WARNING: This article will have major spoilers for Bayonetta 3If PlatinumGames has its way, Bayonetta 4 will certainly be made, though fans may have to wait quite a long time to play it. Each Bayonetta game has had significant time gaps between releases. There were five years between the launch of the original Bayonetta game and the release of Bayonetta 2, while fans had to wait a whopping eight years between Bayonetta 2 and the recently-released Bayonetta 3. The ending of Bayonetta 3 says that the franchise will return “next generation,” presumably meaning the next-gen Nintendo console, and so it’s safe to say that a potential Bayonetta 4 is many years away.

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And that’s assuming that Bayonetta 4 happens at all, of course. It’s no secret that the Bayonetta franchise has struggled with sales despite consistently earning rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Sega was ready to give up on the Bayonetta IP entirely, but Nintendo stepped in to help fund the development of Bayonetta 2 and 3 and publish the games itself. Presumably, Bayonetta 4’s existence will depend entirely on if Nintendo decides to continue funding the games or not.

If Nintendo decides to fund Bayonetta 4, Platinum already has ideas for where it could go story-wise. In fact, it’s been said that Bayonetta will need at least nine games to tell the complete story. While it’s anyone’s guess as to what those later games may entail, Bayonetta 3’s story puts Bayonetta 4 on three possible paths.

Viola as the New Bayonetta

The hugely controversial Bayonetta 3 ending sets up Viola as the new “Bayonetta,” complete with Bayonetta’s glasses and Luka’s scarf. It’s established in the game that Viola is the child of Luka and Bayonetta from another dimension, and so she has all kinds of special powers that she can utilize. The end of Bayonetta 3 leaves Viola with a powerful katana that she can use to parry enemy attacks and her Cheshire cat summon, though she’s significantly under-equipped compared to the original Bayonetta.

Viola sets off on a mission as Bayonetta 3 comes to a close to investigate a supposedly haunted mansion. This by itself could make for an intriguing narrative for Bayonetta 4, as it would be exploring territory that the series hasn’t really explored in the past. It would be interesting to see a story with stakes that aren’t quite universe-ending, and it would give Viola the opportunity to come into her own as the new Bayonetta.

Saving Bayonetta and Luka from Inferno

Then again, Platinum may want to rethink its apparent choice to promote Viola to the role of the new Bayonetta. The end of Bayonetta 4 saw Luka and Bayonetta dragged to Inferno, but who’s to say they can’t be retrieved from there. Gates of Hell shopkeeper Rodin makes it clear that he is in contact with Luka, and so he still exists, and one has to imagine Bayonetta does, too. Perhaps Bayonetta 4 could be about Viola traveling to Inferno to rescue her dead parent figures, maybe to deal with some kind of cataclysmic threat that’s beyond her powers.

Alternate Universe Bayonetta

Bayonetta 3’s ending gives Platinum another option when it comes to Bayonetta 4, and that is starting fresh with a brand-new version of the character. One of the bigger twists in Bayonetta 3 is that all three games have starred alternate versions of the title character. Thanks to the Bayonetta multiverse, The Bayonetta from the first Bayonetta game is one person, and the Bayonettas from Bayonetta 2 and 3 are completely separate characters. This opens the door wide open for Platinum to move forward with Bayonetta 4 starring all the characters that fans have come to know and love without being held back by the events of Bayonetta 3. In this way, the Bayonetta series is more like Nintendo’s Super Mario or Legend of Zelda franchises. Each story is basicalliy independent of one another.

Basically, Bayonetta 4 has three options: it can move forward with Viola as the new Bayonetta and focus on her solo mission, it can be about Viola reuniting with her parents, or it can be about a Bayonetta from an alternate universe. Fans of the Bayonetta franchise will likely have to wait years to find out what Platinum does with the new game, but it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

Bayonetta 3 is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

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