After being disappointed by Bayonetta 3, I was kind of turned off by this game when it was first revealed and held off for about a year before playing it, but I really enjoyed this! It's full of charm everywhere you look, and the storybook presentation reminds me of Kirby's Epic Yarn in the best way.
You control two characters in this, being Cereza and the demon residing in her stuffed doll, Cheshire – moved by the left and right stick respectively. Combat is almost entirely left to Cheshire (although Cereza can hold enemies in place) who attacks with just the right trigger, but because this is PlatinumGames, it's turns out a lot deeper than you expect. Cheshire eventually gains four elemental powers that can be swapped freely by pressing the face buttons, and if done while in an attack animation, each transformation will produce a unique attack that can add to combos. These elemental powers are also tied to progression, because it turns out this game is actually a Metroidvania, with different areas being locked off until you have the right power.
Exploration can be a bit tricky in this game due to a lackluster camera which has a slight delay on it, and because this game takes an isometric viewpoint, hard to see paths felt unnecessarily tricky to spot.
Overall though this game was a delight, and if PlatinumGames really is planning on going all in on live-service, at least they made one final good game before they fold under the weight of however many Babylon's Falls they have cooking over there. Stop fucking around and make good games again please PG.
You control two characters in this, being Cereza and the demon residing in her stuffed doll, Cheshire – moved by the left and right stick respectively. Combat is almost entirely left to Cheshire (although Cereza can hold enemies in place) who attacks with just the right trigger, but because this is PlatinumGames, it's turns out a lot deeper than you expect. Cheshire eventually gains four elemental powers that can be swapped freely by pressing the face buttons, and if done while in an attack animation, each transformation will produce a unique attack that can add to combos. These elemental powers are also tied to progression, because it turns out this game is actually a Metroidvania, with different areas being locked off until you have the right power.
Exploration can be a bit tricky in this game due to a lackluster camera which has a slight delay on it, and because this game takes an isometric viewpoint, hard to see paths felt unnecessarily tricky to spot.
Overall though this game was a delight, and if PlatinumGames really is planning on going all in on live-service, at least they made one final good game before they fold under the weight of however many Babylon's Falls they have cooking over there. Stop fucking around and make good games again please PG.