Bugsnax Review: Snaktooth Treasure Island

The Bugsnax phenomenon is not only the driving force behind Young Horses’ latest unique adventure, but also the spark behind a groundswell passionate fandom born following the games initial announcement. I, too, found myself enamored with potential of what lies ahead, eagerly anticipating the start of my adventure on Snaktooth island and preparing to catch every Bugsnak this new world had to offer. What I did not expect was to fall in love with a brilliant, fleshed out cast of characters who have completely stolen my heart. 

The time has finally come to talk about Bugsnax.

Presentation

Snaktooth Island is a vibrant, living world filled with mysteries to uncover and imaginative creatures to discover. It’s a world filled with personality, and one that feels genuinely excited to surprise you around the next corner with something you have never seen before. Each one of its nine biomes have their own unique characteristics. Bugsnax does falls into the cliché trap of offering basic template areas you’d expect to discover; snow, beach, woods, etc. But with the help of a magical score unique to each biome and architecture providing visual storytelling elements, each one feels like a living, breathing, tangible world. I find myself harkening back to a tweet from Young Horses’ programmer and producer, Kevin Geisler, where he shares his personal inspirations that have gone into the game’s development. Rare’s Viva Piñata and HAL Laboratory’s Pokemon Snap are among the titles Geisler lists; two games which hold a special place in my heart (and frankly, skyrocketed expectations). In regards to presentation, Snaktooth Island takes Viva Piñata’s dynamic vibe and Snap’s reactionary nature in which the creatures interact with the world, and blends it with a Jim Henson-inspired cast of characters.

The Grumpuses and Bugsnax themselves are truly what make Snaktooth Island feel lived in. The Grumpus’ Muppet-like design, along with their floppy heads and big teddy bear eyes add depth to the outstandingly humorous and sincere dialog they have to offer throughout the adventure. A core mechanic behind the game is the ability to feed the Grumpuses Bugsnax you capture, and in return, morphing their bodies into different foods of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I found the variety of customization quite impressive. After some time, you acquire the ability to pick and choose which body part you want to morph upon feeding. With this ability, you can also change any attribute on the fly as well. For example, if you’re not happy with how their arm looks, you can pull up a “browser history” list of the Bugsnax they’ve been fed throughout the game to try out different permutations. I’ve created a range of Grumpuses, from side-splitting clowns to truly nightmarish abominations, and no two Grumpuses ever looked alike throughout my adventure. And as hard as I tried to break the animations for all of these variants, each Grumpus still maneuvered fluidly. Even with the rare occurrence of slight clipping depending on the variation, the design team should be applauded for how deep customization is while still working near-flawlessly with the natural  animations and movement of the characters.

Of course the Grumpuses aren’t the only inhabitants of Snaktooth Island. Everyone here is indeed talkin’ bout Bugsnax. The island is packed with 100 different unique Bugsnax to discover and capture, and this is where Geisler’s mention of Viva Piñata and Pokemon come back into play. Like Viva Piñata and Pokemon, the Bugsnax are inspired by real world elements. Where these inspirations for the game traditionally draw from animals for their designs, Bugsnax are all based on food. Upon encountering almost every single new Bugsnak, I couldn’t help but to crack a smile. The core designs along with their Pokemon-like nomenclature are familiar and on-the-nose enough to trigger a sensation of pure bliss. It’s reminiscent of discovering a new Pokemon in the tall grass, and it’s an unexpected nostalgia trip. This is only amplified by their own voices speaking out their names in a variety of tones and moods. Some of these voices not only has me laughing out loud at time, but also truly frightening me. While there are 100 different Bugsnax to discover, a large portion are pallet-swapped variants of other Bugsnax. In Pokemon terms, think of them as shinies, except they’re not rare. For example, the Yellow Peelbug has an Orange Peelbug variant in a different biome. This is by all means not a dealbreaker, and it does make sense in terms of drawing from real world food, but these pallet-swapped variants share the same voices, core design, and catching mechanic. They’re not as exciting as discovering a new creature. While 100 is a great, solid number to achieve, I would have much preferred sticking with the high quality the game showcases in the Bugsnax diverse designs over quantity and making variants more akin to Pokemon’s shinies mechanic. My biggest concern upon my encounters was if this would end up feeling like the countless Pokemon knock-offs out there, and I was relieved to find Young Horses standing tall and not falling into that trap. 

Gameplay

Everything you do in Bugsnax revolves around catching the Bugsnax for various reasons. Young Horses could have easily replicated the Pokemon formula with a Pokeball-like system, but instead borrowed from Bioshock and Breath of The Wild implementing a logic and physics-based trap system centered around a number of tools all equipped to tackle different scenarios. You begin your adventure with one simple trap to lay on the ground and await a Bugsnak to walk into its area of effect to trigger. As you begin to grow comfortable and confident in capturing Bugsnax in this manner, you are quickly introduced to new creatures who won’t go down so easily. You’ll feel the urge to clear out a biome before moving on, but you may not have the tools or knowledge required to catch more intricate creatures. As you progress through the game, you will be granted newer tools which open up new possibilities to capture new Bugsnax. 

The fascinating part about the capturing mechanic is that each Bugsnak feels like its own puzzle. This is where the game feels inspired by Breath of The Wild to me. There may be a scenario, for example, where you are trying to catch a large, flaming Bugsnak who cannot be caught while on fire and who will break into smaller Bugsnax when extinguished. You need to stop and think how you will utilize your tools, the environment around you, and the other Bugsnax in the biome to your advantage. Finding success after setting the perfect trap leaves you with a supreme sense of satisfaction because the real world logic in this fantastical world works. On top of this, there are moments where the world will continue on in the background as you’re planning your next big move. While you’re trying to catch this flamed creature, you may hear other Bugsnax in the background fighting. This can trigger a moment where you can take advantage of the conflict to run up and swipe the Bugsnax while they’re stunned. Snaktooth Island and its inhabitants are very much alive, and will react to you and each other constantly.

Pokemon Snap comes back into the fray when planning your approach. You are equipped with a camera-like scanner from the start, and with this you can analyze Bugsnax you come across. Scanning will provide you with details such as the Bugsnak’s name, a light-hearted description of the creature, and commentary from a fellow Grumpus. The scanner also provides you with details on what each Bugsnak loves, hates, and fears. This is vital when thinking over how to capture the various Bugsnax, as you will have to manipulate their unique attribute to plan successful traps. In my example of the large, flaming creature, you may find a water-based Bugsnak nearby who hates fire. Leading the fire Bugsnak toward the water Bugsnak, whether with tools or simply agitating it yourself, will trigger the water Bugsnak to attack what it hates. Scanning each Bugsnak also fills up your journal, which is the Bugsnax-equivalent to a Pokedex. This helps you easily keep track of which Bugsnax you captured, and ones you’ve only seen. 

While you quickly feel the instinctual itch of wanting to catch ‘em all regardless of the need any core direction, capturing Bugsnax is in fact necessary to the quest system and main story. This is a first person story-driven adventure game with the goal of unraveling the mystery hanging over the heads of Snaktooth Island and the Grumpus community, Snaxburg. The main story involves rebuilding Snaxburg, as its been abandoned by the Grupmuses before your arrival to the island. As you encounter Grumpuses throughout the different biomes, they will have conditions that need to be met before they are willing to return to the town center and rebuild the village. On a surface level, this may begin to feel repetitive. But thanks to the puzzle-nature of capturing each Bugsnak, each quest provides it own set of challenges. Where quests shine brightest are within a handful of Bugsnak boss battles. These arena battles are standout set-piece encounters tasking you to utilize what you have available to you in ways you haven’t acted on before. There is no fail state to these encounters, let alone the entire game, but they provide quite the anxiety-driven thrill and a glorious sense of accomplishment upon overcoming the challenge. 

It’s important to note that for this review, I played Bugsnax on a PS4 Pro. The game ran smoothly throughout, save for minor frame drops on biomes busy with weather effects. The one disappointment I had with the PS4 version was frequent load times. As you travel between different biomes, this version takes roughly 10-15 seconds to load new areas. While this doesn’t isn’t much of an inconvenience at first, later in the game you will be traveling through multiple biomes back-to-back to complete quests. There is no fast travel, so traveling from one biome back to Snaxburg can begin to total up to approximately 45 seconds to a minute depending on the route you take. With the promise of the PS5’s SSD, I’d imagine this will not be an issue for most people who will be jumping in on the next-gen version.

Story (Spoiler-Free)

The story begins with you, an unnamed journalist, accepting the invite of explorer Elizabert “Liz” Megafig to visit her camp and community on Snaktooth Island and see the Bugsnax phenomenon first hands. Upon your arrival, you find the camp has been abandoned. Only her most loyal follower, Filbo, is left in the aftermath, informing you that Elizabert has gone missing. Filbo tasks you to help them rebuild Snaxburg, reuniting the Grumpuses, and uncovering the mystery behind Elizabert’s disappearance.

Bugsnax presents itself as a bright and positive adventure on its surface, but as you progress in its campaign, there are sinister elements that begin to seep through the unstable cracks of Snaktooth Island. Even though trailers teased darker elements, I was shocked to discover clear influences from a particular horror game in one of its mechanics. This was a fun surprise to stumble upon myself, so I won’t ruin that here by naming the game nor the mechanic. Bugsnax does a fantastic job at playing with the juxtaposition of the battling colorful and dark vibes the story will toss your way. You never know where the story will take you next, and your curiosity towards finding answers only grows stronger as you progress. I could not put the controller down until I finally unraveled the mystery hidden among the Grumpuses, the Bugsnax, and Snaktooth Island. 

The heart of Bugsnax lies within the characters you will meet throughout your adventure. Not only is their dialog hilarious and charming to keep the positive moments uplifting, but throughout story arcs specific to each Grumpus, but you will find yourself with the controller at your side and tears rolling down your cheeks or jaw clenched from fear or anxiety. Trust me. I know it sounds wild. The one thing I did not expect out of this game was an impactful story filled with characters I would grow to deeply care for. These are characters I felt heavily concerned for when times were dark and dire, and characters I celebrated with glossy eyes as their arcs reached joyous and sincere moments. When I described the Grumpuses as Jim Henson-like puppets, I didn’t only mean the physical design. These character feel authentic and genuine, similar to the feeling of seeing Muppets in a live action setting. And what truly blows me away is the fact there is not one weak link among the cast of characters. Every Grumpus has their own personality, their own voice, and their own internal conflicts. There have been many moments this year where I felt lost and alone due to the inability to relate to someone, and I cannot believe I was able to inherently connect with each Grumpus in different ways. 

Breakdown

Game: Bugsnax

Developer: Young Horses

Availability: PS4, PS5, PC (November 12, 2020)

Reviewed on a PS4 Pro

Runtime: Apprx. 8-10 hours (Main/Side Quests)

Pros:

+ Authentic and genuine characters with heart

+ A genre-bending mystery that takes you on an unexpected ride

+ An addictive and fun core gameplay loop with mini logic-based puzzles throughout

+ Fantastic musical score attached beautifully designed areas with their own unique vibe

Cons:

- A sizable amount of pallet-swapped Bugsnak designs with shared assets are disappointing compared to the distinctly unique Bugsnax

- Lack of fast travel and load times, though on PS5 this many not be an issue

- Minor performance issues at times and inconvenient load times on the PS4 version

Final Thoughts

Against all odds and groundswell-hype surrounding the mystery of this game, Bugsnax has exceeded my expectations. At most, I expected a fun, quirky Viva Piñata or Pokemon clone with elements of Animal Crossing tossed in. Instead, Young Horses delivered an impactful and unpredictable story with rich characters I will fondly remember. On top of that, succeeded in developing a creature-catching mechanics blended with lite logic puzzles that very much has its own identity. For new PS5 owners looking for a weird, different, and exceptional experience, especially those who are PS Plus subscribers, Bugsnax is a must play. 

Review written by Mike Towndrow