Bayonetta 3 gave me everything I could have asked for, but it turns out that wasn't really what I wanted.
One of the biggest problems I've always had with this type of game ("character action", "spectacle fighter", whatever) is that the stories tend to be very self contained, everything feels like a bottle episode, the stakes feel low, and the events of the story have little impact on any overarching narrative. Bayonetta 3 is not like this. Bayonetta 3 ostensibly contains 4 separate bottle episodes, a few miniature action game snowglobes, inside of its own story. The variety keeps things fresh, and without getting too deep into spoiler territory, there are definitely lasting effects that will be felt in any potential future installment.
Something disappointing about previous Bayonetta games in particular is that there weren't very many "real" levels in each of them. Many levels were just a boss fight, or some gimmick sequence. Here, all 12 of the core chapters before the grand finale are real levels with a substantial amount of exploration and secrets. Hidden verses are both easier to find (having clear visual indicators) and more interesting to search for. Obviously gimmick segments and multiphase super-bosses still exist, but they'll be sandwiched in between more traditional gameplay.
The demon summoning is by far the most significant shift in gameplay from the previous titles. For one thing it has quite the effect on the level design; in order to allow these characters to fit, the levels are huge, and in order to make these huge levels feel less empty, they're full of optional challenges. I often thought while playing Bayonetta 2 that I'd like more of the "collect the 5 chest pieces" challenges, or that I'd like more platforming sections while playing the Revengeance DLC's. I feel rather safe saying that they went overboard here. It's very easy to beat your head against a particularly tricky optional challenge only for your reward to be a single basic health restore or a lore book. I collected a number of well-hidden items throughout several levels of the game and my reward was a fight with a boss from Bayonetta 2, which I guess was cool, but not cool enough to keep so well hidden.
Something I first noticed when playing Xenoblade X is that the way we interpret scale is kind of limited by the platform we're playing on. Once we've played enough games on a particular machine, we know what environments look like. Basically, a small high-detail environment and a large low-detail environment are essentially the same thing. If a game is trying to create a sense of scale, it has to be really careful with how it manages to do that. In both Xenoblade X and Bayonetta 3, I don't feel like a normal sized character in a large space, I feel like a tiny character in a normal-sized space.
Viola is a really fun character, both in terms of how she's written and performed, and in terms of how she controls. Unfortunately I often get the sense that she isn't really meant for this enemy roster. Instead of dodging, she activates witch time with parries. Many enemies in this game either deliberately keep their distance, frequently use grab attacks, or just completely whiff their swings at the close range that Viola's moveset encourages. I found nearly all of the optional verses on my first playthrough, and most of the ones I did not complete were Viola fights that I attempted and gave up on.
One of my very few problems with Devil May Cry 5 is how frequently the game has you switch between the three characters, there isn't really a good way to go through the story and stay in mechanical rhythm. Bayonetta 3 also has this, though at the very least Jeanne's side-scrolling segments are both quite fun, a good change of pace, an excellent palette-cleanser to end or begin a session on, and are narratively self-contained enough to be easily glossed over on repeat playthroughs. Switching between Cereza and Viola however is not something I think I'll ever look forward to when going back through this game's core missions, even if each character is more or less fine on their own.
The core concept of the story seems interesting at first. Bayonetta takes place in a universe of light and dark, where perception is reality, and Bayonetta 3 shows us that there are as many parallel universes, as many realities, as there are eyes. The villain being a singularity, tearing through the multiverse not necessarily to destroy it exactly, but to enforce a singular truth, is a very good start that the game does not do justice at all. Again, trying to avoid any specific spoilers, I genuinely think that the way the game handles its characters towards the end completely undermines its apparent anti-determinist themes. Though, to be honest, it seems clear that trying to think about the end of this game in those terms is a complete fools errand.
Jubileus was the kind of final boss that showed up in "Top Ten Bosses of All Time" lists, by comparison Loptr was a bit underwhelming. I want to give Platinum at least a little credit by assuming that the final boss of Bayonetta 3 is the result of overcorrection, but even then it is not good. It drags on, it's not fun, it's not satisfying, it doesn't make any sense, and the nonsense that it makes isn't even fun nonsense.
After beating Bayonetta 1 and 2, I immediately wanted to play them again on a harder difficulty. After beating Bayonetta 3, I have a feeling if I play it again any time soon it will be on the casual mode.
One of the biggest problems I've always had with this type of game ("character action", "spectacle fighter", whatever) is that the stories tend to be very self contained, everything feels like a bottle episode, the stakes feel low, and the events of the story have little impact on any overarching narrative. Bayonetta 3 is not like this. Bayonetta 3 ostensibly contains 4 separate bottle episodes, a few miniature action game snowglobes, inside of its own story. The variety keeps things fresh, and without getting too deep into spoiler territory, there are definitely lasting effects that will be felt in any potential future installment.
Something disappointing about previous Bayonetta games in particular is that there weren't very many "real" levels in each of them. Many levels were just a boss fight, or some gimmick sequence. Here, all 12 of the core chapters before the grand finale are real levels with a substantial amount of exploration and secrets. Hidden verses are both easier to find (having clear visual indicators) and more interesting to search for. Obviously gimmick segments and multiphase super-bosses still exist, but they'll be sandwiched in between more traditional gameplay.
The demon summoning is by far the most significant shift in gameplay from the previous titles. For one thing it has quite the effect on the level design; in order to allow these characters to fit, the levels are huge, and in order to make these huge levels feel less empty, they're full of optional challenges. I often thought while playing Bayonetta 2 that I'd like more of the "collect the 5 chest pieces" challenges, or that I'd like more platforming sections while playing the Revengeance DLC's. I feel rather safe saying that they went overboard here. It's very easy to beat your head against a particularly tricky optional challenge only for your reward to be a single basic health restore or a lore book. I collected a number of well-hidden items throughout several levels of the game and my reward was a fight with a boss from Bayonetta 2, which I guess was cool, but not cool enough to keep so well hidden.
Something I first noticed when playing Xenoblade X is that the way we interpret scale is kind of limited by the platform we're playing on. Once we've played enough games on a particular machine, we know what environments look like. Basically, a small high-detail environment and a large low-detail environment are essentially the same thing. If a game is trying to create a sense of scale, it has to be really careful with how it manages to do that. In both Xenoblade X and Bayonetta 3, I don't feel like a normal sized character in a large space, I feel like a tiny character in a normal-sized space.
Viola is a really fun character, both in terms of how she's written and performed, and in terms of how she controls. Unfortunately I often get the sense that she isn't really meant for this enemy roster. Instead of dodging, she activates witch time with parries. Many enemies in this game either deliberately keep their distance, frequently use grab attacks, or just completely whiff their swings at the close range that Viola's moveset encourages. I found nearly all of the optional verses on my first playthrough, and most of the ones I did not complete were Viola fights that I attempted and gave up on.
One of my very few problems with Devil May Cry 5 is how frequently the game has you switch between the three characters, there isn't really a good way to go through the story and stay in mechanical rhythm. Bayonetta 3 also has this, though at the very least Jeanne's side-scrolling segments are both quite fun, a good change of pace, an excellent palette-cleanser to end or begin a session on, and are narratively self-contained enough to be easily glossed over on repeat playthroughs. Switching between Cereza and Viola however is not something I think I'll ever look forward to when going back through this game's core missions, even if each character is more or less fine on their own.
The core concept of the story seems interesting at first. Bayonetta takes place in a universe of light and dark, where perception is reality, and Bayonetta 3 shows us that there are as many parallel universes, as many realities, as there are eyes. The villain being a singularity, tearing through the multiverse not necessarily to destroy it exactly, but to enforce a singular truth, is a very good start that the game does not do justice at all. Again, trying to avoid any specific spoilers, I genuinely think that the way the game handles its characters towards the end completely undermines its apparent anti-determinist themes. Though, to be honest, it seems clear that trying to think about the end of this game in those terms is a complete fools errand.
Jubileus was the kind of final boss that showed up in "Top Ten Bosses of All Time" lists, by comparison Loptr was a bit underwhelming. I want to give Platinum at least a little credit by assuming that the final boss of Bayonetta 3 is the result of overcorrection, but even then it is not good. It drags on, it's not fun, it's not satisfying, it doesn't make any sense, and the nonsense that it makes isn't even fun nonsense.
After beating Bayonetta 1 and 2, I immediately wanted to play them again on a harder difficulty. After beating Bayonetta 3, I have a feeling if I play it again any time soon it will be on the casual mode.