Bayonetta 3 is a turning point for PlatinumGames, trying to do something new and top previous entries

PlatinumGames’ Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya raised hopes for a Switch port of The Wonderful 101 at Reboot Develop today. The two also commented on Bayonetta 3, though in general terms.

Inaba first weighed in on how he views Bayonetta 3 as a turning point for PlatinumGames, and needing to top previous entries in the series. Via translator Ben Judd, Inaba stated:

“Obviously when they announced that they were doing Bayonetta 3, they got an incredibly kind, supportive reactions about that title. Inaba-san himself is producing that. Obviously Kamiya-san is going to provide some feedback from the Bayonetta 1 angle, since he was the director on that. But for Inaba-san, Bayonetta 3 represents a turning point for the company in how they make games. And so Bayonetta 3, for taking a linear forward progression action game, they really want to do something new, add in new gimmicks, new ways to play the game, and then he walked it back a bit, and said, ‘Wait a second, I can’t even really talk about the job for us.’ So let’s pretend you didn’t hear that, because right now we don’t know, maybe it will be something different. However, for them, they see this as a key point to design the game because obviously Bayonetta 2 was a fantastic title, but they need to make sure this is leaps and bounds above that even.”

As for Kamiya, who directed the first Bayonetta, Platinum is “still internally thinking” about his role for Bayonetta 3. But like Inaba, he’s aware that the expectations are high for the Switch game. Thankfully, fan support has helped push the team.

Kamiya said the following through his translator: 

“… To the point that was made earlier, while they may not make games for the end user, they’re certainly reticent of the fact that there’s a lot of fans that like them and have certain expectations. And so in keeping in line with those expectations, the one thing it does for them, it helps them push the bar. They know that the fans expect crazier, better, tighter action games. If they’re going to put out Bayonetta 3, it’s going to have to raise the bar. And so everyone’s support, all the reaction from the fans, the positive reaction, has helped build their pride to the point they know they can’t let anybody down. So obviously the end user is still very, very important to them as far as helping them to better themselves to perfect, master, improve their craft.”