Bayonetta Origins dev blog details the game's picture book motif

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is quite different from every Bayonetta title before it, and that goes for everything from gameplay to visuals. With the visuals in particular, PlatinumGames has cooked up a picture book aesthetic that not only frames the game’s story, but also plays into the adventure and experience itself.

In a new blog from Bayonetta Origins director Abebe Tinari, we get a lot more insight on how PlatinumGames settled on this unique visual approach. According to Tinari, the team had already settled on the game’s plot, gameplay hook and theme song, but they were missing something to tie it all together. That’s where the picture book motif came about.

According to Tinari, picture books tell deep stories using simple language. Although their plots are often concise, they feature themes that touch on fundamental emotions and shared human experiences. Illustrations make everything easier to parse, and the addition of a visual dimension opens a whole new area of creative expression that sets your imagination in motion. When the team considered this direction for Bayonetta Origins, everything clicked.

You can read more about all the work that went into this motif over at PlatinumGames’ official blog.