Test and review Bayonetta 3 – Nintendo Switch

It’s hard to believe, but Bayonetta 3 is very close. Arriving eight years after the first game, Bayonetta 3 is an entirely different beast to the original two games. And maybe I mean that literally – because much of the combat has been redesigned to focus on Bayonetta’s infernal beasts this time around. But is it still the Bayonetta 3 we know and love? It’s definitely up for debate, but in the time I’ve had with a few chapters pulled from the final game, it’s still just as cheeky and lovely, and I can’t wait to get to the rest of the game when it’s released. launching later this month.

The game still follows the same format as other games. You primarily play as Bayonetta, as she battles various enemies using a combination of outlandish weaponry and devastating melee attacks. Every ability you know returns in some form or another in Bayonetta 3. Wicked Weaves, which sees summoning Bayonetta lead devastating attacks from demons from other dimensions, are still here and perhaps more common than ever. . Even torture attacks, which see Bayonetta use a screaming torture device to deal more than normal damage to weakened enemies. She can even still peak (stay with me) to summon the demons she has contracts with to finish off enemies in a grand spectacle.

But the infernal demons themselves now play a much more active role in the battle. While there are story reasons for this, which I won’t reveal here, it completely changes the flow of combat in Bayonetta 3. At any time during combat, you can hold down a shoulder button while attacking to summon one of Bayonetta’s demons to attack for her. The demon then remains on screen, as Bayonetta dances (yes, dances) to enslave him as she gives him orders. It’s naturally a lot slower than her, and you lose control of Bayonetta herself when actively enslaving demons, but they deal a lot more damage than her.

As you’d expect, this mechanic really changes how you approach battles. For one, you can summon the demons for an extended period of time to deal massive damage. But some enemies may have tougher outer shells that need to be smashed, and your infernal fiends will be able to do that for you. It might seem to mess up the flow of the battle, but the shoulder button can also be pressed at the right time during a combo to summon the demon for a single attack without abruptly ending your combo. Figuring out the best time to summon one of your demons is key to mastering the flow of combat in Bayonetta 3, and while it’s different from previous games, it makes the game feel like a fuller sequel. than an iterative.

I say “one of your demons” because there are a few that you can use in Bayonetta 3. During the chapters included in this preview, I only had access to three. Gommorah is the dragon-like beast that moves slowly and hits hard. It can also spit fire on command if you have multiple enemies to contend with. Madama Butterfly is much faster and more or less mimics Bayonetta’s movement, only she is taller. Phantasmaraneae is a lava-filled spider and easily the fastest of the three beasts and can attack with its scorpion-like arms or tail. He can also spit webbing to slow down enemies. Each of the three has a unique set of skills you can use in battle and can be hot-swapped at any time using the D-Pad during combat.

The other new mechanic is Demon Masquerade, which sees Bayonetta fuse with the demon she is channeling to pull off attacks she normally couldn’t. This essentially replaces the weapon system of the previous two games – each weapon now comes with a full set rather than being able to adjust Bayonetta’s arms and legs separately. Instead, you equip a weapon and its associated demon and Bayonetta’s moveset will change accordingly.

For example, Bayonetta’s new pistol set, Color My World, is related to Madama Butterfly. This means that during certain moves, Bayonetta will merge with this mid-combo demon to unleash devastating attacks. It’s admittedly a largely cosmetic change – but it’s so much flashier than anything Bayonetta has seen before. Your equipped weapon then affects your traversal options as well as a super move you have access to during combat. Color My World features Madama Butterfly, which Bayonetta can merge with to provide a longer jump thanks to her fluttering wings during the Demonic Masquerade.

Other weapons (and therefore demons) offer something else. G-Pillar is an incredibly slow but powerful gigantic club, but can also be flipped over to function as a highly penetrating anti-materiel rifle. Her bonded demon, Gamorrah, allows Bayonetta to run incredibly fast (almost like a gorilla) and leap very long distances with a charge jump. The final weapon in this preview, the Ignis Araneae Yo-Yo, is related to Phantasmaraneae and is a set of transforming, slashing yo-yos that grants Bayonetta the ability to crawl on surfaces like a spider when equipped.

It may seem confusing compared to previous games, but it’s not. The core mechanics are still there, they’ve just been expanded to be a lot flashier and a lot more chaotic. The flow of the battle is still fantastic, and it feels more like a sequel than Bayonetta 2. Added to that is another playable character in Viola, which only worried me when I first saw her. in trailers.

Viola cringes at the paper. She’s an edgy, brooding witch-in-training who looks like she shops exclusively at Zing or Hot Topic. But she’s actually quite funny and subverts pretty much all of your expectations of her as a character. Like Nero to Dante, she has only one weapon to master, though that doesn’t mean she’s any less fun. On the contrary, she feels a bit more technical in Bayonetta. Her time as a witch is triggered by parrying rather than dodging, and when she summons her own special demon named Cheshire, he fights alongside her rather than taking over Viola. It’s early days, but for now I want to play more alto in the rest of the game at the end of the month.

Overall, the new mechanics in Bayonetta 3 only seek to cement this game as a worthy sequel to the games that came before it. So much here is new and therefore unfamiliar, which might cause some trepidation among fans who aren’t quite sure what to expect. But while Bayonetta sounds different and plays different this time around, it’s clear that Bayonetta 3 features the signature charm and wit we all know and love.