E3 2021 has a lot going for it, especially from Nintendo. However, there was one game I’ve been particularly excited about for a while that didn’t show up at all. Bayonetta 3. No one knew where it was. Metroid Prime 4 at least got a mention, with everyone being told that development is still very much underway. For the third Bayonetta game though, it’s three and a half years of silence. Until now that is. It seems like Nintendo realised that they couldn’t just stay quiet on this one because they’ve since issued a statement on the game’s development. It’s about as exciting as that for Metroid Prime 4 though, so don’t get your hopes up.
Nintendo simply says that Bayonetta 3 development is going well. that’s all though. As should be expected after Cyberpunk 2077’s travesty of a launch, Nintendo doesn’t want to show anything until it’s ready. This includes any other gameplay details or trailers that might have otherwise been shown. It’s possible that the game’s initial trailer was built in a different engine, and work has now been reorganised in another. No one can really say for sure.
If work has been restarted, I’d say it’s because of the Switch Pro. The rumours to date suggest that the new console will have exclusive games for the more powerful hardware. Bayonetta 3 is the perfect candidate for being a launch title for a new Switch. It would make me buy it for sure, but I think JNintneod will share further details on all that when it’s ready. Ultimately, we have to take Nintendo at its word. There’s nothing else to be done.
One thing that I think may have harmed the game’s development is the culture of throwing away game code that some Japanese developers still follow. It’s something about getting rid of the old and only focusing on the new. I don’t know the cultural relevance, but I do know that it’s why the Silent hill remasters were so hard to build. It’s possible that the code needed for Bayonetta 3 is lost somewhere due to the builds of Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 being thrown out. Whatever the case, I’m sure it’ll all come to light once Bayonetta 3 is with us.