BAKERU never clicked with me fully. Seeing the open space and the chirpy protagonist activated the “I have to move very fast and do flips” instinct, but that is far from the kind of experience it is. Beats of the drum, grounded action, and thoughtful exploration of lively, creative renditions of alternate universe Japanese regions—now we’re talking.
Others might undergo a similar experience. While the level structure of BAKERU is quite varied, even with an occasional race or shoot-em-up section, the core lies in the open areas. The theme here is a parade of evil spirits, meaning that beach resorts, mountains, and castles are being overtaken by masses of playful, but mischievous demons of all shapes and sizes.
Across the various islands and prefectures, the oni and the yōkai will play and dance. While they may seem innocent, Bakeru, the protagonist Tanuki (a shape-shifting raccoon dog), is assured by the Tanuki leader that his drum can only cleanse evil spirits. This way BAKERU can keep both its action and its kind, kid-friendly atmosphere.
I have to admit that BAKERU’s gameplay is not built for a player like me. There is a pretty heavy education angle, not only about Japan but also general trivia (which I admittedly still found very endearing as a massive trivia enjoyer) but I think what veers it towards more of an entry-level experience is the level of complexity in choice making.
Bakeru’s combat skills can be performed by pressing one of the two buttons, each responsible for one of the two drumsticks, or both. And though each kind has its combo animations, they do not offer much of a mechanical difference. The single strikes are faster, the double attack is stronger. What helps is the special attacks available by holding the attack buttons, which allow for new approaches to combat. Enemies in a line should be struck down with a dash, ones surrounding you with the ground slam, and individual, stronger foes are a great target for the spin move.
Furthermore, the Henge (transformations) earned by beating the first three bosses adds a meter-based aspect to the mix, yet that quickly devolves into using one for crowd-clearing and another for stronger, single enemies. This much power quickly makes what could be thoughtful decision-making with progressively stronger enemies into a “you’re gone the moment I get close” type of gameplay. Thankfully, bosses, the ones fought on foot or in a giant mech, offer a solid change of pace, pushing you to learn dodge timings and attack openings, should you want to perfect them for achievements.
While combat can shine during those, the movement has no such opportunities. There exists an enjoyable combo to gain a bit of speed at start-up—dodge into a timed jump into dodge into holding a button to keep running—but aside from that and a sideflip should you jump in the opposite direction you’re running there is no way to preserve momentum or gain height.
On one hand, this puts the focus on grounded gameplay with a steady pace, where the player can enjoy the variety and detail of the over fifty levels more deeply, but on the other, the level design screams for more freedom. The sideflip and dodge jump do not spark joy during tighter platforming moments, nor do they offer enough momentum or height when traversing the long levels in search of collectibles, which are essential to enjoying BAKERU.
Each level hides three balls with souvenirs from a specific area, as well as five pieces of trivia and, on occasion, a tanuki friend hiding as one of the objects in an area. These get progressively more creative and allow for a deeper appreciation of the level of design cleverly hinting at their placement. The Tanuki deserve a special shoutout, as examining items in search of ears peeking out or a tanuki pattern rewards the slower playstyle BAKERU appears to encourage.
As much as I enjoyed this sizable, colorful game with some great qualities, the kind of which younger players do not get much of these days in favor of short, cheap TV show-based cash grabs, there exists a clash in BAKERU. Long, exploration-based levels with limited momentum, low health, and unthreatening enemies with plenty of ways to attack them. Something does not add up and I felt out of my depth in trying to find my fun here on many occasions.
Yet, among it all, I think I will remember BAKERU most for the little things; scenes such as two enemies kicking another one between each other, dancing lanterns on beach chairs, or a group of octopuses lying around a sauna, litter every corner. BAKERU’s levels are brimming with life and crafted moments for the attentive, patient player to enjoy. Best played in short bursts, it has a unique energy that just has not reached its best form. I may have never quite captured its groove, but I sincerely hope that this festival comes back to town one day.
Mateusz played BAKERU on PC with a review code.
