Good news for Bayonetta fans! At a new Nintendo Direct held on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Shinya Katahashi, General Manager of the Japanese manufacturer's Entertainment Planning & Development Division, unveiled a brand-new trailer for Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, the prequel to the adventures of the Witch of Umbra. Available from March 17, 2023.
A game already mentioned in the past, this one having been officially announced at the Game Awards 2022, in December 2022, by Nintendo and Platinum Games.
"Long before she mastered the dark arts and became the woman we know as "Bayonetta", our heroine once ventured into the forbidden forest of Avalon. At her side is Chouchou, the very first demon she ever bonded with, who resides in her plush toy.Play as both Cereza and Chouchou in a dangerous forest, in search of a power that will allow Cereza to save her mother".
Gameplay-wise, this one's quite different from the three Bayonetta installments, with graphics in stark contrast to previous installments and slightly more toned-down combat, but still with Chouchou, Cereza 's plushie discovered in the first installment, and her (slightly different) demonic version held by Viola in Bayonetta 3. In any case, it's a mouth-watering trailer...
Our review of Bayonetta Origins - Cereza and the Lost Demon :
Just a few months after the release of the excellent Bayonetta 3, which undoubtedly put everyone in agreement as to the quality of this beat'm'all on Nintendo Switch, Platinum Games offered, since March 17, a brand new story around the witch of the Umbra... Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon plunges you into a prequel to Bayonetta's adventures, when the witch was still a child.
An interesting starting point, allowing fans of the franchise and neophytes alike to immerse themselves in these adventures. The developers' commitment to accessibility is reflected in the more mainstream graphics and art direction, with pastel colors and sharp contours, as well as in the gameplay, which allows the difficulty of the witch's and her plushie's actions to be leveled throughout the game, depending on the player's mood and preferences, so that everyone can try their hand at the opus without frustrating casual gamers.
As for gameplay, if you're a beat'm'all fan, you'll have to move on, as it changes completely, offering players the chance to control Cereza and Chouchou at the same time, asymmetrically: the left JoyCon lets you control Cereza, with passive gameplay, proposing only to use magic to immobilize enemies and progress on the map, while the right JoyCon lets you control Chouchou, with active gameplay, proposing to defeat the enemies encountered. Handling is a little complex when playing in hybrid mode on the console, requiring a certain degree of synchronization between brain and hands (but not insurmountable either). In home console mode, playing in pairs can be an advantage, with each player taking charge of a character via the dedicated JoyCon.
As for the story, it's inspired by Celtic folklore, through the fairies, enemies to be defeated in the game, while adding a strong touch ofAlice in Wonderland, with Cereza having to follow a white wolf (in the manner of Alice's white rabbit) through an enchanted, labyrinthine forest. Her sidekick, Chouchou (Cheshire in English), serves as protector to the young girl seeking her way through this "Wonderland".
Bayonetta Origins is also inspired by (or pays homage to) The Legend of Zelda franchise, whether in the "Tir na Nog" dungeons, the chests and their music when they open (striking...) or the "heart fragments", represented here by flower petals and having exactly the same function. Everything is done to bring us back to Zelda, and it works, the opus integrating rather well the codes of Nintendo 's franchise to get the best out of it and offering a most interesting game, extremely well realized and rather gripping.
A great introduction for newcomers, and an opportunity to extend Cereza's adventures a little further after the last opus in the saga, released at the end of October 2022.
And to discover previous trailers, click here :
On your joysticks!
Dates and Opening Time
From March 17th, 2023 to December 31th, 2027
Official website
www.nintendo.fr
