Like a Dante or a Sonic, Bayonetta exemplifies the hallmarks from which all the greatest videogame characters are built from, with a characterization and raison d'etre easily expressed and inferred from the moment you pick up the controller. Bayonetta is a constant controllable blitz of unwavering and cathartic violence presented with all the female bravado and sexuality that the character is able to exude, which made Bayonetta 3's relentless propensity to rob the world of what defines the character so disappointing.

While I understand the divide it created within the fanbase, Bayo 2 was never the sore spot to me as it is with some. The indulgence in game breaking overpowered moves and gimmicky boss battle setpieces diminished much of the combat complexity expected of the series, but it was still an engaging exploration of action that still pertained to the pillars that defined the first game and the bombastic and boastful personality of its heroine. Bayo 3 taking 2's route would have been an acceptable compromise in my book, had its central shitck of devil summons not been so half-baked into it.

Bayo 3 fills most of the experience and screen with sluggish summons that disarm the player of their surroundings and control, rewarding button mashing that feels disconnected and completely at odds with the core fast paced Bayonetta gameplay, and while providing some of the most memorable and exhilirating moments of the series, be it riding demon artillery trains, fighting giant kaijus Godzilla style or witnessing the Baal Zebul recital, the inconsistent game language these setpieces demand never fail to feel like the game is being put on hold while the critters have their fun and Bayoneta stands in a corner.

Expecting Bayo 3's story to compensate this shift in protagonism spotlight, it was disheartening to follow along a nonsensical plot devoid of much of the over the top personality and cheeky endeavours Bayonetta had accustomed us to. I'm not gonna pretend that the previous two Bayonettas were bold masterpieces of storytelling, but they managed to cohesively escalate the stakes with the right dosage of stylized larger than life action and portentious melodrama, permeated by a thematically and aesthetically rich set of enemy encounters and environments that would build into a crescendo of satisfying wickedness.

Meanwhile, Bayo 3's underutilized metaverse motif has you world travelling to bland, visually disconnected civilizations meeting alternate versions of Bayonetta that absolutely fail to build any kind of fun, riveting and exciting chemistry with our protagonist, all leading up to a deflating and awkward finale that misses the mark so hard, you have to wonder how it has the Platinum name attached to it. Bayonetta is so absent from the narrative, not even the new fun hairstyle prevents her from being as boring as she was in the previous game (eat it, Bayo 2 hair nerds).

This is the part where we talk about Viola. It doesn't take long before you start to draw parallels between Viola and Nero from DMC, but while that character benefited from being the emotional core that ended up tying the whole series together through the course of 2 full games, Viola is an uncharismatic, tonally deaf, and forced protagonist that Bayo 3 expects us to receive with open arms and without earning her place, and I take personal offense that Platinum would entertain the idea that a character so irrelevant to the narrative of the series would be the one carrying the torch, and not just let it be another weapon in Bayonetta's arsenal.

My bitterness towards Bayonetta 3 stems not from thinking it's a bad game, which I don't. At its lowest, Bayonetta still represents some of the most engaging action you will ever experience, and in the few glimpses the game allows us, the umbra witch shines all the spotlights on her. It's just a shame that what should have been a celebration of one of videogame's greatest instead feel like nails in the coffin of the character and the series. And if you want a clearer indication that the people behind this project didn't understand Bayonetta at all, consider that the traditional credits verses happens during the classy old tune pole dancing and not during the "Let's Dance Boys!" musical act. That's one massive L.