Stuff to know about BAKERU (Q&A of Sorts)

[WaffulSyrup]

UPDATE: This thread was initially created prior to the worldwide release|localization of BAKERU on PC & Nintendo Switch. This thread is receiving updates to reflect the current releases.

Hey there!

I figured to make a Q&A type thread about BAKERU!

I'm one of many folks that imported the original Japanese release and played it til completion , and If ya know me from Twitter or Discord, then you'd also know how vocal I've been about supporting this game when it dropped in Japan

With a bunch of new eyes on this game, I figured it'd be best to inform people about BAKERU and what to expect!

"Hey this game reminds me of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon! Was that intentional?"

Yes, it was! BAKERU was a passion project developed and self published by Good-Feel, a studio founded by ex-Konami employees. Many of you may be familiar with some of their games like Kirby's Epic Yarn, Yoshi's Wooly World, Wario Land Shake-It!!, and the newly released Princess Peach Showtime!

"Say, this game was Switch only until now. Did Nintendo have any involvement with Bakeru?"

No, Nintendo had absolutely no involvement in the development of and localization of BAKERU. This also applies to Monkey Barrels, another game developed and published by Good-Feel, which was eventually localized & ported to PC by Nicalis.

"What's the gameplay like? Is it like Mystical Ninja on the N64?"

BAKERU definitely has some Goemon DNA in it, but I'd say it's gameplay is a mix between Super Mario 3D World, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and some GCN|PS2 era collectathon platformers with combat being more involved rather than tacked on. It's a nice blend of variety with mecha battles and vehicle stages thrown in.

I personally think boiling BAKERU down to "this is a Goemon spiritual successor" creates an unintended expectation in some folks. I understand why many have parroted this online for the sake of simplicity, but it's a double edged sword.

BAKERU is an action platformer with it's own identity that takes inspiration from multiple games. Not just Goemon. Just keep that in mind and judge the game on it's own merits if you plan on buying it!

"What's the objective of the game?"

To beat a level you have to destroy three lanterns scattered throughout the stages so you can purify a festival tower at the end. Lanterns are usually guarded by enemies or placed in some platforming challenges scattered throughout every level.

"How long is BAKERU?"

If you're just looking to play BAKERU from start to finish, it'll take 9 hours on average.

If you're looking to play BAKERU for completion (alongside achievement hunting) it'll take 15-25 hours on average.

If you're looking to speedrun BAKERU, it took me roughly 2 hours more or less on a second go round on an Any% run.

"Is there any replay value?"

In my opinion, replay value is an extremely subjective trait that varies between person to person. I feel there's no definitive answer aside from one: If you love a game alot regardless of the quality, if you can see it as something you can get endless enjoyment from, then it's a replayable game for you. BAKERU is one of those games for me, as I've done 2 completionist playthroughs and 2 speedruns of it.

There are some games I find insanely replayable (Cuphead, DKC2, Silhouette Mirage) and games I don't find replayable (Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Yoshi's Island DS, Goemon 3).

There's probably some folks out there that feel the exact opposite way regarding the games I listed, and that's OK! The only way to find out if a game is replayable for you is if you try it out for yourself!

"Collectibles? What can you collect?

BAKERU is chock full of things to collect!

Your main collectibles aside from money dropped by enemies for use in the game's shops are Souvenirs & Scoop Trivia. Each level has 3 Souvenirs & 5 Trivia Facts to find from the NPC, Scoop. Souvenirs & Scoop Trivia are entirely optional.

You can view your Souvenirs in the Bunbuku hubworld lobby after you unlock Bunbuku. In the Japanese original all you can do is just look at them from afar, but in this new release you can actually look at and read the descriptions for each of them!

You can also re-read Scoop Trivia by Pressing Y (or whatever button you have mapped to that) on the level select to bring up a menu with the Trivia Book option. The facts are mostly about generally unique things about Japan or just weird facts about random things.

The game later gets a sidequest where you have to find some hidden tanukis. Finding each of them allows you to purchase more upgrades for the Bunbuku.

There's also cosmetic masks you can purchase from an NPC within the Bunbuku. They don't change anything about how Bakeru controls however, they're purely cosmetic.

If you end up completing a stage and missing a collectible, you can revisit it, grab what you missed, and exit. The game automatically saves after each collectible you acquire.

If you want a guide to find all the collectibles, watch this guide by EscapeRouteBritish . Heads up, some Scoops may have been moved around in this localization, this guide was made going off the original Japanese release, but for the most part, this guide will help you out.

"What can Bakeru do? Was anything changed to his moveset?

Bakeru controls like a typical action platforming character with your standard jumps and side somersaults. Combat wise, Bakeru's attacks hinge off his Haradaiko Drum which you can do a lot with from the get go: charge attacks, blocking, reflecting, parrying, aerial attacks etc.

You also obtain "Henge" forms that transform Bakeru based on the tribes represented in the game. Those forms are really fun!

For this localized release, Bakeru got some enhancements to his overall movement and some new attacks. Combat and Platforming feel a lot smoother and his grounded charge slam also has a bigger attack radius.

Footage of one of the new attacks in action [x.com]

"I heard there was a fan translation made for the game, what happened to it?"

Yes, there was a fan translation that started development shortly after the game released. It was done within the span of 1-3 months. It was of very high quality and amassed a bunch of downloads online. No doubt about it, most folks learned about this game through Team Oceanic's efforts. The only thing left untranslated was one post launch level due to some unexpected news coming our way.

Back in May 2024, KongsNutz (the lead man behind the BAKERU English Fan Translation) received a cease & desist from a law firm on Good-Feel's behalf. They asked for Team Oceanic (the fan translation team) to cease work & distribution of the patch. Kongs complied by removing the downloads and deleting the Team Oceanic discord server as an extra precautionary measure.

While the news of this was initially sad, it did give many some sort of hope that the BAKERU was going to be localized, and look at that! It's actually coming! We're in this reality!

"How's the quality of Spike Chunsoft's translation?"

Spike Chunsoft kept the translation faithful to the original Japanese text from what it seems. There's a lot of similar aspects to the Team Oceanic fan translation which, if anything, implies that Chunsoft looked at the fan translation during the localization's development according to KongsNutz and one of the fan translation playtesters, EscapeRouteBritish.

This is definitely the best outcome we wanted out of this game being localized! Even moreso with this Steam release!

"I've seen that this release has some QoL improvements and changes, will the original Japanese Switch version receive these as well?"

Good news for any early adopters of the original Japanese release of Bakeru!

On November 7th, 2024, Good-Feel released Version 2.0.0 of the original Japanese release of Bakeru. This patch includes all the QoL improvements from the overseas release handled by Spike Chunsoft with the exception of the language options being absent.

Due to how the original release handled text packages, including the Chinese and English language packs would've bloated the download size of the patch (you'd essentially be installing a brand new game). While in a perfect world it would've been great to have those languages slapped into this patch this outcome was a great compromise regardless due to staggering performance issues of the original release.

"Did the original Japanese Switch version have any exclusive content?"

Yes, BAKERU received some free post launch DLC in the form CoroCoro Island which included some mask cosmetics & two new levels. As of writing this, this content is still exclusive to the Japanese Switch release.

KongsNutz has dug into the current release a bit, and considering how Spike Chunsoft has rebuilt the game, it's inconclusive that the CoroCoro Island content is still here. Maybe its in the game's code under a different name, maybe its outright removed. We don't exactly know cause it's harder to dig into the game now.

Perhaps someone can mod the PC release with the JP exclusive content?

"Will we get a physical Switch release in the West?"

On October 7th, 2024, Good-Feel & Spike Chunsoft has confirmed that BAKERU will receive a physical release in the West & Europe on February 25th, 2025. Source. [www.gematsu.com].

"Is there a demo?"

Unfortunately the Steam release does not have a demo. However...

There is a demo on the Nintendo eShop with 4 stages, if you have a Switch, I recommend checking the demo there. Unfortunately, you'll have to deal with some of the performance issues the game has on Switch.

"Well, if that's the case, how is the Steam version performance-wise?"

The PC release for BAKERU is excellent. Not only are there multiple display options, but there's support for locked 30fps, locked 60fps, and uncapped framerates. This was a huge blessing because BAKERU's biggest drawback on Switch was the performance.

The original Japanese release had a very funky uncapped 60fps framerate, at points it would look good, but when it would dip, you'll notice immediately. Fortunately, with Spike Chunsoft handling the localization they optimized the Switch version to run leagues smoother, and as stated prior, the original Japanese release received those enhancements in the form of an update patch too.

There's still some performance hiccups on the current Switch release, but its plays leagues better than the original Japanese launch. Hopefully the Switch 2 can boost the performance further to run at a smooth framerate.

"I have a Steam Deck, is BAKERU compatible?"

I don't own a Steam Deck myself (yet), but yes, BAKERU is Steam Deck verified. Many folks in the game's review section have stated how smooth it runs on Deck. It's absolutely the ideal way to play BAKERU on the go if you don't want to buy it on Switch.

Closing Thoughts

I hope this thread done this job to inform people on BAKERU! Thanks for reading it if you did! And I do hope this game gets the support and love it deserves from the West!

Of course, if anyone has further questions I or others will do the best to answer them!

[Chapels]

Great post, when I first heard about the digital release. I had the thought that if we are lucky enough to see a physical version. It may come from a platform like Limited Run Games. Do you think this is possible?

[EscapeRouteBritish.com]

Originally posted by Chapels:

if we are lucky enough to see a physical version. It may come from a platform like Limited Run Games. Do you think this is possible?

I think it's possible, if only because Limited Run games remastered Plumbers Don't Wear Ties, which is a pretty good indication that they're mad crazy (in a good way of course) and like to do off the wall things.

It is worth letting Limited Run Games, Strictly Limited etc. know there's interest in a physical release. Try tagging them in a post or sending them a message on The Social Media Platform Formerly Known As Twitter, or their other socials.

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by Chapels:

Great post, when I first heard about the digital release. I had the thought that if we are lucky enough to see a physical version. It may come from a platform like Limited Run Games. Do you think this is possible?

Thank you! I'd say EscapeRouteBritish hit the nail on the head, LRG, Strictly Limited, or Super Deluxe could most likely do a physical of the localized version but obviously there's gotta be demand.

Spike Chunsoft could potentially do it as well considering Good-Feel's other self published/developed game, Monkey Barrels, was localized and given a physical by Nicalis. Chunsoft's other Switch ports do have physicals too so there is that.

If an asian/chinese or european physical is coming then thats definitely going to be the closest we'll get to am english physical aside from the japanese version likely being reissued.

[Ghigi]

Very informative and well written post, gz !
I really hope the 39,99 price tag with a -10% discount like it's on the Nintendo Eshop right now.

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by Ghigi:

Very informative and well written post, gz !
I really hope the 39,99 price tag with a -10% discount like it's on the Nintendo Eshop right now.

Thank you! And yeah I'm hoping its got an introductory discount too. If it don't I still plan on purchasing it!

[Bede-x]

This is such a nice info thread. Thanks for writing it, OP.

I hope it runs well on Steam Deck.

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by Bede-x:

This is such a nice info thread. Thanks for writing it, OP.

I hope it runs well on Steam Deck.

No problem and thank you! I'm sure the game will run fine on Deck too!

[💀 Timo21220 💀]

What will it cost on pc?

[Ghigi]

Pricetag should be in line with the Nintendo Shop, 39.99

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by Ghigi:

Pricetag should be in line with the Nintendo Shop, 39.99

Possibility it could get an introductory price discount. So I'd keep that in mind. It is a decently lengthy game though.

[Necrokiller]

Why cant this be purchased right now? It unlocks in 9 hours.

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by Necrokiller:

Why cant this be purchased right now?

Because the game releases on September the 3rd, which is in a few hours and not every game has a pre-order/pre-purchase option 😁

Maybe go kill some time by doing something else before you're able to grab it off Steam😉

[|αη| Il Pizzaro di Pizzaroni]

I'm surprised that there wasn't a mention that the company making this has the same specific ex-Konami member that Ebisumaru has his name and appearance taken from (Ebisu Etsunobu) at one of the helms, who was also the longtime producer of Goemon itself.

It'd be surprising if it wasn't Goemon adjacent!

[WaffulSyrup]

Originally posted by |αη| Il Pizzaro di Pizzaroni:

I'm surprised that there wasn't a mention that the company making this has the same specific ex-Konami member that Ebisumaru has his name and appearance taken from (Ebisu Etsunobu) at one of the helms, who was also the longtime producer of Goemon itself.

It'd be surprising if it wasn't Goemon adjacent!

Haha, I thought about mentioning that fact, but I really wanted to bullet point things in a digestible way for y'all.

[Bede-x]

Originally posted by WaffulSyrup:

No problem and thank you! I'm sure the game will run fine on Deck too!

It does, based on the opening level I just played. If the rest of the game is like that it should get a Deck verified tag. Nice!