Spike Chunsoft is onto a particular theme right now. A few weeks ago it released a game designed to evoke a very specific cultural nostalgia that is core to a lot of aesthetics and narrative themes over there. Now, with Bakeru, it is tapping into something very different in terms of gameplay and narrative, but very similar in that it reflects a decidedly Japanese way of looking at the world. Bakeru is wonderful for it.
Rather than a whimsical memory of summertime as a youth, as we saw in Natsu-Mon, Bakeru instead focuses on the act of journeying through Japan. This is something that is not often appreciated until you actually go on a wander or road trip through the country, but Japan is a nation of micro-cultures and specialties. Every town and prefecture has its own food culture, its own festivals, aesthetics and unique tourist attractions. There’s a town that specialises in shogi board game manufacturing (Tendo, (no, not Nintendo)), and the entire town is effectively themed after that. There’s another that has a reputation for its salt (Takehara). Right next to Takehara it is big brother Hiroshima, which draws people from all over Japan not just for the war memorial, but because everyone who knows anything about food knows that no one does okonomiyaki “pancakes” like Hiroshima does.
Of course, in any country in the world cities and states have their “thing” that they’re known for – look at how Las Vegas plays a very specific role in America – but it does feel different in Japan, in that you can walk along a road between two major cities and, along the way, experience a breathtaking array of local delights.
This theme has been tapped on over and over again in depictions of Japan. The Tokaido road that links Kyoto to Tokyo is still a pilgrimage that people can largely take in its entirety, and artists continue to be inspired by it. The board game, Tokaido, was developed specifically to reflect this “micro-culture” experience of wandering around Japan. Somewhat less famous, but equally wonderful is the Shikoku Pilgrimage, which takes you right around the fourth-largest Japanese island to experience 88 temples on the journey.
Anyhow, the point of all of this (and I do realise it was a wordy introduction) was to put Bakeru’s core concept into context. It, too, is a game that is focused on getting you to wander across the country, and each location is bursting with energy themed after that location. It is, effectively, a 3D platformer – think Mario 3D World but vastly more Japanese – but the levels are a little more about exploration than they are serious platfoming skills testers.
In each level you’ve got one major objective – find three lanterns and smash them to pieces using your taiko drum sticks (which are also weapons), and then make your way to a drum to clear the level. But that’s only part of the joy. The real fun with Bakeru comes from exploring every nook and cranny just to see what wonderful delights you’ll find. Collectibles are relatively basic and the only one you’ll remember is the golden poops that you’ll find on the way that tell you interesting little pieces of trivia and factoids about Japan. Even this is a clever abstraction of the feeling that you’ll get as you wander Japan and learn interesting little things about local areas along the way. Other than that, though, you’ll be exploring simply because it’s enjoyable to do so, and it never actually gets old thanks to the ongoing creative energy that drives the game throughout.
There are a couple of additional features just to build the variety of experiences out further. The main one of these is Barkeru’s “henge” ability to transform into various forms, be that shrink to sit into small places, wield guns, or take on the persona of a samurai. These are usually used to introduce some kind of puzzle into the flow, but the puzzles won’t be difficult enough to slow most players down. Mostly they just come across as yet more whimsy.
Less worthwhile are the levels that introduce gameplay variety, such as a shoot-em-up level, or a racing mini-game. I felt that when the core platforming comes across almost as playfully delightful as a Nintendo platformer (and that is some incredible praise indeed) these were a significant drop back in quality and missed the overarching point of what Bakeru was trying to achieve by taking players out of the journey for a while.
Putting that aside, Bakeru is a warm, delightful thing and one of the best non-Nintendo platformers that I’ve ever played. Admittedly I’m partial to it given that I love roaming Japan for all its little regional quirks and specialties, and I loved discovering the developer’s interpretations of them here, but even if you’re not attuned to the game’s cultural resonance, its relentless joy will surely prove infectious.
I feel like the world would be better if every country made a “journey through our regions and see the micro-cultures” video game. Of course bigger countries (like Japan, US, Russia or Australia) would have more variety in their games, but that doesn’t mean that moderate or smaller sized countries don’t have a lot to explore!