3.5/5 ★ – Tye_Boy's review of Bayonetta 3.

Bayonetta 3, as quality of a game as it is, is an overstuffed game that generally feels too ambitious for its own good. There’s still a fair number of things I enjoyed out of the 15 hours or so that I put into beating it. While not as sharp and crisp as Bayonetta 2, 3 nevertheless boasts a solid visual foundation, with fantastic character and enemy designs. Just as, if not even better than the visuals is the soundtrack, which fantastically jazzes up the game, arguably being the best part of it. The voice acting is solid across the board. It controls well for the most part, with the combat on display being generally as top-notch as what Platinum Games specializes in. Even some of the side challenges I gave a go were quite fun. In a year where multiverse-based media has been strongly prevalent, seeing Platinum tackle it as their narrative only adds to the uninteresting nature that its largely become for me. Even if the game has been in development long before then. Plus, parts of the overall narrative felt confusing to me, while others (far less in number in comparison) gave me emotional-whiplash. I felt a disconnect from the characters, due to the multiverse nature of the story, which continues on in its story. Even though we are familiar with Bayonetta and the other characters that have appeared in the other games, this version of Bayonetta is different from the others, making me feel less than I did with the first two games. Also, was I the only one not to realize that the Bayonetta in 2 is a different one from the first game? I had the strong belief up to this point that the two of them were one of the same, but 3 seems to disprove that. The narrative isn’t exactly one full of vigour and true intrigue. Much of it starts to feel repetitive by a point, even with the variety that comes along. The confusion I felt from some of it really bothered me. I want to try and get into it, but the way things are shown and executed, some of it seemingly without much reasoning or context, only fuelled that bitterness inside me. Plus, the ending. In addition to it being as is shown, the ending goes on for too long, with different credits sequences splicing through more gameplay and story that kind of drags by a certain point. The pacing in and across each chapter is now way off from how it used to be. In the other games, there was an intertwining pattern in the length of chapters, with some being sizeable in length and content, with others being far shorter and containing just a boss fight. Here, most chapters are about an hour long, with some towards the end varying in length. To me, that majority just feels too long to me. There’s a bunch of other smaller differences here compared to the first two games that I’m not a fan of: - The UI has a mobile game feel to it, with tiny health bars above the average enemies. - The camera feels too pulled out at times - The techniques no longer being sold in the shop, and instead being a skill tree that you can access and upgrade at any point in the game. While I get the absolute ease in access it now grants, it throws the in-game shop’s economy completely out of whack. With techniques gone from there, all you can buy are items (which you’re discouraged from using in order to get a higher rank in a given chapter), other special items, and cosmetics. I didn’t really buy much from there, so by the end of the game, I had way too much of the main currency than I knew what to do with. And I said the main one, because there are two more in the game, each with their own purposes aside from the shop. - In relation to this, the different weapons and demons you can obtain are too many in number. Sure, there’s distinct variety, and I found myself enjoying a few of them, but the amount of them is kind of overwhelming. As mentioned earlier, the gameplay is generally quite good. But there are still some things about it that I am iffy about. What were once linear-esque games in this trilogy have now opened up more, bringing open areas to Bayonetta 3. They feel too large and empty to be implemented here, with collectables and side objectives spread out thinly throughout them. I wish they were kept the same general structure as before. Despite the mechanic of controlling demons while in combat, I’m not a fan of how reminiscent they are of Astral Chain. I don’t like how much it takes from Astral Chain, between its gameplay mechanics and switching into other worlds. It ends up making this game feel like a mix of that and Bayonetta, with a hint of open-world design, rather than a Bayonetta game. I also just found the game to be too much at times. Tutorials are constantly popping up throughout much of the game, to the point where it becomes overwhelming for me to take in and understand it all. I feel like I had more to say about this game, but my willpower to carry on writing them out is dwindling. If anything, those that are noted above are a selection of thoughts I have about it. Ultimately, Bayonetta 3 is the weakest in this trilogy, yet has enough good and charm within it to make it worth checking out. Even if once, as will be the case for me.