Bayonetta 3 is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The game was directed by Yusuke Miyata and produced by Yuji Nakao, with series creator Hideki Kamiya as overseeing director. It was announced in December 2017 and released on October 28, 2022.

Bayonetta 3 follows Bayonetta, an angel-hunting witch who must fight man-made bioweapons called Homunculi, led by an entity named Singularity, who threatens to destroy the multiverse. She is helped by a group of alternate universe versions of herself and a new witch-in-training named Viola.

After its first announcement at The Game Awards 2017, news about Bayonetta 3 stopped while PlatinumGames worked on other games, such as Astral Chain, which was developed at the same time. The game was first fully shown with gameplay in September 2021 during a Nintendo Direct presentation. Bayonetta’s original voice actress, Hellena Taylor, was replaced by Jennifer Hale after a payment dispute.

Bayonetta 3 received mostly positive reviews from critics. It was praised for gameplay, presentation, and extra content, but received criticism for the story, character development, camera controls, and performance issues. The game sold 1.07 million copies worldwide by March 2023.

Gameplay

Bayonetta 3 is an action game where players control Bayonetta, the main character, as she fights enemies using melee attacks and guns. When players dodge enemy attacks at the last moment, a special ability called "Witch Time" activates. During this time, enemies and time slow down, allowing Bayonetta to attack continuously or move freely to solve puzzles.

This game introduces two new features: "Demon Slave" and "Demon Masquerade." The "Demon Slave" lets players take direct control of one of Bayonetta's Infernal Demons to perform attacks and abilities, which can be useful in different situations depending on the demon used. The "Demon Masquerade" allows Bayonetta to merge with a summoned Infernal Demon, giving her magical abilities, including new ways to attack and move.

A new character, Viola, can only use "Witch Time" by parrying enemy attacks. Her "Demon Slave," named Cheshire, cannot be controlled directly. When Viola summons Cheshire, she switches from using a sword to using her fists for combat.

The game also includes a new display mode called "Naive Angel Mode." This mode hides nudity in gameplay and cutscenes, such as Bayonetta's dances that use her clothing to summon powers, as well as more detailed designs of enemies and demons.

Story

The universe of Bayonetta takes place in a location called the Trinity of Realities, which includes three areas: Paradiso, the home of angels; Inferno, the home of demons; and the World of Chaos, which is the human world. The World of Chaos contains many different alternate universes, which is the main setting for Bayonetta 3. The main character, Bayonetta, also known as Cereza, is a witch who makes deals with demons to fight against angels. She is joined by Viola, a witch who is still learning, and her demon companion, Cheshire. Together, they fight against powerful artificial weapons called "Homunculi," which are controlled by a being named "Singularity." Singularity wants to destroy all worlds in the multiverse to gain power and take over the Trinity of Realities. Bayonetta and Viola are helped by Jeanne, Bayonetta's childhood friend and another witch; Luka, a reporter; Enzo, a person who shares information; and Rodin, a seller of weapons.

In one alternate universe, Bayonetta fights against Singularity but is killed while Viola watches. Viola inherits Bayonetta's remaining power and is told by her leader, Sigurd, to use a special bridge to escape to another universe and find help. Viola escapes using the bridge, and Sigurd is killed. She arrives in a universe where Bayonetta and Jeanne see the Homunculi attacking New York City. They take shelter with Enzo at a bar called the Gates of Hell. Viola explains that the Homunculi and Singularity have already destroyed many alternate universes. Rodin confirms that if all universes collapse, Singularity will gain complete control over the Trinity of Realities. To stop Singularity, Bayonetta and Viola must travel to Thule, an island that connects different universes, to collect items called Chaos Gears. These items can lead them to the "Alphaverse," where Singularity lives. Jeanne is sent to find a version of Sigurd in their universe, a doctor who knows about the multiverse.

Bayonetta and Viola reach Thule and travel through several alternate universes. During their journey, Bayonetta fights with other versions of herself who protect their worlds, and they work together to collect Chaos Gears. Each version of Bayonetta is eventually killed and absorbed by Singularity, who is chasing them as "Arch-Eve," a being that can change reality. Viola follows Luka, who has been traveling with them. Viola learns that Luka has transformed into a wolf-like creature named Strider because of the anger of a being called Dark Adam from the Alphaverse. During the game, Viola discovers she is the daughter of Bayonetta and Luka from her universe. She also meets an alternate version of Luka named "Lukaon," a king of faeries who knows about the multiverse after being exiled from a dying world. Jeanne finds Sigurd and reunites with Bayonetta on Thule. Using the Chaos Gears, Sigurd opens a portal to the Alphaverse, allowing Bayonetta to enter. There, they learn that Singularity is actually the version of Sigurd from the Alphaverse, an artificial human who wanted to control the multiverse.

Singularity, pretending to be Sigurd, kills Jeanne and traps Bayonetta in the Alphaverse. Viola and Luka also reach the Alphaverse. Bayonetta defeats Dark Adam, and Lukaon helps Luka regain his human mind, turning him into "Arch-Adam," who guides Bayonetta to the "Arch-Eve." Bayonetta, identified by Singularity as "Arch-Eve Origin," fights Singularity and frees the spirits of Jeanne and other versions of Bayonetta, who briefly help her before disappearing. She is then joined by versions of herself from earlier games and defeats Singularity with the help of Viola, Luka, and a powerful demon summoning. Singularity's death restores the multiverse. Bayonetta, injured and tired, loses control of the summon, and her soul is separated from her body. Luka saves Viola from Singularity's explosion and stops the summon, then is taken to Inferno with Bayonetta. After the story ends, Viola defeats Dark Eve, a remnant of Bayonetta from the Alphaverse, and receives the "Bayonetta" title as a final message from Bayonetta. Later, Viola goes to school in New York and takes jobs for Rodin.

Development

In July 2013, Hideki Kamiya, who created the Bayonetta series, answered a fan's question on Twitter about whether a third game in the series might be made if Bayonetta 2 was successful. He said, "I hope so." Later, Yusuke Hashimoto, the director of Bayonetta 2, told a magazine called GamesMaster that he had many ideas for Bayonetta 3 and possibly a new game based on the same characters.

In June 2015, after Bayonetta 2 was released, Kamiya again answered a fan's question about the character Jeanne and what new hairstyles she might have in future games. He said, "The answer will be in Bayonetta 3."

In December 2017, Nintendo announced Bayonetta 3 during a video game event called The Game Awards. This confirmed the game was being made for the Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo would publish it. Reggie Fils-Aimé, a leader at Nintendo, said the announcement was exciting for fans who enjoy PlatinumGames' work.

In June 2022, Kamiya advised new players to play the first two games before Bayonetta 3, even though he said it was possible to enjoy the third game without them. He believed playing the earlier games would make the third game more interesting.

In April 2018, Atsushi Inaba, the head of PlatinumGames, told a reporter that Bayonetta 3 would be a major step for the company. He described it as a game with a similar style to its predecessors. In February 2019, Nintendo introduced another game called Astral Chain, but officials said it would not affect Bayonetta 3's development.

In May 2019, Inaba told a magazine that the game was being made using a standard process. He said players could see changes in the studio's approach during gameplay but did not share more details. At E3 2019, he said the game was progressing well.

In September 2021, Nintendo showed the first look at Bayonetta 3 during a video presentation. The trailer revealed the game would release in 2022, with Yusuke Miyata as the director and Hideki Kamiya as the executive director. Some fans noticed similarities between a new character in the trailer and a character from a canceled game called Scalebound. PlatinumGames confirmed that some staff from previous games would return to work on Bayonetta 3.

In July 2022, a second trailer showed the game's release date as October 28, 2022. It also introduced a new character named Viola and confirmed the return of other characters from earlier games. Nintendo also announced that a physical version of the first Bayonetta game would be sold for the first time outside a special edition box set.

Hellena Taylor, who voiced Bayonetta in earlier games, was replaced by Jennifer Hale for Bayonetta 3. Miyata said this change happened because of "various overlapping circumstances." In October 2022, Taylor said she had been offered $4,000 for the role, which she believed was not a fair wage. She asked fans to avoid buying the game and instead donate to charity.

Kamiya called Taylor's statements "untrue, sad, and deplorable" and blocked some Twitter users who commented on his post. He later stopped using his personal Twitter account, leading to questions about whether he was suspended. Hale said she supported fair pay for actors but emphasized that she was under a non-disclosure agreement. She encouraged people to consider the effort that went into the game. Other voice actors, like David Hayter and Steve Blum, supported Hale's work in the industry. PlatinumGames said they supported Hale's role as Bayonetta.

In October 2022, news outlets reported that PlatinumGames had offered Taylor between $3,000 and $4,000 per session for five sessions, which was higher than union minimum rates. Negotiations ended after Taylor asked for a six-figure payment and royalties. She later said the reports were false and claimed she had been offered $10,000 initially. She said she did not hear from PlatinumGames for 11 months and was then given a final offer of $4,000. A reporter who wrote about the story said Taylor's later tweets supported the report.

Release

Bayonetta 3 was released for the Nintendo Switch on October 28, 2022. In addition to the regular physical and digital versions of the game, a special edition box set called the "Trinity Masquerade Edition" was sold at some stores or online through the My Nintendo Store. This edition includes a copy of the game, a 200-page colorful artbook with drawings of the game's demons, and different cover designs for the three Bayonetta games.

Reception

Bayonetta 3 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. Another review aggregator, OpenCritic, stated that the game was highly approved by 85% of critics.

Reviewers praised the game's combat system. Mitchell Saltzman of IGN called it "one of the best combat systems in gaming." Jessica Howard of GameSpot described the gameplay as "very fast and smooth," noting that it works well for different play styles and skill levels. Chris Carter of Destructoid highlighted how seamless the combat felt and praised the game's large amount of content. Nintendo Life also mentioned that the game's levels were bigger than those in earlier games in the series and that the game offered more ways to play through challenges, collectibles, and unlockable modes.

Some critics pointed out technical problems, such as an uneven frame rate, long loading times, and sometimes poor-quality textures. Others said the game's camera was "frustrating" and "annoying." The story and the main character's development were also criticized by some reviewers compared to earlier games in the series.

In its first week of release in Japan, Bayonetta 3 sold 41,285 physical copies, making it the second best-selling retail game of the week in the country. In the United Kingdom, it was the third best-selling game of the week, behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and FIFA 23. According to NPD data in the United States, Bayonetta 3 was the second best-selling Nintendo Switch title in October 2022, after Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and the ninth best-selling game overall across all platforms.

As of March 2023, the game had sold 1.07 million units.