Isn’t it strange that the Bayonetta IP is more associated with Nintendo than the company that owns the rights to it? (That being SEGA, btw.) The entire concept of Bayonetta is the antithesis of how Nintendo usually approaches publishing games. They do release a handful of mature games or games targeting adult audiences before, but it’s peculiar to me for the fact that Bayonetta didn’t even start on Nintendo consoles, and would have most likely not ever graced the major console developer if Sega themselves were more interested in the IP. So two games of the series being exclusive to Nintendo have already been released—why not have a third? This brings us to a game that probably not a single Bayonetta fan asked for. A more “story-focused” lighthearted adventure based on the secret chapter in Bayonetta 3 when Bayonetta’s lore is already nonsensical is a questionable decision. It made me think about who the target audience for this was. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon acts as the prequel to the series, delving into the mysteries of a younger Bayonetta. Going by Cereza in her childhood, she is much more timid compared to the confident fully grown adult we are used to. Mentored by her teacher, Morgana, Cereza spends her days practicing to become a full-fledged Umbra Witch. While trying to prove herself and make Morgana proud (but simultaneously against Morgana’s wishes), she wanders into Avalon Forest alone. Cereza ends up botching a summoning circle used to summon Infernal Demons after running into hostile faeries. The demon she summoned is bonded to the stuffed doll she carries around and she can’t send it back the normal way. Cereza and the demon, which she calls Cheshire, now have to work together to escape the woods they find themselves in, chasing an illustrious white wolf along the way. Bayonetta Origins greatly differs in how other entries are 3D character-action games with an emphasis on combat—this one is a 3D action adventure with an emphasis on storytelling and environmental puzzles. For one thing, Cereza is controlled with the left Joy-Con or the left half of the gamepad, while Cheshire is controlled with the right. You use both Cereza and Cheshire in tandem. For a title that utilizes two characters being controlled at the same time, the controls themselves are tight and very responsive. Any mistakes I came across in the game were all due to errors on my end and not the fault of the controls. Both Cereza and Cheshire have certain things they excel at, such as Cheshire not being able to stand the smell of Rosemary. These moments typically have you move Cereza and Cheshire on separate paths to solve environmental puzzles or open a path to the other character. These features also extend into combat itself. While Bayonetta Origin’s combat isn’t as deep as any of the other numbered entries, its engagement comes from the fact that two characters are being used at once. Cereza can’t put up any offensive pressure as she is only a young girl. Cheshire is the beast who is the combat specialist. But Cereza can assist in Cheshire’s carnage by binding enemies with magic spells. Cheshire himself has no health, but if damaged enough times is forced back into stuffed doll form and must return to Cereza to transform back. Every attack and action pack heft behind it so fighting is very satisfying. Keeping in mind Cereza’s positioning while Cheshire is fighting is key, as she must not be too far so that she can’t help out in a pinch, but also not be too close as to not get hit by enemies.

With both characters taking up actions on each side of the controller, Cereza and the Lost Demon uses a fixed camera angle for all aspects of gameplay. The game takes a much more linear structure as you have a general path to follow to reach plot point to plot point, collecting journal entries and saving trapped wisp creatures along the way. Besides solving puzzles, you’ll enter Tír na nÓg gates (Celtic otherworld) to liberate parts of the forests to proceed forward. Some of them are combat-based, usually putting a restriction such as all damage to Cereza becoming fatal. Other times are obstacle courses where you move Cereza and Cheshire down two different pathways, opening ways for each other while avoiding a slowly-creeping “death screen”. The structure ends up following a rhythm of entering the Tír na nÓg to open more of the forests so that you reach the four elemental cores that grant Cheshire more abilities that create more pathways to do the same song and dance. Cereza and the Lost Demon takes a slight Metroidvania approach with its interconnected world in which you can use the abilities unlocked through story progression to retrieve rewards and upgrades previously inaccessible. However, because of the mostly-linear structure, there also is a small imbalance when it comes to level design. Not all levels were created with shortcuts in mind. This can become pretty tedious when trying to accumulate more upgrades as some parts will have you take the long way around every time. Everyone knows that the Switch, relative to current technology, is lacking in a lot of power. As some say, limitations breed creativity and Cereza and the Lost Demon take full advantage of it. The game uses a fairytale aesthetic so the art style and tone are very reminiscent of classic literature such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Human characters feature large eyes and very sharp edges as features on their faces. The colors and shading pop out like a fairytale book, with the set pieces offering fantastic visuals. Platinumgames fully commits to the storybook asethetic as it bleeds into every nook and crazy of Bayonetta Origins. A great art style can easily carry otherwise standard graphical fidelity, and ages immensely well into the future. Because of the fact that Platinumgames ended up working with the limitations of hardware instead of around it, Cereza and the Lost Demon ends up being one of the most stable-running Switch games, but also one of the best-looking Switch games. I’ll never get tired of looking at it due to its whimsy. Cereza and the Lost Demon has a fairly small voice cast. Cereza, Morgana, and a few other characters are independently voiced, while the rest of the characters are voiced by the narrator, who typically describes Cereza’s journey. Cereza has a high-pitched voice that fits her younger, more cowardly version. At times, she also injects a bit of sass in her words and you can slightly hear that confidence bordering on arrogance normally felt through her older self. In general, the voice acting is good with strong and determined delivery. The voice acting also has a playful side to it matching the lighter tone. The music changes to fit the new tone, with small little jingles and victory poses accompanying the music that could have been in any Mario or Zelda title. There is a large emphasis on slower notes with string instruments such as violins and violas, and pianos acting as the main instrument. Bayonetta Origin’s soundtrack wouldn’t sound out of place at all in a Professor Layton entry or even many family-oriented Nintendo IPs. There are even some remixes of tracks in previous entries, such as Mysterious Destiny and Tomorrow is Mine.

I know I previously said that the lore and plot of Bayonetta are nonsense that I don’t take in any serious manner, but I ended up pleasantly surprised with the story of Cereza and the Lost Demon. It takes a simpler approach, focusing on visual spectacle (at least more so than other titles), the growth of Cereza’s character as she becomes more of a familiar face as the story goes on, and the relationship between Cereza and Cheshire. It keeps the convoluted time travel and multiverse stuff at a minimum, thankfully. Although, on the other hand, Cereza and the Lost Demon double down on some of the more controversial and criticized moments of Bayonetta 3. If you were upset with whom Bayonetta ended up with at the end of 3, or even Jeanne’s fate in said game, the revelations of Origins might make you more upset. Compared to the other three entries, Cereza and the Lost Demon has way fewer moral concerns, mainly in violence, sexual content, and language. Violence takes a more fantasy approach, bordering on cartoonish. You’ll mostly be killing faerie creatures in an over-the-top way with a lot of cartoon-like visual effects. As the game becomes more “Bayonetta-like” in the end, it does ramp up the violence a bit to the point where Cereza and Chesire sever a demon spider’s leg to use it as a javelin. Before that part, torture attacks do make a return, but of course, they are considerably less violent than in any of the three numbered entries, and it is only used against a specific boss. Language is mostly clean, with one notable moment being a rescued wisp calling Cereza a “babe”. Some other moments include mild swearing such as “d*mn”. Sexual content is non-existent, even with the alternative costumes due to Cereza being incapable of using her hair as a weapon, and by extension, her clothing. The occult and supernatural elements are the ones with the least amount of changes since it is still a Bayonetta title. Umbra Witches still make pacts with demons to summon them to our world. Paradiso and Inferno are still the equivalents of Heaven and Hell. The faeries and Avalon Forest take lots of inspiration from Celtic mythos, with many enemies being named after supernatural Celtic creatures. The faeries adopt mannerisms from their inspirations by primarily tricking humans into getting lost in the forests to capture their souls. As I played through Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, I was wondering whom this game was meant for. The emotions that I felt playing through the 13 or so hours it took me to see the credits was that of playing many Nintendo games. I feel if Nintendo made a Bayonetta game purely in-house, this would have been the result. Bayonetta Origins feels the most Nintendo-like of the series by a significant margin. There’s a sense of magical wonder and feel-good glee traveling with Cereza and Cheshire and I feel like it was trying to target any lingering Nintendo fans that were still on the fence about trying out the franchise as it also manages to be the easiest entry in the franchise overall. Although once you beat the game, there is an additional story focusing on Jeanne, and a harder difficulty to play with. This doesn’t mean that Bayonetta Origins lacks callbacks and references to the other titles. As long as the extremely different gameplay melds with you, there is plenty within to satisfy most Bayonetta fans. Cereza and the Lost Demon may have been an entry that no one asked for, but it is one that I enjoyed in abundance.