Full disclosure: I hadn't heard of Bakeru until Graham told me. Graham always checks the pulse of video games, scrolling through them on Xwitter or Steam or wherever, and he waits “ker kun, ker kun” for the next Great Thing. And that Great Thing is Bakeru, which is described on its Steam page as “Japanese-esque,” but in reality, A lot Japanese. So, you travel across 47 Japanese prefectures as a transformed tanuki who smashes evil with taiko drumsticks. Come on.
I hadn't anticipated that Bakeru was capable not just as a platformer, but also as a way to improve your chances of acing pub quizzes. The game is a certified trivia Tardis, where you'll learn all sorts of things about Japanese culture, like how sepia is a type of squid.
“Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainnan!!” was originally released in Japan in 2023, and the recently released Bakeru is a Western-only version of the same game. It's developed by Good-Feel, a Japanese developer that's created some pretty solid stuff in collaboration with Nintendo: Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Woolly World, to name a few. And as a final contextual development, Bakeru is thought to be a sort of spiritual successor to Ganbare Goemon, a similarly fun, Konami-developed N64 platformer (former Konami producer and Ganbare Goemon frontman Ebisu Etsunobu founded Good-Feel).
This means that Bakeru isn’t just any old 3D platformer (as I ignorantly thought) and that it has a pedigree behind it. And that’s immediately obvious when you take on the role of young Bakeru, a brave tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) who takes on a heroic role thanks to his shapeshifting abilities. A hero who must save Japan from an evil emperor who’s holding a festival that’s corrupting the entire country. A hero who manages to save things by breaking them with his taiko drumsticks, and doing it all in a surprisingly tactile way.
By that I mean Bakeru moves, jumps, and attacks with a nice weight. I like that when you turn quickly, he slides a bit to compensate for the sudden change of direction. The trajectory and angle of his jumps aren't too floaty either. And most importantly, there's more depth to the taiko drum beats (don't expect too much, mind you). I thought he'd have a pretty typical one-shot combo (you can if you want), but no, you can press the alternating keys to swing the sticks independently, or the shoulder buttons if you're on a controller. If you press them in rapid succession, he'll lock onto nearby enemies, teleport to them all at once, and bash, bash, bash. Charge at both of them at once for a big ground slam, or hit the left a few times, maybe mixing it up with the right for more show.
Later on, you'll unlock new moves like big one-armed spins, and by defeating bosses, you'll unlock Henge powers that let you transform into stronger, more outlandish forms. One lets you transform into a tiny Bakeru to jump into tunnels or slide across gaps, while others turn you into a powerful mech or a long-range scythe that can slingshot at enemies from afar; think Robson Green going into battle. While all of these are cool and useful in certain scenarios, Really Otherwise they're much needed. Sure, parrying (yes, there's parrying too!) is great against bosses, but the game is very easy and you can get away with just pressing a button to take down most things in a few hits.
But I can put the difficulty aside because, well, whatever, Bakeru is still a fun time. No, it doesn't have the depth of Super Mario: Odyssey, meaning Odyssey's worlds can either be solved by children who have just honed their motor skills, or by adults who have meticulously mastered Mario's gymnastic abilities. Bakeru's simpler, linear levels have occasional open areas for a brief exploration, aaaaand that's it, move on.
And again, that's good! Bakeru may be easy and pretty basic, but it makes for a stress-free blast through the Japanese prefectures, presented in wonderful, crazy colors. While some of the humor is clearly aimed at Japanese audiences, it's interesting to see how Good-Feel sees Japan from their own perspective and curates key features of each region for a wider audience.
Aichi is under construction, where enemies spin and stumble as they grab heavy beams, threatening to drag you to your death. Kanagawa is autumnal mountain climbing, where you leap over logs and dodge rocks. Shizuoka is a forest of crazy pine trees and a coastline full of budding kendo masters. If you travel to Okinawa, you'll hop on a robot dog that transforms into a boat for a surf race (this may or may not be real). At best, guiding Bakeru through each prefecture is like leafing through a cartoonish tourist brochure.
Or maybe I'm imagining more Japanese “marketing,” if that's the right word. I'm talking about brochures, announcements, and ads that are all RGB kanji or cheerful jingles or those little portraits of enthusiastic TV presenters that are permanently displayed with their reactions. And if I were on the Japanese version of The Chase or a bar trivia contest, I can guarantee that Bakeru would earn me a series of “WaaAAA awesome” reactions (the English equivalent of “woahhh, awesome”) because I solved one (1) or two (2) incredibly narrow-minded questions about Japanese prefectures or revealed that sea grapes are not a fruit but a type of seaweed.
See, Bakeru has two types of collectibles: each level has three hidden gacha balls that you break for fun but ultimately meaningless keepsakes… and Scoop's trivia. Scoop's trivia also offers no value in the game. He's a poop-shaped man in a yellow puffer jacket who hides in hard-to-find spots, usually five times per level. Find him lying on a sundeck or standing behind some rocks, and he'll give you some trivia. And that's the knowledge I crave more than anything else. Scoop may or may not be a humanized turd, but he's definitely knows his shit.
Some things I learned from Scoop:
- Scallops have 80 eyes.
- There are two gold shachihoko fish statues plated with 18-karat gold in Nagoya Castle.
- Add soy sauce, sake, and salt to a rice cooker. This will make spicy sakura rice, a regular school lunch item in Shizuoka.
- The world's first underwater mailbox is located in Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.
- Dogs known as “Okage-inu” would visit shrines on people's behalf during the Edo period. They could even find their way back home.
No, finding Scoop and learning his knowledge doesn’t necessarily do anything. But this may be one of the first times I’ve ever sought out collectibles for the sake of fun trivia; previously, I’d have thrown one of Mario’s moons out of the Mushroom Kingdom’s backyard when asked to find another crescent moon. So Bakeru’s cuteness brought out a better side in me, a side that could absorb Scoop’s thoughts and one day contribute to a bar trivia show featuring an underwater life or Japanese Things section. Even if you don’t need the help, I guarantee Bakeru will bring you joy.