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xb-squaredx · 2 years ago

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The Bittersweet Taste of Bayonetta 3

PlatinumGames is among my favorite developers out there. Rising from the ashes of Capcom’s Clover studio, they are on my short list of developers that make amazing games that really resonate with me. Their games are quirky, often mechanically deep and a bit unwieldy. They’ve managed to carve out a cult following over the years, and by far their most infamous series has been the stylish action of Bayonetta. In 2017 Bayonetta 3 was announced but as the years passed with no news, many grew nervous. Platinum’s output since then has been quite inconsistent, and earlier this year they released Babylon’s Fall, a game that didn’t crash and burn so much as spontaneously combust before it ever got off the ground. There’s this cautious air around Bayonetta 3’s release; it isn’t enough to just be a good game in its own right, but many feel that Platinum’s future rides on it succeeding. In the weeks before the game released, the game became the catalyst for a discussion on properly compensating voice talent. Bayonetta’s original voice, Hellena Taylor, called for a boycott, claiming she wasn’t offered a fair wage, though later information would imply she was omitting information to make her case look better. Regardless, the air around Bayonetta 3 wasn’t all that positive and I’m sorry to say that, after having gone through the game, I find it didn’t come out the other side smelling like roses. Bayonetta 3 is a very interesting game to talk about, for a variety of reasons both quite positive…and unfortunately very negative. One of my most anticipated games of this year, it has given me some mixed feelings and leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

ENTER THE BAYO VERSE

After two games where Bayonetta has taken on the legions of heaven and hell and taken on a few gods, there’s really only so much the series can do to raise the stakes. The game opens with the introduction of our main threat: Singularity. A being so strong it threatens not just the universe, but the entire multiverse. As Singularity consumes one unlucky world, a young woman named Viola just barely escapes, traveling to another universe and enlisting the help of Bayonetta to stop Singularity and save all of reality before there’s nothing left. There’s definitely a more dire tone to a lot of the game, as we can see firsthand the destruction of Singularity’s forces, with Bayonetta and company being pushed to the limit to save the day. Of course, there’s still plenty of fun, campy moments throughout, like impromptu dance offs, a demonic concert (complete with glow sticks!) and more than a fair share of tasteful nudity and the sensual style that has made the series infamous. The opening prologue level certainly hits a lot of the same beats from past entries; Bayonetta’s living it up in town, something goes wrong, Enzo is made a fool, and she beats up some basic enemies while taking her clothes off and eventually showing off some fantastic new guns. Viola serves as a pretty interesting foil to Bayonetta at the start as well; despite putting on a cool front, she’s clumsy and goofy, frequently at odds with Bayonetta as she struts about with all of the confidence of a seasoned Umbran Witch. With the titular witch taking on a bit of a mentor role, it’s a decent starting point for another adventure. The promise of interacting with different variations of our heroine as they jump from world to world also just seems rife with possibilities. That said, this strong start can’t quite hide the game’s frequent rough edges in the presentation.

As the Switch gets on in years, the lacking quality of its hardware only becomes more apparent, with even Nintendo’s own first party offerings often having to make sacrifices to run on what is ostensibily an outdated smartphone. The Bayonetta series has never really been a graphical showcase, though there’s aspects of 3 that definitely feel more than a bit dated, even going back to the original game’s release during the seventh console generation. NPC character models look and animate quite stiffly and environments are often extremely empty and lacking in high-quality textures. Sadly the game’s performance follows suit, being a bit of a downgrade from even the previous entry on the Wii U. The game targets 60 FPS but often is somewhere closer to the 40s or 50s, with occasional dips below that in more hectic moments. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most sensitive to this stuff and it never really impacted my gameplay, at least to a degree I was consciously aware of it, but it is a shame the game can’t give more consistent results.

(source: Eurogamer )

I do find the game is smooth enough most of the time, and it’s clear Platinum brought their A-game when it came to the overall presentation despite all of this. Cutscenes are still directed with that manic energy that makes Platinum’s titles such a joy to experience. Bayonetta herself, and most of her enemies, are animated extremely well, with tons of personality oozing out of many attacks and even idle animations. The menus are a bit sleeker than past entries and generally things are as seamless and smooth as could be when getting into and out of combat encounters. There’s a lot less of the stop-motion cutscenes in this game as well, which helps the overall story feel a bit more high budget and consistent. Music is also pretty consistently great. From the eerie, ethereal music often accompanying Singularity’s minions, to the peppy battle themes accompanying Bayonetta and Viola’s various scraps, there’s a lot to like. One of the real highlights would be “Fertile Rondo,” an operatic jam that doubles as a huge reference to The Fifth Element.

Voice acting also remains generally strong throughout, with returning actors like Yuri Lowenthal, Grey DeLisle, and Dave Fennoy feeling right at home with Luka, Jeanne and Rodin respectively. I have to really credit the amount of charm Anna Brisbin gives to Viola, and overall the character made a good impression on me. Of course, this also means I have to touch on the controversy with Bayonetta’s voice change. Taylor’s take on the character was great, and regardless of who replaced her, it was always going to be a bit awkward, but Jennifer Hale is a pretty good get in that case. A veteran in voice over, Hale’s credits are numerous and should honestly speak for themselves, and I would say she nails this take on Bayonetta, to the point it almost feels like she’s always played the character. There are points she sounds almost uncannily like Taylor, though admittedly it isn’t always consistent. But overall, she embodies the sass and style associated with the character and makes the transition about as flawless as could be hoped for overall.

I have…more things to say regarding the overall story, but we can save that for later. Instead, there is still an underlying action game under all this, so I’d better get to talking about that.

SIZE ISN’T EVERYTHING (BUT IT HELPS)

There’s been a fair bit of escalation throughout the Bayonetta series from game to game. The first title mostly focused on Bayonetta herself beating up hordes of angels, with only occasionally summoning limbs of demons for her Wicked Weave finishing strikes, and often a fun QTE at the end of major encounters to finish off bosses that teased more of the demon. Then in the sequel, Infernal Climax took center stage, where for a brief time ALL of Bayonetta’s attacks summoned demons, and at one point you were even directly controlling the demon Madama Butterfly for part of a boss encounter. But the threat in Bayonetta 3 is so great that summoning the whole demon is both frequent and required to even hope to win. In a bit of a twist on things, the main villainous faction are man-made homunculi, and since they aren’t angelic in nature Bayonetta’s summons have no real desire to help out in battle. Thus, she invokes the Demon Slave ritual to take direct control over them, allowing players to control the demons in real-time. There’s definitely some stipulations though; Demon Slave constantly drains Bayonetta’s magic meter and once emptied you’ll have to wait for it to fill to a certain amount to summon them again. Demons can also eventually turn on Bayonetta and go on a rampage if attacked enough, and perhaps worst of all, Bayonetta is stationary while players are in control of demons, meaning players need to learn the proper time and place to invoke it. Players can equip up to three demons at a time and freely switch between them in combat, in many ways allowing demons to serve as additional weapons to Bayo’s arsenal. Admittedly, some of the demons are a bit unwieldy and require practice to use efficiently, and some are a bit situational, but all of them bring something unique to the table and further expands Bayonetta’s combat options.

One facet I really enjoyed about the game is the Demon Masquerade system. Depending on the weapon equipped, at points Bayonetta can take on a form similar to the demon said weapon is based on, which can drastically change her mobility. With her default guns, Colour My World, she takes on Madama Butterfly’s visage and gains the ability to slowly hover through the air on her wings, while with Gomorrah’s weapon, the massive G-Pillar, she takes on a more feral stance and hops about, with a fast air dash to help her cross gaps quickly. Players also use skill trees for each weapon to unlock more moves in her arsenal that also have her transform to perform them, like powerful crowd-clearing attacks, or the near-universal gap-closer moves that have her home in on the nearest enemy. Demons also have a similar skill tree to enhance their own movesets, and by filling out both you gain one final upgrade that fleshes out each moveset. It’s a bit different from being able to buy moves in Rodin’s shop, but it works well enough as incentive to keep fighting and trying out different weapons.

On that note, Bayonetta 3 has some of the best weapon variety in the entire series, if not THE best. While this game does away with the ability to set weapons on both your hands and feet, thereby reducing the amount of interesting weapon combinations and synergies, this change allowed them to go all-in on some out-there weapons that wouldn’t have worked otherwise. One of my favorites is Abracadabra, a combination of a top hat and cane that allows Bayonetta to moonlight as a magician, allowing her to summon various projectiles out of her hat at random, as well as utilize powerful electric blasts. Or there’s Tartarus, a slow but powerful weapon consisting of thick, stone doors that can plow through enemy attacks, but when opened can summon a variety of weapons, including some powerful gatling guns that rip through targets. I could go on, because there are TONS of weapons in this game with their own quirks and uses, all with their own demon that has their OWN intricacies. Many demons are often large beasts, like the dinosaur-esque Gomorrah, or Baal, a giant toad, but there’s more than a few unique demons like Wartrain Gouon which…is a train. And when you summon it, you have to draw the train tracks and hit attack buttons along the route before the train barrels on through and slams past all in its wake. The sheer options available is amazing, to the point that it’s a tad disappointing you can only have two weapon sets at any time. That said, while weapon variety is great, enemy variety leaves a bit to be desired.

Most of the homunculi enemies suffer from one of two major issues: they have samey designs that keep them from standing out and feeling distinct, or they’re giant enemies that are basically designed purely for demons to rip through their inflated health pools. If you’re someone who ends up hating using demons in combat and would rather ignore it, then have fun chipping away at these damage sponges! Of all of them, the Virga enemy might be the least fun to fight in the game. Basically a giant Wiggler enemy from the Super Mario series, it never stops moving or attacking and often has no reactions to any attacks done to it, making it difficult to get through the fight unscathed. That’s on top of the camera frequently clipping into it and making it almost impossible to see. Really, the camera might be the greatest enemy in the game. Not only does this game employ a “soft-lock” and force Bayonetta to attack whichever enemy has triggered it, but the “hard lock-on” often forces the camera to make strange, sweeping movements, and it isn’t long before that lock-on is broken and you’re forced to do lock-on again. On top of that, enemies break the series tradition of mostly not attacking when off-screen, and won’t hesitate to take potshots at you with little warning. With the combat areas in general much larger to accommodate the demons and large enemies, this can also mean it’s quite easy to lose track of some smaller enemies and be forced to whirl the camera around frantically to find them. After the previous two games had such a tight camera by comparison, this is a bit of a downgrade unfortunately.

Generally, when Bayonetta’s core combat is allowed to shine and it all clicks, it works amazingly well, but sadly there’s even more things inserted into the game in the name of variety that often bogs the entire experience down a bit.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

While Bayonetta’s flashy combat is the star of the show for the most part, at various points in the story players will engage with different gameplay styles and different playable characters. This is really nothing new with most games from Platinum, as they love to sneak in schmup sections and setpieces to change things up, though I find that in the case with THIS game…they don’t often land and come across as annoying padding. There’s multiple instances throughout the game where Bayonetta will ride atop a demon, or players just get to command it directly, which are far more sluggish and unresponsive than in normal gameplay, Demon Slave or otherwise. A good example would be a timed platforming section as you ride atop the flaming spider Phantasmaraneae that is noticeably slower and less agile than when it is used in Demon Slave combos, OR the much faster, responsive Demon Masquerade version of it, complete with an awkward camera that’s often far too close. But then we go bigger with more climactic battles culminating in Bayonetta invoking the Deadly Sin ritual, offering up her own heart to empower demons and allowing them to go even further beyond their original powers. I wouldn’t say these sections are all-together bad, but the variety frequently goes against what I came here for in the first place. I want to play Bayonetta 3 for high-octane action, not weird rail shooters or slow kaiju fighting games and DEFINITELY not rhythm games, but you’re forced to play these if you want to advance through the game. This series is a more arcade-like action title that really tries to get you to replay levels and get better scores, and these sequences are kind of a drag to do again. Had they been their own self-contained chapter, I wouldn’t mind as much, but they’re often at the end of already long chapters and really bring down replays. That said, this game now saves your highest score for each separate Verse of a chapter, and you can pick specific “checkpoints” in a chapter to minimize replays, so it doesn’t sting as much as it could.

That said, it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the game you can play as both Jeanne and newcomer Viola, but sadly there’s a lot to be desired there. In Jeanne’s case, you play through short 2D side-scrolling segments with a focus on stealth as she seeks out a scientist to assist in defeating Singularity. So you have a series that prides itself on cool, kick-ass characters and suddenly force them to hide in vents and do stealth kills to the cannon fodder grunts? Feels more than a bit out of place. Again, these aren’t really BAD…but they’re not that fun and take away from the very first time Jeanne has been playable during the main story, as she’s usually relegated to being an unlockable moveset clone of Bayonetta after you beat the game.

Viola though is where my real disappointments lie. We’ve had different playable characters before, but they’re either near identical to Bayoentta in gameplay (Jeanne and Rosa), or restricted to a separate mode (Rodin and Balder), so Viola being an out-and-out NEW character that’s playable during the main story SHOULD be really interesting but she instead feels half-baked. Armed with a katana, some throwing darts in lieu of a gun, and the demon Cheshire as a familiar, Viola on paper seems like a fun enough alternative to Bayonetta. She’s got some fun, flashy sword combos, and in an interesting twist, when she summons Cheshire to help, she’s free to continue moving around and attacking because Cheshire isn’t under direct player control. It gives her a completely different bareknuckle moveset and feels satisfying on its own. But unfortunately, it becomes clear this game was not designed with her in mind. The bigger enemies are clearly made for the Demon Slave summons to tear through, but Cheshire just doesn’t cut it. He’s often slow and at times actively lofts about and smokes on his pipe rather than attack, leaving Viola to fend for herself. Some friend. Adding to this, Viola’s moveset is decently fleshed out…but it’s still just ONE weapon compared to the plethora of other weapons Bayonetta can mess with. She lacks variety and feels really stale after a bit. With so many weapons in this game, surely they could have spared at least ONE for Viola. But the worst aspect has to be how she activates Witch Time, a core mechanic in these games. Bayonetta dodges attacks to activate it, slowing down time and letting her go to town on the defenseless enemies as a result. Viola meanwhile must parry incoming attacks by blocking, which brings to mind Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, another Platinum title. A couple problems here though: most enemies don’t seem balanced for the parry at all. They either do huge, sweeping attacks that either miss Viola completely, or have ridiculously tight timings to even land the parry in the first place. It’s WAY less forgiving than Bayonetta’s dodge and one optional challenge mission involving you only being able to damage enemies while in Witch Time nearly had me tearing my hair out. Playing as Viola frequently feels like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Maybe that’s the reason she’s only playable in three of the game’s chapters, falling behind even Jeanne’s side-scrolling missions in frequency. She feels like a last-minute inclusion, despite playing such a big part in the story.

IN CONCLUSION (kind of)

With all I’ve said up until now, I have qualms with some aspects of the core gameplay but I largely had a blast. When the game just lets you focus on fighting, the game is fun and dynamic, with TONS of satisfying tools to learn and master. The game’s larger levels allowed for more downtime as I searched out optional missions or collectibles, and I largely appreciated the change in scope. Some levels left a bit to be desired, feeling more like large boxes than real places, but there are times when the game really shines. The levels taking place in an alternate Egypt are what I wish the entire rest of the game was like. Huge, sprawling locations with tons of secrets tucked away, what felt like small dungeons with some quick puzzles and interesting combat encounters, and probably the best of the Deadly Sin gameplay change ups. I largely enjoyed Bayonetta 3 as an action game, with spectacle that few other series can match. Despite some rough edges in performance and visuals, and some annoying setpieces, it is clear Platinum gave it their all to make a game that attempted to surpass the high expectations of fans. The music goes HARD at times, the story has some real standout moments that I loved, and in a lot of respects this might be the most fun game in the series when you factor it all in. This feels like not just an evolution of the Bayonetta series, but Platinum continuing to tweak and iterate on ideas found in their other titles. The DNA of many of their games exist within this one, serving as a bombastic, content-rich entry that in many ways was well worth the near five-year wait from the initial reveal.

With all that said however, the game’s ending left me extremely conflicted on the entire product, and I want to go into that, but also I’d rather not spoil it for people that might want to go into it themselves. I’ve put my concluding thoughts here ahead of a spoiler-filled section on this ending for that reason. So, overall despite some rough edges, Bayonetta 3 is a high-quality title that stands up with some of Platinum’s greatest….as long as you just completely ignore a terrible ending that feels like they’re trying to torch the franchise and run away.

THE ENDING: MESSY, RUSHED AND UNEXPLAINED

PlatiumGames isn’t really known for their storytelling; they make really fun, goofy action games, and barely anyone really talks about those games’ narrative. So, for anyone that hears Bayonetta 3’s story is bad, it makes sense to think “Well, who cares about story in a Platinum game anyway?” In general, a lot of video games place gameplay over story, so is it really that big of a deal if Bayonetta 3’s story falls flat as long as the gameplay is good? For a lot of people, I’m sure that is enough and I can understand them brushing off complaints. But that isn’t enough for me. Just because this is an action game, I don’t think the story should be half-baked. Plenty of action games, not just from Platinum, manage to strike a better balance, and despite the shortcomings of the previous games in the series, I like the world and characters Platinum have created here. Which is why the ending stung as hard as it did, as it feels almost vindictive towards all that came before, and if that wasn’t the intention, they really botched the execution.

Bayonetta 3 has a lot of great ideas for a fun story, or even a great one. But the problem is that Platinum tried to shove too much into one game, and as a result almost every plot point and bit of narrative potential is wasted. Multiple important details that make the story comprehensible are locked away in character bios that most players aren’t likely to dig through and read. Certain elements of the endgame feel unearned, and the game’s tone changes so often the whiplash is constant and jarring. So, let’s delve into those points one at a time.

I’ll start with the tone. Most of Platinum’s work are over-the-top and not really meant to be taken too seriously. They employ humor throughout the vast majority of their work, they aren’t afraid to blatantly homage things they think are cool and to me they’re at their best when they just have fun with their premise and setting. Bayonetta 3 has a lot of these moments for sure, but they attempt to blend it together with a darker, more dramatic turn and it just does not work at all. The prologue chapter has the entirety of New York flooded, as Singularity begins his assault. The death count alone in this chapter easily eclipses the other two games. Even Enzo, the plucky comic relief, is reduced to tears as his family has seemingly been killed. So when Bayonetta and Rodin are just quipping back and forth it really feels misplaced. Did this game want to be serious, or just as irreverent as past titles? They needed to pick a lane and stick with it. Honestly, I don’t think being more serious fits either Platinum or the Bayonetta series, and if they did want to try to branch out, I think they overcompensated.

(Bayonetta without a confident smirk on her face is just...wrong!)

Bayonetta, much like her predecessor Dante from the Devil May Cry series, is a power fantasy. She’s sexy, she’s powerful, she’s always in control. The draw of these games is seeing her mop the floor with celestial beings without breaking a sweat. So when this game tries to up the ante and establish higher stakes, they really struggle with doing so in a way that feels organic. The game opens with one universe’s Bayonetta being killed by Singularity, which works as a demonstration of the threat he poses. The problem is that this keeps happening throughout the game; every single alternate Bayonetta we encounter gets about five minutes of screentime before being unceremoniously killed in a cutscene where they become uncharacteristically incompetent. No one in this game ever looks behind them. So there’s drama here and the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, but that comes at the cost of Bayonetta as a character looking less powerful and capable. This dark tone and constant death toll also just kind of spoils all of the fun a multiverse tale like this could have had.

When promotional materials made it clear this was a multiverse story, I was looking forward to all of these various character interactions…so imagine my surprise when there’s not much done with that premise at all. For all of the infinite possibilities that come with bringing a multiverse into your story, all Platinum could seemingly think up was “What if Bayonetta lived in another country?” There’s flashes of interesting elements that never get fleshed out on-screen at all. The Tokyo Bayonetta is a delinquent while the Egyptian Bayonetta is a princess with Jeanne as both her bodyguard and her superior in combat. I did enjoy the Paris Bayonetta sections though. Working with her mother Rosa, they’re a pair of thieves with that world’s Enzo chasing after them as a cop, like Lupin III’s Zenigata. But I wanted MORE of that! The Chinese Bayonetta is a war general who apparently lost her eye in an interesting story…the game has no interest in telling us that story though! They had an opportunity to really shake things up; what if we had a world where Enzo was the one with the magic powers, or one where Bayonetta was a Lumen Sage instead of an Umbran Witch? I also find it odd that while we do get to see some alternate Jeannes and Enzos, we only get one alternate Luka and zero alternate Violas, when having more could have made some interesting contrasts. I could forgive a curbed roster if they did much with them, but the bulk of the game just has us hopping from universe to universe, taking every alternate Bayonetta’s demons and weapons for our own and promptly forgetting about them. The Egyptian Bayonetta has a character arc concerning her lacking confidence and overreliance on Jeanne squeezed into two chapters of the game when that could have been fleshed out over the course of the game instead. With our “prime” Bayonetta serving as a mentor to Viola, it could have been interesting to see multiple Bayonettas attempt to give Viola advice, to showcase how different these alternative selves were, but alas, there was just no time apparently.

Further adding to the missed potential, there is the entire concept of fairies introduced into the series with this game. Now, if they wanted to introduce a new faction I have no real objections. Bayonetta’s already fought angels and demons, and spends the entire game fighting these strange man-made homunculi, so beating up some fae folk isn’t really that big of a stretch…except the game barely touches on them at all. After two games without them being mentioned, suddenly Luka is revealed to be part fairy, and this influence is then retconned to be the reason he became a journalist. Despite the fact that the first game made it clear he was obsessed with “the truth” because he watched his father being torn apart by angels he couldn’t even see so uh…that doesn’t really fit. If this is meant to merely tease them being fleshed out more in a sequel, this really wasn’t the place to do it.

I can’t talk about Luka without touching on the controversial romance subplot with him and Bayonetta. Now, this is controversial for a number of reasons. For one, while Bayonetta did flirt with Luka a fair bit in the first game, they barely interacted at all in the second game or this game for that matter. The chemistry just wasn’t really given time to develop. That’s not even getting into the backlash from the series’ gay fans. Over the years a lot of queer folk have kind of “claimed” Bayonetta as a series, mostly from the game’s constant campy tone, combined with a lot of romantic subtext with Bayonetta and Jeanne. But the backlash goes beyond just a ship they liked not being made canon, but moreso this strange subtext applied to Bayonetta and Luka’s relationship in this game that many feel is at best “bi erasure” and at worst downright homophobic or heteronormative. At various points, Singularity calls Bayonetta “Arch-Eve” and Luka “Arch-Adam” so there’s this idea that they’re like…a universal constant and are destined to be together? This coupled with Jeanne not really getting to do much in this game is viewed as a slap in the face by some fans. I don’t really believe Platinum was intentionally going against their gay fans here, and I do think some fans took their own headcanons a bit too far. I’ve heard some even try to claim that there just was no way straight people could get anything out of the series and uh…yeah I don’t really see that point at all. For my own two cents, I just think this romance was really rushed and should have been fleshed out more throughout the series. Or just have Bayonetta, Jeanne and Luka in one big happy threesome, I don’t know.

All of these rushed plot points and dashed potential end up getting twisted up into a very long, grueling final boss fight where…things just kind of happen suddenly, without any explanation before or after. All of the killed Bayonettas (and Jeannes) are revived…and then disappear again, the game being unclear on if they’re still gone for good or were saved. Two more Bayonettas, each clad in the first and second game’s designs respectively, appear to help out in the final battle, but they also vanish without a trace randomly. Then the final blow is dealt to Singularity and a vortex opens up in the sky at the EXACT moment Bayonetta loses control of her demonic summon. This is all a contrived situation purely to force Luka to save an unconscious Viola as she’s pulled into said vortex, thereby allowing Gomorrah to kill Bayonetta definitively. Luka cradles Bayonetta’s soul as they are both dragged into hell, all while Viola cries out for her mother and father and pounds the ground in frustration. Cue credits. Oh, except for the part where Viola suddenly fights…Dark Eve. A character that isn’t explained in-game at all and is only fleshed out in the character bios that update after the game is beaten. By somehow fighting off this uh…dark amalgamation of all of the other dead Bayonettas…somehow this means Viola has proven she has what it takes to take on the mantle of Bayonetta. We get another stinger where we see she is taking on jobs from Rodin, with the game seemingly setting up that any future Bayonetta games will have her in the starring role. Cue dance party ending!

Where do I begin here? The game’s inability to confirm anything really muddies the waters here and makes the ending come across as more somber than I think was intended. New York seems fine in this stinger, and Enzo’s family is seemingly alive and well…but what of the other worlds? If they’re all back to normal…why isn’t Viola with her real mother and father? On that note, why did the game wait until the exact last second to confirm something most fans guessed before the game even came out? I feel that dragging out Viola’s parentage until the very end of the game did nothing for the story, especially seeing how little Viola really factored into the story at all. Then there’s the ending with her as the new protagonist. The game sets this up as an optimistic passing of the torch but…I just don’t think it’s earned at all. Throughout the entire game Viola is showcased as being a bit of a joke. She never gets to actually defeat anything of real significance, and even in the final battle with Singularity she’s batted away and becomes a liability at the end. Sure, she defeats Dark Eve, but the sudden appearance of this random character the game barely tried setting up undoes any amount of triumph the moment should give the audience. I like Viola, but she isn’t ready to headline this series.

In the time since the game’s release, series creator Hideki Kamiya has commented on the backlash, stating that Platinum hadn’t been as clear with some things as they should have been, and that Bayonetta 4 would address these concerns and criticisms. Of course, there’s the question of if PlatinumGames as a studio will even exist long enough for another game to come out, but assuming that it does happen, I suppose there is a chance they could smooth this all out. Maybe we see that Bayonetta and Luka are living it up in hell, and all of the other universes are fine and dandy. Maybe Jeanne is still around and can help out Viola as she comes into her own. That’s a lot of maybes though, and there’s no guarantee THAT game wouldn’t just drop the ball in its ending too.

A lot of the issues I levy at this game could also apply to the other two games. All three games feature villains with no actual substance to them, with no motives for why they do what they do; they exist to be a big boss fight to cap off an action game. All three games don’t really explain everything as well as they could, with the first two having time-travel nonsense wrapped up in the narrative. I wouldn’t call the stories for the first two games good, and going into this game I didn’t really have high hopes on a good narrative, but I assumed there would at least be a fun one. I think that’s the biggest problem here; the fun is gone. Bayonetta 3 tries to raise the stakes but in the process, it lost a lot of what made the first two games so compelling for people. Yet they try to carry on like everything is fine, with a dance party ending filled to the brim with characters that are, as far as this narrative tells us, dead, and we’re left with a character we barely know headlining the series as everything else fans have come to love about the franchise is long gone. It feels like Platinum saw the ending to Devil May Cry 5 and thought “Hey we can do that too!” except they completely misunderstood why that game’s ending worked as well as it does.

Not to go into it too much, but Devil May Cry as a sister series to Bayonetta has already done the passing of the torch thing, with Dante eventually letting the younger Nero take over. What I think Platinum missed here is that it took Capcom TWO games to fully allow Nero to graduate to the main protagonist role, and even then, I feel like the massive gap between the two games is what allowed fans who previously disliked Nero to eventually cool down and come to accept him. Adding to all this, Nero was at least playable for half of Devil May Cry 4 and roughly half of Devil May Cry 5, whereas Viola gets barely three levels to herself in Bayonetta 3. Even though both Bayonetta 3 and Devil May Cry 5 end with the previous protagonists in Hell, Dante doesn’t seem all that bothered by it and the narrative allows enough wiggle room to bring him back with little trouble. In Bayonetta’s case, her end seems far more permanent. Despite some similarities, the contexts differ dramatically.

I think I’ve gone on long enough here. I really want to stress I didn’t expect to come out of this game feeling as down about it as I did. I heard people not liking the ending, and assumed they were just jaded Bayo/Jeanne shippers…but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s frustrating, as in some respects I feel like Platinum can and HAS done better. For as silly as it was, The Wonderful 101 had real heart to it, and I think to this day that is the best story Hideki Kamiya has ever written. While Bayonetta 2 didn’t have the best narrative, I think it was an improvement over the first, and humanized Bayonetta a fair bit. My criticisms stem from my desire to see Platinum succeed. I am without a doubt in their corner and want to be excited for their games, and in recent years it’s been hard to be a fan. Astral Chain was pretty interesting, if a bit wonky at points (and also didn’t have the best story), but from 2020 onwards Platinum felt like a shell of their former selves. Using a Kickstarter to port a barely-touched “remaster” of The Wonderful 101, releasing self-published titles like World of Demons on the Apple Arcade and nowhere else, or the ridiculously overpriced schmup that is Sol Cresta. 2022 opened with the disastrous launch of Babylon’s Fall, and now this game, despite delivering on the action, had to stumble so hard at the very end. When they first started their company, co-founder of PlatinumGames, Tatsuya Minami stated that they chose to be named after platinum because “platinum never loses its luster,” and that was their motto for making games. But as 2022 draws to a close, their shine has dulled, and I’m having a hard time coming to terms with that.

Ultimately, that’s just my take on things. I value story a lot, as you can probably tell, so a bad ending for me matters a whole lot more than a lot of Platinum’s audience I’m sure. As I’ve mentioned before, Bayonetta 3 is still a high-quality title when it comes to stylish action, with plenty of fun setpieces, tons of weapons and tools to master, and a presentation that is constrained only by its hardware. I wouldn’t for a second label Bayonetta 3 as a bad game. It’s great, in fact, and one I would recommend to others…I just wish I didn’t have to attach an asterisk to the end of that recommendation. Despite it all, I’m glad this game finally came to fruition and I desperately hope Platinum can regain some of their luster in the years to come.

Until next time.

-B

#Bayonetta 3 #Bayonetta #viola #jeanne #platinumgames #platinum #action game #character action #nintendo switch #bayonutters #review #spoilers #devil may cry 5

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xb-squaredx · 2 years ago

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B-Squared’s Top 10 Games of 2022!

It’s that time again! Where I chase trends and rank games that I played this year on an arbitrary scale that is purely subjective! This year had some real strong releases…most of which I didn’t really play for one reason or another. There are just too many games, and not enough time (or money) to get to them all! Some of the more talked about games this year unfortunately passed me by, so this list might look different from yours and that’s OK! Now, of the games I DID play this year, I liked most of them and have some things to say, so let’s dive into the 10 games I liked the most this year.

#10 - FIRE EMBLEM WARRIORS: THREE HOPES

This year was filled with rumors of the next major Fire Emblem game being revealed, and while that DID happen eventually, few were prepared for another Warriors spin-off, this time centering on the cast and setting of Three Houses. Three Hopes pulls double duty as both a second attempt at a Fire Emblem Warriors game, as well as a reinterpretation of the overall plot for Three Houses. An alternate take on events with a new protagonist in Shez, Three Hopes was a fun action-packed romp through the lands of Fodlan, with tons of fanservice for those that loved the most recent Fire Emblem game. With a large cast of playable characters, three distinct stories to choose from, and an interesting blend of the hack-and-slash action Tecmo Koei is known for alongside the RPG and more character-driven elements of Three Houses, Three Hopes was a welcome surprise for this year before Fire Emblem Engage graces us in early 2023.

#9 - MULTIVERSUS

When leaks spoiled that a Warner Bros. platform fighter was in development with QUITE the odd selection of characters in late 2021, I didn’t think much of it. Slowly but surely as more was shown however, MultiVersus became quite the surprise fighting game hit for 2022. Despite a lot of high-quality titles out this year, like King of Fighters XV or DNF Duel, it was MultiVersus that made a huge splash with some impressive player numbers in the opening weeks. A team-based platform fighter, the game manages to carve out its own niche in the increasingly crowded platform fighter subgenre, and alongside that the potential cast for this game insures there’s something for everyone. From classic Looney Tunes, to the cast of Game of Thrones, or even LeBron James himself, you’d be forgiven for thinking that such a mash-up wouldn’t work. Instead, the strong art direction manages to make every fighter feel like they could actually exist in the same world without it being TOO jarring, and it helps that the developers are going all-out with some really interesting movesets to make sure each character is true to their respective texts. Velma supports allies by looking for clues and calling the cops…er��Mystery Machine to take away foes, while the Iron Giant’s moveset is mostly just him having fun or eating some scrap metal, only to bring out his combat mode to save his ally. The sole issue the game really has is the free-to-play business model that encourages grinding out countless matches for meager returns, and charging exorbitant prices for various cosmetic items. Despite all of that, MultiVersus is a game I sunk a lot of time into this year and makes a case that fighting games can go free-to-play and still manage to do quite well for themselves.

#8 - MARIO + RABBIDS: SPARKS OF HOPE

Probably the craziest release of 2017 was a Mario and Rabbids spin-off from Ubisoft that, for whatever reason, was a tactical RPG. Despite the odd premise and gameplay shift, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was a surprisingly good time and seemed to sell rather well. With that in mind, a sequel seemed like a smart decision, and so here we have Sparks of Hope. A space-faring adventure with Mario and company, this is one of those sequels that does just about everything bigger and better. Levels are more expansive and fun to explore, the roster of playable characters grows, and the story is just a bit darker. Combat has been made a bit snappier while maintaining the strategic freedom that made the first game so great and the end result is a content packed romp that was pretty hard to put down. Having a playable Bowser is always a good sign that a Mario spinoff is gonna be great, but what’s most surprising to me is that Ubisoft has found a way to make the Rabbids less irritating…and maybe even kinda cute? This two-game streak has somehow managed the impossible: they got me to tolerate the Rabbids. With Rayman DLC in 2023, the fun is only just beginning for this inspired crossover.

#7 - POKEMON SCARLET/VIOLET

The Pokémon franchise has had its fair share of ups and downs lately, but even so a new generation is definitely still something worth celebrating. Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are themselves very interesting games when looked at in comparison to what’s come before them. The franchise’s first full-blown open world adventure, players are given newfound freedom to explore the world and progress the story in whatever order they desire. On that note, I wasn’t really ready for the story to stand out as much as it did. Surprisingly heartfelt with some really sweet moments, the cast of Scarlet and Violet feel well-realized; more so than the casts in most Pokémon games. The Paldea region is a ton of fun to explore, with some great new Pokémon to capture as well. I would do anything for my adorable Tinkaton. That being said, this entry was mired by a number of damning technical issues that were inescapable and really dulled my enjoyment. While there is hope these issues might be addressed in future patches, it is my hope that future Pokémon games can launch in a better state. After the release of Sword and Shield, the future of the franchise seemed in question, but after 2022 I have faith the series is on the right track and we’re on the cusp of a brand new era for the franchise where it can really shine bright.

#6 - MONSTER HUNTER RISE: SUNBREAK

Now this one might be cheating a bit. The Sunbreak expansion for Monster Hunter Rise might not technically be a FULL game, but it has more than enough content to count in my book. Building on the systems in the base game, Sunbreak delivers on a more challenging adventure for hunters to tackle. Set in a more European-inspired locale, it was a blast taking on not only the base game’s roster of monsters with new tricks up their sleeves, but the brand new monsters inspired by classic European folklore. From the lupine Lunagaron, to the bulky Garangolm, and the vampiric Malzeno leading the pack, it was great to lose countless hours in a blink in the pursuit of just one more hunt. And of course there have been tons of free updates since launch to further tide hunters over lasting well into 2023 as well, so really what more could you ask for? Well you know besides cross-play or cross-progression? If nothing else, the expansion gave me an excuse to jump back into Rise’s world, swinging around like I’m Spider-Man with the Wirebugs and learning a whole new assortment of powerful Silkbind techniques. With Rise heading to other consoles in 2023 as well, players that still haven’t experienced it won’t have many excuses left.

#5 - BAYONETTA 3

You might have noticed my extensive review of Bayonetta 3 from a bit ago, so I’ll try not to retread things too much, and if you want to hear more of my thoughts, you know where to go. A game that was over five years in the making from its initial teaser, it was definitely one of the most anticipated titles for me this year. Platinumgames blends their over-the-top spectacle with deep and satisfying combat as they attempt to move their most well-known franchise forward, and despite stumbling on some things, they still came out swinging. The scale of some of these setpieces are out of this world, and even in normal combat the ability to summon and fight alongside a gigantic demon at virtually any time definitely gives Bayo’s latest romp a distinct identity all its own. The music might also be the strongest in the entire series, which is honestly kind of saying something. I can’t get the various battle themes out of my head, alongside the operatic piece “Fertile Rondo,” from what might be the game’s signature scene. While some didn’t quite like the focus on demon summoning, and uh…well the story has its own controversies to untangle, there’s no doubt that Platinum brought out all the stops for this one and after so long I’m glad it’s finally here. We have an honest-to-God Bayonetta spin-off in March 2023 to look forward to as well, so we won’t have to wait too long to see everyone’s favorite umbran witch.

#4 - SPLATOON 3

This was a year of hotly-anticipated third entries in ongoing Nintendo franchises, and perhaps the biggest of them was the launch of Splatoon 3. An absolute smash-hit of a series, particularly in Japan, the squid kids (and octarians) return for messier, inky battles alongside the signature “fresh” attitude that has set this series apart from every other core Nintendo title. While there was a lot of whining and gnashing of teeth over whether this game needed to even exist, or if it was different enough from past entries, Splatoon 3 delivered on a content-rich, highly polished multiplayer shooter, and most critics have been rather silent after its record breaking opening in Japan. With new weapon types, tweaked mechanics and a story mode that goes surprisingly hard, it’s a game I find myself coming back to and playing months after release. I’ve played more of Splatoon 3 in the first few months of its life than I put into about the entirety of Splatoon 2, just as an example of how much it gripped me. While the core of the series remains the same, the progression systems and constant stream of rewards has kept me coming back, and there’s only more in store down the line. With two years of planned free updates with a paid single-player expansion on the horizon, it’s pretty clear Splatoon 3 is going to be in my rotation of games for a good long while. Now if only they could fix the matchmaking…

#3 - POKEMON LEGENDS ARCEUS

It’s rare to get TWO Pokémon games in a year, and while Scarlet and Violet will undoubtedly get more attention as they kicked off a new generation, for my money I was much more impressed and satisfied with Pokémon Legends: Arceus overall. Releasing right at the START of this year, it’s been a constant in my mind, as an ambitious new direction for the series that I hope continues in some form going forward. Taking place in the distant past of the Sinnoh region, players are confronted with wild, aggressive Pokémon at every turn in a world where Pokémon Trainers are not yet a common occurrence. With the game having far more focus on catching and cataloging the Pokémon available in the region, this is really the first game in a long time where I felt compelled to “catch ‘em all.” Adding to all of this, Arceus’ revamped battles and streamlined approaches to teaching moves and buffing up stats on Pokémon resulted in a game with a far quicker pace that was a breath of fresh air in a series long accused of becoming stagnant. Admittedly, a lot of these changes came at the cost of what many consider to be core elements of the series. There were no gyms, barely any trainers to fight, and many of the design decisions likely wouldn’t work in a more traditional game without extensive rebalancing. The fact that this game largely drops any multiplayer component is pretty telling in that regard, and for those reasons I can understand why many would prefer something like Scarlet and Violet over this one. That said, the technical issues found in the generation 9 games weren’t nearly as present in Arceus and on top of that despite the environments being far simpler and smaller than the open world counterpart, I found navigation and exploring to be FAR smoother in this particular title which helped push it over the edge for me. I hope future Pokémon titles can blend the best of both attempts to create something truly special moving forward, but what we have now is a solid foundation that I really hope is built on.

#2 - KIRBY AND THE FORGOTTEN LAND

Everyone knows Kirby is a pretty consistently good series, but to see a Kirby game ranking this high should tell you this is something special. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the pink puffball’s first fully 3D mainline adventure, which is noteworthy enough on its own, but the fact that their first attempt feels more polished than most other platformers well into their 3D era is what elevates this further and nearly made it my game of the year. Kirby finds himself in a strange new world, the ruins of a bygone civilization dotting the various levels he travels through. That alone helps to give the game a lot more personality. You aren’t just going through a generic desert or beach level; it’s the ruins of an old mall that was beaten down by the elements, or .a flooded city barely glimpsed beneath the sparkling waters. While levels aren’t as open as some might like, they’re designed well, with plenty of hidden goodies to find if players are savvy enough. Adapting Kirby’s array of Copy Abilities into a fully 3D space was clearly a tough one, and while I do wish we had more powers available, the ones chosen feel great to control. Being able to evolve abilities into stronger forms is a nice bonus, and tying this all together is some surprisingly solid boss fights. Kirby games aren’t typically too challenging to get through, and sure this is no replacement for the Devil May Cry or Bayonetta games, but this is a great introduction to the genre for younger players. The fights are filled with some great spectacle and surprising depth, not to mention…you trigger slow motion if you perfectly time a dodge so…need I say more? I mean, I will. Hal Laboratory really knocked it out of the park here; the game looks amazing, the soundtrack is a real standout (even amongst other Kirby games) and compared to the somewhat lacking Star Allies this felt like a fully-formed game that left me almost completely satisfied afterward. The level design to rival the best platformers in the genre, a soundtrack that feels like it belongs in some epic RPG, with some combat and boss fights that make it feel like baby’s first Bayonetta…part of me still finds it odd to rate a Kirby game so highly but Forgotten Land is anything BUT forgettable and shouldn’t be missed.

#1 - XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3

Watching the Xenoblade series grow over the years has been a great experience. From the original Wii title that I lucked into getting, having no idea how rare it would become, to the ambitious if destined to flop Wii U title, Shulk appearing in Smash Bros. and the Switch era’s solidification of the brand as a core, if niche, series…it’s just great to see developer Monolith Soft continue to top themselves. Rumors abounded for quite a bit before its unveiling, but when the February Nintendo Direct closed with the proper reveal the surprise was still palpable. Xenoblade 3 quickly shot up to be one of my most anticipated games of this year, and after it launched in July I knew very early on this was going to be my Game of the Year.

Set in a world stuck in an endless war, six young soldiers, once sworn enemies, must learn to work together to set the world to rights. Xenoblade 3 tackles the horrors of constant fighting, the fragility of life, the fear of leaving an impact before you’re gone, but it also highlights the value of life, and makes seemingly mundane things we take for granted feel like miracles. It is a game that, even in the depths of a perpetual nightmare, never once loses hope for a better tomorrow. With how dark the world seems nowadays, I found this story really resonated with me; it’s the kind of story that I felt I needed to hear, gripped by my own indecision and fear of the unknown. Watching Noah, Mio and the rest of the group grow and come together was a heartwarming, and occasionally heartbreaking, journey and I came away loving the entire team. Monolith Soft crafted a gorgeous world that builds off of the previous mainline Xenoblade games, but still manages to stand on its own by delivering a character-focused narrative that had me gripped from the first moment. On the gameplay side of things, for as complex and at times overwhelming as the Xenoblade games can get at points, 3 is the most streamlined and approachable game in the series. The class system was a lot of fun to mess around with, and combined with some really gripping sidequests and optional party members to add to the group, it stands out as the first Xenoblade game where I did absolutely everything in it. I couldn’t put it down for the longest time, and by the end I felt sad that the journey was over. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 really feels like Monolith Soft firing on all cylinders; we have gorgeous vistas in a strong anime-influenced art style that pushes the limits of the Switch’s hardware, a powerful, memorable soundtrack with songs that still give me chills to this day. Seriously, The Weight of Life is also my Song of the Year. Taking the best elements from every previous entry, 3 feels like the most consistent game in the franchise. While there are aspects in the other games I might prefer over 3 in general, the entire package is the best it has ever been for Monolith Soft. We still have more to look forward to in 2023, with extra quests and costumes in the expansion pass, on top of a new story that, judging by 2’s DLC, will be a full game on its own. The entirety of the Switch era has really shown Monolith Soft has become the backbone for modern Nintendo; from their support teams assisting on first-party entries like the Splatoon series, Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, to the continued success of Xenoblade… I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next time. It’s likely to be another GOTY contender.

And that will do it for my Game of the Year discussions for this year. Obviously a lot of BIG games weren’t in this list, and I’m sure if I had gotten to them things would have shuffled a fair bit. I sadly missed out on Sony’s prestige titles like Horizon: Forbidden West or God of War: Ragnarök. Despite being surrounded by discussion on Elden Ring, I didn’t get around to it and might not for quite a while. There are even several smaller titles that caught by eye, like Neon White, Freedom Planet 2 or Stray that I’ll attempt to get to in the near future but ultimately…there are just too many games and not enough time. Gamers are spoiled for choice these days, and that makes me happy to see the industry still delivering some real solid hits. For as bad as things can get, I always have a game within reach to entertain me and occasionally hit me in such a way that it stays with me long after finishing it, and really I can’t ask for much more than that. Here’s to a great year in gaming, and here’s hoping 2023 can continue to deliver!

-B

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