This is a spin-off game from the action-packed Bayonetta series and takes a very different turn on the Nintendo handheld.
Where the main games are all wild cut scenes, manic behind the shoulder action and fighting, this is a little tamer.
You play both a young witch-in-training called Cereza and her demon companion Cheshire at the same time as you navigate the beautiful but dangerous Avalon Forest.
You use the Joy-Con sticks to each control the pair and have to work both characters together to solve puzzles, battle enemies and move on to the next part of the adventure.
It means being a little more thought-out than perhaps the busy boss fights of the main games.
And the pacing has a gentler edge to it thanks to the calm, well-voiced storytelling elements and a cuter fairytale-style of graphic design.
So the left Joy-Con controller is used to move Cereza and bind enemies with her magic, holding them down, while the right Joy-Con controller moves Cheshire to slash and chomp foes.
It’s an interesting mechanic and works well in this storybook-inspired game.
You’ll find yourself shrinking Cheshire back down to the cuddly toy that he’s inhabited so that Cereza can grab him and throw him up to ledges neither of your can reach in other forms.
In turn, Cheshire the demon will protect the young girl from the forest monsters while she find new ways of moving trees and items so that traversal works for both.
It’s all a big puzzle, mixed up with sandbox fighting moments, and a completely different experience to the Bayonetta’s you’ve known before.
The graphics are beautiful and feel like they’ve been drawn by a pencil, while the story flows at a decent but sometimes frustrating pace.
There are too many cut scenes at points and sometimes it feels overly narrative.
Younger gamers can access approachability options, such as reducing damage or automating certain controls, to help newcomers enjoy the game more.
Overall, a lovely little game. Not what we were expecting at all, and that’s a good thing.
It’s wonderful to look at, tricky with its puzzles and helps to build out the Bayonetta franchise.
VERDICT 4/5
