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GAMING FEATURE

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NUDGE,

NUDGE… The Bayonetta games

are riddled with assorted nods to previous Hideki Kamiya works, including Resident Evil , Viewtiful Joe , Devil May Cry , and Ōkami .

new gameplay mechanics, including the slow motion Witch Time, special Torture Attacks, and all the fun of the full magic gauge triggered Umbran Climax for a boost in the heat of battle. Two-player online co-op also made its debut. EVERYBODY’S THREE! It would be an eight year wait before Bayonetta fans were reunited with their heroine, with the arrival of the aptly titled Bayonetta 3 on Switch in 2022. Wisely it didn’t reinvent the wheels that were so much fun to roll with in the first two Bayonetta adventures. What Bayonetta 3 did was take all the good slash and maim ’em up stuff from its history and

She’s the witch queen of gaming, sweeties. She’s Bayonetta, and she’s back for her fourth outing this month. But this one’s a different story, that of how a young witch became who we now know as Bayonetta.With Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon about to land, we take a quick trip through the franchise’s brief but highly enjoyable history. Words Amy Flower

give it a bit of a boost, adding everything from even more manic move combos, to outbreaks of wild and crazy kaiju (giant monster) action. Story-wise, Ms B. once again faced off against angelic and demonic onslaughts, with the added fun of thwarting a nasty entity that’s trying to squish

Bayonetta 3

fighting with a whole lot of humour and cheekiness, and functioned as our introduction to Bayonetta, a witch who awakens after a 500-year snooze only to find herself stuck in the midst of a battle between angels and demons. Never one to be unprepared, between her magical powers, arsenal of guns, and her remarkable transforming hair, she was ready for allcomers, setting out to banish the evil forces doing their best to destroy the world, while also seeking truths about her past. TWO TIME! Following the success of this first outing, a follow-up was assured, and Platinum delivered in 2014 with Bayonetta 2 . This time Nintendo’s Wii U was our witchy wonder’s exclusive playground (well, until a Switch release several years later), and it ably continued her story as she sought out the Gates of Hell in order to

A STAR IS BORN It was 2009 when Bayonetta first bewitched fans of high action adventuring, with her titular debut hitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles via publisher SEGA. One of the first releases from Japan’s PlatinumGames, founded

all corners of the multiverse into one neat little singularity package. The best bit? More Bayonettas! Yes, variations on the titular heroine abounded, and once unlocked each of their particular unique skills could be called upon in battle. ONCE UPON A TIME… Now, mere months later, we’re in for a different style of Bayonetta adventure, in Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon . Set long before she received her now famous name, it’s the tale of a young witch named Cereza, and Cheshire, her demonically possessed plush toy, who enter the treacherous Avalon Forest on quest to save her mum. A more puzzle-oriented affair with gorgeous, storybook inspired graphics, players will variously control Cereza and Cheshire as they nut out problems and, of course, take on various foes with their co-op magical abilities.

Bayonetta

by a trio of gaming veterans including Hideki Kamiya, who’d previously worked on several top titles at Capcom, it soon became a solid fan favourite. While much of this popularity was down to the star of the show, combining the sass and skills of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a seductive Supernanny vibe, the fact that the

Bayonetta 2

game itself was a blast to play did help somewhat in establishing the franchise as an ongoing treat. Bayonetta was really Kamiya’s baby, and as director and writer his stated intent was to create a new style of action game. The result combined action-drenched, combo-laden

Bayonetta’s watch features the numbers 14111219, which correspond to her birthday of December 19, 1411. DYK?

rescue her gal-pal Jeanne. As well as giving our heroine a hair and ensemble makeover, Bayonetta 2 also introduced some

• Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is out on Mar 17

46 MARCH 2023

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