This is the conclusion to my three-part retrospective on the Bayonetta trilogy. If you’ve been following it, thank you so much! I hope you found it interesting, either as a long-time fan or someone who wants to check out the series. It’s been a joy to finally play these games. 😄
I was nervous going into Bayonetta 3. For one, the second game, while solid, was a safe investment by Platinum. All they did was fix the obvious issues with the first game and mostly leave the combat untouched. This meant there were hardly any gameplay surprises. I didn’t know if the next sequel would be more of the same. But the biggest reason for my fear was the overwhelming negative reception by fans. Key story details were unfortunately spoiled to me before I got to play the game. And yes, I agree the ending sucks.
Here’s the thing though. I have never enjoyed Bayonetta because of the story. I love her personality and the B-movie dialogue, but the plots in these games are no doubt just an excuse for some of the most epic and outlandish setpieces you will ever see in gaming. Not suggesting the ending shouldn’t have been better. There were a lot of ways Platinum could have accomplished that. My point is that outside of this and a handful of other quibbles, I believe Bayonetta 3 is the Umbra Witch at her best.
Starting with the combat, the previous game’s Umbran Climax was replaced with Demon Slave. This allows Bayonetta to summon a demon mid-fight for assistance. These demons were limited to QTE climax sequences in the first two games, but here you can control one freely. It looks awesome and they can even be summoned at the end of a regular combo to land another attack. This increase in power is balanced by an energy meter that depletes while the demon’s active and Bayonetta being defenseless while controlling it. Engaging enemies with Bayonetta’s regular combat refills the energy meter faster and demons can hit stun most enemies. Both of these quirks encourage players to balance use of Demon Slave and the Umbra Witch’s own toolkit. This amazing mechanic is built on top of the previous games’ combo system, weapon swapping, Witch Time, and Dodge Offset. Top that off with a vast array of demons and badass weapons to choose from, all of which have their own uses, and you have one of the best combat systems ever created.
As incredible as that core gameplay is, it would be difficult to argue Bayonetta has been fun outside of combat. Prior to 3, exploration was heavily limited by the linear environments, platforming was simple, and in the case of 1, unpolished gimmick stages could appear out of nowhere and ruin the pacing. With how much work went into upgrading the combat, Platinum couldn’t possibly flesh out those elements, right? WRONG!
All of the places you visit in each chapter are open sandboxes. Their size is just right, not being overwhelming while still packing a ton of secret items, platforming sections, unique time manipulation puzzles, and the traditional combat verses. What makes all of this so much fun to engage with is the new Demon Masquerade. Replacing Beast Within from the first two games, Bayonetta can transform into a demon corresponding with the weapon set she currently has equipped. All of these transformations have quirks that make them useful in specific situations. For example, Madama Butterfly can glide using her wings, Phantasmaraneae can scale walls since he’s a spider, and Wartrain Gouon has an ultra-fast dash. The platforming and exploration are all designed to take advantage of these demons and you are occasionally required to solve a puzzle using them. Most of this stuff is optional, however, so if you want to jump straight into the combat with only a minute or two of downtime, you can do so. And if you get lost, a waypoint marker can be toggled to point you in the right direction.
Platinum also decided to go all out on gimmicks. These include but are not limited to rail shooting, stealth missions, kaiju battles, and a rhythm game. Not all of them were fun, but there were none I despised. Prior to this, I thought having fewer gimmicks or abandoning them entirely was the way forward, but now I know that with enough polish and good pacing, a ton of gimmicks can work beautifully in Bayonetta.
Now for the flaws. Most of them are minor, but it would be dishonest not to list them. You can’t equip different weapons separately on your hands and feet like in the previous games. You have to use pre-defined weapon sets instead. The depth added through Demon Slave and Masquerade make this change tolerable, but it is still lame to see. I enjoyed Viola’s playstyle despite her limited abilities and emphasis on parrying. However, the window for activating Witch Time with her is too small. Bizzarely, there are two Witch Times the player can activate depending on how early they parry. If it’s done the instant before an attack lands, Witch Time is granted for four seconds. Anything earlier than that gives you Witch Time for only one second. That is too short to provide a tactical advantage. I would prefer the parry having the same amount of wiggle room as Bayonetta’s dodge and removing the one-second Witch Time to prevent confusion. The camera also occasionally positions itself at awkward angles when fighting. And finally, some battles have so much visual pizzazz that it’s difficult to tell what’s even happening. Action games need visual clarity, so it’s annoying when the game forgets that.
In conclusion, I’m blown away by Bayonetta 3. It just might be the most ambitious sequel I’ve played that actually fulfills most of its goals. I look forward to checking out the higher difficulties in the future. If they are enjoyable, I might bump my score up to a 9. For now though, I’m giving this an 8. If you enjoyed one or both of the previous games, this is an absolute must-play. If you haven’t played a Bayonetta game before, warm up with 1 or 2 first. The combat is so mechanically dense in 3 it will be daunting for a newcomer.
I was nervous going into Bayonetta 3. For one, the second game, while solid, was a safe investment by Platinum. All they did was fix the obvious issues with the first game and mostly leave the combat untouched. This meant there were hardly any gameplay surprises. I didn’t know if the next sequel would be more of the same. But the biggest reason for my fear was the overwhelming negative reception by fans. Key story details were unfortunately spoiled to me before I got to play the game. And yes, I agree the ending sucks.
Here’s the thing though. I have never enjoyed Bayonetta because of the story. I love her personality and the B-movie dialogue, but the plots in these games are no doubt just an excuse for some of the most epic and outlandish setpieces you will ever see in gaming. Not suggesting the ending shouldn’t have been better. There were a lot of ways Platinum could have accomplished that. My point is that outside of this and a handful of other quibbles, I believe Bayonetta 3 is the Umbra Witch at her best.
Starting with the combat, the previous game’s Umbran Climax was replaced with Demon Slave. This allows Bayonetta to summon a demon mid-fight for assistance. These demons were limited to QTE climax sequences in the first two games, but here you can control one freely. It looks awesome and they can even be summoned at the end of a regular combo to land another attack. This increase in power is balanced by an energy meter that depletes while the demon’s active and Bayonetta being defenseless while controlling it. Engaging enemies with Bayonetta’s regular combat refills the energy meter faster and demons can hit stun most enemies. Both of these quirks encourage players to balance use of Demon Slave and the Umbra Witch’s own toolkit. This amazing mechanic is built on top of the previous games’ combo system, weapon swapping, Witch Time, and Dodge Offset. Top that off with a vast array of demons and badass weapons to choose from, all of which have their own uses, and you have one of the best combat systems ever created.
As incredible as that core gameplay is, it would be difficult to argue Bayonetta has been fun outside of combat. Prior to 3, exploration was heavily limited by the linear environments, platforming was simple, and in the case of 1, unpolished gimmick stages could appear out of nowhere and ruin the pacing. With how much work went into upgrading the combat, Platinum couldn’t possibly flesh out those elements, right? WRONG!
All of the places you visit in each chapter are open sandboxes. Their size is just right, not being overwhelming while still packing a ton of secret items, platforming sections, unique time manipulation puzzles, and the traditional combat verses. What makes all of this so much fun to engage with is the new Demon Masquerade. Replacing Beast Within from the first two games, Bayonetta can transform into a demon corresponding with the weapon set she currently has equipped. All of these transformations have quirks that make them useful in specific situations. For example, Madama Butterfly can glide using her wings, Phantasmaraneae can scale walls since he’s a spider, and Wartrain Gouon has an ultra-fast dash. The platforming and exploration are all designed to take advantage of these demons and you are occasionally required to solve a puzzle using them. Most of this stuff is optional, however, so if you want to jump straight into the combat with only a minute or two of downtime, you can do so. And if you get lost, a waypoint marker can be toggled to point you in the right direction.
Platinum also decided to go all out on gimmicks. These include but are not limited to rail shooting, stealth missions, kaiju battles, and a rhythm game. Not all of them were fun, but there were none I despised. Prior to this, I thought having fewer gimmicks or abandoning them entirely was the way forward, but now I know that with enough polish and good pacing, a ton of gimmicks can work beautifully in Bayonetta.
Now for the flaws. Most of them are minor, but it would be dishonest not to list them. You can’t equip different weapons separately on your hands and feet like in the previous games. You have to use pre-defined weapon sets instead. The depth added through Demon Slave and Masquerade make this change tolerable, but it is still lame to see. I enjoyed Viola’s playstyle despite her limited abilities and emphasis on parrying. However, the window for activating Witch Time with her is too small. Bizzarely, there are two Witch Times the player can activate depending on how early they parry. If it’s done the instant before an attack lands, Witch Time is granted for four seconds. Anything earlier than that gives you Witch Time for only one second. That is too short to provide a tactical advantage. I would prefer the parry having the same amount of wiggle room as Bayonetta’s dodge and removing the one-second Witch Time to prevent confusion. The camera also occasionally positions itself at awkward angles when fighting. And finally, some battles have so much visual pizzazz that it’s difficult to tell what’s even happening. Action games need visual clarity, so it’s annoying when the game forgets that.
In conclusion, I’m blown away by Bayonetta 3. It just might be the most ambitious sequel I’ve played that actually fulfills most of its goals. I look forward to checking out the higher difficulties in the future. If they are enjoyable, I might bump my score up to a 9. For now though, I’m giving this an 8. If you enjoyed one or both of the previous games, this is an absolute must-play. If you haven’t played a Bayonetta game before, warm up with 1 or 2 first. The combat is so mechanically dense in 3 it will be daunting for a newcomer.