El Panadero -The Baker- is a 2D Action title set in an unnamed Mexican city. We kick things off with a cutscene showcasing an alien space fleet surrounding the Earth and see a stray laser hitting a bakery. That alone sealed their fate. The Baker rises from the wreckage, not even acknowledging the crackling fire surrounding him. After that introduction, we are given direct control and a brief tutorial. We have a ranged move primarily used to stun enemies, a melee attack, and a jump button. With that said, our mission is clear. To avenge those poor empanadas just blasted into the stratosphere. …And your co-worker, I suppose. There were three people in that bakery, and only two rose back up.
Yes, there are two properly pissed Bakers, as if the alien’s situation wasn’t dire enough. After the tutorial, we can choose a nameless male or female baker. When it comes to the male ‘Panadero,’ he has a more potent attack if you would like to bulldoze everything in your path. Meanwhile, the female “La Panadera” has faster movement and a higher jump. It is a minor difference since both share the same attacks and abilities. Some animations do differ between them. It’s purely cosmetic but an appreciated bit of attention to detail. One can’t go wrong with either, though the sight of beating down a highly advanced, space-faring alien race with a rolling pin is a strong selling point for the Panadera. Also worth mentioning is that coop is a feature. Simply grab an extra controller, press start, and someone can join in at any time.
After standing unharmed in the fire as if the flames were too afraid to get near the bread man, we punch our way through several brick walls until finally reaching the outdoors. The first thing we see? Giant pumpkins. Why? I have no clue. This game is a highly surreal experience where reality feels like a mere suggestion. The comic book-style graphics and frequent use of odd color palettes contribute greatly to the unique atmosphere. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably be smacking everything in sight until you learn if it’s a threat. There I was, immediately bullying some random vegetation while the world around me was burning. Funnily enough, that can be useful to your survival. Every time you strike something with your melee attacks, there is a chance to recover health. Any destructible object or enemy can achieve that effect.
Pelting an enemy with projectiles will stun them temporarily and allow you to move into melee range, which deals significantly more damage. There is no limit to the amount of ranged attacks you can spam. The fact that you restore health by punching things is an interesting way to dissuade a player from overusing the ranged attack. Unfortunately, transitioning between the two is not as seamless as it could be. Both forms of offense use the same button, with your character automatically using melee at a specific range. There is no visual indication of that range. You stand a chance of taking unnecessary contact damage due to how close we must blindly get. Even a stunned foe still harms you. Well, mostly. I found two irregular enemies that don’t cause contact damage if stunned. Neither do boss fights. It is an odd inconsistency.
To circle back to the player never knowing when they’re in melee range, a potential fix to this issue would be a slight change in our character’s stance or a brief pulsing effect on his/her outline. I hate to lead directly to another negative, but it is unavoidable, considering combat is the bulk of what we’ll be doing throughout. The enemy AI is too stationary to be enjoyable to fight against. Your most common threats either don’t move or only shuffle a bit to the sides. Its main issue is that many of the levels featured here are too unobstructed for the kind of foes we’re facing. Every encounter typically plays out the same, with us spamming away at a safe distance and going in for the kill. The lack of pushback or risk ultimately harms the combat system’s potential.
El Panadero does get better in the second half of the game. It features more environmental threats, whether pits in the ground or giant thorn-covered vines sprawling through the level. It also introduces a few enemies that can move and one that can even chase us. That was great to see, though the latter is only activated while we’re nearby and can be stunned by our projectile far before that. The genuine strengths of this title lie in its excellent comic book art style and the surreal nature of our journey. Not to mention El Panadero’s catchy tunes that span across various genres. There was rarely a moment where the thought, “What in the world is going on?” wasn’t running through my head. From fighting a massive skeleton trying to introduce our head to its guitar, to an entire stage taking place within a flying creature, it was all wonderfully bizarre.
The boss fights are simple but more enjoyable than fighting your typical mob enemy. They have patterns that can be a threat, and these encounters often come in suddenly, taking you a moment to realize the potential danger you’re now in. It is just as fun on a second playthrough when you know how to best tackle this situation. At that point, it basically becomes the “you’re the one stuck in here with me” meme, and you’ll take some bosses out in seconds. There is some content outside of the main game. These include a Jukebox to listen to the soundtrack and a Gallery mode. The latter gives us a peek into a fair amount of behind-the-scene things and shout-outs to other people. It’s a neat little addition that gives this title even more personality. And finally, there is a Training mode. This option will transport you into a unique area to test your preferred character. It contains a strikable object to measure the exact amount of damage each character dishes out.
One feature not mentioned on the store page is that El Panadero has short branching paths. I’ve only noticed one, but there could be more, and that alone does increase the replayability. There’s also an offline scoring system to challenge yourself and try to improve in future runs. Your points are erased whenever you run out of continues. That is the only penalty for dying too much and respawning. Anyone can see El Panadero through to its conclusion and experience its uniquely strange nature. That will take around an hour of your time. It is brief, yet there is little in the way of filler here. Your environments will constantly be changing, as will the situations you’ll find yourself in. A lot of hand-drawn art assets are packed into this hour-long adventure, staving off any sense of repetition. Putting this title down is challenging once you pick it up. That sensation of wondering what’s next will become a near-irresistible curiosity.
I’ve experienced no crashes or noticeable glitches after various playthroughs, rounding up to around five hours. In terms of graphical options, all we have is a Full Screen and Windowed mode to select from. El Panadero will run at your monitor’s native refresh rate. It’s always nice to see an uncapped frame rate limit. In addition, some gameplay settings are tucked away in the extra menu, such as the number of starting lives or continues. Overall, El Panadero is a title with a ton of heart. The gameplay could be more engaging, yet the environments and overall strangeness make it unforgettable. It begins with us fighting through a quaint Mexican town before escalating into what can only be considered a form of cosmic horror. With its seamless coop and ability to play online via Steam’s Remote Play, El Panadero can easily become one of those “Yo, check this out” types of games you rope a friend into. If you enjoy the strange and surreal, this experience is unlike any other.
[A review copy was provided to us]
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