Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Let's address the elephant in the room before I start this review: Bug Fables isn't a JRPG similar to the first two Paper Mario games; Bug Fables IS the first two Paper Mario games. It looks like Paper Mario, it sounds like Paper Mario, it's structured like Paper Mario, and it sure as hell plays like Paper Mario. I will not defend the claim that Bug Fables took the first two Paper Marios as not only it's primary influence, but as a base to build off of to create something uncanny. This game's wikipedia page says that it also takes influences from Persona 5 and Xenoblade, but I'm a little skeptical in this regard. Everything this game presents reminds me of the first two Paper Mario games to the extent that I'm convinced that this was the scrapped direct sequel to The Thousand Year Door and another studio took it off of Nintendo's hands and turned all of the familiar Mario characters into bugs. My prompt rebuttal to the criticism that Bug Fables is a rip off of the first two Paper Marios is this: so what? We've needed a game like this for well over a decade now.

I, like many other people, grew up loving the first two Paper Mario games. They not only provided a style of JRPG gameplay that is accessible and well-balanced, but was also beaming with charm and whimsy. Their stories were also effectively paced and gave so much depth and detail into the Mario universe. After the first two games, Super Paper Mario had the same amount of charm and character of the first two, but the radical shift in gameplay style from JRPG to a 2D platformer with RPG elements was enough to turn me off from finishing it. It just wasn't the same. Since then, the Paper Mario franchise has been a mediocre at best shell of it's former self. It's gotten to the point where I wonder why Nintendo bothers with the franchise. Nintendo completely misses the mark with each successive title. They don't seem to understand what made the first two Paper Mario's so enriching and decide to bank on shallow gimmicks involving paper, as if paper was the initial hook that suckered everyone into the franchise. The problem is that while everyone clamors on about how they love the first two Paper Marios, Nintendo completely ignores this for vague reasons. I don't see why they can't make a game like the first two Paper Marios especially since that's what most Paper Mario fans want. It's a bizarre trend of ignoring supply and demand almost as if Nintendo is wasting money just to sabotage the franchise. The other problem is that there really aren't any suitable Paper Mario substitutes. This is probably because most game developers assumed that copying Paper Mario's specific gameplay style would be committing plagiarism resulting in a grueling legal battle. DANGEN Entertainment obviously wasn't afraid to tackle a game with the original Paper Mario format and they managed to capture the charm and gameplay of the first two Paper Mario games without seeming like a cheap imitation.

I have to admit; when starting Bug Fables, I was lowering my expectations a bit. The first two Paper Mario games are some of my all time favorites and expecting Bug Fables to match up to those standards is a bit unreasonable. I fully expected Bug Fables to be supplementary material for years and years of waiting for a proper Paper Mario game, but I never expected a masterpiece that transcended Paper Mario. As I started the game, I was a bit tickled in regards to how much this game borrowed from Paper Mario even in regards to even the smaller details. Immediately, this game seemed like an homage to Paper Mario because it seemed like everything was meticulously picked from it. The options wheel during combat cycles the same as in Paper Mario, the way you initiate attacks have the same gimmicks like in Paper Mario, and the aesthetic of this game was even Paper in a 3D space. When the enemies are defeated, they twirl around and disappear in a cloud of smoke and leave behind an item. The soundtrack is varied and plays nicely with the whimsical fantasy land that it accompanies it. All of these things are readily apparent when you grew up playing the games in the franchise that Bug Fables is emulating, but I was still willing to give this game a chance to prove itself. After all, I hadn't played a game like this for the first time since 2008, so it was exciting to experience another authentic Paper Mario adventure regardless of how much it borrows from other games.

Speaking of the adventure, the story also rekindles the feeling and progression of classic Paper Mario. Kabbu and Vi, the first two party members in the game, are sent on a quest by the Ant Queen to recover the pieces of a key that will unlock the everlasting sapling, a mythical item said to grant immortality. During their first adventure in the dangerous Snakemouth Den, they uncover a webbed up moth named Leif who mysteriously has magical ice powers. Each chapter of the game involves the group going to different corners of the map to find a piece of the key to the everlasting sapling similar to finding different star spirits/crystal stars in Paper Mario.

As I played through the first two chapters of Bug Fables, my lackluster expectations for this game were readily being met. I was enjoying the game just fine, but I couldn't help but feel like the story was an overly simplified version of Paper Mario. Sure, the games are divided into chapters that operate as their own section of the story, but we had chapters involving fighting tournaments, solving mysteries on a train, and many other chapters in Paper Mario that weren't just a simple run from point A to point B. Several chapters in the first two Paper Mario games were incredibly clever in how they broke up the pacing of collecting the seven main collectibles to the point where you almost forget what the goal of the chapter is an become immersed in the clever set ups. The first chapter of Bug Fables can be excused for being a linear excursion because it's the first chapter and the developers probably want to put you in an environment to learn the gameplay and to get a grasp on how each character controls both inside and outside battle without having a clever premise distracting the player. The second chapter sort of follows suit with Team Snakemouth (your parties team name) adventuring to the western golden areas of the map, an area with rolling hills and sprawling plains with a beautifully glowing autumnal aesthetic with enemies that seem just as dried out as the land they inhabit. The festival the characters partake in the Golden Settlement breaks up the pacing enough, but only for a brief moment until they venture on into more puzzle latent linearity in the Golden Hills. After the second chapter, I had accepted that maybe this game only served to satiate my Paper Mario fix, but wasn't going to deliver on the same level like it was watered down heroin. That is, until the third chapter completely changed my outlook on this game. It wasn't quite the height of Glitzville in the Thousand Year Door, but it added a certain level of length and circuity that Bug Fables needed. There was just something about the progression of the Lost Sands to Defiant Root to the Bee Kingdom to the Hive that satisfied my need for a more unpredictable, longer chapter from this game. The game never faltered back either as each subsequent chapter was just as rich as the third one with different arrays of places and directions the chapters would twist and turn to.

The third chapter of this game also served as a pivotal point in giving the player clarity about the world of this game. In the Bee Kingdom, there is a telescope to the far right of the Kingdom that overlooks most of the game map. The Lost Sands seemed like this game was trying to emulate the levels of the first Paper Mario by implementing a standard level area theme. One would expect at this point for Bug Fables to also have a spooky forest area, a tropical island area, and an ice level to round it all out. It is through the telescope that you find out that the Lost Sands and Defiant Root are constructed from the sand from a sandbox in someone's backyard. This is the point at which you realize that this isn't the estranged Paper Mario sequel with bugs, but a game with it's own unique premise vastly removed from the Paper Mario format. Suddenly, I was enthralled by this game and it's world. Is this a post-apocalyptic setting where there are no humans, or is this a yard from a house that has been vacant for so long that seemingly every species of bug has colonized every single section of it? Will this game's world eventually be obliterated by new homeowners with a 24 pack of Raid? Who knows, but I'm so glad that this detail about the game's world was kept subtle so I can speculate it.

One thing that is missing from the core Paper Mario experience is the partner system. In almost every chapter of the first two Paper Mario games, Mario would gain a partner with their own unique abilities to aid him in combat and to solve puzzles in the overworld. Each of these characters were more fleshed out versions of the regular Mario enemies giving personality to the faceless enemies. In Bug Fables, you play as Kabbu, Vi, and Leif throughout the entirety of the game (with the exception of Chompy, the baby venus fly trap with only one move, but it doesn't really count). I am so glad that the developers decided to limit the game to the three main characters because adding a different bug partner every chapter would've proved to be a mess. In Paper Mario, the partner system works because Mario is supposed to be in the spotlight. Every partner that joins Mario can't be elevated in importance over the titular character, so they feel like their sole purpose is to provide for Mario while having only a little stake in the story. The partners in the first Paper Mario game don't even have their own health bars. This couldn't work in Bug Fables because there is no singular main character with more footing in the story. Instead, the three protagonists of Bug Fables, Kabbu, Leif, and Vi, all share equal footing and screen time in this game, but are on the same quest for different reasons.

Kabbu is a green beetle who lives in the Ant Kingdom where the game starts off. He's an older bug with plenty of experience as an explorer. He is haunted by a previous ordeal involving his old exploring partners being massacred by an imposing beast in the Wild Swamplands, so he perceives his current quest in Bug Fables as a chance of redemption by avenging his fallen comrades. He is a bug with an antiquated sense of honor and chivalry that the other bugs don't have. He also has a peculiar, excitable attitude that is very endearing. In the field, he can cut bushes and other vegetation to get items and berries, he can move objects with his horn, he can dig to avoid enemies and traverse through cracks, and he can break large rocks. In combat, he is the only partner that cannot target enemies that are airborne or not directly in front of him, but he compensates for this by being the strongest character in terms of both defense and offense. Kabbu is mostly likely this way not just because of his bulky stature, but also because of his strong will to protect his teammates.

Vi is a young, small bee from the Bee Kingdom. She joins your expedition to prove to herself and others that she is not a kid and can handle herself in tough situations. That, and she also unabashedly harps on people for rewards after doing requests, so she's in it for selfish reasons as well. Vi is brash, caustic, and confrontational, but it's somewhat charming because she provides the comic relief in the game. Her personality greatly contrasts with Kabbu's sense of honor making him treat her like she's his daughter or niece sometimes. Vi uses her trademark boomerang to spin pulleys and knock down airborne enemies in battle. She can also fly which is very convenient for traversing Bugaria for collectibles.

Leif does not join your party initially, but becomes part of your team in the first chapter after you find him trapped in a spider's web in Snakemouth Den. He's a mysterious character with mysterious magic that lets him control ice. If Kabbu is the positive energy and Vi is the manic energy of the group, Leif balances out the two dynamics quite well as a straight man. He remembers living the Ant Kingdom a long time ago, but his memory of the time directly before going into Snakemouth Den is hazy, so his sidequest is designated at uncovering the mystery behind what happened to Leif at Snakemouth Den years ago. In combat, Leif can freeze water and enemies using them as platforms. He can also form a shield around him to get through patches of thorns. His ice abilities and shield abilities are also greatly utilized in combat and his frigid coffin move in combat is arguably the most efficient move when dealing with more than one enemy at a time.

The three playable protagonist's chemistry together is something that couldn't happen in Paper Mario because all of the supporting party characters took their turns at supporting Mario, who ironically for being the titular character and having an unparalleled icon status, is a totally faceless character in a game filled with great characters. It worked in Paper Mario because Mario being mute, only communicating with warbled noises is what people are familiar with across every Mario game. Because Bug Fables is a new IP, the developers didn't have to limit themselves, so that is definitely an advantage that Bug Fables had over the first two Paper Mario games.

Another advantage that Bug Fables has over it's source material is it's world. I love every single chapter and every single location of the first two Paper Marios (except maybe the moon in TYD), but one thing that I didn't like about either Paper Mario was backtracking through the different locations, and I don't think I realized that until I played Bug Fables. As you visit new areas in both Paper Mario, you can visit them again through a section of pipes somewhere in the underground area of the hub world. The only problem is that the underground section is more than just the section of pipes leading to other areas, so it can be a tedious task trying to backtrack for side quests and at specific points in the story. From what I can see from Bug Fables, the developers felt the same way that I did about how classic Paper Mario handles backtracking because the direction they went with in Bug Fables is smooth and easy. Under the palace in the Ant Kingdom, there is a section called the Ant Mines which leads to any other hub world location like the Golden Settlement and Defiant Root. All it takes is to pay a couple of berries to backtrack to seemingly anywhere in the game in the course of a few seconds. It makes completing all of the side quests in the game and cooking all of the recipes a cinch where it's an absolute chore in Paper Mario.

One thing about Bug Fables that isn't easier in compared to classic Paper Mario is the difficulty of the battles. I might be saying this because I insisted on playing the game to get all of the achievements, but this proves to be true playing on the normal difficulty as well. I wouldn't say that the Paper Mario games are especially easy, but the simplicity of the RPG gameplay mixed with the games still being a part of the accessible Mario property kept it from being as challenging as other RPGs. Bug Fables gives you the choice to play the game on a harder difficulty through equipping a badge at the beginning of the game. On top of providing a steeper challenge, the game also rewards you with extra experience and medals. With the extra challenge, you really have to strategize an adequate medal build to get you through the bosses in this game, some of which took me several tries to beat. Even in the case of the regular enemies in the game, even the seedlings will take down a good percentage of your health without the right badges equipped and without mastering the defensive blocking move. In Paper Mario, on top of the badges, your boots and hammer upgrade as the story progresses. In Bug Fables, each party member still maintains their base attack unless you equip attack power medal. Also, whenever you upgrade your health in Bug Fables, it only increases by one instead of five like in Paper Mario. All of this adds up to a tense experience at times, but I fully welcome it. When I first played Paper Mario, I was a little kid. Now, I am a grown ass man who likes my food a little spicier (so to speak), so I knew that hard mode in Bug Fables was the only way for me to play this game.

There is a cynical side of that wants to lambaste this game. As I said before, it IS Paper Mario, not a game that is influenced by it. Anything that takes so much from a familiar property stirs up a healthy sense of cynicism in me, but in this case, so what? I've been waiting for this game for well over a decade, and I never expected that the third proper Paper Mario game would come several years later and in the form of a new IP with a cast of bugs. I also never expected that this game would be an excellent return to form for the Paper Mario format instead of watered down fan service. It may not be as clever as the first two Paper Mario games, but it makes up for it in the challenge it provides and the few ways that it improves on the Paper Mario experience. It's a love letter to all of the fans like me that have been waiting for all of these years and if this catches on to other new IPs, I'm looking forward to it.

Not Mario
*shrugs*