Bugsnax offers light metroidvania elements in that regard, by which I mean that there will be tools (a launch pad to catch flying Bugsnax, for example) that you’ll get later on and will have to return to previous areas to catch a Snaquiri that had been out of reach. Once scanned, a Bugsnak’s likes, dislikes, and movement patterns will be revealed and you’ll have all the info you need to catch the kinda bug, kinda snack in your trap – but not necessarily all of the equipment. The parallels between this and Pokemon Snap are easily drawn, but from there on Bugsnax becomes its own beast. Incidentally, that’s a specifically satisfying button press if using the DualSense and its adaptive triggers, which imitate the clack of a camera’s shutter beautifully. Your first step will always be to scan them by looking through your camera and pressing down on R2 to snag a snap of a ‘Snak. There are over 100 different species of Bugsnax and a plethora of different methods of catching them. “But how do you actually catch Bugsnax,” I hear you ask? Oh, if only it were that simple. If you can look past the purple fur and the hotdog for a leg, that is. Among my favourite cast members are the excellently named Cromdo Face, a surly red grumpus who seems to be possessed by the soul of Danny DeVito in Matilda, and Beffica Winklesnoot, who wouldn’t feel out of place by Rachel McAdams’ side in Mean Girls. It’s absurdist to the extreme at times, but what do you expect from a game that’s home to a tornado-conjuring flapjack with bacon for legs? Although a lot of my amusement did admittedly come from the various Bugsnax and the way they mutter their own names to themselves, the grumpuses have their moments to shine as well. “That’s not to say there aren’t a whole lot of laughs to be had as well, and Bugsnax is genuinely funny on many occasions. It’s safe to say that by the end of the story I held much more of a connection to Snaktooth’s inhabitants than I ever imagined I would when I first stepped onto the island. It’s these sort of power struggles and relationships that really help flesh out the cast of characters and lead you to learn a lot about them in a relatively short amount of time. This puts him at odds with the well-intentioned Gramble, who is more at one with the ’snax and keeps them as pets. For example, the slack-jawed Wampus is a farmer who sees Bugsnax purely as a food source, so will naturally ask for you to gather them to plant in his garden. This is largely down to the excellent writing and voice performances throughout, and to the fact that each grumpus is very much their own character with their own beliefs and problems to solve. It’s a process that can become a little tired after a while, but never enough to the point of boredom. With Bugsnax being the only real sustainable food source on the Island, but not one that is overly easy to obtain, most missions follow a similar pattern: Locate the desired Bugsnak, catch the desired Bugsnak, then deliver the desired Bugsnak to the mission-giver. The problem is that each grumpus has scattered to a different corner of Snaktooth and inevitably requires you to perform tasks for them in order to return. “The main mission strand consists of getting the dozen or so residents of the island’s capital, Snaxburg, back home so they can be interviewed for information.
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