da história. A segunda, Viola, estrela em missões de estrutura similar às de Bayonetta, porém com ataques e habilidades completamente únicos que fornecem uma experiência diferente, porém ainda familiar. Embora bem menos complexa que a estrela do jogo, sua gameplay fornece variedade o suficiente, tanto para o seu tempo de tela limitado quanto para passar horas praticando diferentes combos e estratégias.
Como sempre, o ênfase da narrativa está em fornecer uma montanha russa em alta velocidade à todo instante, que surpreende o jogador constantemente do início ao fim. A narrativa é tão profunda quanto os outros jogos, ou seja, profusamente rasa; em outras palavras, é tudo o que precisa ser. Combinado com a gameplay que a acompanha, temos uma campanha com altos e baixos, mas que é dominada pela criatividade esperada de um Bayonetta, e para mim, isso é tudo o que precisa ser. Me vejo jogando isso por muito mais tempo, e se possuísse mais conteúdo para usufruir de seu combate, arrisco dizer que jogaria para anos por vir.
Isso não quer dizer, é claro, que essa nova experiencia não tem a sua identidade própria dentro da trilogia. Não só visualmente, como seus antecessores, mas também em sua estrutura e gameplay principal. Bayonetta continua sendo a personagem principal e seu potencial para customização e curva de aprendizado estão mais extensos do que nunca. Seus ataques padrões funcionam da mesma forma de sempre, mas com um novo leque de armas únicas e extremamente criativas. Os Demon Slaves, a grande nova mecânica única à esse novo jogo, trazem uma nova dimensão ao combate, tanto em escala quanto em profundidade. Cada uma possui suas fraquezas e vantagens, e são tão criativas e intrigantes quanto podem. A dinâmica de poder controlar uma dessas grandes feras ao mesmo tempo que a bruxa que as invoca é divertida, complexa e muito bem vinda.
Além disso, existem mais duas personagens jogáveis durante a campanha: a companheira clássica de Cereza, Jeanne, e a novata Viola. A primeira estrela em um tipo de missão único, que mistura plataforma com stealth, e que por mais que não acerte em nenhum dos dois, consegue entreter e não se extende por muito tempo, contando com poucas missões de curta duração, trazendo variedade à estrutura da história. A segunda, Viola, estrela em missões de estrutura similar às de Bayonetta, porém com ataques e habilidades completamente únicos que fornecem uma experiência diferente, porém ainda familiar. Embora bem menos complexa que a estrela do jogo, sua gameplay fornece variedade o suficiente, tanto para o seu tempo de tela limitado quanto para passar horas praticando diferentes combos e estratégias.
Como sempre, o ênfase da narrativa está em fornecer uma montanha russa em alta velocidade à todo instante, que surpreende o jogador constantemente do início ao fim. A narrativa é tão profunda quanto os outros jogos, ou seja, profusamente rasa; em outras palavras, é tudo o que precisa ser. Combinado com a gameplay que a acompanha, temos uma campanha com altos e baixos, mas que é dominada pela criatividade esperada de um Bayonetta, e para mim, isso é tudo o que precisa ser. Me vejo jogando isso por muito mais tempo, e se possuísse mais conteúdo para usufruir de seu combate, arrisco dizer que jogaria para anos por vir.
Stonewall for the lesbian gaming community
The story is an utter failure. Making characters act utterly stupid for the sake of the plot is never a good thing.
The gameplay is a lot of fun however. The stages look great and are very fun to explore. Bosses are amazing as well, and Viola's gameplay is pretty different and cool.
It could have been a lot better and enjoyable overall, if the story wasn't this bad.
The gameplay is a lot of fun however. The stages look great and are very fun to explore. Bosses are amazing as well, and Viola's gameplay is pretty different and cool.
It could have been a lot better and enjoyable overall, if the story wasn't this bad.
It is a game....
Bayonetta did not gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss as much as she should've
Insane game made by insane people. Playing 9 months or so after the game had launched, I've heard all about the discourse over the game's systems, over Viola, and of course the ending. Frankly, I wasn't sure what to expect going into it. But as it turns out, the game is insane. And I loved every bit of it.
With a whooping FIFTY FIVE different movesets by my count, the game is constantly throwing new experiences at your face... and it pretty much always works! There's a couple of sections, particularly the spider chase in ch2 and any time Viola has to rely on witch time, that falter, but they are far between and are over in a couple minutes max.
Viola as a whole, although she's a fair step down from playing as Bayonetta, is only around for like an hour of the game. Her parry Witch TIme does suck, but its pretty easy to get by in the main game without hitting it much at all (all of the witch time reliance is in side fights), so it never got frustrating. Really, I don't understand why she's such a sticking point for a lot of people.
As for Bayonetta, she controls better than ever, one of the best controlling characters I've ever experienced. THe Demon Slave system integrates seemlessly into her existing movesets. It was so fun to pull off combos switching between Bayonetta and the demons, and I ended up using a wide variety of them throughout the game.
The story wasn't very good, unsurprisingly. It's better than Bayonetta 2's, probably 1's as well. I could actually understand what was going on for most of the plot, which is a marked improvement. I understand why people were so upset by the ending, but I was left feeling rather ambivalent to the negative parts of it. They'll be back, probably. This series hasn't suggested any reason why they wouldn't.
All the negatives were eclipsed by the one fanservicey section that made me fangirl harder than any game has in a while. It was crazy, it was a unique segment structured for like 2 minutes of gameplay, it felt great. It encapsulated everything so great about Bayonetta 3.
With a whooping FIFTY FIVE different movesets by my count, the game is constantly throwing new experiences at your face... and it pretty much always works! There's a couple of sections, particularly the spider chase in ch2 and any time Viola has to rely on witch time, that falter, but they are far between and are over in a couple minutes max.
Viola as a whole, although she's a fair step down from playing as Bayonetta, is only around for like an hour of the game. Her parry Witch TIme does suck, but its pretty easy to get by in the main game without hitting it much at all (all of the witch time reliance is in side fights), so it never got frustrating. Really, I don't understand why she's such a sticking point for a lot of people.
As for Bayonetta, she controls better than ever, one of the best controlling characters I've ever experienced. THe Demon Slave system integrates seemlessly into her existing movesets. It was so fun to pull off combos switching between Bayonetta and the demons, and I ended up using a wide variety of them throughout the game.
The story wasn't very good, unsurprisingly. It's better than Bayonetta 2's, probably 1's as well. I could actually understand what was going on for most of the plot, which is a marked improvement. I understand why people were so upset by the ending, but I was left feeling rather ambivalent to the negative parts of it. They'll be back, probably. This series hasn't suggested any reason why they wouldn't.
All the negatives were eclipsed by the one fanservicey section that made me fangirl harder than any game has in a while. It was crazy, it was a unique segment structured for like 2 minutes of gameplay, it felt great. It encapsulated everything so great about Bayonetta 3.
Bayonetta 3 does for homophobia what Metroid: Other M does for misogyny.
they’re killing this series slowly so disappointing ( i gave it 4 because bayonettas ass)
Going into the Bayonetta 3 later than most people, I didn't have high expectations with all the backlash this game was getting from the fans.
After now beating the game, I see where this backlash is coming from. However, at it's core Bayonetta 3 is still a very good game with some major flaws that held this from being the best in the trilogy.
Being one of the most ambitious Platinum games, it contains some of the highest highs in the franchise, while also bearing some of the lowest lows, with the lows here being bad enough to drag down it's "Great" status that both Bayo 1 and 2 hold.
To start with the good, playing as Bayonetta is as good as ever. She has the largest and most diverse arsenal ever and I enjoyed all the weapons offered. I had an abosulte blast with every second as Bayo and really wanted more.
The scale of the bossfights are the biggest and (arguably) the best. The only comparison I can make here is that each big bossfight feels like something Final Fantasy 16 did with it's huge bossfights where it would mesh the great standard gameplay, with amazing cinematics and fun minigames in between making something absolutley grand and satisfying.
The multiverse scenario also brings foward some of the best and most diverse settings in a Bayonetta game. Playing to find out where I would end up next was a great treat.
While the demon slave system did have some problems which I will go into detail with, I still appreciated the inclusion of it and how it made you truly feel like the demon witch Bayonetta has always been, with the abiity to summon your favorite hair demon and mog anything both big an small.
With those positives, Bayo 3 would have easily been my favorite in the trilogy, but this is where I bring in the issues that severely brought it down.
I will start with the complaint that most people have with this game and it's with the new character Viola.
Viola as a character herself is not nearly as endearing as Bayo, or Jeanne, or even Luca. All I can really say about her character is that she's just a typical clumsy teenager.
Now her gameplay was the worst part. I could not really enjoy her gameplay as she played like a watered down Vergil from DMC. All the diverse weapons, combos and fun that Bayo has in her gameplay is sucked dry with Viloa. She has one Summon too which makes the gameplay even worse as you can't control it, and while summoned Viloas combat becomes even worse with the loss of her katana. She takes about 1/3rd of the game, a 1/3rd that could have easily gone to more Bayo gameplay. This alone soured the game for me and brought the hype I had from the beginning right down.
Previously I also praised the Demon slave system, and while I do like the inclusion of it, it is simply too overpowered and takes away a lot of Bayo's fantastic gameplay. Most of the time you are expected to use it as the game now presents you with a lot of gigantic enemies that you are expected to deal with by summoning the demons. I simply would have enjoyed fighting these giant enemies playing as Bayo alone, but if you try to do that you deal chip damage which takes a much longer time than just using your summons. To fix it, all they had to do was nerf the magic bar. As the magic bar just auto regenerates really quickly, you basically have unlimited summoning time. Repeneshing the magic bar should have not been automatic and should have only been filled up by using items or raking up combos (or any other way to reward good gameplay).
In short, you barely get to have some good time with Bayo's combat, because you're forced to play as a shitty character 1/3rd of the time and with the inclusion of demon slaves, there is even less opportunity to combo your foes as Bayo.
The story was one of the biggest complaints from the fans. Personally, as this is a Bayo game I don't really care for the story as long as it sets up a cool premise for the gameplay. In the case of the Multiverse story, I liked that it gave you an excuse to fight in vastly different areas and meet cool unique alternate versions of Bayonetta. Even all the stuff in the ending, I did not really mind.
I hope the future of this franchise does not take the "Viloa is now the main character" route as that would simply kill any hype and uniqueness the character of Bayonetta brought to action games. But with all the feedback Bayo 3 did recieve, one could simply hope Platinum will listen and bring back what people really like about this franchise.
After now beating the game, I see where this backlash is coming from. However, at it's core Bayonetta 3 is still a very good game with some major flaws that held this from being the best in the trilogy.
Being one of the most ambitious Platinum games, it contains some of the highest highs in the franchise, while also bearing some of the lowest lows, with the lows here being bad enough to drag down it's "Great" status that both Bayo 1 and 2 hold.
To start with the good, playing as Bayonetta is as good as ever. She has the largest and most diverse arsenal ever and I enjoyed all the weapons offered. I had an abosulte blast with every second as Bayo and really wanted more.
The scale of the bossfights are the biggest and (arguably) the best. The only comparison I can make here is that each big bossfight feels like something Final Fantasy 16 did with it's huge bossfights where it would mesh the great standard gameplay, with amazing cinematics and fun minigames in between making something absolutley grand and satisfying.
The multiverse scenario also brings foward some of the best and most diverse settings in a Bayonetta game. Playing to find out where I would end up next was a great treat.
While the demon slave system did have some problems which I will go into detail with, I still appreciated the inclusion of it and how it made you truly feel like the demon witch Bayonetta has always been, with the abiity to summon your favorite hair demon and mog anything both big an small.
With those positives, Bayo 3 would have easily been my favorite in the trilogy, but this is where I bring in the issues that severely brought it down.
I will start with the complaint that most people have with this game and it's with the new character Viola.
Viola as a character herself is not nearly as endearing as Bayo, or Jeanne, or even Luca. All I can really say about her character is that she's just a typical clumsy teenager.
Now her gameplay was the worst part. I could not really enjoy her gameplay as she played like a watered down Vergil from DMC. All the diverse weapons, combos and fun that Bayo has in her gameplay is sucked dry with Viloa. She has one Summon too which makes the gameplay even worse as you can't control it, and while summoned Viloas combat becomes even worse with the loss of her katana. She takes about 1/3rd of the game, a 1/3rd that could have easily gone to more Bayo gameplay. This alone soured the game for me and brought the hype I had from the beginning right down.
Previously I also praised the Demon slave system, and while I do like the inclusion of it, it is simply too overpowered and takes away a lot of Bayo's fantastic gameplay. Most of the time you are expected to use it as the game now presents you with a lot of gigantic enemies that you are expected to deal with by summoning the demons. I simply would have enjoyed fighting these giant enemies playing as Bayo alone, but if you try to do that you deal chip damage which takes a much longer time than just using your summons. To fix it, all they had to do was nerf the magic bar. As the magic bar just auto regenerates really quickly, you basically have unlimited summoning time. Repeneshing the magic bar should have not been automatic and should have only been filled up by using items or raking up combos (or any other way to reward good gameplay).
In short, you barely get to have some good time with Bayo's combat, because you're forced to play as a shitty character 1/3rd of the time and with the inclusion of demon slaves, there is even less opportunity to combo your foes as Bayo.
The story was one of the biggest complaints from the fans. Personally, as this is a Bayo game I don't really care for the story as long as it sets up a cool premise for the gameplay. In the case of the Multiverse story, I liked that it gave you an excuse to fight in vastly different areas and meet cool unique alternate versions of Bayonetta. Even all the stuff in the ending, I did not really mind.
I hope the future of this franchise does not take the "Viloa is now the main character" route as that would simply kill any hype and uniqueness the character of Bayonetta brought to action games. But with all the feedback Bayo 3 did recieve, one could simply hope Platinum will listen and bring back what people really like about this franchise.
I have never been more conflicted on a game than Bayonetta 3. This is the series' best combat, and a very welcome evolution from the last two games. However, the story in this is one of the biggest pieces of dogshit ever penned. It feels like platinum games have 50 points to spend when they make each Bayonetta game, and each time they put more and more into gameplay and less and less into story.
I really like playing as Bayonetta here, and if this was the gameplay for a game with a story on par with Bayo 1 this would be a masterpiece, but it isn't.
Haven't even started talking about Viola. Actually 0/5 character. If they make the next game about her I won't play it. She has this awful out of touch punk thing going on that is just horrible. Every time she opens her mouth I want to die, she is so fucking annoying. And, worst of all, playing as her is the most miserable thing ever. She has 1 weapon, 1 demon (Who you can't even control), and you have to do a lame ass parry to use witch time, so you just get to use witch time less and its more risky??? So fucking dumb. No one ever would prefer to play as Viola. Who made this shit man. Fuck Viola.
I really like playing as Bayonetta here, and if this was the gameplay for a game with a story on par with Bayo 1 this would be a masterpiece, but it isn't.
Haven't even started talking about Viola. Actually 0/5 character. If they make the next game about her I won't play it. She has this awful out of touch punk thing going on that is just horrible. Every time she opens her mouth I want to die, she is so fucking annoying. And, worst of all, playing as her is the most miserable thing ever. She has 1 weapon, 1 demon (Who you can't even control), and you have to do a lame ass parry to use witch time, so you just get to use witch time less and its more risky??? So fucking dumb. No one ever would prefer to play as Viola. Who made this shit man. Fuck Viola.
Worse than you'd hope but better than people say it is
It has decent combat which feels like a step down from 1 & 2 and the game does get ambitious (maybe a bit too ambitious for what it wants to do) but imagine if Devil May Cry 3 had the plot of 5 and none of its ideas were initially planned but also there's multiverse shit now but the most you get out of it is what if there was a one-note Brazilian Dante
yeah that's basically this game's plot and the ending sucks straight ass
yeah that's basically this game's plot and the ending sucks straight ass
This review contains spoilers
FUCK THIS STUPID ASS FUCKING GAME THEY MADE HER HETEROSEXUAL AND THEN FUCKING KILLED HER AND MADE HER A MOM AND THEY TOOK OUT WEAPON COMBINATIONS AND ITS ALL ABOUT STUPID FUCKING SUMMONS WHO ONLY HAVE LIKE 3 FUCKING DIAL COMBOS EACH FUCK YOU BAYONETTA 3 AND FUCK THAT TERF ASS BITCH OG VOICE ACTOR WHO TOLD US TO BOYCOTT THIS I STILL BOUGHT THE COLLECTORS EDITION BAYONETTA IS MY GIRL FOR REAL
Another one of those games that’s fun when you don’t have a bitch in your ear
This is the conclusion to my three-part retrospective on the Bayonetta trilogy. If you’ve been following it, thank you so much! I hope you found it interesting, either as a long-time fan or someone who wants to check out the series. It’s been a joy to finally play these games. 😄
I was nervous going into Bayonetta 3. For one, the second game, while solid, was a safe investment by Platinum. All they did was fix the obvious issues with the first game and mostly leave the combat untouched. This meant there were hardly any gameplay surprises. I didn’t know if the next sequel would be more of the same. But the biggest reason for my fear was the overwhelming negative reception by fans. Key story details were unfortunately spoiled to me before I got to play the game. And yes, I agree the ending sucks.
Here’s the thing though. I have never enjoyed Bayonetta because of the story. I love her personality and the B-movie dialogue, but the plots in these games are no doubt just an excuse for some of the most epic and outlandish setpieces you will ever see in gaming. Not suggesting the ending shouldn’t have been better. There were a lot of ways Platinum could have accomplished that. My point is that outside of this and a handful of other quibbles, I believe Bayonetta 3 is the Umbra Witch at her best.
Starting with the combat, the previous game’s Umbran Climax was replaced with Demon Slave. This allows Bayonetta to summon a demon mid-fight for assistance. These demons were limited to QTE climax sequences in the first two games, but here you can control one freely. It looks awesome and they can even be summoned at the end of a regular combo to land another attack. This increase in power is balanced by an energy meter that depletes while the demon’s active and Bayonetta being defenseless while controlling it. Engaging enemies with Bayonetta’s regular combat refills the energy meter faster and demons can hit stun most enemies. Both of these quirks encourage players to balance use of Demon Slave and the Umbra Witch’s own toolkit. This amazing mechanic is built on top of the previous games’ combo system, weapon swapping, Witch Time, and Dodge Offset. Top that off with a vast array of demons and badass weapons to choose from, all of which have their own uses, and you have one of the best combat systems ever created.
As incredible as that core gameplay is, it would be difficult to argue Bayonetta has been fun outside of combat. Prior to 3, exploration was heavily limited by the linear environments, platforming was simple, and in the case of 1, unpolished gimmick stages could appear out of nowhere and ruin the pacing. With how much work went into upgrading the combat, Platinum couldn’t possibly flesh out those elements, right? WRONG!
All of the places you visit in each chapter are open sandboxes. Their size is just right, not being overwhelming while still packing a ton of secret items, platforming sections, unique time manipulation puzzles, and the traditional combat verses. What makes all of this so much fun to engage with is the new Demon Masquerade. Replacing Beast Within from the first two games, Bayonetta can transform into a demon corresponding with the weapon set she currently has equipped. All of these transformations have quirks that make them useful in specific situations. For example, Madama Butterfly can glide using her wings, Phantasmaraneae can scale walls since he’s a spider, and Wartrain Gouon has an ultra-fast dash. The platforming and exploration are all designed to take advantage of these demons and you are occasionally required to solve a puzzle using them. Most of this stuff is optional, however, so if you want to jump straight into the combat with only a minute or two of downtime, you can do so. And if you get lost, a waypoint marker can be toggled to point you in the right direction.
Platinum also decided to go all out on gimmicks. These include but are not limited to rail shooting, stealth missions, kaiju battles, and a rhythm game. Not all of them were fun, but there were none I despised. Prior to this, I thought having fewer gimmicks or abandoning them entirely was the way forward, but now I know that with enough polish and good pacing, a ton of gimmicks can work beautifully in Bayonetta.
Now for the flaws. Most of them are minor, but it would be dishonest not to list them. You can’t equip different weapons separately on your hands and feet like in the previous games. You have to use pre-defined weapon sets instead. The depth added through Demon Slave and Masquerade make this change tolerable, but it is still lame to see. I enjoyed Viola’s playstyle despite her limited abilities and emphasis on parrying. However, the window for activating Witch Time with her is too small. Bizzarely, there are two Witch Times the player can activate depending on how early they parry. If it’s done the instant before an attack lands, Witch Time is granted for four seconds. Anything earlier than that gives you Witch Time for only one second. That is too short to provide a tactical advantage. I would prefer the parry having the same amount of wiggle room as Bayonetta’s dodge and removing the one-second Witch Time to prevent confusion. The camera also occasionally positions itself at awkward angles when fighting. And finally, some battles have so much visual pizzazz that it’s difficult to tell what’s even happening. Action games need visual clarity, so it’s annoying when the game forgets that.
In conclusion, I’m blown away by Bayonetta 3. It just might be the most ambitious sequel I’ve played that actually fulfills most of its goals. I look forward to checking out the higher difficulties in the future. If they are enjoyable, I might bump my score up to a 9. For now though, I’m giving this an 8. If you enjoyed one or both of the previous games, this is an absolute must-play. If you haven’t played a Bayonetta game before, warm up with 1 or 2 first. The combat is so mechanically dense in 3 it will be daunting for a newcomer.
I was nervous going into Bayonetta 3. For one, the second game, while solid, was a safe investment by Platinum. All they did was fix the obvious issues with the first game and mostly leave the combat untouched. This meant there were hardly any gameplay surprises. I didn’t know if the next sequel would be more of the same. But the biggest reason for my fear was the overwhelming negative reception by fans. Key story details were unfortunately spoiled to me before I got to play the game. And yes, I agree the ending sucks.
Here’s the thing though. I have never enjoyed Bayonetta because of the story. I love her personality and the B-movie dialogue, but the plots in these games are no doubt just an excuse for some of the most epic and outlandish setpieces you will ever see in gaming. Not suggesting the ending shouldn’t have been better. There were a lot of ways Platinum could have accomplished that. My point is that outside of this and a handful of other quibbles, I believe Bayonetta 3 is the Umbra Witch at her best.
Starting with the combat, the previous game’s Umbran Climax was replaced with Demon Slave. This allows Bayonetta to summon a demon mid-fight for assistance. These demons were limited to QTE climax sequences in the first two games, but here you can control one freely. It looks awesome and they can even be summoned at the end of a regular combo to land another attack. This increase in power is balanced by an energy meter that depletes while the demon’s active and Bayonetta being defenseless while controlling it. Engaging enemies with Bayonetta’s regular combat refills the energy meter faster and demons can hit stun most enemies. Both of these quirks encourage players to balance use of Demon Slave and the Umbra Witch’s own toolkit. This amazing mechanic is built on top of the previous games’ combo system, weapon swapping, Witch Time, and Dodge Offset. Top that off with a vast array of demons and badass weapons to choose from, all of which have their own uses, and you have one of the best combat systems ever created.
As incredible as that core gameplay is, it would be difficult to argue Bayonetta has been fun outside of combat. Prior to 3, exploration was heavily limited by the linear environments, platforming was simple, and in the case of 1, unpolished gimmick stages could appear out of nowhere and ruin the pacing. With how much work went into upgrading the combat, Platinum couldn’t possibly flesh out those elements, right? WRONG!
All of the places you visit in each chapter are open sandboxes. Their size is just right, not being overwhelming while still packing a ton of secret items, platforming sections, unique time manipulation puzzles, and the traditional combat verses. What makes all of this so much fun to engage with is the new Demon Masquerade. Replacing Beast Within from the first two games, Bayonetta can transform into a demon corresponding with the weapon set she currently has equipped. All of these transformations have quirks that make them useful in specific situations. For example, Madama Butterfly can glide using her wings, Phantasmaraneae can scale walls since he’s a spider, and Wartrain Gouon has an ultra-fast dash. The platforming and exploration are all designed to take advantage of these demons and you are occasionally required to solve a puzzle using them. Most of this stuff is optional, however, so if you want to jump straight into the combat with only a minute or two of downtime, you can do so. And if you get lost, a waypoint marker can be toggled to point you in the right direction.
Platinum also decided to go all out on gimmicks. These include but are not limited to rail shooting, stealth missions, kaiju battles, and a rhythm game. Not all of them were fun, but there were none I despised. Prior to this, I thought having fewer gimmicks or abandoning them entirely was the way forward, but now I know that with enough polish and good pacing, a ton of gimmicks can work beautifully in Bayonetta.
Now for the flaws. Most of them are minor, but it would be dishonest not to list them. You can’t equip different weapons separately on your hands and feet like in the previous games. You have to use pre-defined weapon sets instead. The depth added through Demon Slave and Masquerade make this change tolerable, but it is still lame to see. I enjoyed Viola’s playstyle despite her limited abilities and emphasis on parrying. However, the window for activating Witch Time with her is too small. Bizzarely, there are two Witch Times the player can activate depending on how early they parry. If it’s done the instant before an attack lands, Witch Time is granted for four seconds. Anything earlier than that gives you Witch Time for only one second. That is too short to provide a tactical advantage. I would prefer the parry having the same amount of wiggle room as Bayonetta’s dodge and removing the one-second Witch Time to prevent confusion. The camera also occasionally positions itself at awkward angles when fighting. And finally, some battles have so much visual pizzazz that it’s difficult to tell what’s even happening. Action games need visual clarity, so it’s annoying when the game forgets that.
In conclusion, I’m blown away by Bayonetta 3. It just might be the most ambitious sequel I’ve played that actually fulfills most of its goals. I look forward to checking out the higher difficulties in the future. If they are enjoyable, I might bump my score up to a 9. For now though, I’m giving this an 8. If you enjoyed one or both of the previous games, this is an absolute must-play. If you haven’t played a Bayonetta game before, warm up with 1 or 2 first. The combat is so mechanically dense in 3 it will be daunting for a newcomer.
playing this game felt like waking up from a coma and being told i have a husband and child
It really sucks that the controversy caused by Bayonetta's original voice actress, Helena Taylor, overshadowed Bayonetta 3 upon its release and left a stain on its already rocky history, which was caused originally by its lengthy development cycle. With that much hype waiting behind a game's release, nothing is going to please the fans. We've seen it time and time again, and this time it was no different.
I'm going to start by saying that Bayonetta 3 is my favourite of the trilogy and its an absolutely breathtaking action game with some of the greatest spectacles within recent memory. Its a strange choice to slow down a game as breakneck as Bayonetta and at first I really wasn't convinced by the game's new mechanics such as the Demon Slave mechanic, or its more open level design, but as the game progressed everything started to fall into place, creating one of the most rewarding experiences in the genre. There's so much more depth to the combat with all the new additions. My problem with Bayonetta 2 was that instead of adding more depth to Bayonetta 1's combat, they instead streamlined it and made it a lot easier to power up and wale on your enemies, which wasn't paticularly rewarding. Something that Bayonetta 2 had over Bayonetta however was its arsonel of weaponry, which I think Bayonetta 3 surpasses yet again with some of the most fun weapons to play around with, my personal favourite being the wizard weapon. Bayonetta 3 isn't as hard as Bayonetta 1, but its challenges come in form of managing your demons, timing attacks correctly, mixing up your combos with your demons, and even more thanks to the introduction of Viola.
A lot of people HATE the story, which I can pinpoint down to people's specific hatred of Viola. She is pretty much the female version of Nero from Devil May Cry, and just like how fans hated Nero, people hate Viola, but I don't. I actually really like Viola and her pop punk style, her theme also goes hard. Her gameplay is a really nice mix-up from Bayonetta's and adds a nice break from playing as Bayonetta as the game's added length needed something to break it up. I absolutely love her giant kitana as well as the use of Cheshire as a summon. I usually dont like parrying in games but it feels gratifying in Bayonetta 3, bringing me back to some of the challenge of the original game. It makes for some truly memorable moments of combat that feel earnt by the player and not handed by the game. In regards to the story, this is a Bayonetta game. The series has always been convoluted and nonsensical, so I don't really see what the problem is. I enjoy the use of the multiverse premise to take the player to diverse and interesting locations. I love the inclusion of Jeanne as another way to seperate the main story missions and also the use of Luka as a central character again. The Singularity isn't exactly a groundbreaking villain, but he's definitely a terrifying one, and the emotional story beats feel pretty okay to me.
One thing I felt wasn't surpassed by Bayonetta 2 was the spectacle of the original game. Bayonetta had some insane moments full of absolutely bonkers moments in mid-gameplay action and in its cutscenes. Luckily Bayonetta 3 picks up the pace again with some of the most insane action set pieces in gaming. From kaiju battles, to a rhythm mini-game boss battle, Bayonetta 3 manages to remain completely unpredictable, reminding me of the best moments from the first game, as well as from Devil May Cry 3 and V.
There really is so much that I love about this game and I'm incredibly happy to hear that Bayonetta 4 is in development already. All I'm saying is people will learn to love Viola just like people now love Nero and I hope that this game eventually earns a well-deserved cult following for its satisfying combat, wild action, and frankly decent story.
I'm going to start by saying that Bayonetta 3 is my favourite of the trilogy and its an absolutely breathtaking action game with some of the greatest spectacles within recent memory. Its a strange choice to slow down a game as breakneck as Bayonetta and at first I really wasn't convinced by the game's new mechanics such as the Demon Slave mechanic, or its more open level design, but as the game progressed everything started to fall into place, creating one of the most rewarding experiences in the genre. There's so much more depth to the combat with all the new additions. My problem with Bayonetta 2 was that instead of adding more depth to Bayonetta 1's combat, they instead streamlined it and made it a lot easier to power up and wale on your enemies, which wasn't paticularly rewarding. Something that Bayonetta 2 had over Bayonetta however was its arsonel of weaponry, which I think Bayonetta 3 surpasses yet again with some of the most fun weapons to play around with, my personal favourite being the wizard weapon. Bayonetta 3 isn't as hard as Bayonetta 1, but its challenges come in form of managing your demons, timing attacks correctly, mixing up your combos with your demons, and even more thanks to the introduction of Viola.
A lot of people HATE the story, which I can pinpoint down to people's specific hatred of Viola. She is pretty much the female version of Nero from Devil May Cry, and just like how fans hated Nero, people hate Viola, but I don't. I actually really like Viola and her pop punk style, her theme also goes hard. Her gameplay is a really nice mix-up from Bayonetta's and adds a nice break from playing as Bayonetta as the game's added length needed something to break it up. I absolutely love her giant kitana as well as the use of Cheshire as a summon. I usually dont like parrying in games but it feels gratifying in Bayonetta 3, bringing me back to some of the challenge of the original game. It makes for some truly memorable moments of combat that feel earnt by the player and not handed by the game. In regards to the story, this is a Bayonetta game. The series has always been convoluted and nonsensical, so I don't really see what the problem is. I enjoy the use of the multiverse premise to take the player to diverse and interesting locations. I love the inclusion of Jeanne as another way to seperate the main story missions and also the use of Luka as a central character again. The Singularity isn't exactly a groundbreaking villain, but he's definitely a terrifying one, and the emotional story beats feel pretty okay to me.
One thing I felt wasn't surpassed by Bayonetta 2 was the spectacle of the original game. Bayonetta had some insane moments full of absolutely bonkers moments in mid-gameplay action and in its cutscenes. Luckily Bayonetta 3 picks up the pace again with some of the most insane action set pieces in gaming. From kaiju battles, to a rhythm mini-game boss battle, Bayonetta 3 manages to remain completely unpredictable, reminding me of the best moments from the first game, as well as from Devil May Cry 3 and V.
There really is so much that I love about this game and I'm incredibly happy to hear that Bayonetta 4 is in development already. All I'm saying is people will learn to love Viola just like people now love Nero and I hope that this game eventually earns a well-deserved cult following for its satisfying combat, wild action, and frankly decent story.
This review contains spoilers
GAMEPLAY
Bayonetta 3 was my most anticipated game in recent years. I have absolutely loved both 1 and 2, so much that Bayonetta has become one of my favourite franchises ever; plus, the wait since 2017’s TGA had been consuming me.
I can happily say I was not disappointed in the slightest; I was almost sure it was going to be good because I’ve greatly enjoyed every Platinum game I’ve played so far, but I was obviously still a bit scared it wouldn’t live up to the high expectations I had because of the continuous “Development is going well” announcements.
Exploring felt freer thanks to all the Demons’ perks and it also was quite rewarding because of all the collectibles (some of which were needed to unlock Phenomenal Remnants) and achievements.
The combat was as great as always: the different weapons were so fun to use and, although I had favourites (Simoon and Alruna), all the possible combos and tricks to pull off were very satisfying. Being able to summon Demons during “normal” combat was a nice addition as well, even though I didn’t do it much.
Viola was definitely much harder to play as, which was fitting considering she’s less experienced; she was still pretty fun, but I think Witch Time shouldn’t have been that hard to trigger.
Jeanne’s Side Chapters were genuinely cool: it was more Metroid-like but it was awesome and pretty challenging nonetheless.
This was my first time completing all levels, including extra ones, in a Bayonetta game; I’m not sure if 3 is easier or I just got better, considering I played the past titles 5-6 years ago. I can surely say I wanted to play even more, earning all achievements; I had to stop myself solely because I don’t have much free time.
The game looks pretty different from its predecessors; it had more of an Astral Chain (which I loved) feel to it and it looked fantastic, especially considering I had no frame drops nor visual glitches of any kind.
The OST is amazing, as expected from a Bayonetta title. The “new” instruments bring something new while keeping the right vibe. Some pieces still get me truly emotional, being excellent in every aspect of them: Al Fine and We Are As One are perfect examples.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I don’t have much to say about the characters, because all the old ones were almost unchanged (which is good) excluding the new awesome designs. Cereza is a sassy icon as ever.
I should say something more about Viola, since she’s new: so many disliked her, but I actually found her quite funny and enjoyable. The daughter twist was a bit foreseeable, though, considering she is very similar to her parents, and I think it needed more explanations, because we didn’t see them together that much, leaving many questions unanswered, like since when did Cereza and Luka know about it? Where was their Viola, granted she already existed?
People also complained about the oddity of her parents' love; I think it was hinted at since the first game, and one should also consider the alternate universes. I myself am still not sure how it worked, as in I don’t know if Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 are the same person as Bayo 3, just in a different moment in time or not; the way those two came back for the final fight was awesome as well, but I don’t understand how.
I loved to see the different iterations of Cereza, although it saddened me how little time they got to shine and how they had to disappear, too.
Although Viola might become the protagonist in the future – which could potentially change the gameplay too much – it seems a bit odd to completely remove Cereza from the spotlight. She’s way too iconic as a character, and people in this series “cheated” death many times: she went to Inferno and was not killed by Singularity, after all. This means she could come back, but then the heartbreaking ending would basically be pointless: I want her to return but I don’t want to feel like I was emotionally destroyed for nothing at the same time.
Someone that likely can’t come back is instead Jeanne… she died for good and in a dumb way, at that; she got done dirty too many times in this series.
At least, the comedic/fun side of the writing was as strong as ever.
In the end, I loved the story but I also think it wasn’t so great… it needs to get less confusing and better paced in a future game (hoping there will be one).
Bayonetta 3 was my most anticipated game in recent years. I have absolutely loved both 1 and 2, so much that Bayonetta has become one of my favourite franchises ever; plus, the wait since 2017’s TGA had been consuming me.
I can happily say I was not disappointed in the slightest; I was almost sure it was going to be good because I’ve greatly enjoyed every Platinum game I’ve played so far, but I was obviously still a bit scared it wouldn’t live up to the high expectations I had because of the continuous “Development is going well” announcements.
Exploring felt freer thanks to all the Demons’ perks and it also was quite rewarding because of all the collectibles (some of which were needed to unlock Phenomenal Remnants) and achievements.
The combat was as great as always: the different weapons were so fun to use and, although I had favourites (Simoon and Alruna), all the possible combos and tricks to pull off were very satisfying. Being able to summon Demons during “normal” combat was a nice addition as well, even though I didn’t do it much.
Viola was definitely much harder to play as, which was fitting considering she’s less experienced; she was still pretty fun, but I think Witch Time shouldn’t have been that hard to trigger.
Jeanne’s Side Chapters were genuinely cool: it was more Metroid-like but it was awesome and pretty challenging nonetheless.
This was my first time completing all levels, including extra ones, in a Bayonetta game; I’m not sure if 3 is easier or I just got better, considering I played the past titles 5-6 years ago. I can surely say I wanted to play even more, earning all achievements; I had to stop myself solely because I don’t have much free time.
The game looks pretty different from its predecessors; it had more of an Astral Chain (which I loved) feel to it and it looked fantastic, especially considering I had no frame drops nor visual glitches of any kind.
The OST is amazing, as expected from a Bayonetta title. The “new” instruments bring something new while keeping the right vibe. Some pieces still get me truly emotional, being excellent in every aspect of them: Al Fine and We Are As One are perfect examples.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I don’t have much to say about the characters, because all the old ones were almost unchanged (which is good) excluding the new awesome designs. Cereza is a sassy icon as ever.
I should say something more about Viola, since she’s new: so many disliked her, but I actually found her quite funny and enjoyable. The daughter twist was a bit foreseeable, though, considering she is very similar to her parents, and I think it needed more explanations, because we didn’t see them together that much, leaving many questions unanswered, like since when did Cereza and Luka know about it? Where was their Viola, granted she already existed?
People also complained about the oddity of her parents' love; I think it was hinted at since the first game, and one should also consider the alternate universes. I myself am still not sure how it worked, as in I don’t know if Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 are the same person as Bayo 3, just in a different moment in time or not; the way those two came back for the final fight was awesome as well, but I don’t understand how.
I loved to see the different iterations of Cereza, although it saddened me how little time they got to shine and how they had to disappear, too.
Although Viola might become the protagonist in the future – which could potentially change the gameplay too much – it seems a bit odd to completely remove Cereza from the spotlight. She’s way too iconic as a character, and people in this series “cheated” death many times: she went to Inferno and was not killed by Singularity, after all. This means she could come back, but then the heartbreaking ending would basically be pointless: I want her to return but I don’t want to feel like I was emotionally destroyed for nothing at the same time.
Someone that likely can’t come back is instead Jeanne… she died for good and in a dumb way, at that; she got done dirty too many times in this series.
At least, the comedic/fun side of the writing was as strong as ever.
In the end, I loved the story but I also think it wasn’t so great… it needs to get less confusing and better paced in a future game (hoping there will be one).
- A parte de combate com a Bayonetta está excelente, bem fluido, rápido e intuitivo.
- Não achei interessante o design dos inimigos, são todos sem graça, só variações de gosma verde.
- O jogo tenta trazer momentos de variação que poderiam ser interessantes, mas não são, tipo:
Partes com a Viola, que é só um downgrade da Bayonetta.
Batalha de monstro 2d com "Pedra, papel e tesoura"?
Stealth 2D?
- As musicas não são ruins, mas são inferiores aos jogos anteriores.
- O principal ponto negativo é o enredo, que é uma bagunça completa:
As coisas acontecem sem explicação, ou com explicação que faz pouco sentido, constantemente.
A Viola não chega nem perto de ter o carisma da Bayonetta e o caminho que traçam para ela no fim do jogo é um insulto.
O vilão principal é um nada.
Bayonetta e Luka estão descaracterizados, fazendo coisas que não tem nada a ver com os personagens.
- Não achei interessante o design dos inimigos, são todos sem graça, só variações de gosma verde.
- O jogo tenta trazer momentos de variação que poderiam ser interessantes, mas não são, tipo:
Partes com a Viola, que é só um downgrade da Bayonetta.
Batalha de monstro 2d com "Pedra, papel e tesoura"?
Stealth 2D?
- As musicas não são ruins, mas são inferiores aos jogos anteriores.
- O principal ponto negativo é o enredo, que é uma bagunça completa:
As coisas acontecem sem explicação, ou com explicação que faz pouco sentido, constantemente.
A Viola não chega nem perto de ter o carisma da Bayonetta e o caminho que traçam para ela no fim do jogo é um insulto.
O vilão principal é um nada.
Bayonetta e Luka estão descaracterizados, fazendo coisas que não tem nada a ver com os personagens.
If I'm being completely honest, I found Bayonetta 3 to be pretty disappointing. The game was a lot more open when it came to exploration and the chapters felt a little too long as a result. Many enemies felt very similar and there were plenty of "mini-game" segments that I didn't really care for. Even story-wise I was left confused. Honestly, if I had to take a quiz on Bayonetta 3 after finishing it I don't think I'd pass lol. I didn't care for Viola much and I'm sad Rodin was barely present. I did like the game enough to finish it but I don't see myself replaying it anytime soon.
This is the first Bayonetta game I didn't immediately start a second play through after finishing it. I actually haven't even bothered to go back and play it again.
Pretty much everything here feels like a big step backwards from Bayonetta 1 and 2. Gameplay is like two steps sideways and one step backwards (maybe this isn't even harsh enough). Cut scenes, dialogue and characters are less entertaining. Story is meh. Some parts of the game don't look that great and it doesn't always run smoothly. It's bloated and feels like it drags on way too long.
Bayonetta 3 honestly confuses me. Why did they make locations so big and open? Why did gameplay pull focus away from the core combat? What happened to Bayonetta's personality and dialogue? The voice actress stuff is sad and the new actor definitely is not even close to Bayonetta. Why do mainstream critics seem to like this game so much? Bayonetta got neutered.
Bayonetta 3 is worth playing through and it's still fun and engaging just nowhere near much as it was in the previous two games.
7.1/10
Pretty much everything here feels like a big step backwards from Bayonetta 1 and 2. Gameplay is like two steps sideways and one step backwards (maybe this isn't even harsh enough). Cut scenes, dialogue and characters are less entertaining. Story is meh. Some parts of the game don't look that great and it doesn't always run smoothly. It's bloated and feels like it drags on way too long.
Bayonetta 3 honestly confuses me. Why did they make locations so big and open? Why did gameplay pull focus away from the core combat? What happened to Bayonetta's personality and dialogue? The voice actress stuff is sad and the new actor definitely is not even close to Bayonetta. Why do mainstream critics seem to like this game so much? Bayonetta got neutered.
Bayonetta 3 is worth playing through and it's still fun and engaging just nowhere near much as it was in the previous two games.
7.1/10
This game takes you on a fun ass ride with the best combat bayo has to offer imo to take a shit on your dog, house, cereal and fridge while slamming your balls with a metal rod while you sleep with its ending. Abysmal ending its like they tried their hardest to make it ass
This game started pretty strong and just started to fall off the more you played the game. This game feels like they were trying to recapture the Bayo charm but failed.
The combat starts pretty strong but ends up being formulaic and repetitive. The thing I don't like about Musou games is that, at the end of the day, it usually devolves into mindless button mashing with characters/weapons being reskins of the same mindless button mashing. There's no weight or importance to different characters in Musous, they're all the same outside of animation differences. This game has the same issue.
I tried every (10 or so) weapon(s) the game offered me and did my best to experiment, but they all ended up playing virtually the same, and it got repetitive. Even the main guns of Bayo don't feel very interesting, as they too follow the same formula of gameplay.
The concept of giving you new weapons to experiment with starts off cool, but as the game progresses, it gets to the point where you are getting new weapons in almost every chapter, and the chapters aren't long enough to warrant experimenting with said weapons. It also doesn't help that you are limited to two weapons at a time. In a game with so many weapons, it feels like they don't want you to use all of them.
The dodging also feels bad in this game, which sucks for it being Bayo's main gimmick, Witch Time. To compensate for kaiju summoning, the camera pans out to very large angles, and the telegraphs for dodging feel nonexistent or difficult to see. Despite this, I do think kaijus are probably my favorite aspect of the combat, and getting big meaty hits in and having them extend your combos, defend you, or just straight up beat the hell out of an enemy does feel pretty cool.
Conceptually, this game's combat is cool, but it just doesn't end up being as satisfying as the previous games' combat. As those games had a much smaller variety of weapons, but felt much more focused.
As far as the story goes, this game doesn't have the same outlandish, wild, goofy, and extravagant charm the previous games had. It does have its moments, but overall it feels like a watered-down Bayonetta. The story was never really my focal point for these games, so I can't say I was really giving my 100% in analyzing it, but I still believe it's not much of note.
As of writing this review, I am at chapter 13 out of 14. My great friend Tony suggested a Pre-Ending review, as everyone seems to despise the ending. I've only gotten a glimpse of what it could be, but I sure don't like it. I will edit this review upon my completion.
Cont: You know what, the ending isn't that bad. It did kinda just happen but it doesn't like ruin the entire series for me like people were hyping it up to. Still staying a 4/10.
The combat starts pretty strong but ends up being formulaic and repetitive. The thing I don't like about Musou games is that, at the end of the day, it usually devolves into mindless button mashing with characters/weapons being reskins of the same mindless button mashing. There's no weight or importance to different characters in Musous, they're all the same outside of animation differences. This game has the same issue.
I tried every (10 or so) weapon(s) the game offered me and did my best to experiment, but they all ended up playing virtually the same, and it got repetitive. Even the main guns of Bayo don't feel very interesting, as they too follow the same formula of gameplay.
The concept of giving you new weapons to experiment with starts off cool, but as the game progresses, it gets to the point where you are getting new weapons in almost every chapter, and the chapters aren't long enough to warrant experimenting with said weapons. It also doesn't help that you are limited to two weapons at a time. In a game with so many weapons, it feels like they don't want you to use all of them.
The dodging also feels bad in this game, which sucks for it being Bayo's main gimmick, Witch Time. To compensate for kaiju summoning, the camera pans out to very large angles, and the telegraphs for dodging feel nonexistent or difficult to see. Despite this, I do think kaijus are probably my favorite aspect of the combat, and getting big meaty hits in and having them extend your combos, defend you, or just straight up beat the hell out of an enemy does feel pretty cool.
Conceptually, this game's combat is cool, but it just doesn't end up being as satisfying as the previous games' combat. As those games had a much smaller variety of weapons, but felt much more focused.
As far as the story goes, this game doesn't have the same outlandish, wild, goofy, and extravagant charm the previous games had. It does have its moments, but overall it feels like a watered-down Bayonetta. The story was never really my focal point for these games, so I can't say I was really giving my 100% in analyzing it, but I still believe it's not much of note.
As of writing this review, I am at chapter 13 out of 14. My great friend Tony suggested a Pre-Ending review, as everyone seems to despise the ending. I've only gotten a glimpse of what it could be, but I sure don't like it. I will edit this review upon my completion.
Cont: You know what, the ending isn't that bad. It did kinda just happen but it doesn't like ruin the entire series for me like people were hyping it up to. Still staying a 4/10.