Bayonetta 3: Took a Wrong Turn at Albuquerque

 For people who have not finished or played Bayonetta 3, I ask that you refrain from looking at this piece as I will be discussing the ending to Bayonetta 3 in addition to my thoughts on the game as a whole. With that out of the way let's begin. 

The combat and some of the new gameplay sections in Bayonetta 3 are really good and some of them are not so great to really bad. The main story fights against groups of enemies and singular enemies were done super well with a nice flow to combat sequences that made the dance very satisfying and a joy to play. While some of the challenge areas were downright atrocious, especially in Viola sections. For those that don't know, Viola is a DMC type of character where dodging is not her activation for Witch Time, and instead you have to parry. This contradicts the flow of many Bayonetta sequences, making the game feel uncomfortable in some areas. These areas include Witch Time damage only portions and big enemies that have an invisible wall in front of them preventing close combat. With the Witch Time sections, unless you pull off a perfect parry, you will not do damage. Not to mention these sections had a timer as opposed to being related to a set amount of hits you can take. So, your time is being wasted as some enemies refuse to engage you. I get what the idea was, but the execution just wasn't up to par. 

The other problem section for Viola involved mainly large flying enemies that would have to attack from outside the combat platform. This included a large, invisible wall, as stated earlier, separating the player character from the enemy. While Cereza may have the tools to close gap and put up consistent damage, Viola could only throw her Katana. Her close combat fighting style just doesn't work for these enemy types. Granted she would only run into this problem in extra missions. Yet it made the gameplay option feel stupid when she was barely usable or fun in these instances. Fortunately these issues were small and nowhere near as flagrant as the abysmal endgame writing for the game. As the negativity is about to skyrocket, I want to make it clear that I still really like this game. I just hate the absolute mindboggling wrap-up done in this game.

I just finished playing the game yesterday, so my brain has been bouncing this story around for a while and I really don't understand how the writing staff can come to the conclusion that people like Luka this much or that people would be comfortable with handing the keys to the new character. It sucks because Viola is a fantastic character, but she is missing the qualities that Cereza and Jeanne have. Those slick moves being near perfect with minor flaws in their movements. She's too goofy and the whole vibe of what separates Bayonetta from DMC is ultimately missed when you have Viola in the lead role. Not to mention she is missing for a large portion of the endgame and only gets the last boss fight which feels a little disrespectful. The team meant to send Cereza off into the sunset, but they dropped her off in a ditch.  

Getting to my main problem with the endgame of Bayonetta 3, we have a couple issues. The first offence we come across is the usage of the other games not being connected because they were banking on this largescale multiverse plot. This is only really used to justify them having Luka in such an important role when all he has ever been was a reliable friend. His advances were corny and making him the love interest is about as believable as Enzo. With how interconnected the first two games are, it doesn't make sense to just abandon all the legwork done in those games, so someone can say Luka got the girl. I don't hate Luka, but Bayonetta 2 gave us the Cereza x Jeanne story that felt very natural and didn't force Future Trunks on us. For someone to go to Hell to save their loved one was so fulfilling in comparison. There are even comparable in this third game with the Cereza and Jeanne of the third universe that supports that relationship. It just blows my mind that the direction took such a turn.

The second issue that I came to was biggest flag in the game. That is when Jeanne dies. Cereza has one line and sees her disappear eventually, but that is all that came of it. It was so confusing because the three game multiverse doesn't happen until the next chapter. So the audience is led to believe that the second game is irrelevant and it just left a bad taste in my mouth. What is the reasoning behind shitting on Jeanne like that? In every facet, Jeanne should be more important to Cereza. All the festivities and endgame wrap-up were just clouded in hopeful thoughts involving more cutscenes hoping the game didn't just do what it did. But the fucked up thing is that it kept going. 

The last and probably most important issue is killing Cereza and giving Luka an ending he didn't earn. This game really made me dislike Luka in these moments because his actions are almost all offscreen and his abilities never get explained. He looks similar to residents from Inferno and Paradiso, but they're different. He gets these cool moments that are usually once or twice a game for him, yet they happen quite a lot at the end of the game. Somewhere along this journey you are supposed to believe that Cereza is like, "He's the one for me". For them to die together like tragic lovers was such an awful end to Cereza who very much never engaged Luka like this before the last two chapters. However the actual problem is the fact that Cereza dies. So the only Witch at the end is Viola, who does not play in the conventional Bayonetta way. I'm not playing the game because the title on the box. I'm playing for the specific character and gameplay experience. That's like killing Sonic and now you play as Silver, but his name is Sonic now. It just doesn't make sense.

As much as I like the game and the series, it is really hard to get behind a new Bayonetta title that is not the prequel coming out. The awful writing at the end of the game made the credits sequence sour because you had to sit through a nightmare scenario and you just had to let it happen. We'll see how they rebound in the next title, however the hope is nonexistent. Bayonetta 3 has one of the worst endings I have ever witnessed from a franchise that I love. A true heartbreaker.