It was worth the wait

[Bufudyne Dan]

I'll post a review when I 100% the game, but I need to gush about it right now. Bakeru is my game of the year 2024 so far. I know it released in Japan last year, but I don't care, it launched worldwide this year, so it's eligible.

I'm no stranger to Nintendo platformers, and even some PlayStation ones (you know, before PlayStation moved to California and proceeded to kill their entire legacy by alienating the Japanese devs that made them what they were). I got introduced to Bakeru via a youtube review, and ever since, I've been pining for its western release.

I've never played a single Ganbare Goemon game, despite knowing of the series, but I love a good platformer, and I love action games that wear their Japanese roots on their sleeve, so this was right up my alley. Looked polished as hell, too, like the lovechild of Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Ape Escape 3 (which is ironic, considering Good Feel made Kirby's Epic Yarn).

So I've got all the Henge abilities now, and my first impressions surpassed my expectations. This game really is one of a kind. Colourful, vibrant, up-beat, inspired, fun, and without a hint of corporate cynicism. It's so refreshing to get a game like this again, especially in a year where even the games I enjoyed managed to disappoint me somehow. for example, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom would've been my GOTY, since I love collectathon platformers, if it weren't for its lazy meme-writing, and the fact that even that dev couldn't help but make terminally-online social commentary about certain real-world figures... not exactly what I go to a 3D platformer for, especially when I play these games to get away from all the politics and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of life.

So you can imagine how chuffed I was to play Bakeru. Polished, fun, well-designed, approachable on various skill levels, and fully committed to providing a jolly adventure across a fairytale Japan.

The over-the-top wacky Japanese action reminds me vaguely of Sengoku Basara, and I keep thinking how nice it'd be if Capcom gave Sengoku Basara 4 a chance in the west (and, y'know, marketed the bloody thing this time).

Anyway, I could rant about the exchange rate not being fair in the UK, but this is honestly £31 well spent. It's packed full of levels and collectables, and the sheer joy the gameplay's brought me so far is well worth the asking price.

If you're reading this and you still haven't bought Bakeru, do it.

[WaffulSyrup]

You have no idea how happy reading this makes me as someone that has been pushing people to check this game out even before the English fan translation patch had dropped.

I know its kinda hard to get people to want to import something and play a game not in their native tongue but for the time being, playing Bakeru blind when I imported my copy must've felt like how importing Goemon 2 on the Super Famicom was for some people back in the 90s.

I'm so glad it's been localized faithfully and the PC port is excellent. I'm really happy a ton of people both in Nintendo and PC circles are giving this game a shot too. Really hope it can pull through with more eyes on it considering it dropped in a fairly stacked month.

[Bufudyne Dan]

As a Sengoku Basara fan, I've done my fair share of importing. It's not ideal, but tolerable for games that aren't too text-heavy or story-reliant. I considered importing Bakeru too until the trailer first dropped. It happened during a particularly stressful month too, so it brightened my day and gave me something to look forward to the following month.

And yeah, September's insane. FF16 comes to PC in a few weeks, and there's also Reynatis, The Plucky Squire, Grapple Dogs and the new Zelda. I'd add Astro Bot to the list if there were enough exclusives to justify buying a PS5, because that game looks great too. But damn if Bakeru didn't start the month off with a bang for me. This was THE September game as far as I was concerned.

Hopefully Bakeru sells well enough for the devs to make their money back. It seems like it's gaining some traction on Switch at least