It has certainly been a long time since I last posted here. Almost seven years, to be exact. In that time, I've become more of an editor and less of a writer. However, I do get the writing bug every once in a while. This time, I have some opinions about Bayonetta 3 that I need to get off my chest. Instead of doing the more traditional review, I want to do something more off-the-cuff. Thus, the title "Let's Talk". As such, this discussion will dive into heavy spoilers. With the admin out of the way, let's get talking about Platinum's newest — and possibly most controversial — game.
Despite there being five years from announcement to release, all the drama surrounding Bayonetta 3 was saved for the very last minute. From Helena Taylor's false claims on compensation, to a parade of glowing reviews, to criticism on the game's problematic implications on women empowerment and LGBTQIA+ representation, October was a wild ride for all discourse surrounding Bayonetta 3. Having completed the game just over a week ago, time to throw my hat into the conversation.
General Thoughts
Let's get this out of the way first. Bayonetta 3 is a very good game. Playing as Bayonetta is absolutely incredible. While I am nowhere near good at memorizing combos, I was able to combine weapon switching, demon summoning, and dodging into visually stunning combos. However, your mileage may vary on the other gameplay styles that Platinum introduces throughout Bayonetta 3.
Although I enjoyed how the more open levels got me to explore every nook and cranny for collectibles and optional Verses, the act of exploring won't be rewarding for every player. The Jeanne side levels work better as a currency farming minigame, rather than an integral part of the story. And the unique mechanics for the major boss fights are hit or miss at best. Given Platinum's current woes and the game's secret level, the injection of multiple playstyles and gimmicks in Bayonetta 3 made me feel like I was playing a demo reel attached to finished game instead of a cohesive experience.
Now that I got the gameplay out of the way, it's time to talk about the two most contentious parts of Bayonetta 3: the story and Viola.
The Story
No matter the game, Bayonetta's story is just an excuse to move between increasingly more unbelievable action set pieces and fun little moments of levity. While there is a semblance of narrative progression and character development, you are not meant to take them seriously. Unfortunately, Bayonetta 3 never gets that memo.
Outside of a few fleeting moments, the narrative takes everything with a straight face. However, doing so shines a light on all the flaws with the story — especially if said story contradicts previously established themes and characterizations.
All these flaws are put on full display in Bayonetta 3's ending.
From a gameplay and fan service perspective, playing the ending is fun. It is challenging enough to keep me engaged, yet not to the point of frustration. Plus, the moments where all versions of Bayonetta and Jeanne team up to fight Singularity and you control a fusion of the three main Bayonettas are excellent ways to honour the legacy of this series.
Taking the ending seriously as a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy of games, it fails spectacularly. Chief among its failures is how the creators don't understand or maybe even respect the characters of this series. Yes, you can say that this is a multiverse story and these versions of Bayonetta, Jeanne, Luka, and the other returning cast aren't the same as the ones we grown to love from the previous two games. But that is incredible cop out to explain mischaracterizing Bayonetta and Luka to such a degree.
In particular, Luka goes from the quirky comic relief character that has no combat capabilities to the most competent character in the series. Despite getting help from thousands of different versions of herself across the multiverse, Bayonetta NEEDS Luka to beat the final boss. Worse yet, there is no explanation for his newfound werewolf power. If you want me to take your story seriously Platinum, how do you not answer this one huge question in almost 20 hours of game? While I don't mind that Luka and Bayonetta end up as a couple — it is highly telegraphed through the very existence of Viola — having Bayonetta swoon over him and implying that it is fate for every version of Bayonetta and Luka end up together just feels like a character assassination.
While this mischaracterization of key characters is bad, I believe the handling of Jeanne's death is even worse.
At the end of the Chapter 13, Jeanne is stabbed in the back by Dr. Sigurd, who turns out to be Singularity. My only explanation for this death is to galvanize Bayonetta to stop Sigurd's plans. However, it doesn't factor into proceedings as Bayonetta barely mourns her best friend and possible lover. On top of that, Bayonetta survives getting impaled through the torso by Wolf Luka's claw earlier in that same chapter. If Bayonetta can survive a severely worse wound, why does Jeanne die from something so insignificant? Like I mentioned earlier, it feels like the creators behind the game don't respect these characters, which is a shame because most of the audience does.
Viola
I may anger some people with this, but I don't like Viola. In fact, the pushing of Viola as the new protagonist of the series has left me completely uninterested in the future of Bayonetta.
Before diving into my reasons for disliking Viola, let's start with a few positives. Viola has a great design, her battle theme is a bonafide banger, and Cheshire is a fun demon companion.
Unfortunately, everything else about Viola just doesn't work. The main offenders are her characterization and gameplay.
In terms of characterization, Viola takes far too many traits from Luka and not enough from Bayonetta. While she may look cool and punk when performing combos or completing Verses, she is anything but. From constantly spouting cringe-worthy dialogue to being a non-factor in action set pieces, Viola is made to look like a the fool more times than not. As a result, you get a joke character trusted into a major role.
When it comes to gameplay, Viola is never given enough of the spotlight for players to become familiar with her moveset; not that Bayonetta 3 does a good job teaching you it. Unless you played Metal Gear Rising or another game that relies heavily on parrying, you're not in for a good time. It doesn't help that the three chapters — barely a fifth of the game — where Viola is playable are built for Bayonetta. On top of that, you don't get to control Viola until about four hours into the game. So after all that time experiencing the pure bliss of Bayonetta and her expansive moveset, you are given the chance to play as Viola, who has a drastically new mechanic to activate Witch Time, a smaller moveset, and one demon to summon. Talk about a pacing killer.
These problems are compounded by Platinum doing a horrendous job in positioning Viola as the new protagonist for the series. Going back to my discussion on the ending, you may have noticed that I made no mention of Viola. That's because she plays no part in it — despite being present for a moment or two. Any time Viola tries to help, she is immediately sidelined due to weird multiversal shenanigans or Singularity literally swatting her away like a fly. So, instead of having a full family team up to best Singularity — and possibly avoiding the whole undermining themes of women empowerment criticism — Viola gets to fight shadowy, corrupted version of Bayonetta and a giant squid after the credits roll.
This fight leads to a spectral Bayonetta giving Viola the right to the "Bayonetta" name, thus passing the torch to a new generation. However, that new generation is made to be vastly inferior to her predecessor in every way over the course of 20 hours. Thanks to this I have little to no interest in the prospect of Bayonetta 4 or any spinoff starring Viola.
