Earlier this year, we met with Nintendo at PAX West 2022 to preview their upcoming games Splatoon 3 and Bayonetta 3. Walking away from that meeting, we were excited to see what Nintendo and Platinum Games had in store for fans within the coming months. After the release of Splatoon 3 in September received critical praise, our anticipation for Bayonetta 3 increased exponentially. Now after completing the game, we feel semi-foolish. Sadly, many fans’ hopes for the trilogy are now dead and the series looks to be going in a direction that many will not support. Aside from the voice-acting controversy, Bayonetta 3 leaves us asking, why?
Within the last year, multiple multiverse films and games have been released. Each multiverse game and movie have been relatively successful; some key examples are Spider-Man: No Way Home, Everything Everywhere All at Once, MultiVersus, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With Bayonetta 3, Platinum Games looked to cash in on the trend but missed the mark drastically. So why are we saying this? What possibly went wrong? Well, let’s discuss it and by the end, you can decide.
Story/Gameplay
Bayonetta 3 is the story of Bayonetta and Viola and their search for chaos gears. With the chaos gears, the team should be able to reach the Alphaverse and take out Singularity. In the opening sequence, we witness Singularity and Bayonetta fighting. As Viola watches the battle, she is given a world bridge to seek help from other universes. We are then brought to New York City where Bayonetta is shopping with Enzo. NYC is attacked by Homunculi. This sets players on a journey to recruit help from other universes.
With each universe Bayonetta and Viola travel to, they encounter another adoption of Bayonetta. In each universe, the outcome remains the same. In the end, Bayonetta witnesses the demise of that universe, the death of a Bayonetta, and gets a new summon and a new weapon. With each new summons found, the player is guided towards that universe’s Bayonetta and helps with that level’s puzzles.
Upon reaching the final battle, the player gets to see all the different universes’ Jeannes & Bayonettas that Singularity took down. Meanwhile, Viola is tasked with chasing down Luka. The two biggest issues with Bayonetta 3‘s story are the lack of an overall story and the little bit of a story that is present is easily predictable.
Story Problems
Platinum Games fails to explain why each universe’s Bayonetta is important. They fail to build a bond between Bayonetta and Viola. Hell, they even fail to give Viola much character depth. The fact that they position Viola to take over the series is a slap in the face of fans. Throughout the campaign, they give enough context clues to easily imply Viola’s relationship with Bayonetta and Luka. The people saying that they could see which way the plot was going either have to be naive or just idiots.
Luka’s part of the story is briefly covered but feels more like it was glanced over rather than being fleshed out. At the end of the game, they try to explain it quickly to make his part feel significant but comes off empty and in a way insulting; why glance over a beloved character’s role with a very meniscal backstory? They have Viola looking to protect Luka and fight a werewolf, but never put two and two together until it’s said outright; it’s honestly an insult to the player’s intelligence.
Even if you beat the game in thirteen hours, the poorly-written story will make it feel a lot longer. Additionally, the Phenomenal Remnant’s unlocked by collecting the Umbran Tears of Blood fail to expand the story; they just give the player additional challenges to complete. This doesn’t even cover the multiple gameplay issues.
Bayonetta 3 – Gameplay Issues Style Changes
Throughout the game, players will predominantely play as Bayonetta but some missions will require them to play as Viola and Jeanne. In these instances, the game’s plot will jump around or take the player away from the current environment. At one point in the game, one mission will focus on Viola and her search for Chesire but then the next chapter will focus on Bayonetta before she reunited with Viola; if we recall correctly, there is no indication of this taking place before the previous chapter’s events.
In between universes, a side chapter must be played in order to proceed. These side missions showcase Jeanne breaking into a top-secret facility guarded by Homunculi to search for Dr. Sigurd; during the first three side missions, the gameplay changes focusing on side-scrolling action and stealth. In the third chapter, although sticking with the 2D style, it focuses more on the player battling a boss rather than a stealth sequence. These first three side missions remind us of Mega Man and Mario in the 80s and 90s. The final side chapter still sticks with the side-scrolling action but gives the world more depth.
Main Quest Changes
In a way, the side missions feel as if they were assigned to a different department or company to create a different mini-game rather than being directly connected to the Bayonetta fighting style. Beyond the 2D Side missions, the gameplay changes with a greater focus on summons and Kaiju battles. In fact, it feels as if there is almost too much of a focus on them. Kaiju battles are closer to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors than an actual monster battle. As for the monster summons, there is a strong focus on them being required to complete each universe’s puzzles. Instead, they could have been used to give the player a deeper understanding of the universe they are in while explaining why they are significant to that Bayonetta.
The changes in combat styles, boring Kaiju battles, and insignificant side missions feel like something to waste time rather than expanding on Bayonetta’s story.
Graphics
Up next is Bayonetta 3‘s graphics. While playing through this game, you will feel like something is wrong. No, it is not the fact that all these different Bayonettas are dying. The three biggest offenders are motion blur and character design. You are probably going, wow, that’s pretty much the whole game and you would be right. Now, we aren’t saying that the game looks awful, just that it has issues.
Outside of Bayonetta and occasionally Viola, other characters look like they were given just enough texture to complete the scene. On numerous occasions Jeanne and Luka’s outfits looked like they hadn’t finished rendering before the cutscene started, yet, when you play as Jeanne in the side missions, they look more defined.
During cutscenes and summon fights, motion blur is definitely an issue. In Cutscenes, the camera will try to change focus, and rather than changing focus directly, it looks as if the camera tries to change to pan to the subject quickly leaving a blur. Bayonetta’s skin customization is absolutely atrocious with most shadders looking like they were done in paint.
Levels in the game are beautiful but rather empty; they feel as if they were made to match the open levels of Zelda or Xenoblade but without things filling it, the environment looks too empty. With as much free space as they give, Platinum Games could easily have added more encounters, puzzles, or challenges. Hell, they could have made it a co-op experience.
Controls
Bayonetta 3’s controls are relatively decent. We highly recommend not playing the game using Joycons or you might break the analog sticks. In fact, this game should only be played with an actual control. Thank god there were no motion controls needed on top of everything else. Players have very limited options when it comes to button remapping. Out of the four control schemes, the changes between them are minimal. The game forces players to enter the menu to use items which is a drastic change from the previous games.
Audio/SFX
Beyond the change in voice actors for Bayonetta, the overall voice acting in the game is decent. Although Viola’s voice actor did a good job with the character, Viola’s lines feel empty. Yes, there are moments where you can feel her concern for her parents and teammates, but beyond that, she sounds like an annoying child. The game barely gives the player a chance to connect with Viola.
Bayonetta 3’s soundtrack is arguably the best aspect of the game. The soundtrack combines what you love from the first two games and brings it into the third. The musical composition sets the mood for the different levels and enhances the battles. The game’s ending song also gives a nice call back to Frank Sinatra and Fly Me to the Moon.
Replayability
Bayonetta 3‘s replayability is rather average. For fans of collecting, there are a variety of cosmetics, decorations, equipment, and time trials to complete. Sadly, if you are not a collector or someone who likes to play games with a variety of difficulties, this game is not for you. The witch tears unlock side levels from that area but those do not enhance the story, they just give coins and items as rewards. If you are looking for depth, even New Tales from the Borderlands has more.
Bayonetta 3 Verdict
Going into Bayonetta 3, we had high hopes for future Bayonetta games. Now, after completing it, we hope that they never release another Bayonetta title or that if they do, they put more effort into it. The story is a bigger disaster than Kingdom Hearts 3. The game features very little story and the story it does have feels like it was written by a child. In fact, it is an infuriating slap in the face of Bayonetta fans. Fans of the franchise should be mad about this game.
The gameplay isn’t consistent with it feeling like the team was trying to do too many things all at once; it honestly feels like a hodge-podge game-types. Players should not waste their time with the game’s cosmetics beyond unlocking the alternate outfits. The controls in the game are abusive to Joycons and require a more sturdy controller to play the game. The only redeemable factor of the game is the soundtrack.
Honestly, we recommend waiting until the game goes on sale before picking it up. We do not recommend this as a Holiday present. Honestly, stick with Sparks of Hope or Pokemon Scarlet and Violet if buying for a Switch player.
