This game was surprisingly really good.
Well, I say surprisingly because I didn’t know it was the team behind Octodad until after I played it.
It has a surprisingly mature story that is accessible to all ages and a fun gameplay loop, although the final third is definitely weaker. It’s most comparable to if Pokemon Snap were open world, although definitely easier.
Most of the Bugsnax were cute and funny, although there were a lot of reskins that had no difference besides appearance. Like Shishkabug, Tropicabug, and Instabug all had different behavior, but I don’t know the functional difference between Noodler and Stewdler aside from location.
Overall, I really can’t recommend the game enough. It’s not perfect, but it was a game that I was able to get really into without any glaring flaws. It doesn’t have much replay value, but I could see it being fun to return to in a year where I forget everything like The Witness. If you were able to get it for free through PS Plus, definitely play it. If not, $25 isn’t that bad but I could see it being too much for a game you’ll probably only play once. If you ever see it on sale for $10 or less I’d definitely pick it up.
I was fairly happy with the game overall, though I wish they'd leaned more into the body horror aspect.
spoiler
Perhaps I missed it, but it would have been nice to have the Undersnax and the like foreshadowed a bit more. Also that texture in the Undersnax was garbage
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___at certain parts throughout the game you can catch the Snaxsquatch (controlled by liz) snooping on you. for instance the first time you enter the beach if you go to the left you can see it just out of bounds on the hills. Also if you turn around during the ghost story quest you can see it behind cromdo mart.