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've been trying to find a good full playthrough of it, since I've only seen people play an episode's worth for the meme or whatever. I'm probably never going to play it myself, but it has enough of my interest that I want to see where it goes.
vinny from vinesauce did a play through thats pretty good
ChristopherOdd did a full play through but he never really grasped the mechanics and rushed through the end of the game and skipped most of the side content.
I platinumed it in less than 10 hours so it’s really not big investment if you want to see everything.