As soon as I heard the catchy song with this game and saw the ridiculous-looking preview, I knew I had to try it. Luckily, they gave this game away for free on PS Plus for PS5, and I was super pumped to try it out.
And boy, it did not disappoint. For what appears to be a children's game, this game has some *dark* plot points and surprises for you along the way.
You play as a reporter who goes to investigate Bugsnax Island where an explorer is leading her team (and her girlfriend) around the island to discover the secret of the Bugsnax. Bugsnax are basically adorable bugs that look like food. So you'll have an oreo with legs, or pancakes that fly around. You have to use tools you acquire throughout the game to essentially solve puzzles. The puzzles are the various Bugsnax themselves. You have to use the tools to find a way to catch them in your trap, and each Bugsnack has a different method to catching it. Once you catch it, you can feed it to your colleagues in Snacksville or Snackstown, something like that. When you feed them the snax, whatever part of the body you choose turns into a variation of that snack. So by the end of the game, you can have the townspeople looking completely wild, which is hilarious and customizable.
You have to go out and convince all of them to come back to town after their leader mysteriously disappears with her girlfriend, and doing so requires you to complete tasks for them. Most of them are catching certain Bugsnax, but other times you're using a laser pointer to guide a hamster ball or throwing basketballs into hoops. It's all very entertaining throughout.
The game could probably be a little shorter; it does slowly wear out its welcome by the end, considering all you're really doing is going around catching bugs and feeding them to townspeople 100 times, but changing the townspeople into various snack-monsters is worth it regardless. The controls can also be kind of janky, and some of the items work better than others in practice.
The reason to play this game is the story. First of all, every single character is hilarious. The dialogue is witty, and each character adds their own unique perspective on Bugsnax. One is a devout vegan and will not eat the Bugsnax, but instead raises them on his farm. Others only care about eating as many Bugsnax as they can. There's an archeologist, a gym bro, an engineer, a yogi, and (my favorite) a wannabe singer who sings pretty much the entire game. They all have fun sidequests but none are required to beat the game.
SPOILERS.
After you bring everyone back to town, you go and try to find the leader and her girlfriend. You find her girlfriend and you eventually go down and find the leader. Turns out Bugsnax are parasite that change you from the inside out and if you eat too many, you BECOME a Bugsnack. The leader is at the bottom of the pit, transformed into a giant Bugsnack monster. Her girlfriend sacrifices herself to be with her and transforms herself. Then you have to help your fellow townspeople escape the island, and if you fail their mini-games, they straight up die. Whoever is left escapes the island and that's basically the end. That is some DARK shit right there. Well done, Bugsnax. I enjoyed every minute of you.
8/10