3/5 ★ – ColeTrain's review of Bugsnax.

Bugsnax certainly gave me a hit of nostalgia from the N64 playing Pokemon Snap and exploring those areas hunting around throwing stuff at unsuspecting  Pokemon in that game however Bugsnax  has things that set it apart and give the game its own unique  twists allowing it to be its own thing and not feel like a carbon copy. The story takes place in a world of creatures known as Grumpus' creatures that kinda cylindrical in shape walk on two legs and are furry. You play as a journalist  who gets sent a film reel in the mail that was made by a famous explorer named Lizbert Megafig inviting them to come to  Snaktooth Island to come and see the titular Bugsnax  that  live there which are basically bugs that look like different kinds of food. The Journalists boss Clumby is less than thrilled when she meets with the Journalist and finds out about the invitation as Bugsnax are supposedly just an old legend and Clumby believes it's a waste of time but then after thinking  about it she tells the journalist it would be a big story if Bugsnax are real and would really boost the papers reputation so decides to send the reporter off to Snaktooth. After arriving on the island  the journalist explores the area eventually   discovering a Grumpus lying on the ground Who tells them that he's hurt and very hungry for Bugsnax asking the journalist if they could get some for him as he's gonna just lay there for a while after the Journalist gets some Bugsnax and gives them to the Grumpus. After eating  the Bugsnax  he gets up and introduces himself as Filbo Fiddlepie mayor of Snaxburg he then leads the journalist to the town they find it deserted with houses that have seen better days the Journalist then asks Filbo where everyone is. Filbo then  says that Lizbert had been the leader of Snaxburg but when she went on an expedition decided to put him in charge until she got back however she had been gone for a very long time he was unable to keep the Grumpus' together and happy under his leadership and without Lizbert around to inspire them the others began to argue and everyone in the town then decided that they would be better off going their separate ways rather than constantly fight against each other and so that's what they did  leaving Filbo as the sole resident of Snaxburg as the former residents went off to live on their own. However Filbo believes that maybe if the Journalist can find these missing Grumpus' maybe he can get more information on Lizbert  and maybe convince each of them to come back to town as well. So the Journalist sets off to see who they can find and what the Grumpus' know of Lizbert's disappearance. Ok gameplay time now Bugsnax  as I had mentioned previously  has some similarities to Pokemon Snap with the Journalist having access to a camera called the Snaxscope which acts as your way of Identifying what type of Bugsnack your looking at, what they like to eat and if it's a flying Bugsnack it will show its flight path which is useful  because  you'll  have other tools that you can use to catch different  kind of Bugsnax.These other tools are the Snak Trap which looks like a cylinder while you're  carrying it but unfolds into something  that looks like the frame of an umbrella which can then be used to catch  Bugsnax when they are in its radius which is indicated by a glowing blue net structure once a BugSnack within it you can press right trigger to close the trap once the trap is closed you have 10 seconds to pick it up before the Bugsnack escapes and you'll have to recapture it again, there's the Tripshot which is like a crossbow that shoots a rope with a suction cup that can trip up a Bugsnack causing it to become dizzy when timed correctly allowing you to catch Bugsnax that you maybe wouldn't have been able to otherwise, there's the Lunch Pad which is like a circular spring loaded platform that you can put the Snak Trap on then aim with the left trigger and launch it with the right trigger at a Bugsnack that's on a wall or in the air then use the Snak Trap to catch it. Another tool you have access to is the Sauce Slinger which is a slingshot that you can load with different types of sauces like ketchup, hot sauce, cheese sauce and chocolate sauce for example to lure Bugsnax where you want them to go. another thing this allows you to do as well is cover a Bugsnack with sauce causing  more aggressive ones to chase after the one with sauce on it and then tackle them which will make one or both of them dizzy depending on what type they are. Those are just some examples of the tools you will gain access to throught the game that are acquired through doing quests. Now as far as quests go these mainly just consist of exploring and finding Grumpus'  which once found will ask you to feed them a particular kind of Bugsnack to which you'll need to find in different  regions of the island but that's not all you will also need to do certain tasks for them before they will be willing to return to Snaxburg and you can conduct an interview. For example  early in the game there's a Grumpus that Filbo and the journalist meet named Wambus who's a farmer that was keeping some Bugsnax known as Bungers in a pen however they escape after Wambus throws ketchup at Filbo for requesting come back to town the Bungers then escape the pen and tackle Filbo.They will need to be rounded up by luring them back to their pen by using  Ketchup in the Sauce Slinger and then  closing the gate. After that Wambus then says  that to save his farm he needs to eat a Fryder so you'll have to find a cave then explore it until you find one crawling around then lure it to the Snaktrap with Ketchup and feed it to Wambus, then a bunch of Shishkabugs will come and try to eat the Ketchup so you'll have to catch one of them too and feed that to him as well.  Finally he will ask to eat a Bunger to get revenge for it hurting Filbo. After all of that is out of the way you'll have to talk to him about coming back to Snaxburg after talking to him about the about the fact that he chose a poor location for his farm so far away from everyone making it hard to share his Ketchup Wambus is finally  convinced that Snaxburg would be the best thing to do even though he would have to start all over again. Then after you travel back to Snaxburg you can interview  him asking him questions on stuff like what his opinions on Bugsnax are as well as what he knows about Lizbert and where she could have gone afterward the interview you had done with him will have notes will  appear in your journal which will help serve as clues to Lizbert's whereabouts. The other Grumpus' will have some slightly different tasks depending on who you've found but that's the basic idea of the gameplay anyways to keep it short (or shorter at least anyways ). On to the good and bad stuff to start the good off I would say I enjoyed Snaktooth Island  quite a bit it was neat exploring the different  sections of the island and finding  new areas seeing different terrain from grassy places like Flavour Falls  to Beaches, deserts and even snowy mountainous locations were nice changes. I liked the  design of the Bugsnax  and what they came up  like for example in the desert locations there's a Bugsnack called Praying Picantis  which is based on a praying mantis made up of a nacho chip for a head, hard tacos for arms , chili peppers for claws and legs , a taquito and burrito for parts of the main body. Also the Bungers in Garden Grove I had mentioned before that are based on a rihnoceros beetle that is made up of a  hamburger that is main body, curly fries for legs and horns. And a Scoopy Banoopy a Bugsnack  that is based on what's called a water bug ( which are weird looking things if you're ever curious and wanna check out pictures of what  they are) it looks like a banana split with ice cream in a glass dish being the main body and legs cherries for eyes and bananas for the "grabbers" I guess you could call them as some examples  but that barely scratches the surface variety wise. It was fun using different strategies with the tools in order to catch each Bugsnack and figuring out different methods on neutralizing the Bugsnax in order to do so. Now on to the bad  for one the quest design is fairly samey from one Grumpus to the next without a ton of variety in what you're actually doing like do a thing for them then go back talk to them then find their favorite Bugsnack then feed it to them I know it's a simpler game but I just wish there were more to some of the quests. Another thing is that to complete certain quests you'll have to go to specific regions you don't have access to yet in order to get the Bugsnack that someone wants meaning you'll have to put the quest on the back burner until you can actually get there I don't really understand  why they don't just give you quests once you are at the point where you can access that section. Overall though I did enjoy my time with Bugsnax it's  not a must play gem that you absolutely have to check out but it can be a nice game to chill with especially since it's free on Xbox Gamepass if you've got that then you aren't  even risking anything if this game ends up not your thing.