MEET BAYONETTA . . . DURING HER CHILDHOOD SPELL
BAYONETTA is one of the weirdest characters on Nintendo consoles — and certainly one of the raciest. A winking, slinking witch who weaves spells from her hair and shoots bullets from the guns that double as high heels at the end of her very, very long legs.
Yet even Bayonetta was once a child. Such is the premise of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon, which gives us the story of Cereza, a young witch who hasn’t yet adopted the B-word as her name.
It’s not just a change in the character’s age; it’s a totally new look and feel for the series. Instead of the mad action spectacle of Bayonettas 1 to 3, Origins is a laid-back affair, a painted storybook that sets its protagonist — and you — wandering through a mysterious forest. It’s more beautiful than berserk. There’s more fairy tale than fighting. And it’s very suitable for children.
Not that Origins lacks delights for Bayonetta’s adult fans. As Cereza goes deeper into the forest, accompanied by her possessed cuddly toy, Cheshire, she encounters more monsters and gains more powers with which to overcome them. Cereza is controlled with one of the Switch’s analogue sticks, while Cheshire is controlled by the other; a setup that recalls 2014’s Child Of Light and adds to the sense of challenge and mastery towards the end of Origins.
Indeed, by that point, Origins has started to feel a little bit more like the original Bayonetta games. This witch has got some skills. Don’t they grow up fast?