Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Paper Mario with bugs?

Why

• Combat is turn based but interactive, has some per-enemy strategies
• The art style looks basic at first but grows on you
• Light puzzle-solving and platforming mixes things up
• You can dodge random encounters/start with an advantage by attacking first

Why Not

• Nothing about it grabbed me in the first 2.5 chapters
• Pretty easy? I dodged a lot of encounters and never felt weak

Impressions

I grabbed this from an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Humble Bundle which has definitely reminded me that 'buy stuff other people think is good' is not always a foolproof approach. This is definitely not on the level of terrible that Henry Stickmin reached in the 10min before I unceremoniously dropped it, but it didn't really do anything to stand out either.

If I had to sum Bug Tales up in a word it'd be 'solid'. The plot is interesting enough and does its job in moving the team through various biomes/enemies. The combat is pretty standard turn-based fare with some cool additions like 'spying' as a combat action to add enemies to your journal, revealing some weaknesses. The party banter is fine, and there are some platforming/puzzle challenges to break things up. There's absolutely nothing in this game I can point at and say bad, hence the positive review. But in a world of endless games, many of which I'll love, spending ~20 hours on a game that's fine seems like a waste. Maybe this is a game you'll love, and I hope it is, but I'm leaving for greener pastures after ~5 hours. Hopefully Later Alligator's promising start rescues the fate of my bundle purchase from being a complete waste of gaming budget.