![]() Even after a half-dozen hours with the game, controlling two characters at once doesn’t feel that natural. Cheshire can break through barriers and switch between forms to interact with the environment – the plant version of Cheshire can latch onto anchor points using vines, the earth version can ground pound through cracked floors, and so on (there are four variations of Cheshire in total).Īs much as I’d like to report Bayonetta Origins’ has some secret sauce that really make its quirky mechanics sing, it’s not really the case. ![]() Cereza can awaken certain objects with her magic, slip under gates, and toss Cheshire (in toy form) to higher ledges. Outside of combat, Cereza and Cheshire both have specialties that help them explore the environment. Aside from that, Cereza’s main objective is just to stay alive – while Cheshire can be temporarily knocked out by enemies, it’s only Game Over if Cereza’s life bar is depleted. Cereza mostly plays support, as she can bind enemies so Cheshire can take them out. While in combat, Cheshire does most of the heavy lifting, dispatching enemies with his claws and a variety of special moves, depending on what form he takes. Technically, there’s nothing stopping you from splitting the Joy-Cons with a friend and playing co-op, but the game is primarily presented as a single-player game where you control two characters simultaneously. The core concept here is that you control Cereza with the left Joy-Con and Cheshire with the right Joy-Con (or the left and right sides of a Switch Pro Controller, as I did). It also sounds nice, with a rich fantasy score and solid voice acting.īayonetta Origins’ gameplay is every bit as unexpected as its story and world. Cutscenes, presented as a series of static illustrations, do feel a bit low-budget, but overall, this is a rather lovely game to look at. This is one of the most stylish Nintendo-published games on the Switch, featuring visuals reminiscent of early-20th-century Art-Nouveau-inspired children’s books. While I’m still slightly unsure about Bayonetta Origins’ story, there’s no questioning its presentation. I’ll also say I have no real sense at this point whether Bayonetta Origins will connect to the rest of the series in any particularly satisfying way or if this is basically just a standalone storybook tale within the larger Bayonetta multiverse (yes, there’s a Bayonetta multiverse now). Again, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the story has been well told thus far, with the relationship between Cereza and Cheshire being well built up. ![]() This game takes itself surprisingly seriously. This tale is strictly PG, which is definitely the right choice considering the game stars a child, but there’s also a lot less of the general cheekiness and fourth-wall-breaking Bayonetta games are also known for. Together the two set off to track down the white wolf and escape Avalon Forest.īayonetta Origins’ story is a fairly stark departure from previous entries in the series. Thankfully, she encounters a demon that possesses her stuffed cat, Cheshire. Ah, but the Avalon Forest is full of tricksy faeries and Cereza soon finds herself lost and in peril. Cereza attempts to rescue her mother, but fails, and thus takes up training with an outcast Umbra Witch named Morgana in order to increase her power.Įverything changes when an ethereal boy comes to Cereza in a dream and says that if she follows a mysterious white wolf into the heart of the Avalon Forest, she’ll gain the power to save her mother. As a result, Cereza’s father is exiled and her mother is imprisoned. Cereza is the product of a Lumen Sage father and Umbra Witch mother, a pairing that’s frowned upon by the powers that be. Scroll on for the first impressions.īayonetta Origins casts players as a young witch named Cereza, who presumably becomes the gun-heels-wielding badass we’re more familiar with. So, does Bayonetta make a graceful leap to a new genre? Or is this odd concoction best returned to the cauldron? I’ve had the opportunity to play through the first five chapters of Bayonetta Origins (amounting to around six hours of gameplay in total), allowing me to get a solid feel for most of the game’s mechanics. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is an isometric action-adventure that weaves a downright wholesome storybook tale while focusing more on unique mechanics, exploration, and puzzle solving than the franchise’s usual high-intensity action. Bayonetta isn’t one for sticking to conventions, and PlatinumGames’ follow-up to the excellent Bayonetta 3 is definitely a major departure.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |