Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon Review – A Worthy Apprentice

In recent times, few games have left a lasting smile on my face like Bayonetta Origins Cereza and The Lost Demon. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is the prequel to this series. This storybook rewrites their mature-rated, stylish combat. The whimsical tale tells of a young girl who fights to prove herself. It is an unexpectedly rich, eye-catching adventure with more charm than what it can do with. 

Despite arriving only a few months after Bayonetta 3, Cereza and the Lost Demon doesn’t feel like a throwaway side project Platinum Games slapped together. Cereza is 10-years-old and still in training to be a Umbra Witch. This action-adventure adventure game has a top-down feel. To gain the strength she needs to release her mother, Cereza ventures into an unrestricted fairie forest in search of a mysterious vision that promises power. Cereza only managed to summon Cheshire for protection and she bonds him to her cat doll. However, she doesn’t yet know how to return him to the hellish realm of Inferno. To survive in the forest, both reluctant partners must work together. 

Bayonetta Origins’ story is my favorite of the entire franchise. It’s heartwarming, humorous, coherent (especially welcomed coming off the last game), and it has the emotional depth to provide substance to its eye candy. I loved watching Cereza and Cheshire’s relationship blossom over the course of the adventure as the insecure witch tries to prove her worth to the skeptical monster. The plot takes some unexpected yet well-earned turns, and the performances – Cereza’s in particular – are wonderful. The narrator was a favorite of mine. Her warm delivery and smile-inducing portrayal of Cheshire brought back the joy of reading a bedtime story. If you combined Bayonetta’s lore with the whimsy and heart of a Winnie the Pooh story, you’re not far off from what Cereza and the Lost Demon offers. 

It was fun to navigate the pair through well-designed puzzle and platforming challenges. The left stick controls Cereza and Cheshire simultaneously. It’s unwieldy at first, but it soon becomes second nature. You can also recall Cheshire from the doll, which is why I explored most of my territory alone until I had to use him. I found the tag-team challenges challenging my thinking, reflexes and dexterity, without becoming tedious or complicated. Cheshire running across platforms on his hamster wheel to carry Cereza, or Cheshire stepping on blocks to reveal hidden paths that allow her to cross gaps and avoid a death trap are some of the setpiece challenges. These are just a few of the many sequences that I have seen, so it is exciting to see what other ideas they come up with.  

Combat is the centerpiece of Bayonetta, and while you won’t be executing dozen-hit combos and screen-filling special attacks, Origins’ battle system makes the most of its relative simplicity. Cheshire is able to execute one-button combos and Cereza only uses magic vines to bind foes in place. It was difficult to navigate two characters in a busy battlefield. I found it sometimes hard to see, but I enjoy the strategy of dodging enemies to tie them down and then ripping them apart. Unlocking each character’s skill trees adds small but meaningful layers that deepen combat by adding executions, counters, evades, and longer combo strings that rely on button timing rather than combining inputs. You can see the action moving at an easy pace, without getting too technical. 

Additionally, incorporating the abilities of Cheshire’s elemental transformations, such as using a grass form’s vine to yank down airborne targets and a water form that fires powerful streams, is a blast. I was tired of small, random encounters but the arena fights with multiple enemy types and different elements kept me interested. While the series is chaotic, there are a few grandiose boss matches, one of which was an epic final bout. It’s not as intense and sweat-inducing. For most of the time, I did not use magic and health potions. I’m fine with that, as the difficulty has enough spice without compromising Origins’ more relaxed vibe. 

Simply looking at Bayonetta Origins is a colorful treat, thanks to its painterly art direction that evokes games like Ōkami. This forest is beautiful, with a soothing soundtrack that features lovely sounds, adorable sound effects and Zelda-esque piano melodies. I enjoyed revisiting parts of the sprawling map to unlock new areas and solving simple yet satisfying puzzles using Cheshire’s abilities. 

Although it is easy to lose your way, you can still save points by marking the collectibles with clear markers and using guiding lights. Because of the adorable bios for each wisp, which are the lost souls of the departed children’s spirits, collecting dozens upon dozens of these was my favourite pastime. Smaller interactions such as planting flowers in rhythm, breaking crystal dandelions for money, and shaking the bushes for potion ingredient ingredients create an almost childlike atmosphere. 

Much like Cereza herself, Bayonetta Origins doesn’t look like much on the surface, but I smiled more and more as its potential bubbled up to the surface. This is an exceptional and refreshing change of pace for the franchise, and you don’t even need to be a fan of the series or the action genre to enjoy it. Don’t underestimate what this pint-sized spellcaster and her demonic partner have to offer.