El 1 es brutal. El 2 es brutal y super satisfactorio. Y el 3 es brutal, satisfactorio y magnífico.

He disfrutado muchísimo las cinemáticas y el combate. Me parece una salvajada. Es cierto que alguna que otra invocación facilitan muchísimo algunos combates spammeando 1 ataque o 2. Pero aún así, me parece bien que exista la opción y no empaña para nada la experiencia

Lo único que quitaría es a Viola. Es tosca y la entiendo dentro de la historia pero jugablemente es un poco... doloroso

Sin duda merece entrar mucho en la saga y disfrutar de este juegazo

Viola, Jeanne, the Demon Slaves, the constant rail shooter segments, the kaiju fights, teen Bayo... Platinum is desperate for you to play as anyone BUT Bayonetta in this game. It's almost as if they're ashamed to associate her with something so slapdash. Not to be a "graphics whore" in the parlance of early-2000s message boards, but a franchise that initially - and successfully! - positioned itself as pure spectacle deserves way more than Nintendo's perpetual one-step-behind tech. Fourteen years out from the release of the original Bayonetta, we should be enjoying unparalleled brain-melting cosmic glitz and glamour, and yet the franchise's aesthetics have barely evolved at all. But could Platinum even handle that kind of excess when they're barely able to handle the camera here?

My theory is that part of Bayonetta's appeal, at least as conceived by Platinum, is how static she remains, an unshakable constant through time and space, heaven and hell. You see this writ large in tempo and structure (all three games have basically identical openings, chapter lengths, and playtimes, although this one feels plot- and cutscene-heavier) and small in gesture (the extreme closeups on certain tics of Bayo's like how she licks her lips after drinking a cocktail). The issue with this approach is that Platinum hasn't yet found a satisfactory way to offer variation within this static conception. If 3's glut of variant play modes is an attempt to shake up the formula and stress that this franchise's universe is more than just Bayo herself... I don't want it. Viola sucks. Jeanne is relegated to dogshit stealth segments (though I do love her mod fashion and Catherine Deneuve hair). The Demon Slaves are unresponsive and take up way too much screen space for an already visually busy game. I know that there's a middle ground to be found between familiarity and evolution, but constantly taking the gameplay spotlight off of Bayonetta is not it. Why mess with the one part of the franchise that truly works?

There are plenty of good ideas here, hampered though they are by the limitations of the game and their own clumsy execution. I enjoyed how diverse Bayo's arsenal is, even if the skill trees are all functionally similar. I might replay it on Infinite Climax, which is more than I could bear to give to 2.

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.

- 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.

Despite overall having a very good time with Bayonetta 3, it's difficult not to be quite negative about it when discussed in the context of its series.

The first Bayonetta is a marvel of combat design, with excellent visual clarity and great mechanics. As I worked my way up to the hardest difficulty, and suddenly Witch Time was disabled, it was a revelation. It all works without this central mechanic! Granted, I didn't make it far as it's incredibly challenging, but I had a great deal of respect for the design.

The problem with the first game was its rough edges. Insta-death quick-time events were a huge turn-off the first playthrough, demolishing my ranks and demoralising me. A couple of overlong gimmicky vehicle segments also spoilt the integrity of the core gameplay, but these were mere bumps in an otherwise fantastic road.

Bayonetta 2 smoothed these edges over, but marked a step down in terms of combat design. The hardest difficulty doesn't get rid of Witch Time this time, as it would make certain encounters unplayable. It's a polished, safe sequel, and that's ok. It looked amazing, played great, and was overall a smooth, fun ride, hitting neither the heights nor lows of its predecessor.

Bayonetta 3 is a mess. The polish of Bayonetta 2 is out the window; while there's nothing quite as egregious as the first game's insta-death quicktime events, we got a LOT of other nonsense in this one. Rock-paper-scissors kaiju battles, Star Fox, this weird 2D shoot-'em-up bit, I could go on.

The core gameplay remains great, but lacks integrity due to the demon summon mechanic and its downstream effects. Arenas are oversized to account for these things, hampering performance, and many enemies are oversized to match them. This can turn battles into a clusterfuck of visual information, a far cry from the first game's clarity. I attained a single Pure Platinum verse in this game, and I genuinely couldn't tell what was going on or what I was doing. I guess it worked though.

Now look, I'm sure there's plenty of potential depth to all this. Switching from one demon to the next, combo-ing their attacks... I'm sure this is all possible. But the game is such a maximalist mess, I can't parse any of it. It's all just noise.

I could go on about Viola, the story, the tone... but I think I've been critical enough. Why, after all that, am I giving it a 3.5/5? Because it's still a damn fun game. It's insane and doesn't make much sense, but that can be a captivating thing. And talking about it in the broad strokes like this doesn't do justice to all the creativity on display here. Sure, the demon mechanic can turn the game into a visual mess, but in what other game can I summon a demon train in the middle of a battle and set a course for it through my enemies? The clock tower is another highlight, just pure, brilliant silliness. And there's so many of these, each with their own animations and moves. While the gimmick sequences would be irritating if I were engaged with the combat as this considered, beautiful thing as it is in Bayo 1, Bayo 3's combat design is nonsense, so I'm more willing to just roll with the spectacle and have a fun time.

A weirder and worse sequel this time around, but I'm glad it exists. Not sure I need another though. The perfect Bayonetta game is a re-release of the first which removes the insta-death quicktime events and allows the player to start anywhere in a chapter, thus requiring perfection on the vehicle parts only once. Anything else is doomed to be a diminished iteration which, while potentially fun and interesting, can only serve to highlight just how complete that first title was.

Bayonetta para muy Bayonetteros. Le di una oportunidad varias horas hasta jugar la primera fase de infiltración. A partir de ahí, lo seguí a través de L0k0hGaming.

Pros:
- Es un hack and slash completísimo en opciones de personalización, combos y builds.
- Huye del continuismo al presentar mecánicas completamente novedosas como las invocaciones o el estilo de combate de Viola.
- Hace feliz a Víctor, Pep y Enroque.

Conttras:
- Jeanne.
- Las pajas mentales no son algo negativo per sé, pero 14 horas de ellas sin parar puede ser considerado tortura.
- Pasan muchas más cosas en pantalla de las que la pobre Switch puede administrar, lo que lo vuelve un juego ininteligible demasiadas veces.