The premise is pretty straightforward: you play as Kabbu, a beetle, and Vi, a bee, as you fulfill the request of Queen Elizant II and find the Everlasting Sapling. You also encounter a moth named Leif early on, and they then search the kingdoms of Bugaria to access this sapling. It’s a game eerily reminiscent of the first two Paper Mario entries, but that was intentional. Go figure.
I was really impressed by how simple the game was to play. Like the Paper Mario games, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling has two parts to its gameplay: the over-world and the combat. The former has a flat, storybook-like world with cut-out characters and sections connected via pages. The characters interact with text bubbles, and the enemies can be seen in advance of your battles. The latter, also like the Paper Mario games, involves fighting 1-3 enemies and switching back-and-forth between Kabbu, Vi and Leif to dish out damage. It’s a style that still works outside the Paper Mario games, and I’m itching for more RPGs to try it out.
Speaking of gameplay, I like how the combat’s more expansive than Paper Mario. Instead of two partners in battle, Mario and a partner, you have three. Instead of your characters’ turns being fixed, you can alternate. This includes switching the order they fight, having different party members battle at different times, or forfeiting a party member’s turn in favour of another. This allows for interesting strategies not present in Paper Mario games, and it’s welcomed in my books!
The over-world allows for interesting strategies that you can exploit. Each of the party members has unique moves to access specific sections. Kabbu can burrow in the ground, cut bushes, break rocks and move objects. Vi can fly and use her boomerang to stun enemies and activate bridges. And Leif? He can freeze enemies and make bridges on water with ice. Switching back-and-forth isn’t only fun, it’s critical for progressing through the game.
Then there are the communities. The Ant Kingdom feels different in tone than Defiant Root, the former a jovial grassland and the latter a harsh desert, but they’re both still part of the same game. Even when the situation’s bleak and foreboding, which happens quite often, you never feel like there’s an abrupt tonal shift. I like that.
I also like how investing the story is. Like the Paper Mario games, the setup isn’t elaborate, but it keeps you engaged with its characters. Even the boss fights are memorable, with each one having strengths and weaknesses. There’s also plenty of post-game material once you complete the main story, which is nice. There’s no denying how much of a labour of love this was, and you feel it!
Then there are the communities. The Ant Kingdom feels different in tone than Defiant Root, the former a jovial grassland and the latter a harsh desert, but they’re both still part of the same game. Even when the situation’s bleak and foreboding, which happens quite often, you never feel like there’s an abrupt tonal shift. I like that.
I also like how investing the story is. Like the Paper Mario games, the setup isn’t elaborate, but it keeps you engaged with its characters. Even the boss fights are memorable, with each one having strengths and weaknesses. There’s also plenty of post-game material once you complete the main story, which is nice. There’s no denying how much of a labour of love this was, and you feel it!
Unfortunately, the game has problems, or “bugs”, that keep it from being better. Perhaps it’s my bias for Paper Mario talking, but if they’re being used for comparison, then I should be consistent.
The first complaint is the combat. Not because it isn’t good, but because it could’ve been better. I don’t like how strong the enemies are, and how you level up so slowly. Even with your optional ability to override weaker ones with a badge, which is helpful, I could be facing bosses with 70HP and have a party that wasn’t even at 20HP. Also, the level grinding becomes more frustrating as you progress, since the target for levelling up also increases.
This game is also much harder than the Paper Mario entries! I died on the same bosses routinely, even with the ability to start again each time. And the over-world had me tied to walkthroughs for certain sections, and even then I got stuck. I’m unsure if that’s indicative of my poor gaming skills or the game itself, but it led to plenty of frustration.
The first complaint is the combat. Not because it isn’t good, but because it could’ve been better. I don’t like how strong the enemies are, and how you level up so slowly. Even with your optional ability to override weaker ones with a badge, which is helpful, I could be facing bosses with 70HP and have a party that wasn’t even at 20HP. Also, the level grinding becomes more frustrating as you progress, since the target for levelling up also increases.
This game is also much harder than the Paper Mario entries! I died on the same bosses routinely, even with the ability to start again each time. And the over-world had me tied to walkthroughs for certain sections, and even then I got stuck. I’m unsure if that’s indicative of my poor gaming skills or the game itself, but it led to plenty of frustration.
Finally, the game has various “little bugs”. Like how you can’t have more than three party members. Or how you have to “Spy” on an opponent successfully to learn their HP. Or even how special moves, while making sense narratively, can only be accessed at specific points. These aren’t game-breakers, but they do feel like lifts from the Paper Mario games without any thought of how they could’ve been fixed or expanded on. At least the Paper Mario games had in-game reasons for these mechanics! What’s Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling’s excuse?
I’m being way too hard on this game. For what it is, I enjoyed it! I even plowed through a sleep-deprived migraine near the end, which rarely happens. That alone should be something, right?
Is Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling worth your time, even if you’re not a Paper Mario fan? I guess? It won’t convert you to the format, but it’s definitely an interesting take. Whether it’s the hummable tunes, the gameplay, or how it takes advantage of its core concept, it was worth the play-through. It’s too bad it was offset by those “bugs” that kept me frustrated despite my enjoyment, or else I’d replay it immediately.
I’m being way too hard on this game. For what it is, I enjoyed it! I even plowed through a sleep-deprived migraine near the end, which rarely happens. That alone should be something, right?
Is Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling worth your time, even if you’re not a Paper Mario fan? I guess? It won’t convert you to the format, but it’s definitely an interesting take. Whether it’s the hummable tunes, the gameplay, or how it takes advantage of its core concept, it was worth the play-through. It’s too bad it was offset by those “bugs” that kept me frustrated despite my enjoyment, or else I’d replay it immediately.
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