Dabbling in Demos: Bayonetta Origins – Cereza and the Lost Demon

 

This game is the work of Platinum Games, and it stars a younger version of Cereza, the uber-badass and gorgeous Umbra Witch from Bayonetta; yet anybody expecting anything even remotely close to, well, Bayonetta, is in for a sore disappointment. 

 

 

That’s not to say that Cereza is a bad game; in fact, it’s a truly excellent game, and it’s on its way to becoming a welcome addition to The Collection — and a New Classic of mine, providing that the gameplay remains as fulfilling as in the demo. I won’t elaborate on the splendid graphics and unique atmosphere, because anybody with a functioning pair of retinas can plainly see all the goodness Cereza has to offer on that front; instead, I’ll rave about the gameplay, the controls, and the character chemistry.

 

 

So, gameplay: we’re dealing with an action-adventure game, and a rather deliberate one at that — told you this was no Bayonetta. Little Cereza starts the game on her own, but is soon joined by the titular Lost Demon, who winds up possessing Cereza’s stuffed cat toy Cheshire. Both Cereza and Cheshire boast unique abilities, and can combine them in various ways to progress; as you may guess, that combination of abilities forms the core of Cereza’s gameplay. You have to move the characters sometimes together, sometimes separately; this could have been a recipe for controls disaster, but it’s diabolically well-handled and ends up being incredibly satisfying instead. Well done, Platinum Games! 

 

 

Handling Cereza and Cheshire together doesn’t just feel fulfilling in terms of controls and physics; it also creates a unique emotion I've never felt while playing a game. The pair literally cannot progress without each other; and that common vulnerability is echoed in the player’s experience — because you cannot progress either as long as you don’t find the right way to combine their abilities. As a result, the bond between them is not just a narrative element; it’s also a gameplay element that you get to experience over and over. I can only imagine that bond growing more and more potent and tangible, as the gameplay becomes more intricate and you get to deepen your mastery of Cereza’s and Cheshire’s abilities.

 

 

Long story short: I loved that first bite of Cereza, and I very much wanna play the full thing. And now, on to the next demo! ^^