Bayonetta Origins – Cereza and the Lost Demon

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. A prequel to Sega‘s Bayonetta series, it tells the story of the titular protagonist as a young witch named Cereza. Six hundred years before the events of the first Bayonetta, a young Cereza stays with her strict and stoic teacher Morgana, following her exile from her home due to being the result of the forbidden love of the Lumen Sage, Balder, and the Umbra Witch, Rosa, leading to her father’s banishment and her mother’s imprisonment. One night, feeling underappreciated by Morgana despite her hard work in mastering her powers, Cereza decides to venture into the forbidden Avalon Forest,

Being led there by a mysterious boy she saw in her dreams. Inside, she is swarmed by a group of faeries. With no other option, Cereza performs a demon-summoning ritual, successfully summoning a demon, but it attempts to attack her after possessing the body of Cereza’s stuffed cat in order to survive outside of Inferno, though it is unable to hurt its summoner. With the creature, who Cereza dubs Cheshire, unable to harm her, the two reluctantly decide to travel through the forest together, with the promise that Cereza can find the power she needs to save her mother, as well as send Cheshire back to Inferno.

The two continue their journey, following the tracks of a white wolf whilst conquering the dangerous creatures that lurk in the forest and destroying the four Elemental Cores hidden deep within the thicket, where Cereza gradually overcomes her timid nature, while Cheshire’s stubborn attitude eventually begins to soften as he begins to care for Cereza like a true friend. Suddenly, a faerie tries to lure Cereza into its grasp by disguising itself as her mother. Realizing this, Cheshire destroys the illusion, but Cereza’s grief over her mother causes her and Cheshire to argue, deciding to part ways. Later, after seeing him captured, Cereza, concerned, swallows her pride and, with the wolf’s help, ventures into the faeries’ castle.

She rescues and makes up with Cheshire, and the two work together to defeat the faeries’ ruler, Púca. Bayonetta Origins is an action-adventure video game. Gameplay is split between the protagonist Cereza, a young witch in training, and Cheshire, a demon bound to her stuffed toy. Both are controlled simultaneously: Cereza is controlled using the left Joy-Con while Cheshire is controlled using the right. Cheshire can be toggled between two modes. In Unleashed mode, he grows to a large size and can attack enemies or obstacles, while in Hug mode, he shrinks to his toy form so that Cereza can carry him and use him for various purposes.

The player must use Cereza and Cheshire in conjunction in order to fight enemies and solve various environmental puzzles. In combat, Cereza binds enemies using spells while Cheshire attacks them. Cheshire cannot die in combat, but he may run out of magic when fighting. When this occurs, Cereza will need to pick him up in his plush form to refill his magic before he can be used in battle again. Certain powerups allow Cheshire to attack while in plush form. Elemental Cores throughout the game world can be broken to upgrade Cheshire’s abilities, making the duo more powerful in battle and allowing them to explore previously inaccessible areas.