As female video game characters go, Bayonetta is one of the most iconic. Sure, she’s overtly sexualised, but it’s hard for me to care too much about that when she kicks so much ass. She’s confident, unapologetic, and awesome as hell. Well, that’s her as an adult; the various flashbacks and appearances of the younger Bayonetta – Cereza – paint the picture of a nervous, lonely, defenseless child. So how does one grow up to be the other? Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon answers some of our questions with the heartwarming and whimsical tale of the first demon she ever summoned.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon will spoil much of the plot of Bayonetta 1, as it begins with an explanation of the circumstances of Cereza’s birth and her subsequent ostracisation from Umbran society. An extra chapter unlocked after finishing the game will also spoil part of the finale for Bayonetta 3, so I recommend playing those before starting Bayonetta Origins. The story, told through storybook-style narration, begins with Cereza dreaming of a boy who needs her help against the malevolent faeries of the nearby Avalon Forest. Although she is scared of venturing alone into the forest, she is tempted by a promise to help her obtain enough magic power to break her mother from her eternal incarceration. You control both Cereza and her demon companion Cheshire simultaneously as you navigate the faerie forest full of enemies and environmental puzzles.

It’s strange to see the young Bayonetta acting so unsure of herself, but it understandably serves to set up her character growth later on. Her voice actress, Angeli Wall, strikes an excellent balance between excitable and nervous, which are Cereza’s two main character traits throughout the story. She’s absolutely adorable, and I could listen to her charming British accent all day. Most other voices are performed by the narrator, who shifts her voice in pitch to suit each character as if she were reading a bedtime story to a child. It’s a cute effect, and the narrator has enough range to make it work.

There is an innate difficulty in having two characters to control at once, which is good, because the combat is otherwise surprisingly easy. I don’t need a game to be difficult to enjoy it, but the limited array of attacks Cheshire and Cereza can perform makes the combat feel one-note after too long. You can’t even increase the difficulty until you complete at least one playthrough, although you can decrease it if you need.

While Cereza avoids enemies and paralyzes them with her vines, Cheshire deals damage. There’s only one main attack button you’ll be mashing the whole time, which is not exactly riveting. Yes, there is a skill tree you can use to spice things up a little, but it doesn’t open up the combat that much. As Cheshire gains the ability to switch between the elements water, earth, nature, and fire, things become a bit more interesting, but they are almost all just variants of the basic combo. The few bosses in the game still have cool set pieces, but I wish some of that creativity could have been spread out to some more common enemies.

The exploration is a bit like a Metroidvania, in the sense that there will be many areas of the map that are inaccessible until you get the right ability. There are plenty of rewards around to tempt you to backtrack, but doing so will put you at odds with the game’s twisting and confusing layout, which is not helped by a map that doesn’t allow you to properly keep track of where you’re going. You can only fast-travel from certain points, too, which adds tedium to the confusion. Exploring Avalon Forest was magical the first time, but as I completed the game, my will to backtrack and collect everything I had missed was dampened by how slow and confusing I knew it would be to navigate through again. It’s absolutely a shame, because the forest is chock full of tiny hidden places and other things to find.