Nintendo and Platinum Games have announced the action hand-drawn game “Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon” during last night’s Game Awards event. The game will be released for Nintendo Switch on March 17th 2023, with pre-orders available now.
Between the sage who governs over the light, and the witch who reigns over the darkness, the forbidden child Cereza (Young Bayonetta) was born. The young Cereza breaks her master’s orders and ventures alone in the forbidden forest of “Avalon”, wanting nothing more than to save her imprisoned mother, however, she will meet many dangerous and creepy fairies along the way. To defend herself, the young witch will learn to summon her first demon from the underworld; a demon possessing her cherished stuffed today called “Cheshire”, and her sole companion for the entirety of her emotional journey.
Bayonetta Origins is a game in which you control both Cereza and Cheshire at the same time to “solve mysteries” and “battle fairies”. Various gimmicks are scattered in the forest, and depending on the situation, the player can advance by using each device properly to build bridges with Cereza’s sorcery or destroy obstacles with Cheshire’s claws. Cooperation between the two is also important in fighting against the fairies. With Cereza restraining the fairies with magic, and Cheshire attacking them with its claws, it is now possible to stand on equal footing with monsters that would be difficult to deal with alone.
As seen in the trailer, the entirety of the game is expressed in a picture-book style, and every scene progresses as though the pages of a book are being turned. The players will also get to see a different side of Bayonetta, who was once called the strongest witch. As the origin story is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, the game supports the dual nature of the Nintendo Switch joy-con controllers, as the players will be able to use the left joy-con controller to bind enemies with Cereza’s magic, and the right joy-con controller will be reserved for Cheshire’s claws and slashes.
Cereza was a character first featured in the first Bayonetta, and was brought into the present timeline by the evil wizard Baldr. Throughout the journey, she will follow her older self, mistaking her for her mother Rosa. It is also shown in Bayonetta 3 – where multiple versions of Bayonetta exist – that the main Bayonetta of this game resembles a grown-up version of this Cereza, according to how she looks and interacts with others.
