It's been eight years since PlatinumGames’ second instalment of the Bayonetta series graced the Wii U, and fans have been eagerly waiting for the third entry ever since.
Fans' prayers were answered in 2017 when Bayonetta 3 was announced, and finally, after what has felt like a lifetime, the game is due to be released later this month. Bayonetta 3 sees the Umbra Witch team up with old and new allies to combat mysterious man-made threats known as Homunculi while travelling the island of Thule.
The stakes are much higher than ever before as Bayonetta must prevent the destruction of multiple worlds. Amongst the flamboyant characters, Bayonetta will encounter a witch-in-training named Viola, who is also a new playable character.
From what I’ve experienced so far, Bayonetta 3’s new world and narrative has been simply fantastic with the addition of Viola adding an extra dimension to the action. Bayonetta’s high-octane gameplay always sat on a pedestal with only a few other hack-and-slash titles able to match it.
But, the developers haven’t played it safe and introduced a plethora of new gaming mechanics that greatly elevate the series. Players will be able to once again chain combos together with various weapons while barraging enemies with bullets.
Bayonetta’s legendary dodge mechanic Witch time returns, which will please veterans of the series. One of Bayonetta’s new techniques is called Demon Masquerade, which allows her to utilise the powers of an Infernal Demon that is sealed within one of her weapons.
For instance, Madama Butterfly is sealed within her Colour My World pistols, while Gomorrah is in the G-Piller. Swapping between each of these Infernal Demons will change Bayonetta’s combat style while also granting extra traversal abilities.
Demon Masquerade will also dictate her Beast Within forms, giving her additional combat prowess. Bayonetta also has another ability which is more of a new version of the Climax moves rather than being a new technique altogether.
Demon Slave will give Bayonetta the ability to summon one of her Infernal Demons to fight for her. This technique is devastating but has a few drawbacks such as draining her magic power, and the demons can go into a rampage if they take too much damage, attacking everything in sight.
This risk and reward technique grants an extra level of strategy to the already stellar combat. The new Umbra witch in training, Viola, feels drastically different from Bayonetta and so she should.
Being early in her Umbra career, Viola isn’t as adept as Bayonetta and lacks that destructive finesse we have come to love. She opts to fight with a katana and uses throwing knives rather than pistols, whilst she also has access to the Demon Slave technique that will see her summon a Demon cat called Chesire, who is as destructive as the others in the game.
She can also execute a different version of Witch Time that sees her blocking rather than dodging. Viola offers a vastly different experience from Bayonetta which is fully welcomed, adding extra variety to the game and keeping everything fresh.
The early gameplay of Viola may seem like she is much more underpowered than Bayonetta, but I am extremely excited to see how she develops over the course of the game. Bayonetta 3 has also expanded its traversal elements that offer challenging puzzles, which make use of the Umbra Witches Demon abilities.
Players will still be able to upgrade her using the game's new currency, embryos, which are fragments dropped by defeated Homunculi. Bayonetta will also be able to unlock powerful abilities through her new skill trees by collecting orbs.
PlatinumGames’ have really created something special with the new combat mechanics and the addition of Viola that put Bayonetta 3 on a whole new level from past games. I’m still pretty early in the game, but from what I’ve seen so far, Bayonetta could easily be one of the best titles on the Nintendo Switch - or even one of the best action-adventure games.
Are you looking forward to the release of Bayonetta 3? Let us know in the comments below!
