Codename: Bakery Girl

Codename: Bakery Girl (面包房少女 CODE NAME:BAKERY GIRL) is an strategy RPG game developed by MICA Team in partnership with GameMaster and Vanguard Sound, released for PC in China on 9 March 2013. It has been presented as an amateur (doujin) production. It takes place during the First Antarctic War, in 2092, and follows MID agent Mendo and the mysterious girl Jefuty in their fight against the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition armies.

This game is Girls' Frontline's predecessor and a sequel to its story. Sound assets from Codename: Bakery Girl have been reused in Girls' Frontline and Bakery Girl's Secret Documents are the basis for the Confidential Files of The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1, linking the two universes.

Codename: Bakery Girl can be considered a reimagining of the 2009 visual novel Girl of the Bakehouse since despite changing almost past recognition, the story's structure is very similar. Codename: Bakery Girl itself received a remake titled Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery, bringing it to the international market for the first time.

Gameplay

Codename: Bakery Girl is a top-view square-grid turn-based strategy RPG (or tactical RPG). On their turn, players expend each of their unit's action points to move them on the map and take a variety of actions, such as gathering supplies to craft equipment from gathered parts, attacking enemies or setting up traps or automated turrets. Stealth is an important part of the gameplay: most of the map is hidden in a fog of war concealing enemy positions, and each enemy has a limited field of vision. By moving on concealment tiles such as forest or buildings, and by trading movement for stealth with the “prone” position, player units can move undetected and perform sneak attacks.

The RPG component of the game comes from the preparation screen before entering each mission, where players assign equipment and allocate enhancement points to each unit, as well as upgrade equipment.

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  Promotional screenshots.
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Story

"This is classified information!"

This article contains unmarked spoilers. You have been warned. Click here to skip this part.

There are 10 chapters in Codename: Bakery Girl.

Codename: Bakery Girl takes place in the mountainous Karachay Region of Caucasian Russia, near Teberda City. It begins on the morning of December 18th, 2092 when the unit of Captain Carl Mintfield is ambushed by forces of the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition (URNC). Agent Mendo is caught in the explosion of a rocket and faints. When he wakes up, he is being tended to by a mysterious girl with white hair named Jefuty. Mendo's head injury made him forget what his original mission was, but the girl insists on guiding him to safety as URNC forces are searching the forest. Jefuty displays superhuman movement speed and hearing as they avoid and fight the enemy troops, and reach a village where Mendo remembers an emergency communication points has been set up.

There, they find Atena and Jevon, members of the TASA Razor team in charge of supporting MID. Jevon explains to Mendo that he is a member of the MID, the internal affairs of the Antarctic Union's army, and his team was sent to the Caucasus to recover a certain objective under operation Bakery. The exact objective of Bakery is a secret unknown to Jevon, and forgotten by Mendo. The MID teams were operating under secrecy with the help of a URNC officer named Lavrentiy Beria, who turned out to be a double agent and set up the attack.

During the night, Jefuty reveals to Mendo that she knows where Beria's base is, and both depart without informing the TASA agents to take revenge. While they reconnoiter the Sukhumi Special Air Force Base, they see Beria talk with an unknown man and a mysterious girl, which immediately sense that Jefuty, her “big sister”, is near. Mendo and Jefuty are forced to flee into a heavily contaminated zone struck by a Collapse Fluid cloud and nuclear warheads during World War Three, and still inhabited by violent mutated ELIDs. Seeing the ELIDs triggers vague memories in Jefuty.

As they become trapped by ELIDs, Mendo and Jefuty are helped by the mysterious girl, who uses superhuman powers to destroy the ELIDs, inform them that Beria's troops have left the base mostly unguarded, and leaves. Mendo and Jefuty return to the base and cross path with Captain Carl, who managed to survive the assault on MID's teams a day earlier. The group infiltrate the base and reach the command room to interrogate Beria, but they fall into Beria's trap and are surrounded. Jefuty asks Beria what happened to her little sister Lige.

In a flashback, Jefuty remembers that she and Lige were among the refugees convoy that was massacred by the URNC troops, but that Lige was killed by a tank during their escape. Later, she witnessed Lige's body reassembling itself as Beria and his mysterious associate, who presented himself as Lige's father. Beria reveals that Lige's true name is Noel, and that she was being used to track down Jefuty. Mendo and Carl trigger the explosives they had prepared earlier, making an escape from Beria's ambush. As they are about to leave the base, Noel blocks their exit, resenting Jefuty for leaving her behind, thinking her dead, and asking her to join their father. Jefuty refuses, insisting that they are normal girls and that they had a promise to find their mother together.

The Antartican forces manage to force Noel to retreat, but she warns them that a URNC army has put the region on lockdown. The team runs into the night to their extraction point, where an aircraft will pick them up in 30 minutes. As they barricade into a church, Mendo admits to Jefuty that he had understood she was Bakery's objective, but was glad they could bond as persons, though she didn't smile once. As Beria's troops encircle the church, a long fight begins, where the Antarctican soldiers manage to wear down the URNC troops.

Endings

There are three different endings depending on the capacity of the player to deplete the URNC troops before taking Beria down.

The bad ending plays if the player kills Beria. In his last breath, Beria taunts Jefuty, saying she will never see Lige again. Jefuty decides to go searching for her, and when Mendo tries to prevent her from walking into an obvious trap, she shoots him in the leg so he won't stop her then leave with a sad face.

The normal ending plays if the player manages to destroy Beria's forces then approach him. As the encirclement weakens, Mendo and Jefuty run after the fleeing Beria. As he dies, he laments that the war is entirely caused by Jefuty's existence, as she is the key to unlocking the power of Collapse Technology, and that she actually planned for the MID and URNC to fight over her and use the chaos to disappear. Jefuty reveals to Mendo that she is indeed an experiment, but hates that her very existence is causing a war and the death of many people. She finally asks Mendo to kill her, but he refuses, believing in her right to live as a normal human being or use her powers for a good cause. Jefuty smiles and leave.

The good ending plays if the player triggers a normal ending while having collected all Secret Documents. It is identical to the normal ending, but Jefuty and Mendo share a kiss before she leaves.

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  Bad end CG.
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  Normal end CG.
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  Good end CG.

The Secret Documents in the Gallery menu of Codename: Bakery Girl reveal that Jefuty and Noel were the results of the Three Goddesses project, and also expand on the story of World War Three, the First Beilan Island Incident, the Antarctic Union and the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition. The Confidential Files in The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 reveal that Jefuty was later captured by the URNC, and Mendo took part in the operation to rescue her two years after Codename: Bakery Girl during operation Kindle.

Secret Documents

Players can unlock 10 pieces of lore from the Secret Documents menu by realizing specific actions in the game, like stepping on marked tiles or killing specific enemies. They cover Collapse Technology (part 1), Relic Technology research from 1945 to 1981 (parts 2, 3 & 5), the two GAVIRUL Reproduction Projects (parts 4 & 10), the First Beilan Island Incident (part 6), World War Three (part 7), the start of the First Antarctic War (part 8) and Eurosky Low-Emission Infectious Disease (part 9). The Confidential Files of The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 have reproduced and added material to these original documents.

Merchandising

When physical sales of the game opened on 9 March 2013, it was offered in a standard version for 49 yuans and a "limited deluxe edition" (豪华限定版 or 華豪版) for 120 yuans. The standard version included the free download of one future DLC, while the deluxe edition included three free future DLCs (never released). The deluxe edition also included a big box version of the game, a CD of the original soundtrack, a printed paper bag and three artworks in postcard format. Preorders included a "mini tactical chess" (迷你战术棋) board game.

A digital version was distributed starting 15 March 2013 for 39 yuans.

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  Content of the deluxe edition.

Development history

Yuzhong and MICA Team distributed Girl of the Bakehouse in May and June 2009 at ComicCup 4 and ComiCon 4. In a blog post on 2 June 2009, Yuzhong explained that someone at ComiCup 4 motivated him to start working on a strategy game, and he shared concepts of a girl using modern firearms. In a later post on 10 April 2010, he admits that developing a game is more complicated than he envisioned. A concept shared on his Pixiv account on 4 August 2009 reveals that the project was named ATLNA and describes the game as both SLG (strategy/simulation game) and AVG (adventure). The artwork depicts an armed girl and a military man fighting together, reminiscent of Jefuty and Mendo.

“Girl of the Bakehouse 2” announcement.

As revealed by various concept arts, MICA Team worked on two Bakehouse projects during the following years. The first was a sequel to Girl of the Bakehouse simply titled Girl of the Bakehouse 2 (面包房少女2), announced in a 2 August 2010 post and expected for 2011. Fellow circle Moe Cannon Studio (萌炮工坊) would help MICA Team with the project, and Viva Team would produce the soundtrack again. The logo has a similar structure to the one used for Codename: Bakery Girl but depicts a person in a modern military suit (probably Mendo), and the tagline replaces the word “everything” by “memory”, suggesting that Jefuty was the one who lost her memory and not Mendo in the original story. It also describes the game as “Tactical · Action · Shooting” in a style reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid's title. Yuzhong posted new concepts on Pixiv until April 2011, showing the initial drafts for Jefuty, Noel and William, as well as development assets on Weibo, showing the software Action Game Maker (inspection of the files of the final game indicates it was made in Unity 4 Beta). One of the early artworks was used for the cover of Codename: Bakery Girl Original Soundtrack. On 20 March 2011, one of Silverwing's artworks used in the promotion of the game was revealed by Yuzhong on Weibo and by Silverwing on her Pixiv. On 17 March 2013, a third artist, catsila, shared backgrounds drawn for the project, dating them from 2011. Pamphlets with Silverwing's artworks were made to advertise the game at ComiCup 8 in June 2011, announcing a release later the same year.

The second project was an HD remake of Girl of the Bakehouse, advertised in MICA's 2011 doujin works with a new artwork by Silverlight and a logo identical to the final one used for Codename Bakery Girl. Yuzhong revealed more artwork for the remake in a 10 January 2012 Pixiv post, then advertised both project in a 25 March 2012 Weibo post, announcing more than 120 artworks and an expected release date for the remake in the second part of 2012. In November 2012, Yuzhong shared screenshots and artworks of Jefuty, showing that the project had definitely shifted to a single strategy game instead of separate remake and sequel. The final version of the game was formally announced in February 2013, a month before the release.

The first three issues of Guns&Girls were produced during the course of Codename: Bakery Girl's development. Girls' Frontline can be seen as the fusion of Bakery Girl's Sci-Fi war stories and Guns&Girls' light-hearted gun anthropomorphism.

More posts published by Yuzhong before the reveal of Girls' Frontline in April 2015 suggest a sequel to Codename: Bakery Girl was in the work. A Weibo post on 11 June 2014 shared a rough character concept with the message “NEW JEFUTY”. Pieces of a new concept art were shared on Weibo in January and February 2015, and the final artwork titled Type_A was shared on Pixiv in May 2015 along with another piece seemingly inspired by the “NEW JEFUTY” concept rough. Both were described as concepts for an abandoned game project.

In a post in 2018, Yuzhong said he would like to include unreleased DLCs in the remake, and later confirmed that the three unreleased DLCs would be included.

Credits

• Producer, Director, Art Director, Story Script, Level Design, Animations, UI & Icons, Box Design: Yuzhong (羽中)
• Lead Programming, Game framework and Scripting: CK (Studio GameMaster)
• Level scripting: Tempbuffer (Studio GameMaster), SonicMisora (Studio GameMaster)
• Writer: Hannibal
• Technical Military Advisors: Hannibal, 戰術編號117
• Artwork: 笛予, 攻兼受 (Studio GameMaster), Haimao (诲猫絡合物), Jefuty001
• Guest artists: 噶哦 (牛逼的), Silverwing (愚蠢的), Haimao (诲猫絡合物) (超吊的)
• Music: G.K (Vanguard Sound), Ryuu, 樂痕
• Test and debug: Tempbuffer (Studio GameMaster), SonicMisora (Studio GameMaster), 攻兼受 (Studio GameMaster)
• Printing: 水色之夏, Yuzhong (羽中)
• Promotional Video: Kotoho
• Special Thanks: 凌, Ayu, 新月冰冰, 黄輝
• Ending songs
  • 目を閉じて (Bad Ending)
    • Composition, arrangement and mixing: noVaTion
    • Lyrics and voice: Ryuu
  • アヴェマリア〜祝福の鐘が響く (True Ending)
    • Arrangement: Orangin and G.K
    • Lyrics and voice: komine
  • Laudem poeticam〜赞美诗〜 (Normal Ending)
    • Composition, lyrics and voice: 水树碎
    • Lyrics: Yuzhong (羽中)
    • Arrangement: Dong Hen (东痕)

Gallery

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  Game box (standard edition).
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  Main menu.
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  Website banner from micateam.com.
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  Promotional artworks.
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  The ATLNA concept.
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  Promotional artwork for the canceled Girl of the Bakehouse remake.
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  Artwork reveal for Girl of the Bakehouse 2.
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  The Bakehouse 2 artwork later used for Codename: Bakery Girl's soundtrack cover.
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  Early concepts for Noel.
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  Early concept for William.
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  Bakehouse remake and Bakehouse 2 announcement.
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  The “NEW JEFUTY” rough concept.

External links

• Promotional video
• Video playlist of all mission
• Fan-translated game script and secret documents

References

Games Released: Girl of the Bakehouse · Codename: Bakery Girl · Girls' Frontline · Project Neural Cloud · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Canceled: Girls' Frontline: Glitch Land Anime Girls' Frontline (anime) · Healing Chapter & Madness Chapter Books Guns&Girls · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.2 · Confidential Files · Girls' Frontline: Doll's Song · Others Music Withered · Codename: Bakery Girl Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Original Soundtrack · Project Neural Cloud Original Soundtrack · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline ECHOES · Girls' Frontline Concerts Companies Big Firebird and Liverless · Sunborn (Mica Team) · Vanguard Sound · Game publishers Community Community Resources · Community Events Misc. April Fools · List of cultural references · Minigames · Shadow Confrontation