It was easy to fall into the mistake that with Bayonetta 3 there would be no surprise, after all, we already knew what we were coming for, but the truth is that it has been a capital one. Because of the depth of his mechanics, the fun of his proposal and how he converts the sequelitis of the “more and better” in a “everything and perfect“, Bayonetta 3 It is the greatest exponent of what it means to be a video game.
It may be that his story does not appeal to everyone equally and that on a technical level he is crying out for a jump to a machine with more possibilities, but if there is something that cannot be held against Bayonetta 3 it is his love for the medium.
Not only because of its chained references and tributes, but also because of how it manages to remove the dust where it smells closed, and reduces to the point of turning into kalimotxo all the 80-euro wines that have too many airs of grandeur. Bayonetta of my life, it’s good that you came back.
Bayonetta 3 is pure excess
A few days ago we talked about the types of sequels to which the medium has accustomed us to separate them between the one that falls short, the one that is limited to more and better, and the one that seeks an evolutionary leap. Bayonetta 3 introduces a fourth variant, the one from the saga who doesn’t know if he will live long enough to see another day and, far from keeping any ideas for what may be to come, decides to go with everything that comes to mind.
Bayonetta 3 it exceeds what any other video game could consider normal, but also what the saga itself understood as such. Both its number of available weapons and the combos you can perpetrate with them are overwhelming.
But not content with that number, they double the possibilities, allowing you to make summons, and even transform yourself into one of them, so that the mere fact of calculating how many options you have in the same combo is capable of burning the circuits of a quantum computer.
Being able to change at will between three different invocations among the many available, here the great trick is to see dance Bayonetta in a corner while our usual punches and kicks translate into punches, grabs and combos performed by the giant monster that now occupies the screen under our control. Switching between otherworldly punches, foot shots, and the brief or prolonged appearance of these behemoths is, as any fan of this saga could hope and desire, a delight.
It could be one of those cases in which the sum of layers upon layers ends up turning the experience into an absolute sindio in which you don’t know where the hosts come from or where you direct them, but as is usual again in Platinum Games, the actions are once again a matter of just three buttons, simplifying its use to the maximum and allowing you to delve into it only as far as you want to go. Of course, I already anticipate that the rabbit hole has no end.
Faced with the fear of not being able to touch the difference between the weapons we carry in our hands and those that adorn our heels, Bayonetta 3 shows with just a couple of minutes that any fear we could have was unfounded.
The glory of playing this well, of learning the combos of your favorite weapons and combining them with the appearance of a giant spider and a hellhound that catches a kaiju by the throat, is as excessive as it is satisfying.
Some insane fights
Sticking to the option of giant monsters, and limiting itself to just a handful of narrow corridors, the settings, exploration, and action sequences grow to an insane level here. Bayonetta 3 you need as much space as possible so that the summon of a giant frog drops on the site while you transform into a devilish train that runs through the area annihilating enemies with your cogwheels.
It’s a game of disbelief, of playing not just for fun but also to see what new craziness he has up his sleeve for the next act. And they don’t run out.
To the fear about where he would throw his story was also added the appearance of the character of Viola and, perhaps even causing some moisture in the eyes, on both sides there are more than enough reasons to come to his defense.
I shouldn’t and don’t want to talk about the first thing -you’re going to love it-, but about the second it does seem like a good time to break a spear in his favor. Nothing to do with the insufferable and repellent Loki from Bayonetta 2, Viola gains much more prominence here and, although she does not have the charisma of the witch or her playable weight, she is one of those continuous changes destined to short-circuit the brain inviting you to play in another way that suits the franchise so well.
The key is that, unlike the witch, it is her parry that activates witch time, demanding more exquisite precision but giving a few more seconds to unleash chaos based on combos.
Along with that, the invocation that is hidden in her sword does not leave Viola dancing and helpless as in the case of Bayonettainstead, you can swell up punching while a giant AI-controlled cat does its thing.
In comparison, her appearances are few and in a certain sense towards the end you end up wanting to get rid of her so you can try the new weapons and summons that you just unlocked in the previous chapter for Bayonetta, but between her sword blows -and her musicote- it is no less true that those sequences end up happening in a sigh. A change that is hard to get used to? Of course. One that you learn to value and enjoy? Of course.
The demonstration of what it means to be a great video game
Perfectly measuring the mixture of new weapons, new invocations, new transformations, and changes in the playable in the form of controllable phases more popcorn or others that serve as a tribute to video game classics, Bayonetta 3 It is the typical game with which it is impossible to choke.
It’s spoonful after spoonful of honey destined to turn your throat into the slipperiest slide in the world. What new madness do you want to strain me? This? Well inside.
The magic of the witch is not in that, of course, anyone can do that, but what is more difficult is to ensure that none of those spoonfuls is cloying or heavy. You are so open to what may come, enjoying so much what it means to have a controller in your hands while playing Bayonetta 3that any news or change is always well received.
I did not expect, without going any further, to extend in the exploration of scenarios the little more than ten hours that the first lap will last -you already know what this is about, passing it the first time is only the tutorial of everything that is to come-.
We had come to slap like cathedrals, here literally, so seeing me move away from what smells like a new and epic battle to get closer to hidden combat challenges, or being distracted by cute mini-challenges like walking through lava in spider form, turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
With one of the most satisfying and fun mobility systems that has passed through my hands in a long time -balancing like a spider is completely unexpected-, moving from here to there is not only intended to reach the next distribution of cakes, is one more part of that continuous tribute that makes Bayonetta 3 to the idea of being a video game and elevating to exhaustion everything that can fit in it.
Finding out where he intends to get his hands on again, be it in Metal Gear Solid or in Ikaruga, is always a cause for celebration not only for the wink itself, but for daring to risk and break the mold to show that Bayonetta 3, as is usually the best face of Platinum when it is in a state of grace -and boy, is it here-, it is something completely different from what the medium has accustomed us to today. It is simply something else. Something better.
VidaExtra’s opinion
I admit having lost hope and the desire to shout to the video game world to what extent Bayonetta should be fixed, from that first game of 2010 until today, in everything it does and how it does it.
It’s not that I don’t deserve it, and Bayonetta 3 further demonstrates to what extent its defenders are still right, it’s just that I’ve learned to live with the idea that this arcade spirit in a triple A, that phrase referring to this could be a Dreamcast game, it seems more and more have the days numbered. Now I just want to enjoy them calmly.
I am satisfied with having seen this franchise born and having accompanied it to a chapter that, in the absence of a miracle in sales or a blow from Platinum, tastes a bit like a farewell. I’m so glad I came to this show, this celebration of what it means to be a video game, sitting in the front row. If you want to sit next to me, there’s room for another one. what a miracle it is Bayonetta 3 and how happy it makes me that, finally, you are going to be able to enjoy it.
Bayonetta 3
platforms | switch |
---|---|
multiplayer | Nope |
developer | Platinum Games |
Company | Nintendo |
Launch | October 28, 2022 |
The best
- An insane amount of weapons, summons and combos.
- Bigger stages for more epic fights.
- Exploration and its hidden challenges.
- You can pass it 3 times and keep smelling new.
Worst
- On a technical level, Nintendo Switch does not give for more.