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Play Japanese platformer Bakeru if you want to get better at pub quizzesI am learned now
I am learned now
Image credit:Spike Chunsoft
Image credit:Spike Chunsoft
What I hadn’t suspected was Bakeru’s chops not only as aplatformer, but as a means to increase your chances at success in pub quizzes. The game is a certified trivia Tardis, where you’ll learn all sorts about Japanese culture as well as just like, the colour sepia being a genus of cuttlefish.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spike Chunsoft
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spike Chunsoft
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spike Chunsoft
And again, that’s fine! Bakeru may be easy and fairly simplistic, but this makes for a stress-free blast through Japanese prefectures, all rendered in wonderful, zany colour. While some of the humour is clearly directed at a Japanese audience, it’s interesting to see how Good-Feel views Japan from its own perspective, as well as how they’ve selected each area’s key characteristics for a wider audience.
Aichi is under construction, where enemies turn and teeter as they hold heavy beams, threatening to knock you to your doom. Kanagawa is an autumnal mountain climb, where you hop over logs and dodge boulders. Shizuoka is a forest full of funky pine trees and a shoreline filled with budding kendo masters. Travel to Okinawa and you’ll hop into a robot dog, who’ll transform into a boat for a race on the surf (this may or may not be authentic). In the best way, steering Bakeru through each prefecture is akin to leafing through a cartoonish tourist leaflet.
Or maybe it’s more like I envision Japanese “marketing”, if that’s the right word for it. I mean those leaflets and announcements and adverts all containing lots of RGB kanji or cheerful jingles or those little portraits that permanently show reactions of the enthusiastic TV hosts. And if I were on a Japanese equivalent ofThe Chaseor at a pub quiz, I guarantee Bakeru would net me some “WaaAAA suuugeee” reactions (equivalent of “woahhh, amazing” in English), as I nailed one (1) or two (2) incredibly niche questions about Japanese prefectures, or revealed the fact that sea grapes aren’t a fruit, but a type of seaweed.
You see, Bakeru has two types of collectible: each level has three hidden gacha balls that you crack open for souvenirs that are fun but ultimately pointless… and Scoop’s trivia. Scoop’s Trivia also offers no value in-game, per say. He’s just a poop-shaped guy in a yellow puffer jacket who tucks himself away in hard to find spots, often five times across each level. Find him lounging on a sundeck or standing behind some rocks and he’ll drop some knowledge. And it’s this knowledge that I covet above all else. Scoop may or may not be an anthropomorphised shit, but he certainlyknowshis shit.
Some things I’ve learned from Scoop:
No, finding Scoop and acquiring his knowledge doesn’t necessarily do anything. But this might be one of the first times I’ve sought out collectibles for the sake of fun tidbits, where before I would’ve punted one of Mario’s moons out of the Mushroom Kingdom’s backyard if asked to track down another one of those crescents. This is to say that Bakeru’s loveliness has brought out a better side of me, one that may or may not absorb Scoop’s thoughts and one day contribute to a pub quiz with an aquatic life or Japanese Things section. Even if you don’t need the help, I guarantee Bakeru will bring you joy.
