Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Genre-hopping is often the preserve of the most iconic of video game characters. Your Marios, Sonics and Sackboys are so instantly identifiable that people are happy to hop on board no matter what they’re doing, whether that’s racing in karts, hopping on platforms or having them pummel the digital stuffing out of other characters. Bayonetta was clearly on her way to similar stardom when she arrived in Super Smash Bros., but with Cereza and the Lost Demon she’s cementing herself as a true icon.

While Cereza and the Lost Demon isn’t quite the genre leap that Mario and Sonic at the Olympics is, it’s still a huge departure from the Devil May Cry-esque combo-heavy action of the three Bayonetta games. While those games see a decidedly adult Bayonetta utilising guns, high-kicks and carnivorous hair to despatch her opponents, in this game Cereza is a young apprentice witch, whose command of the magical arts remains rudimentary. In fact, she’s reliant upon the power of another to survive the puzzling escapade she’s found herself embroiled in.

The mainline games feature the ability to command demons, and Cereza and the Lost Demon essentially offers an origin story for those skills. Despite a clear warning not to go there, Cereza sets out into Avalon Forest in search of her mother, and within minutes of this quest beginning she finds herself in trouble. As a rookie witch, this is her first attempt at summoning, and Cereza manages to harness a demon by bonding it with her stuffed toy cat, Cheshire. Bayonetta 3 fans have come to know him well in recent months, but he’s considerably more adorable here, despite being a vicious, angry and unashamedly aggressive creature.

Much of the game’s charm lies in the thoroughly lovely art direction,