#game-review #finishedgame2023 # Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling  [Console:: PC] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2023-04-03] [Finish Date:: 2023-07-24] [Clear Time:: 38h 40m 23s] [Total Play Time:: 41h] [nReplays:: 0] ## [Rating:: 79] it's biggest strength is its biggest weakness, independently produced. # Playthrough Notes Playing on stream with friends doing a fun dub of the game similar to how we did with [[Omori]]. # My Thoughts - [[Bug Fables's biggest flaw is that it was an independent game, and thus lacks the polish many other games might get]] - [[The world of Bug Fables, Bugaria, is just a backyard, but feels vast because the characters are small]] - I feel like I run out of materials too quickly. I don't ever feel like I have enough TP and then I never have items that recover enough TP. The best attacks use up a quart of my TP and there's not reasonable amount of items to make me feel like I can ever get back to full TP. Objectively this just might not be true, but it *feels* that way ## This game starts off SUPER QUICKLY, much faster than I was anticipating. It's kind of nuts just how quickly as the player we're introduced to Vi and Kabbu and the adventuring guild and how the world works, and we're supposed to just be alright with that. We're also given very little tutorial related to action commands unlike [[Paper Mario]] which has a full hour prologue of action command-less gameplay. It was a little jarring, but I got a hold of it quickly enough ## The Visuals are Cool but feel Off The visuals are nice, but I really can't figure out what it is to me that makes this feel off. It's like it's clear the game was made in Unity since it's a little too flat? It's hard to place what feels about it, maybe it's just that it's very clear it was made in Unity. There's a distinct lack of shading that worked in [[Paper Mario]] because it was made for a Cathode-Ray Tube Television, compared to this game, which was made for a computer. I wonder what the game would look like if the sprites and art had been designed with scanlines in mind. I think it really has to do with the way they made it feel "paper-y" but in the process like, made it feel really rough around the edges and unpolished. This goes for the music as well since there's some songs that feel really good to listen to and then there are others that sound like there's a basic midi applied when playing them. ## Game Overs the fact that you can die in a fight (DURING BOSSES!!!) and then immediately restart the fight is a really nice and convenient thing to include. It makes the game far less frustrating than it could be, especially because it restarts you with all of your items and returns you to the state you started at. I also appreciate you can also start from the last save point as well. It's good stuff for accessibility, and I'm all for anti-frustration features. Luckily, when you die in regular combat, provided you save often enough, it's not even that far to get back to where you might've died. Save points are everywhere, and that's a welcome addition. ## Dungeon Design The dungeon design of bug Fables is surprisingly enjoyable and the game makes it clear that the dungeons are meant to be challenges, but in a meaningful way. they guide the player along well enough (as of Chapter 3 at least) and doesn't sacrifice challenge for the sake of narrative. They're quite "complete feeling". ## The World of Bugaria is Really Well Connected After encountering the shortcut between the Thieves Den and Defiant Root, I have to say, this world is really well connected in a nice way. It's cool to see all the shortcuts that come to about as a result of new upgrades. I love making shortcuts between places I know so that the world becomes a little more interconnected and a little less scary. I really enjoy how this game effectively takes place in a backyard, but because every character is a bug, Bagaria feels vast. ## Compared to [[Paper Mario]] ### Combat It's not a shock that this game takes MANY cues from Paper Mario with respect to combat, but I'm quite pleased to see that it's not a 1:1 copy of Paper Mario . The combat initially seemed a little too simple with Vi and Kabbu only having a single attack, but with the addition of Leif and the then the Party Shuffling system where you can designate one party member's turn to another's is quite interesting and effective. ### Levelling Up and Stats In this game, there's HP, Medal Points (MP) which are basically like Badge Points in Paper Mario, and TP which is similar to Flower Points in Paper Mario. They work basically the same, though I find that with the increased amounts of attacks that rely on TP, it's more reasonable to consistently level up the TP and MP. HP isn't so bad but it's easier to boost things related to attacks. ## Story Beats ### Chapter 1 They really just throw you right into the whole story without really elaborating don't they. Who *is* Kabbu, who *is* Vi, why do they just immediately trust each other? The game really sets up a lot of questions that I hope it answers decently well? At least it makes sense to go through this dungeon and set up a lot of questions initially. This first chapter does a great job at establishing some of these mysteries. ### Chapter 2 I admire that Bug Fables is willing to have a chapter with minimal conflict, and instead opts to present the Golden Hill Festival as a way to introduce more characters into the world. The fact that there's not really an antagonizing force this chapter, beyond Venus defending the relic is very unique, and honestly kind of refreshing. And then the fact that Venus isn't actually a true antagonist, merely a guardian of the artifact who later HEALS us is really neat. #### Mothiva as an Antagonist was a shock I first encountered Mothiva while she was performing on stage and she appeared slightly curt, and I didn't really think much of it. "Yeah, sure, she's a jerk but well adored, that makes sense." I was shocked to see her before the boss fight with Venus, and how I had to fight her out of nowhere. ### Chapter 3 Vi being the one who was actually kind of the bad egg is a new way of presenting a character, and it goes against a lot of the clichés of someone running away from their home. I admire that they were willing to make Vi the one more or less at fault, though I have a feeling that we're still supposed to learn more about her sister, which we get to see more of after beating this chapter. #### Hard mode is HARD but Normal mode is EASY Tell me why once I took off the hard mode badge on the B33 Fight, the fight was over in like 3 minutes tops. It was stupendously easy compared to the hard mode fight, so I guess they really mean "Hard" when they say hard mode, huh. It's a little disappointing how polarizing it is, how easy the easy mode is and how HARD the hard mode is. ### Chapter 4 - Kabbu has a digging skill. Why did we not know about this? "Well, you never asked!" - I actually really like the Sand castle dungeon with its ice puzzles in there. It's a cool way to do a "hot vs. cold" zone without it being magma and ice, for example. This also lets us have the block sliding puzzles and have platforms that appear and disappear. ## Chapter 5 - There's some really solid plot development at the end of Chapter 5 for the overall story, but I also really enjoy the development we get for both Kabbu and Leif in these chapters ### Upper Snakemouth is a great Optional Dungeon timing-wise We get hints of Leif's story at the end of Chapter 4, but it's rally cool to see how it's developed optional here in Chapter 5. I only wish it weren't optional / missable since that's a HUGE aspect of Leif's character that can go entirely unnoticed. The dungeon design is kinda cool since it captures the horror element really well and is justifiable with the "ancient civilization" with cockroaches and the folly of their ambition. IT's a fun way to integrate it, even if the general story beat is otherwise tropey. I like how the managed to make it feel meaningful to the world and not just tacked on because it seemed like a cool idea. ### It's Really Anti-Climactic It just kind of ends? Like, I guess the big red bug was the chapter 5 boss, but that feel really underwhelming to me since I thought that the whole point of the chapter was to go to the Wasp Kingdom and take down the Wasp King, and then go back, but then the fight with General Ultimax was super anti-climactic. Also given the item shop in the Wasp Castle, the item exchange and the save point after the stealth mission (which i didn't really struggle with), I was expecting something FAR harder. Even when we went back to the Ant Kingdom, I was expecting some kind of chapter boss, but guess that was the big red bug. ### What was the deal with the Kali Fight? What was the whole deal with fighting Kali after returning her fabric? Like, you get a lore book, but then you also have a miniboss fight? I think this was a possible fight as soon as I finished the bandit hideout, but I'm still confused by it. It wasn't overly difficult, but it was fun with Kabbu being our enemy. Of course though, the trope of "former party member has a lot more HP when against the party" was in full play which was kind of annoying. Also, they made Kali look like a dancer of some kind? Like I'm not really into sexy bugs, game, thanks though. ## Chapter 6 - What the fuck do they mean "rubber prison", is it like a tire? - The tournament arc isn't really a tournament arc, but i guess I don't mind lol - Getting a ship is very nice ## Relevant Recipes - Glazed Honey + Bag of Flour (from Crisbee) = 12 TP restoring item - Aphid Egg + Crunchy Leaf = 9 HP for single party member - Bag of Flour + Aphid Egg = Sweet Pudding, 6 HP, 6 TP - Tangy Berry taken to Kut makes a Tangy Carpaccio which heals 12 HP for everyone. ## Chapter 7 What in the Tears of the Kingdom ass shit are those eyes, holy moly. # Favorite Moments / Memories - The Spider boss fight at the end of chapter 1 as the room is flooding is a really cool backdrop. # What were you doing when not playing this? # Relevant Links - https://i.redd.it/52nkbnewlyb61.png (MAP)