Game: Bugsnax
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam (Windows & macOS), PS4, Xbox One, & Xbox Series )
Developers | Publishers: Young Horses
Age Rating: US E10+ | EU 3+
Price: US $24.99 | UK £19.00 | EU € 24,99
Release Date: April 28th, 2022
Review code used, with many thanks to Popagenda PR.
Bugsnax, a first-person adventure game by developers Young Horses, was released as a free launch title for the PS5, and now it’s making its way to the Nintendo Switch. Along with a free update for all owners of the game, that includes a new area, The Isle of Bigsnax, new quests, hats for snax and a hut to decorate and call home. But what exactly is Bugsnax? Read on and find out.
Snaktooth Island
In Bugsnax, you play the role of a hapless journalist who has been invited to Snaktooth Island by the leading explorer Elizabert Megafig. Unfortunately, when you arrive on the island, you discover your host is nowhere to be found. Elizabert Megafig’s camp is in shambles, and her followers are scattered across the island, alone and hungry.
The island of Snaktooth Island is home to the legendary half-bug half-snack creatures, Bugsnax. With Elizabert on the missing list, it’s up to you to conduct a series of interviews with the residents of Snaktooth by first satisfying their desire for Bugsnax. Along the way, you’ll also solve the mysteries of Snaktooth island and find Elizabert. And, of course, you’ll be cataloguing every kind of Bugsnax with your camera and figuring out how to capture them all.
Meet the Grumpus
So begins your journey through this bizarre adventure game, where the characters called Grumpus all look like a cross between a muppet and characters out of Rainbow (a UK Children’s TV program). Not only that, but the bugs that populate the islands are Snax that the local population love to eat. Once they devour a snax, a part of their body turns into said snax.
Capture Bugs
Let me explain in more detail. First, Bugsnax is like Pokemon in a way, in that you’re exploring an island looking for bizarre new creatures to catch and collect.
Except there aren’t any turn-based battles, and the game is played from a first-person perspective. You manually set up traps to catch the Bugsnax, who will chase after you and attack if you get in the way. Using a variety of tools unlocked as you progress, you’ll eventually be able to catch every one of the 100 species in the diverse biomes.
Set Tarps
Catching a creature can be anything from setting a trap and waiting for the Bugsnax to wander into it or luring them to an area using a slingshot and ketchup. Some Bugsnax will take or move your traps, so there’s some strategy needed to capture each creature.
As you continue through the story, you unlock more tools, which allow you to capture more Bugsnax. For example, near the start of the game, I was given a slingshot and access to sauces like ketchup, chocolate, and more as certain Bugsnax are drawn to certain sauces.
You’ll be fully equipped with six tools by the end of the game. After catching the desired Bugsnax for the Grumpus and returning it to them, you witness the Grumpus eating the Bugsnax, and this is where it gets a little weird.
Feed the Grumpus
You see, feeding a Grumpus a Bugsnax will result in their limbs, teeth, horns, whole body or head transforming to absorb it, gaining curly fries for hands, a burrito for a nose, and French Fries as arms. That’s a little creepy and unsettling to watch unfold before your eyes. Fetching Bugsnax to feed Grumpus before you can go on to the next task is entertaining at first, but it gets old very quickly.
Bugsnax doesn’t have a lot of variety in its gameplay loop. You usually go to a place, find the Grumpus hanging out there, and then capture whatever Bugsnax they want to persuade them to move back to town.
Visuals and Controls
The game has a vibrant world filled with imaginative characters and critters. There is plenty of humour in the game, and some of the wordplay is clever. For instance, a Cinnasnail snax is a cinnamon roll pastry with eyes on the ends of its gooey icing or the cheepoofs that are flying cheese puffs. Then there are the strabbys, an upside-down strawberry that scuttles like crabs. The voice acting is top-notch, and the game manages to give every single diverse character you come across a surprising amount of depth.
The game controls reasonably well on the Switch. However, there are dips in the frame rate at points in the gameplay. It was far more noticeable that the game struggled when there were many Bugsnax and Grumpuses on the screen.
Diverse Characters
The island is home to some complex characters with arcs that tackle themes of addiction, mental health and body dysmorphia, all with a degree of care. However, while fun, the game also has a darkness to it, and there are also some instances of insults, such as calling others stupid.
This brings me to my first niggle about this game. Surprisingly, Bugsnax is rated a 3+ in the EU. I wouldn’t want any of my younger grandchildren playing the game as it’s not suitable for children younger than ten.
Other Niggles with the Game
It is not obvious from the game trailer that this is a story-driven first-person game. Therein lies my second niggle with the game. Here at LadiesGamers, when Yvonne or I choose a game to be reviewed on the site, we watch the trailer and read the promotional mail we receive. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere that the game is first-person.
I decided I would review the game, and within the first two seconds of starting the game, I regretted that decision. As someone who gets motion sickness from first-person games, I make it a habit to avoid them. However, I did persevere with playing the game; otherwise, you would not be reading this review. But it makes me think that maybe for the sake of all the other gamers out there that suffer from motion sickness, it should be mentioned on the game’s Nintendo page at least that it is the first-person view.
Conclusion
Bugsnax is a certainly different take on the adventure puzzle genre. Catching the Bugsnax is fun at the beginning of the game, but after 8 to 10 hours, the repetitiveness of the game’s main task drags it all down, which is a pity. Overall, Bugsnax was fun while it lasted, but it wouldn’t be a game I’d be rushing to play again.
Final Verdict: I Like It 