I think the complaint about Vi's and Leif's character development beginning as side quests is odd. If you inserted Vi's fetch quest into the main story, it would feel like detached patting. Furthermore, the claim that Hoaxe's backstory is only found in the DLC comic is completely false, as his backstory can be found in his enemy description (if you, of course, used spy on him). It's even expanded on in the "useless books" mentioned in the video. However, something I'm surprised wasn't mentioned was the platforming, which at times can be painful to get through, especially in ice puzzles or when using the bee-marang. It was made better in 1.1, but not by much. Other than that, I can't speak highly enough about the game and agree that the fact that we are even comparing TTYD and Bug Fables goes to show how much this game does right. Overall, I enjoyed the video and I think this was a good review as always.
You know, I’m playing through the game myself (just started chapter 5), and I have a suspicion that Logan chose those thing’s for Awful’s Opinion to freak out over just to have something substantial enough to put in “messed”. The game itself is actually very good.
Even if Vi and Leif’s development is tied to sidequests, it doesn’t matter to me. The scenes of the two of them seeing their family members again legitimately had me in tears, especially Leif. Paper Mario TTYD may have a better story, but Bug Fables definitely has a more charming cast of characters
Honestly, having development tied to sidequests kinda works imo for Vi and Leif. You have to take the extra steps to resolve things or find answers, and to me that makes the whole thing feel more genuine than making up some plot excuse to _make_ the characters take these routes
Hmmm, I'm not quite sure about the latter statement, sure, TTYD had a deeper narrative, but it lacked the development and characters to carry it out, and that could not be shown better than by the Shadow Queen herself, nobody cares about her because she has no bearing in the story, she's essentially a mcguffin, that becomes the final boss for no reason other than to fuck on Grodus, which it's fine as a motif, but not for much else. Characters are, after all, the base of the pyramid in regards to literature, there ain't no story without the ones that act it, world-building and motifs can only carry you so far. As a narrative, Bug Fables is better than TTYD.
Bug Fables has to be one of my all-time favorite games ever. Glad to see this game being showcased in Blessed or Messed. This game really helped fill that Paper Mario itch that I was missing. I still love Thousand-Year Door, but this game is a close second. If I was given a chance to be dropped into the world of Burgaria, I would like to be either a grasshopper, Hercules beetle, or spider.
Bug Fables is everything a spiritual successor should be to me. It isn't just a Paper Mario clone, because it improves on everything presented in TTYD in every conceivable way, and at least in my opinion, it even manages to surpass its inspiration. I'm a huge fan of all of Mario's turned-based adventures, and Bug Fables made me more happy than any indie game ever had before. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Well, Mr. Minion, you’ve encouraged me to finally get this game off my backlog. In order to avoid specific spoilers, I’ll play this game before finishing this quality video.
Go for it! I’ll just reiterate one point Fawful made, which was DO THE SIDE QUESTS!!! Important story info is related to some, usually the 3 star missions
2:02 Fun fact: According to the developers, Vi’s full name is pronounced as “Vee-oh-lay”. That’s because Violet is French for “purple” and it allows her name to rhyme with “bee”. Similarly, her sister’s name is Jaune, which is French for “yellow”. The more you know!
"Living as any species where a garden sprinkler is a goddamn doomsday apparatus..." Oh, Logan. Welcome back, friend. XD Your vernacular is even more on point than usual.
It was very slow going for Hollow Knight to get the attention it deserved; I like to think that Bug Fables is soon to get the recognition it's owed as well.
It legitimately breaks my heart to know that content creators like this and Rabbidluigi don’t even have that many videos on their channels with over 10K like’s meanwhile lazy slobs like IGN and Watch Mojo churn out molten garbage on a daily basis and earn over 1000000 views in less than a single day (they also have the luxury of being immune to RU-vid’s restrictive bs simply on the virtue of being big channels).
I never did explore Venom Vi. My goto boss crusher was something I dubbed Heavy Drill. Vi lowers defense with Heavy Throw, then Kabbu and Lief tag teams with Frozen Drill.
The game is goated fr. I haven't even played a Paper Mario game and still *thoroughly* enjoyed Bug Fables! To anyone hesitant to give it a try, I implore you to do so
While i got... emotional with the "messed" arguments, and really disagree with em, this vid is still really good any videos covering bug fables is good to spread the word about it. :)
Absolutely great game. I can certainly appreciate this critical look into it. Personally, I like that most of the backstories were optional. Makes me feel great for going out of my way to find them. That being said, the Wasp King _has_ a backstory? Could’ve fooled me. He’s a relatively cool villain, but I don’t really know much about him. Great characters, this game has. Not everyone stuck with me, but there were plenty of memorable faces. Maki, the awesome veteran adventurer; Mothiva, the arrogant star with a catchy theme; Zasp, her loyal (and actually not the worst) partner and bodyguard; Astotheles, the worn, but still ruthless leader of the desert bandits who will break out of ice turn one just to slap a meal out of your claws; Of course, Team Snakemouth. I share the sentiment that they were one of my favourite parties to be in control of; And, a particularly notable mention to Queen Elizant, the second. Not necessarily my favourite, but the character progression is great. First built up as some sort of power-hungry monarch, she turned out to be a very caring and troubled Queen trying her best to fill the role left behind by her mother. I appreciate the development between her and Leif as well. Oh, and I _still_ don’t know where the bee scientist that you have to give that seed or sprout to in order to get the chompy plant buddy is!
Elizant II is def one of my favorite story relevant non-team snakemouth characters. You learn a lot about her past actions and orders which seemingly build her up as a tyrant, but when she reveals her true colors those same questionable acts are put in a new light without justifying them either. She still ultimately made plenty of bad decisions and she has to live with those consequences, but it's a nice change of pace that her decisions were that of one who was ill prepared to lead a kingdom alone rather than that of a tyrant. She still has to work to right those wrongs, but by the end she learns to stop hiding behind a mask both literal and metaphorical.
I haven’t played the game. It’s in my backlog and I will get to it one day but having character development and back stories for main characters and villains be optional just sounds like the stupidest thing. From a storytelling perspective it’s just horrible and as A writer it actually hurts😂
@@barelyhere7200 What I would say is that the opportunity to have the team develop is actually quite genius, as it requires you to actually go out if your way for it instead of it just given to you, representing your attachment the group- in fact, I'd say this about the entirety of sidequests in this game, as while you do get an exceptional reward from them, they actually affect the world of Bugaria. Also haven't I seen you before?
@@barelyhere7200 What do you mean "storytelling"? If it's in regards of how those back stories and development is presented, they're actually present in the main story, but you'd have to go out if your way get get the full conclusion, which makes it all the more satisfying. This isn't Final Fantasy 15's DLC.
Glad I watched this. I love Bug Fables to death since it was the game that filled that Paper Mario want in my heart. I loved it so much I got 100% on my first run. Yes it has flaws that don't get fully addressed with the patches, but they still put so much love and attention into it, I can overlook these problems.
I wonder, IF (and I’m saying IF since it’s purely hypothetical) by some miracle Bug Fables outsold Paper Mario: The Origami King, what do you think would’ve happened?
Nothing TBH. Maybe moonsprout whould try to make a sequel unlike this timeline where they said they whould wait with that after some other projects but i highly soubt nintndo whould care.
I dig the idea of collab blessed or messed videos with Patreon subs. It would be fun to hear a wide range of people come on here and mesh with your unique energy. I just hope the collab vids are a good mix of blessed and messed games.
I played this on my xbox when my laptop broke and it was such a treat to play through blind and getting to the final chapter brought chills down the spine
Heck yeah! I'm so glad to see that the video's finally out! Gotta say- although some points are a little exaggerated, I agree with them! I would go as far as saying, Moonsprout Games did really dang well with their love letter to Paper Mario. Although nothing tops Super for me, this game still absolutely has a place in my heart. It's charming, it's got good gameplay, and my favorite point is the music. It all appeals to me so much on an almost childish level- I like bugs, I like cute things, and putting it together with a soundtrack befitting of that exact thing, is pure joy! And Mitch, you did fantastic! It's so surreal to hear your voice up on that video, and you did fantastic! :D
As someone who hasn't played the early paper Mario's, Bug Fables also manages to stand well alone, as I enjoyed playing this game SO MUCH. This isn't just a paper Mario copy, this is a worthy successor with it's own story and elements
I played this game out of curiosity and actually liked it. Hoping for a sequel. Ok yeah the limited equip points were definitely a bit too tight for my liking.
I do understand the dislike of making narratively important sidequests, but it depends on how it's done I think. I've yet to play Bug Fables, so tell me. Are these important sidequests missable? Are they telegraphed to the player at all? If they are neither of these things, then it's entirely the players fault for not doing them. The early Tales Of games (notably for me Vesperia and Abyss) make story important sidequests, never tell you about them, and you can miss them. That's what make those bad, to me anyway. Should they perhaps be in the main story? Yeah, probably. But I think that so long as you're shown that it exists, and you're not given a deadline for them that is any less than "go to the final boss", then it's more incentive to do side content than a chore to do foe the characters backstories
I'm pretty sure the character relevant sidequests are missable. As for telegraphing. The Lief sidequest is heavily telegraphed (As in giant door that the player doesn't/can't enter until later) The Vi sidequest is also quite heavily telegraphed so long as players pay attention to the dialogue. (It's not exactly intending to be subtle)
I personally think the medals not being just "give you new ability"/"give you defense or attack up" is actually a great idea, it incite the player to elaborate strategies to maximise damage
Played this thing on Hard Mode after the first boss. Challenge is great, but those bounty bosses feel like pulling teeth without the novacaine. Game still rocks, though.
At least the bounty bosses are exempt from the usual hard mode rewards, so no reason to suffer more than you need to. The devourer and false monarch I think are the only bosses I turned off hard mode for, the former being an absolute PAIN while the latter I just kept getting overwhelmed by.
Ok this has nothing to do with anything but, I really like the little opening animation you made for this, but does the box go from your left hand, and then it’s supposed to be in your right and you smash it against your head? B/c it doesn’t look like anything happened with the right hand to absorb the box, or maybe I’m seeing it wrong, idk. I really like the little animation tho sorry for being so nitpicky. Also LOVE the vid and LOVE Bug Fables
I screamed a little bit after seeing this in my subscription list, I love this game! Time for me to complain about it because all the good things were already said I always found the music of this game to be underwhelming. It’s composed well, but none of the tracks make me want to come back to them on a regular. They are composed well… and the reality is that my brain just doesn’t like the sound font of Bug Fables. That’s a lame reason to not like it. It’s kind of bumming because I WANT to like it as much as others do. Also the side quests make up most of the game. I feel that’s not a bad thing depending on who you ask, but you can get punished real hard for not doing them and rewarded too great for doing them. I always felt the balancing of the main quest was off on repeat playthroughs because it was determined on how much time I spent doing everything else in the game. Something about that bothers me… in a minor and insignificant way. But having this many side quests, when most of them are really good, still has more benefits to the game. Heck, it might make for a fun challenge run to do none of the side quests.
Well, not exactly. I think they were saying that the wasp king's backstory was locked behind side "content", not side quests. Some of his backstory is hidden behind his spy data and the art book, while you learn where he got his powers from a random npc in an optional area.
I actually liked the medal system but yeah we needed more points to equip more medals. Also the fact the Leif’s backstory is a side quest actually feels like a good decision for one reason, you have to CHOOSE to pursue it, just like Leif does
I think Bug Fables is a fantastic example of something I wish happened more often. A game where instead of sticking to the original game or modding it into a half and half of unique ideas and edited content the devs created their own game, a unique experience that is reminiscent of the original inspiration without trying too hard to be the same thing or step on the toes of their inspiration. Far too often people are overly content to accept the old games that they appreciate despite desiring more, sometimes even going so far as to learn the skills needed to create mods for the original game. All this while being unwilling to take a step back and realize that the source of that nostalgia isn't going to become what they want without moving away from the original and taking the first step towards improvement and innovation themselves.
As someone who never really played Paper Mario 64 or Thousand Year Door, this game feels like a great showcase of what they're all about, while being its own standalone thing altogether. Also, Vi is best girl, hands firmly down. I have her at the front of the party as much as I can, I give her a lot of the good medals, and I even gave her the Favorite One medal, which boosts the other two's attack when the equippee gets hit, at the cost of lowering their defense; ya know, just to make it official that she's my favorite. Also, if I were to be a citizen of Bugaria? Hm, that's a tough one. Right now, my top candidates are bee, butterfly, and moth. I love the wing patterns of the butterflies, but I don't really dig the proboscis; I'd rather have a normal, visible mouth. The bees are pretty cool, and, need I remind you, Vi, but they're not quite as colorful as the butterflies and moths; plus, almost all of them are female, and I'm male, so I don't know how well I'd fare as a bee. And the moths have some pretty colorful designs, too, but something about their head shape doesn't quite click with me; also, that atomic bitch, Mothiva, is one of them, but so is Leif, so it balances out. I guess each of them has their ups and downs, and I'm not sure which one I think could strike that perfect balance. Sorry for the essay. Great video, as always Mr. Minion! *ADDENDUM (1/27/23):* Hey, quick update: I thought of something, and I now have a bugsona! His name is Twyg, and he's a death's head hawk moth!
I'm not sure where the overt praise for Paper Mario's badges comes in, as most of the different badges in those games completely pale to just running power bounce and danger/peril mario most of the time.
Another thing Bug Fables did better than TTYD:The cooking system. Instead of putting the tiered items that over heal, you use early game healing item to cook better item that heal more
I have a messed you guys missed. They forgot a panic button and team attacks are useless. What made the paper games a nice extra touch was the deeper into the game you got the more powerful your panic button got IE star storms, stat buffs, heals, whatever you build up to use on someone giving you a hard time. None of that in bug fable and it feels like a big needless spike to the rear. Also you'd think okay well maybe they wanna make it more friendship and party based with having team up attacks be costly but powerful, techincally yes... but it uses up each person's turn... So you could per say do 9 damage to one foe with a team attack.... or do 12 damage to a foe or two with leif's ice shower, skewer though all the foes with kabu and spend the last turn getting your energy back with Vi.... Soo basically the mess is for as powerful as the story tries to talk you up to be you're still gonna feel like you're the same level that you were back at the chapter one boss but now having to fight the final boss. While challenging yes it's not welcomed to be forced into such weakness.
One thing I think this game definitely does better than ttyd is having just a few main characters. Getting a new partner every chapter is really cool as far as gameplay, but I felt like most of them never really had much of a chance to develop or have their own story. By giving you new attacks and overworld abilities throughout the game but limiting them to a smaller cast, Bug Fables was able to show character growth through both writing and gameplay as the characters become stronger
Definitely appreciate/respect the opinions, but I will say I disagreed hard in one major area. The idea that Paper Mario's badges were better and more strategic is definitely incorrect. You are correct that they don't provide as many straight buffs like they did in Paper Mario. But in return they provide badges that when carefully paired together make for very unique builds and very satisfying gameplay. And when you put a lot of them together in a strategic setup, they do make you incredibly powerful. And yes, the most obvious build is putting a ton of stuff on Vi to make her a killer, but there are many other viable strategies that work every bit as good. Personally, what makes a build the most satisfying is if you figured out a great combination on your own and then just pulling off awesome combos just as you had planned. My personal best build has 66% of my MP poured into him and the other 33% split between Kabuu and Vi, with Leif being the most vital character in my strategy. Got through the full Boss Rush EX using only 3 items using that team. Only real threat was the Devourer (why is that boss 2nd to last??)
It took a while to realize the "messed" arguments were definitely over-exaggerated. This game was excellent, and overall better than TTYD, mainly because of its characters.
I might be an outlier but I kinda wish in this game and a sequel (which they should do since this was amazing) is that while having the three being the only party members is fine, I kinda wish there was a few more A.) To give some more story to some species of bugs & B.) Give a few more options for combat such as the party members of paper mario and ttyd did to an extent if not make some new ideas from other similar rpgs such as a mechanic bug and such.
I got this game when it was on sale, but never got to playing it. I think I really need to get on this, because even though I'm more of a Mario and Luigi Supremacist, I love all but one of the Mario RPGs (no points for figuring out which one) so me not playing a Classic Paper Mario love letter is a sin I should not have kept committing for so damn long.
"....Yeah, they turned Eddy into a cinnamon bun!" Me(And my dumb, artificial ass noticing this NOW): Wait, EDDY FROM ED, EDD, 'N' EDDY?! Huh. How appropriate. But, ARCEUSDAMMIT, WHY DIDN'T I NOTICE THAT SOONER??!!
My favorite part of the game was how Elizant had twist villain written all over her and then at the end of the game she was one of my favorite characters who actually wasn’t evil
Well... Hollow Knight. Bug Fables. Let me guess. Bugsnax has just been released on Switch to complete the set. Honestly, I can absolutely see Fawful's Minion covering Bugsnax. It's fun, has bugs that are also food, existential crises, low key body horror, a quest that involves collecting, ahem, "fertilizer" from the outhouse.
... I could use the Killer Bee strategy... what medals do I need to do that people? I know about the poison medals... and that armor medal you get from a sidequest, but that's it. Edit: forgot about the A.D.B.P. enhancer medal...
