Former Scalebound Lead Producer Jean Pierre Kellams has claimed the Director of Bayonetta 3 may have revived the game’s dragon-controlling mechanic.
Kellams, also the writer for Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, discussed his feelings about the upcoming game on Twitter. Along with positive feelings overall, Kellams hinted that Yusuke Miyata (former Lead Designer on Scalebound, now Director on Bayonetta 3) may have brought over the dragon-controlling mechanics from Scalebound [1, 2].
“Oh! One more thing that I forgot to mention… Yusuke Miyata was the lead designer on Scalebound, and he is super talented, and I can’t wait to play Bayo 3 primarily because he is directing it.”
[…] “Yeah… The controlling the summons thing looks VERY similar to a mechanic that we had in Scalebound to control Thuban. Now that I’ve gotten to rewatch the trailer, I’m really psyched for that. :)”
Scalebound was cancelled in January 2017, and would have featured a man from modern times ending up in a fantasy world; commanding and fighting along-side a dragon against foes. It is not hard to see where these mechanics might arise, as the demons Bayonetta summons in the Bayonetta 3 gameplay reveal trailer are seemingly playable in the background, while Bayonetta dances in the foreground.
The project was of particular interest to Hideki Kamiya (executive director for Bayonetta 3, and former Director of Scalebound), expressing his love for fantasy. During his apology of the game being cancelled, he downplayed the rumors he took off time for mental health around the time of the game’s development and subsequent cancellation. Despite trademark renewals and rumors, the game was never revived.
Bayonetta 2 featured a somewhat similar mechanic, as some boss fights featured Bayonetta fighting a foe in the foreground, while her demon and a giant angel would fight in the background. Depending on how the fight went, Bayonetta’s demon or the giant angel would land devastating blows on one-another. Will Bayonetta fight and command her demons at the same time in her third game?
Kellams also briefly addressed Bayonetta’s current voice actress, sounding a little different from Hellena Taylor. He believes there would be a narrative reason behind it, as Taylor’s lines are still used in some moments. This would invoke the rules of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Even using a single line from a SAG member means all actors and actresses for the project must be from the guild. This is despite Nintendo preferring to use non-union voice actors. Kellams doubts the cast of prior games would go non-union, and hopes the roles had not been re-cast either. While Kellams believes the slight change in voice is due to a narrative reason, he emphasizes he is not privy to such knowledge.
Bayonetta 3 launches in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
Image: Bayonetta 3 official website
