Character Analysis: Team Snakemouth (Bug Fables)

 Character Analysis: Team Snakemouth

SPOILER WARNING

Before The Blog

Bug Fables and Size

Hi, this is just like a “Before The Verdict”, but instead of being right after the stats and stuff, this is before… well everything! I figure this is too important to not discuss immediately due to its ties to world building, lore, and calcs. To start, it’s immediately obvious that the cast of Bug Fables is bug sized, or at the very least, very tiny. The whole game takes place in someone’s backyard for starters. However, even with that in mind, the size of the cast still isn’t confirmed. We could use the average of every bug’s real size, but this would paint some discrepancies between everyone’s sizes if we were to do so given the net average can vary heavily. In addition, it’s directly stated that Bugs underwent major evolution via the Day of Awakening, and had their forms changed, so size could have easily changed too. Before, it was hard to determine the cast’s actual size, which made calcs a bit tedious given a lot of them required size. HOWEVER, fast forward to the 5th Anniversary update, aka 1.2! Where the devs added a Fishing Minigame! Woo! Everyone’s love for fishing minigames aside, this added something extremely important… It added worms with official heights! As a result, we now have something with a confirmed height to compare to the cast… Which means: Presenting our Canon Heights for the Cast!

Size Comparison

Vi: 0.95266409147 cm | 9.52 mm

Leif: 1.03158301029 cm | 10.31 mm

Kabbu: 1.14996138852 cm | 11.499 mm

These will be the sizes used going forward! With that out of the way, we can now begin the actual blog, hopefully this wasn’t too strange to put immediately at the start.

I also want to give a massive shoutout to the Bug Fables Transcript Project, which has the entire game's script! This was a major help for sourcing statements and will be used for any statement. (Visual Feats will still source video of course.)

Background

Welcome to “Bugaria”, a peaceful prosperous place where many adventurous bugs gather. Although, it wasn't always that way… Lured by the promise of riches and lush fields, a young Queen visited these lands many moons ago. Together with her daughters and fellow ant servants, she established Bugaria's modest first settlement. Her people were happy, the Ant Kingdom flourished... And yet, the Queen's dream had still not been fulfilled. For she had heard of an ancient people, who safeguarded a treasure of unbelievable power. It was none other than… The Everlasting Sapling! A plant which would grant unending youth and strength to any who ate even one of its leaves! She searched, and searched...and searched… Alas, she never found it. She entrusted her dream to the princess, before falling into a hard-earned sleep. Determined to succeed where her mother did not, the new Queen rallied the people together under her cause. Opening the doors of the kingdom to bugs of all shapes and kinds, she attracted ambitious and skilled adventurers! Her decree was loud and clear: "Find me the Everlasting Sapling, and you shall know wealth like no other bug ever has!" With this, The Explorers' Association was founded, with its many members searching across the kingdom for clues and treasure.

The opening paragraph was directly lifted from Bug Fable’s opening, as it perfectly captures and builds what “Bugaria” is, as well as its history.

But before we can get to those members of the Explorer’s Association, let’s have ourselves a history lesson. How did we get here? As it stands, Bugaria as you know it started off as a simple backyard. Could your own backyard be housing its very own Explorers Association? Not exactly. Before an event that is known as “The Day of Awakening”, Bugs were just that, Bugs. After this strange phenomenon, Bugs would begin to evolve, their lifespans would increase, they would gain sapience, and bug civilization would essentially begin. Not every bug would change however, those who remained the same after this phenomenon, such as spiders and midges, would be referred to as “lesser bugs”, a term used to describe those who forgoed evolution.

While the exact specifics of “The Day of Awakening” are not well known and underresearched, what we know is that it’s tied to the disappearance of the “Giants”. It’s speculated that the “Giants” directly or indirectly sparked the “Day of Awakening”, leaving only their “artifacts” behind. Ultimately, what we know is that an event referred to as “The Day of Awakening” brought forth the evolution of many species of insects, granting them sapience. Fast forward to the growth of several civilizations, such as the country the game takes place in, Bugaria. Now that we have some sort of idea of how these bugs came to be, let’s talk about 3 in particular… Shall we?

Vi

No one likes to be told that they can’t do anything, and “Violet” is no different. Vi was your typical Worker Bee, working her typical 9-5 at the Honey Factory, but for her, this job was b o r i n g. She had dreams, ambitions, she wanted to be more. She wanted to become an explorer. However, other Bees in the hive seemed to think that Vi was a bit over her head. While this bothered her, it only fueled her desire to break from the norm, eventually she would leave the hive with her goal set on becoming an explorer, but not before burning a few bridges… Before storming out of the hive with new conviction that she would be a great explorer, she would share some choice words for a few of her hive members. She would quit her job and tell off her boss, she would even tell off the Queen herself. However, despite the various disdain from other Worker Bees, none would hurt her more than her own sister, Jaune, having doubts of her dreams. This would crush Vi, causing the two to have a massive fight with Vi saying "some rather mean things" to Jaune, causing a rift between the two before Vi ultimately left for the Ant Kingdom.

At the Ant Kingdom, Vi would make her way to the Explorer’s Association… Only to be told she can’t. Being called a mere child who was not ready for the task of taking on Snakemouth, not only that, but she lacked a partner, an essential part of becoming an explorer. Here she would encounter Kabbu, another bug lacking a teammate who wanted to become an explorer, who offered her a proposition. They both needed partners, so why not team up? Vi, really wanting to become an explorer, accepted Kabbu’s deal, thus officially starting their new team.

Still though, in the back of her mind, she would have the Bee Kingdom floating in her thoughts, however she would push these behind, unfortunately for her, she would eventually be tasked with entering the Bee Kingdom in order to retrieve an artifact. Here she could no longer hide, deep with regret and support from Kabbu and their rescue and new team member Leif, she would try to reconcile with the Hive, she would gain approval from her old boss, the Queen, and even retrieve the artifact they were after. However, to her, the hardest quest wasn’t fighting a monster, or even finding the sapling, it was trying to reconnect with her sister, Juane. After her attempt went… poorly, she would try again by helping her find red paint, something she needed to finish her painting, however with how out of season and rare it is, it would be no easy feat. After a long fetch quest, and several trades later, Vi would get her hands on the paint, and would finally speak her true feelings with Jaune.

She was truly hurt by Jaune not believing in her dreams, saying she essentially stomped on them. Vi was truly sorry for lashing out on Jaune’s art, and it’s clear with her gesture that she was genuine in her apology. Despite their fight, both Vi and Jaune had truly missed the other, yet the both knew they couldn’t just let it slide, as it would not feel right for both members. Jaune would realize her own mistake and accept that her little Vi was truly capable of great things. After patching things up, Jaune would tell Vi that she has something to show her and her friends. After a quick moment, she was ready to reveal her painting that she had never quite finished because she didn’t have the heart to finish it, until now, revealing her new painting. One of Vi and Jaune together, happy. A painting that shows "A Bond Thicker Than Honey"

Kabbu

Hailing from the Northern Kingdom, a beetle known as Kabbu would want to see the vast and beautiful kingdom of Bugaria. However, such a journey would not be so easy, as this would require a trip through the Wild Swamplands, a dangerous and dreadful land. Many Northern Kingdomers would refer to these lands as “a graveyard of naive explorers who drowned before they noticed.” And yet, Kabbu, along with his Master and his friend named Bit, would want to see Bugaria for themselves. The journey was difficult, and through their treacherous adventure, the team would come across a massive Beast that would begin to attack the trio. By all accounts, they all should have perished that day, however both Kabbu’s Master and Bit would sacrifice themselves in order to let Kabbu get away, despite being nothing but a rookie then.

This would haunt Kabbu, leaving him with massive survivor’s guilt. What if he had been stronger? Could he have protected his friends? These questions would eventually lead Kabbu to the place he wanted to see all along, Bugaria, and the Explorer’s Association. Here Kabbu would ask fellow explorer Maki to join his team, however yet unproven, he would decline his offer. It was at this moment where he would come across a Bee, someone who was being denied entry to the Explorers for lack of a companion, this was where he realized that the opportunity he was waiting for has finally unveiled, he had asked this Bee to join him, given they were both in need of partners, and would form into a new team. They would eventually journey deep into Snakemouth, conquering it, but not before rescuing a Moth. During this exploration, the Moth would prove to know how to use Ice Magic, which proved useful in their adventure. After all three had come back, they were granted special privilege to become a Trio team. Kabbu, with two new friends, named Vi and Leif, would set forth in order to become a stronger and better explorer.

Fast forward to the day the Wasp Kingdom invades the Ant Kingdom. The Wasp King would manage to steal one of the artifacts, requiring the team to set forth and steal it back. This would lead Kabbu to a familiar location… In order to bypass the Wasp’s security, they would need to take an alternative path, they would need to go through the Wild Swamplands. As Kabbu bluntly put it, he always wanted to return to that wretched place. Behind everything he had done to become stronger and to become an explorer, he had an ulterior motive. He knew what lay ahead during his trip there, he knew who was waiting for him there, and yet. He wanted revenge against The Beast. Blinded by his rage, he was unaware of the danger he was putting his team through, not until Vi and Leif were at Death’s Door. He had realized what he had done. With his second wind, he no longer wanted to defeat The Beast for revenge, but to protect his new friends, finally putting it down, and saving his friends. After being properly scolded and forgiven by his friends, he would no longer deal with his struggles alone, he would keep pushing forward with his friends.

Leif

Do you know… who you are? Might be a deep question, but for scouting team member Leif, a huge event in his life would have him asking this exact question. Let’s go back in time for a bit… to Queen Elizant The First, she would entrust Leif, along with 2 other scouting members, to search in Snakemouth for any intel. Searching deep, nothing would be found… except a massive Spider. It was at that moment where the Spider attacked and Leif… died. . . . . . .

…It's a failure. Yet another one…Disgusting. If it keeps up like this, our research… “Sigh”. Throw it out with the others. We should call it a day…

Leif: “A failure...? What are we…”

Fast Forward to Queen Elizant II, Vi and Kabbu would form an explorer team, and would venture out to Snakemouth in search of the artifact. What they found first wasn’t the artifact, it was a moth! Fearing the worst, they assume that the moth had passed, only to their surprise, they find them to still be alive! They rescue him quickly and explore deeper into Snakemouth. Here Leif would discover something about themselves, they can suddenly use Ice Magic! Strange, but in any case, they can now protect themselves, which proved to be useful when they were able to seek their revenge against the Spider.

After a successful trip, Leif notices something is wrong. The Ant Kingdom doesn’t look like they remember it, roaches had apparently died out, and the Queen was Elizant II when he had served under the First. This would confirm Leif’s fear, they had been trapped for decades. How was this possible? Left with so many questions, Leif had agreed to explore with Vi and Kabbu in hopes of finding answers about themselves. During their explorations, they would find themselves back at Snakemouth, specifically the upper part of it, and they would find a laboratory with horrible experiments being performed, such as Zombie Bees and Zombie Beetles, dead insects with cordyceps growing within them. Here, they would finally learn the truth.

“We...We really did pass away in Snakemouth Den. It's not me, Leif. It really is...Us. I am also...a Zommoth prototype.” The one exploring with Vi and Kabbu, was but a cordyceps, who had infected Leif’s body, who would come to think of themselves as Leif… all of their thoughts and memories would merge with the cordyceps. But did that matter? As Kabbu and Vi put it, to them, “Leif” and “them”, well, they were always Leif to them. They never faked anything after all, all of those feelings that they gained, for Leif’s family, and their friends. It was genuine. Thanks to Vi and Kabbu, Leif would come to terms with themselves, they want to carry on Leif’s memories, they refuse to let those precious thoughts become lost. They will live on as Leif, with their newfound family. Together, as three, they are…

Experience and Skill

While all of Team Snakemouth had to endure several hardships, both before and during their exploring adventures, it’s shocking to find out that canonically, all of Bug Fables took place in the span of a single day! Though don’t let that fool you, they learned a lot in that one day! They went from being exhausted from receiving a test from Maki, to beating him and his whole team. In addition, they all officially became the new Royal Blade for the Ant Kingdom and Queen, and essentially ended the war with the Wasps. They were able to find every artifact and sapling in just one day despite literal generations having passed since the search. If Team Snakemouth could accomplish all of this in just one day, imagine what they could do if this game ever got a sequel! *wink wink nudge nudge, Bug Fables 2 pls*

Equipment

Beemerang

The Automated Drone Boomerang Prototype, or A.D.B.P for short, is Vi’s signature weapon. After unknowingly purchasing a stolen invention from a sketchy Mosquito named Shades, Vi would learn to master her new weapon. As the name implies, it functions as a Boomerang, returning to Vi after each toss. However, after proving herself to Professor Honeycomb, the Beemerang’s inventory, she would upgrade it, allowing her to halt the weapon in place, spinning anything in its range, even being capable of powering up contraptions via its kinetic energy.

Ant Compass

Obtained in Chapter 5, this item will essentially “teleport” the team into the Ant Mines. I say essentially, because this is done via Kabbu’s “dig” ability, meaning that this compass will only work in areas where Kabbu can use his dig ability, so you can’t use it in the air, such as the Bee Kingdom’s Hive, or on hard material floors.

Bed Bug

A Pillbug. They will lull the team to sleep, fully healing the team, acting as a portable inn. Once used, the pillbug will return to its seller. Leif became really fond of this pillbug. In fact, Leif seems to really want a pet pillbug.

Flame Brooch

After storming Rubber Prison and making their way to the Giant’s Lair’s entrance, Queen Vanessa II entrusted the team with her Flame Brooch, this artifact protects the team from the Wasp King’s flames, which were originally so powerful, they one shot the team.

Medals

If you’re familiar with Paper Mario, these are essentially your badges. While technically you don’t have enough MP to equip every single Medal at once, they can reasonably swap out and choose whichever Medal is best suited for whatever scenario they find themselves in. Now, technically not every Medal is useful for combat, but to be thorough I did list every one. In fact, I color coordinated every badge in terms of what would actually be useful in a Death Battle setting, with green as something that would be extremely useful to have equipped, yellow being situational, and blue probably not doing anything for you. I tried my best to make this not read like some wiki-entry by adding my own commentary about the badges here and there, so hopefully this isn’t a big slog to go through, though feel free to skim parts of it, as the really important stuff is also bolded.

Also, every Medal that provides a Resistance will be listed again later down in the Resistances section.

Offensive Medals

These medals are those that provide some form of offensive advantage, whether it be boosting one’s own attack, or piercing defense.

  • Bug Me Not - Instantly defeats any weak enemies in your path. However, it doesn't work in scripted fights and against bosses.
  • Extra Freeze - Increases the length in which enemies are frozen, which is useful when Leif commonly freezes enemies to incapacitate them.
  • Last Attack - Boosts your attack by 1 whenever near death. I almost never level up HP myself, so this Medal’s pretty good.
  • Last Wind - When near death, gives you an extra turn… not exactly sure how this would translate to a non turn-based scenario.
  • Power Exchange - For the cost of 1 Defense Point, Increase your Attack by 1. I personally prefer this one over the Defense version.
  • Antillion Jaw - Ignore 1 point in the enemies defense. (Light Durability Negation)
  • Bad Dreams - Enemies that are put to sleep will take damage instead of healing
  • Poison Attackers - Increases your ally’s attack by 1 when poisoned. Okay, being poisoned sounds like a pretty bad drawback, but let me tell you that this is actually the best medal in the game! And with the right set up, you will demolish enemies like it's nothing!
  • Status Booster - You will have a higher chance of inflicting status effects onto enemies
  • Berserker - You gain 3 attack points, however you can’t block, use skills, relay, or items! Pure fisticuffs
  • Hard Charge - You will gain the maximum amount of charge in 1 turn (+attack) at the cost of some HP
  • Poison Medals - Provides Vi’s needles with a chance to poison the enemy (Poison Manipulation)
  • Sleepy Needles - Provides Vi’s needles with a chance to put the enemy to sleep (Sleep Manipulation)
  • Electric Needles - Provides Vi’s needles with a chance to numb the enemy (Paralysis Manipulation)
  • Mighty Pebble - Gives Kabbu the Pebble Toss skill, which allows him to throw a rock at airborne enemies, useful given Kabbu normally can’t target those in the air
  • Mightier Pebble - The beefier version of Mighty Pebble, doing more damage and also hitting adjacent enemies.
  • Empower - Gives Leif the Empower Skill, which boosts an ally’s attack by 1 for two turns (Statistics Amplification)
  • Empower+ - Gives Leif the Empower+ Skill, which boosts the entire team’s attack by 1 for three turns (Statistics Amplification)
  • Enfeeble - Gives Leif the Enfeeble Skill, which reduces the enemies attack by 1 for two turns (Statistics Reduction)
  • Enfeeble+ - Gives Leif the Enfeeble+ Skill, which reduces all enemies attack by 1 for three turns (Statistics Reduction)
  • Break - Gives Leif the Break Skill, which reduces an enemies defense by 1 for two turns (Statistics Reduction)
  • Break+ - Gives Leif the Break+ Skill, which reduces an enemies defense by 1 for two turns (Statistics Reduction)
  • Charge Up - Gives Leif the Charge Up Skill, which increases an ally’s next attack by 1, also stackable up to 3 times! (Statistics Amplification)
  • Charge Up+ - Gives Leif the Charge Up+ Skill, which increases the entire team’s next attack by 1, also stackable up to 3 times! (Statistics Amplification)
  • Helper Boost - Gives all bonus allies +1 attack, mainly for Chompy!
  • Ambusher - If you enter a battle against a stunned enemy, the enemy horde will take 1 damage!
  • Bomb Master - Increases all bomb damage by two points
  • A.D.B.P. Enhancer - Gives all of Vi’s Beemerang Skill’s 1 additional hit, at the cost of 1 additional TP cost.

Defensive Medals

These are medals that provide some form of defensive advantage, whether it be boosting your health, defense, resistances, basically anything that prevents you from dying!

  • HP Plus - Increases an ally’s health by 2 points! There’s about 6 of these in total, allowing for 12 if you choose to stack them all on one ally.
  • Last Stand - Boosts your defense by 2 when near death. Pretty good on Kabbu defense builds.
  • Super Block+ - Boosts damage blocked by Super Blocking by 1. Better learn those Action Commands.
  • Block Heal - Upon a successful block, heal 1 HP. Just a nice simple Medal
  • Defense Exchange - For the cost of 1 Attack Point, Increase your Defense by 1. In game, I’m kinda eh on this medal, but I imagine this would be good in a Death Battle.
  • Front Support - Boosts the Ally in the front’s Defense by 1. This costs like 8 MP, so I’d choose any other defense medal over this one.
  • Back Support - Boosts the Ally in the back’s Defense by 1. Given the back ally is targeted less, not too needed.
  • Resist All - Like the name implies, it provides resistances to nearly every negative status effect found in Bug Fables, which include: Freeze (Ice Manipulation), Numb (Paralysis Manipulation), Sleep (Sleep Manipulation), Poison, (Poison Manipulation) Burn (Fire Manipulation), Sticky and Ink. (Power Nullification)
  • Sleep Resistance - Decreases an ally’s chances of falling asleep by 50%. When stacked with another Sleep Resistance or the Resist All Medal, it outright provides an immunity to Sleep Manipulation.
  • Heavy Sleeper - Your ally won’t wake up whenever hit by an attack, however the damage taken is halved and you heal more per turn. Good defensively, but you are still asleep for a short duration
  • Freeze Resistance - Decreases an ally’s chances of becoming frozen by 50%. When stacked with another Freeze Resistance or the Resist All Medal, it outright provides an immunity to Ice Manipulation.
  • Frostbite - Whenever your ally is frozen, re-directs any damage dealt to them right back to the striker.
  • Numb Resistance - Decreases an ally’s chance of becoming numb by 50%. When stacked with another Numb Resistance or the Resist All Medal, it outright provides an immunity to Paralysis Manipulation.
  • Shock Trooper - When paralyzed, you don’t take any damage! Sounds nice, but you're also paralyzed…
  • Poison Resistance - Decreases an ally’s chances of being poisoned by 50%. When stacked with another Poison Resistance or the Resist All Medal, it outright provides an immunity to Poison Manipulation.
  • Reverse Toxin - When poisoned, you will heal instead of taking damage, but your defense is reduced by 1.
  • Leaf Cloak - Camouflages the equipped ally, causing them to be targeted less by enemies.
  • Heal Plus - Any healing action will heal you for 1 more HP
  • Heal Core - Heal for 2 HP every 2 turns (Limited Regeneration)
  • Miracle Matter - Revives the equipped ally after 2 turns (Resurrection)
  • Prayer - Whenever you select the “Do Nothing” command, you will heal 2 HP (Limited Regeneration)
  • Reflection - Whenever you select the “Do Nothing” command, you will 1 defense for 1 turn
  • First Plating - The first hit dealt to the equipped ally will do no damage!
  • Tardigrade Shield - Unlocks the “Sturdy” skill, which increases your defense when used as well as immunity to all status!
  • Spiky Bod - After blocking an attack, enemies that made physical contact with Kabbu take damage. (Attack Reflection)
  • Fortify - Gives Leif the Fortify Skill, which boosts an ally’s defense by 1 for two turns. (Statistics Amplification)
  • Fortify+ - Gives Leif the Fortify+ Skill, which boosts the entire team’s defense by 1 for three turns. (Statistics Amplification)
  • Crazy Prepared - Prevents the team from being hit by First Strikes by the enemy
  • Secure Pouch - Prevents enemies from being able to steal from your inventory (Resistant to Inventory Manipulation)

Miscellaneous Medals

Medals that don’t necessarily fit our other categories, all of which will be listed here.

  • Hard Mode - A Badge that boosts your enemies strength in exchange for more EXP and Rewards. Probably not a good idea to equip this in a Death Battle though.
  • Hard Hits - Raises enemies' attacks, but doubles the amount of berries you get! Again, good for a challenge, but not the best option for a Death Battle.
  • TP Plus - Increases the Team’s TP by 3, aka the amount you would have gotten normally if you just TP gain during level up… so.
  • EXP Booster - Boosts EXP gained after a battle, but lowers your attack by 1. Actively a detriment when max level…
  • Triumph Buzz - After winning a battle, the team recovers 2 HP. A nice bonus, but probably isn’t going to do anything in a Death Battle Scenario
  • Victory Buzz - Recover 4 TP after winning a battle. Again, a nice bonus, but won’t do anything in a DB scenario.
  • Weak Stomach - Poisons the user whenever consuming a healing item, now I know what you’re thinking, why would I want this!? 2 words: Poison Build. With the right setup, this is a key part in the most OP build in the game.
  • Eternal Venom - Poison will not go away naturally, again sounds bad on paper, but those Poison Builds, I’m telling ya!
  • Favorite One - The ally that equips this medal takes more damage, however whenever they take damage, their teammates gain a charge point. (+1 Attack)
  • Life Stealer - Lowers your attack by 1, but you will steal life from your enemies per attack. (Limited Life Manipulation)
  • Bait Hook - Enemies will target the ally with this medal equipped more often, best used in conjunction with defense builds.
  • TP Core - The team will recover 2 TP every 2 turns
  • TP Saver - Reduces your TP costs by 1!
  • Meditation - Whenever you select the “Do Nothing” command, you will heal 1 TP
  • Status Relay - Whenever you relay to a teammate, all statuses and charges get transferred to that teammate
  • Random Start - You will start off with a random buff or condition at the start of battle. Let’s Go Gambling!
  • Strong Start - You will start off with an extra turn at the start of battle, but you will be even more exhausted afterwards (Exhaustion lowers your attack)
  • Status Mirror - Any status inflicted on the equipped ally will also be inflicted on the caster (Attack Reflection)
  • Royal Calling - Allows the team to use the skill “Royal Decree” without needing the Queen to be nearby, which will boost the teams attack and defense by 1 for 2 turns!
  • Deep Taunt - Kabbu’s taunt skill will reduce an enemies defense by 1, but their attack will raise by 1.
  • We Owe Ya! - Holographic party guest members will spawn to help the team out in a fight. This will be 1 random member of 8 potential ones, each with different stats.
  • Item Recycler - Gives items a 31% chance of not being consumed
  • Spy Specs - Allows the party to be able to see the enemy’s HP
  • Detector - Helps the team locate hidden collectables around the area
  • Berry Finder - After winning a battle, the team gets more Berries!
  • Pip Finder - After defeating an enemy, they have a higher chance of dropping a recovery Pip
  • Seedling Affinity - Increases the chance of encountering a Golden Seedling, which provide extra EXP when defeated
  • Holo Cloak - Gives the entire team a Holographic Appearance, which is entirely aesthetic because enemies can still hit you.
  • Luckier Day - Gives the team amazing Luck!... Okay not really, instead it just changes all of your action command reactions to "UnBEElievable!"

Items

Team Snakemouth can carry a plethora of items throughout their journey, though they are capped at 15 items at max, meaning they likely would not be able to carry every single possible item they can come across. That being said, given the game caps you off, but you can still pick up important items and badges just fine, plus Vi’s seemingly theoretical infinite Secret Stash ability, you can make the case that having an inventory limit is just game balance, and they could potentially carry every single item, but I would not heavily rely on this argument, especially given Amber’s whole existence.

So… Where’s the items, William? I’m gonna be honest, I don’t want to waste your time with what is essentially a wiki read. After all, you can only say “heals for x HP” so many times before you want to rip your hair out… The medals, sure you can get away with listing those for the most part, but if you want to really ready all 102 items, you can find them in the wiki: here.

So, instead, the important stuff, listing stuff that’s actually useful in a fight that these items could provide.

  • (Healing) - Take your pick of your favorite healing item.
  • (Explosion Manipulation) - Via the various Bomb items, some of which can provide an addition status debuff to the enemies
  • (Summoning) - With the Longleg Summoner item, which summons a Longleg Spider, stomping on foes, dealing 6 points of damage!
  • (Resurrection) - Via the Magic Seed and Miracle Shake items, which revive fallen allies.
  • (Status Effect Cleansing) - Several items, such as the Clear Water or Queen’s Dinner remove any status effect that ails the team.
  • (Stat Boosts) - Items, such as the Spicy Berry and Burly Berry can temporarily raise the stats of the team.
  • (Weaponry) - Some items, such as the Hard Seed can be tossed like weapons, dealing damage to enemies.

Charms

Found hidden in the back of Defiant Root’s market you will find Charmy, the Charm Dancer. By paying her an amount of berries, she will cast a charm on the team that will occasionally proc in battle. How long the charm lasts depends on how much you pay her, but her best charm will last about 23 times before running out. Additionally, charms have a 5.5% chance of activating in battle, with there being a 3-8 turn cooldown before another can activate. These charms all have massive positive effects that can help Team Snakemouth, such as:

  • Attack Up - Buffs the acting party member’s attack by 1 for their next attack
  • Defense Up - Buffs every team member’s defense by 1 for one turn
  • Heal HP - Restores 20% of the Team’s HP
  • Heal TP - Refunds half of the TP of a used skill
  • EXP Boost - Boosts EXP gained at the end of a battle by a 1.5 Multiplier.

Abilities/Skills

Turn Relay

A technique that allows the trio to lend their turn to another teammate. Useful for when specific enemies require a specific teammate’s skill to take down, such as Vi with flying enemies, or Leif with underground opponents. This ability should not be abused however given that each time an ally goes again, the user gains exhaustion, which lowers their attack power by 1. Extra turns can also be gained by entering combat against a dazed opponent.

Spying/Information Analysis

When performing the “Spy” command, an ally will analyze an opponent to gain information about them. While this includes some fun facts about your basic enemy, the important information consists of the enemies HP, attack, and defense, as well as any notable weaknesses they may have. This is vital for learning information that will help the team defeat their opponents with ease. Did you know? If you have the Spy Specs equipped, spying an enemy doesn’t consume your turn? Neat!

Cryokinesis/Ice Manipulation

After being confronted by an enemy, Leif was able to unlock his Ice Powers. While this has the obvious applications in battle, it is also extremely useful in traversing terrain by freezing water drops, pillars of water, and even honey. He can also make Ice Rain, which can act as a miniature bride allowing the team to cross streams of water. One really useful application is completely freezing enemies in order to incapacitate them. This is later boosted by the Extra Freeze Medal, which doubles the effectiveness of freezing enemies. In game, this locks you out of your turn, but more importantly, it locks you out of passive abilities, such as The Everlasting King being unable to act despite being able to summon vines or flowers completely disconnected from him.

Magic Detection

After unlocking his Ice Powers, Leif could begin to “react” to magic, allowing him to detect nearby magic. This is especially important given the Artifacts are made of magic, turning Leif into an Artifact Detector. This has the benefit of turning Leif into a Danger Detector of sorts, as this is probably your sign to prepare before going any further.

Bubble Shield

Leif would accidentally unlock this ability after being pressured by Doctor H.B to let her cut him up in order to check up on his “condition”. He would involuntarily cover himself in a shield made of ice, acting as a self-defense mechanism. Leif would later learn to control it, being able to protect the team from hazards, such as electricity and spikes. He can also use this ability in battle to protect the team from any attack.

Ice Rain

After teaching himself this skill in Upper Snakemouth, Leif would learn to make it rain Ice. This allows the team to cross gaps in the water by dropping icicles to form a mini bridge. Though these do not last long. Ice can also use these in battle via the “Ice Rain” battle skill.

Beetle Dig

After being trapped by Bandits in their hideout, the gang found themselves with no way out, at first. Kabbu would tap into his inner Beetle and dig into the ground, allowing them to go under the bars. This ability allows the team to go under cracks, hide from enemies, and even use this ability offensively, assuming the ground is soft enough to dig under.

Horn Dash

After channeling his deep rage, Kabbu was able to Dash through a giant boulder and completely crush it to pieces. This allows Kabbu to break through any rock obstacles that the team may run into. In addition, Kabbu can now use this ability in combat.

Flight

Insert Bee Movie joke here. Yeah, Vi can fly, no shocker there, but given her general aversion to having to carry anyone, she goes 5 whole chapters without really utilizing it. However, once presented with an impossible to cross gap, along with pressure from the Queen herself, she would finally take flight with her friends. Leif would support Vi by apparently practicing behind the scenes to fly? He would form a floating Ice Crystal which supports himself, along with any companions the team may have with them. Normally, Vi can fly for a long time, but whenever she has to carry someone across, she can only really do it for a few seconds. Also fun fact, most bugs in Bug Fables have evolved past the ability to fly, but Bees are just built different.

Determination

Not really sure what else to call this, maybe a rage boost? But anyways, after Vi and Leif nearly fall victim to The Beast, Kabbu collects himself, and channels his rage into something more, instead of letting it blind him, he was able to use it to support and protect his friends. This boost granted him a buff to his attack stat, as well as fully healing him, though it’s extremely important to point out that Kabbu can not use items nor his “Pep Talk” skill, meaning he’s fully on his own when this state is achieved.

Non-Physical Interaction

Yes, these bugs do be interacting with those non-physicals. This includes being able to hit literal holograms, which is just pure light. Examples being the B.O.S.S., which is described as a “Holomachine”, and the Cave of Trials, which is outright called “holographic”. Given these act as enemies, that means Team Snakemouth can also apply status effects to them, such as Poison, Sleep, Paralysis, and Freezing them. There’s also the “Haunted Cloak” enemy, which as the name implies, is spiritual in nature. Finally, we have The Watcher Boss, which as the game states “is not truly alive”, where we can of course, hit and even freeze them. (See gif above)

Battle Skills

When doing battle, Team Snakemouth have a ton of skills to use in battle in addition to their basic attacks. Each move does use a certain amount of Team Points, but given their huge pool of TP recovery options, this likely would not be an issue.

Vi

  • Tornado Toss - Vi tosses her Boomerang up to 4 times at an enemy, each hit dealing 1 less damage.
  • Hurricane Toss - Vi tosses her Boomerang towards an enemy, holding it in place, similar to Tornado Toss, each hit deals 1 less damage. This also ignores 1 point of defense.
  • Needle Toss - Vi splits her Beemerang into two needles, throwing them at enemies, piercing defense completely.
  • Needle Pincer - Vi splits her Beemerang, before stabbing the first grounded enemy, piercing all defense.
  • Heavy Throw - Vi heavily tosses her Beemerang once towards an enemy, dealing additional damage, and also lowering their defense for two turns.
  • Secret Stash - Vi gives one teammate an item from her Secret Stash, healing them for 4 HP, this does not consume an item from your inventory. This also cures poison
  • Sharing Stash - Vi shares from her Secret Stash, giving everyone an item, healing everyone for 2 HP each. This does not consume an item from your inventory. This also heals poison.

Kabbu

  • Taunt - Kabbu taunts his opponents, forcing them to only target him for that turn.
  • Heavy Strike - Deals two more damage compared to his base attack, targeting the front grounded enemy.
  • Pep Talk - Kabbu will inspire his fallen allies, reviving them with 4 HP without the need of an item.
  • Dash Through - Kabbu dashes through and hits every grounded enemy with his horn.
  • Under Strike - Kabbu digs underground, tunneling towards his enemies before popping out with his horn, and then hitting them again by digging straight down again.
  • Pebble Toss - Kabbu tosses a rock at an enemy, always dealing 1 point of damage.
  • Boulder Toss - Kabbu tosses a bigger rock at his enemies, dealing 3 additional points of damage, and 2 points towards adjacent enemies.

Leif

  • Ice Fall - Leif tosses an Ice Projectile at enemies, potentially freezing any hit by it.
  • Frigid Coffin - Leif targets one enemy by encasing them in ice, and has a greater chance of freezing enemies.
  • Bubble Shield Lite - Leif shields one ally with his Bubble Shield, completely negating any damage.
  • Bubble Shield - Leif covers his whole team with his Bubble Shield, completely negating any damage.
  • Ice Rain - Leif makes it rain Ice, damaging all enemies getting hit by it, each hit has a chance to freeze the enemy.
  • Charge Up (+) - Boosts an ally’s next attack, stacking up to 3 times
  • Empower (+) - Boosts an ally’s attack
  • Enfeeble (+) - Reduces the enemies attack
  • Fortify (+) - Boosts an ally’s defense
  • Break (+) Reduces an enemy’s defense
  • Cleanse - Removes all status changes from an enemy

Team

  • Sturdy - Prevents all possible status effects for that turn, as well as increasing the user’s defense by 3 for that turn
  • Hard Charge - For the cost of 5 HP, immediately grants the user the max number of Charges
  • Royal Decree - Queen Elizant II will boost the team's attack and defense for two turns
  • Frozen Drill - Leif and Kabbu join forces, giving Kabbu an Ice Drill to pierce the heavens
  • Fly Drop - Vi and Kabbu team up with Vi carrying and dropping Kabbu on one enemy, doing piercing damage
  • Frost Relay - Vi and Leif take turns hitting enemies with their Beemerange and Ice Magic respectively
  • Frost Bowling - The whole team works together in this ultimate team move, with Leif freezing Vi into a bowling ball, and Kabbu tossing her at every enemy.

Support

Chompy

As it turns out, Team Snakemouth has a Fourth Party Member! After defeating the Secret Mother Chomper Boss, She will drop a Chomper Seed, which when taken back to Professor Honeycomb, she will hatch it for the team, sprouting a baby Chomper, which is appropriately named by Team Snakemouth as “Chompy!”

Chompy can be named anything the player would like, however the default and canon name is Chompy!

After being adopted by Team Snakemouth, Chompy actually contributes in battle, chomping any foe that’s in her way (or at least ones that she can reach). Boasting a modest base attack of 2 points, Chompy is nothing to scoff at, given throughout the course of a battle, Chompy would have likely contributed a good number of damage for essentially free. Not only that, but she comes with Ribbons! They are more than just for show, as each ribbon she can equip comes with a unique effect, though she can only equip one at a time.

Ribbons

Pretty Ribbon

Increases Chompy’s attack power by 1. I’m gonna keep it a buck with you, this is the best ribbon for her.

Drowsy Ribbon

Gives Chompy the “Drowzy Bite” ability, which has a chance to cause enemies to fall asleep.

(Sleep Manipulation)

Shocking Ribbon

Gives Chompy the “Numbing Bite” ability, which has a chance to cause enemies to become paralyzed. (Paralysis Manipulation)

Venom Ribbon

Gives Chompy the “Venom Bite” ability, which has a chance to poison enemies.

(Poison Manipulation)

Team Ribbon

Every time Chompy attacks an enemy, the team recovers 1 TP.

Queen Elizant II

Yes, the Queen herself! There’s a lot of story and plot that could be discussed here with this one, such as her internal struggle of feeling she’s not fit for the throne, her whole motivation for seeking the Everlasting Sapling being tied to it, but I don’t think I can do it justice, when playing the game itself plays it out beautifully. Anyways…

Yes, the Queen supports Team Snakemouth in battle, this is done by granting them the “Royal Decree” skill, which boosts the team’s attack and defense by 1 for 2 turns. Now, the game outright states that “as long as Elizant is following the party” meaning that she can’t buff the team if she’s not there. The Queen’s a busy gal, so why are we including her as support? Simple, the “Royal Calling” medal, which lets you use the Royal Decree skill from anywhere in the world, so there ya go.

Amber

It feels a bit strange to call Amber support, but hear me out. Amber is an absolute unit, she will travel the depths of Bugaria just to make sure that the team has access to their hard earned items, even being found right outside the Giant’s Layer, aka the most dangerous location found in Bugaria. With Amber, she holds up to 35 items for the team. On top of the team being able to carry up to 15 items at a time, this means the team could have access to roughly 50 items at any given time.

Summons

(Aka, just another way of saying Support)

We Owe Ya Summons

Throughout your many quests, you will have been aided by several helpful explorers and adventurers. Though their time with you is limited, thanks to the “We Owe Ya” medal, every time you enter a battle, a holographic version of one of these guest members will aid you in battle, each with unique stats and traits. They also can’t be targeted by enemies, which is nice.

  • Celia: Can target grounded and flying enemies with her shield, dealing 1 attack point to all enemies.
  • Levi: He attacks the first enemy on the ground, dealing 2 attack points.
  • Gen & Eri: They can attack a random grounded or flying enemy with either a poison dart, numbnail dart, or a sleep bomb.
  • Zasp: Attacks an enemy twice, each attack dealing 2 attack points.
  • Mun: Kicks the first grounded enemy for 1 attack point.
  • Madeleine: Attacks the first grounded damage twice for 2 piercing attack points!
  • Maki: Attacks the first flying or grounded enemy for 6 attack points.
  • Ant Lieutenant: Strikes the first flying or grounded enemy for 3 attack points.

Resistances

  • Fire Manipulation - With the Flame Brooch, which completely protected the team from the Wasp King’s flames, which previously oneshot the team
  • Body Puppetry (Leif Only): Resisted Kali’s charm, which forcibly controlled Kabbu to fight for her
  • Ice Manipulation - With the Freeze Resistance and Resist All Medal, which when both are equipped, make the team completely immune to being frozen
  • Poison Manipulation - With the Poison Resistance and Resist All Medal, which when both are equipped, make the team completely immune to being poisoned
  • Paralysis Manipulation - With the Numb Resistance and Resist All Medal, which when both are equipped, make the team completely immune to being numbed
  • Sleep Manipulation - With the Sleep Resistance and Resist All Medal, which when both are equipped, make the team completely immune to being put to sleep
  • Item/Power Nullification - With the Resist All Medal, which makes the team 50% less likely to receive the Ink and Sticky status, which prevents them from using Skills and Items

Feats

Overall

Power

Image Credit

Durability

Speed

Note: Given that a lot of speed feats involve dodging different projectiles, for ease of calcing tandem movement, we took the liberty of calcing how much each member moves during their dodge animation, which can be found here!

Scaling

Bosses

Throughout their adventure, Team Snakemouth have come across several enemies. While a lot of them are fodder like Seedlings or Weevils, you’ll also come across Bosses. Several of these Bosses have impressive feats of their own, and given Team Snakemouth has defeated every single one of them, they can scale to them.

The Wasp King

The Final Boss of Bug Fables. As the overarching villain, Hoaxe has several impressive feats to go through, but more importantly, after consuming the Everlasting Sapling, he would become The Everlasting King. Given the various statements claiming that the Everlasting Sapling would provide Infinite Power, as well as it needing to be locked up, it’s safe to assume that The Everlasting Sapling, and by extension, The Everlasting King also scales above the artifacts, which will be listed here as well. Given Team Snakemouth defeats Hoaxe after he had consumed the Sapling, scaling here is applicable.

Weaknesses

Individually, each member of Team Snakemouth has shown that they aren’t perfect. Vi is quick to be angered and usually is ready to throw down at any given moment, in addition, she isn’t the most mature person in the world. Kabbu, as shown in Chapter 5, almost let his ever growing sense of revenge seeking put the entire team in danger. Leif… has a lot going on, even if they did eventually come to terms with their identity. That being said, when together, they try to cover each other’s weaknesses and blind spots, such as Vi using her flight to help the team cover gaps, Leif using Ice Magic to shield the team, and Kabbu refusing to let the team’s resolve die out.

QnA

Relativistic Bug Fables?

We really have a few questions that need to be answered here, so let’s just jump straight into it.

Q: Is the Ancient Artifact Laser actually Light Speed?

Answer: Looking at the actual attack, we see the Artifact charging up and shooting what appears to be a laser. As we can see, it shoots in a straight line, and it doesn’t explode, so far so good. When we look at the game's files, we can see that the combined laser between the two is called “Lightsaber Slash”. Finally, when we look at Heavy Drone B-33’s “beam” attack, it uses the exact same laser. When we look at this laser’s properties, we see that after it goes off, explosions go off, now this might make you think it isn’t light speed, given how lasers exploding immediately disqualify them being light speed, but upon closer inspection, the explosions don’t go off until the laser is turned off, meaning they simply ignited and erupted these explosions, and didn’t explode directly. So, these lasers meet the qualifications and don’t meet any of the disqualifiers.

Q: Isn’t the laser 1 frame?

Answer: Yes. So let’s explain the general issue with 1 Frame Lasers. When a laser, or really any kind of projectile, hits a target in a singular frame, we can’t use tandem movement because there’s nothing we can compare to. The laser hit its target in less than a frame, so any tandem movement scaling can inflate results. Example: Laser hits target in less than 1 frame, so X amount of seconds, while our character moves at 1 frame. <1 is not = to 1, so it’s not actually tandem movement. So… what are we doing here, are we trying to make an exception here? Here me out: The answer lies in how blocking works in Bug Fables.

Q: How does blocking work in Bug Fables?

A: You explicitly block before being hit. As the game so nicely and bluntly puts it, “Pressing X a bit before an enemy hits you reduces damage received” and “If you block exactly when an enemy hits…” This means in-universe, regardless of how the animation plays out, Team Snakemouth is blocking before being hit. To be fair, this also just makes sense even outside of these statements, given for something to be blocked, logically you have to block/move before actually getting hit by said thing otherwise you wouldn’t have actually blocked the attack. Technically, if it weren’t for the statements, you could have argued aim dodging, but given the game outright says you have to block before being hit, we can say that, despite the animation, Team Snakemouth blocked and moved before the laser hit them, meaning they would have to move at relativistic speeds in order to do so.

So, there you have it, it is supported in universe with the blocking system that they had to have moved before the laser hit them, and even block exactly as it’s about to hit them for a Super Block.

Honey Factory Scaling

The Honey Factory Core, aka an Ancient Artifact, is able to power the entirety of the Honey Factory. This is especially impressive when this was being done with just half of the Artifact. Of course, powering up a factory requires energy, and given Team Snakemouth can not just take hits from the Ancient Artifact, but also scale above the Everlasting King, whose power is so great, it would allow him, and by extension, Team Snakemouth, to upscale the Ancient Artifact.

There’s still a few things that need to be addressed however. For one, how much energy is the Artifact generating? For this, we had to use a bit of downscaling from real world measurements, namely: The average energy a factory generates per second, as well as the average size of a Factory. As stated in the calc, the average factory generates 95.1 kWh per Square Foot Annually. For the record, a kWh is not the amount it generates in an hour contrary to what the name implies, rather it’s the amount of energy (a Kilowatt, or 1000 watts) over an hour, which would be 3600 Watts. In other words… 1 kWh is just 3.6 megajoules. This is generated per Square Foot annually, so our formula would essentially be (Factory size in f^2 x timeframe in years). To simplify it, we broke it down as “95.1/3.156e+7 = 0.0000030133 kwh per f2 or roughly 10.84788 joules per square foot”. So that’s step 1 complete.

Next up, is our factory’s size. It’s obvious that the Honey Factory is not human sized. So how big is it? The method we elected to use is to use Kabbu’s size as a base and downscale an average factory by getting a ratio by comparing their heights^2. The average factory is about 17,000 Square Feet, and then comparing the Average Height of a Human (175.3 cm) with Kabbu’s (1.14996138852 cm). (1.14996138852 / 175.3)^2 = 0.0000430331. And then 0.0000430331 x 17000 = 0.7315627 f2. If you were to visualize this in real life, its scale is pretty realistic for insects about a cm in size, and is consistent with it fitting inside the trunk of a backyard tree given average basal area. So we now have our factory size! Which means, we now can figure out how much energy it generates per second: 10.84788 joules x 0.7315627 = 7.93590438208 Joules per second, which may not seem like much until you factor in the final piece of the puzzle: Timeframe!

This might be the hardest part to find out, at least at first. Looking at everything, we actually have all the pieces we need to figure out a minimum timeframe. First off, we need to know about how long was the Artifact being used as the core. According to a tattle conversation between Vi and Leif, The core was built a few moons after the roaches disappeared. Alright, that gives us something to work off of, so how long have the roaches been gone? According to Vi, a bit before she was born, so basically somewhat recently in their timeline. Next up, how old is Vi? According to Mar, about 16-17. Now technically Mar isn’t the lead writer of Bug Fables and has even said to ask Genow in regards to the casts age, but given that Vi is consistently referred to as a child in game, and often acts immature, it’s clear she is on the younger side, and with Mar actually being Vi’s creator, I think his words hold some weight here. As a result, we now have everything we need for this calc! Using our established 7.93590438208 Joules per second and multiplying by Vi’s age (using 17 years or 5.365e+8 seconds), we can now determine that the Artifact was producing (5.365e+8 x 7.93590438208) = 4257612700.99 Joules or 1.017 Tons of TNT! This may not seem like much, but given these are insects, 1 Ton of TNT is kind of scary. Of course, this is just half of the artifact and both artifacts are comparable, so combined the amount should be about double, or 2 Tons of TNT! Final notes are that this is an upscale given the Everlasting Sapling/King > The Artifacts, and Team Snakemouth > The Everlasting King, in addition to the fact that the core would have likely been continuously powering the core for much longer if Team Snakemouth weren’t required to take it, but this is leaning towards guestimations, so to stay accurate we will be sticking to the hard numbers here. So, yes Building Level Bugs, run.

Summary

Potential Matchups

Insert Literally Any Hollow Knight MU

(Thumbnail by Me)

I mean like, yeah. Just mix and match whichever characters you want with these two series, I’ve seen Leif Vs The Knight, Leif Vs Hornet, Team Snakemouth as a whole vs Knight. I’ve even seen Mothiva thrown in there sometimes. Truthfully, I don’t know. I can’t speak much on Hollow Knight as a series, but I can’t say I’m personally invested in these myself. At the same time, I get it, bugs. I don’t really have any actual matchups that I am pushing for in regards to Bug Fables, so let me hear your ideas.

The Paper Mario-Like Section

Hello, welcome to the section where I discuss the various Paper Mario-Like games that I have played and do a quick review, discussion thingy. It’s gonna kind of just be me rambling, but hey maybe you’ll check these games out! For some, I’ll even give a very quick stat summary, oooo.

Bug Fables

Let’s start off with the one this blog is about! As you can probably tell, I love this game! It was originally my favorite indie game ever until Deltarune swooped that title. I think this game came in at the perfect moment. Depending on who you ask, this game was released during what many consider Paper Mario’s “worst” era, given at the time Sticker Star and Color Splash were the most recent Paper Mario games, with Origami King (a game whose reception will differ depending on the person) coming out a bit after. This game essentially provided what fans of the first 2 games were longing for. Personally, I was told about this game not too long after its release and I was immediately hooked because of this return to my favorite formula. Of course, it had some big shoes to fill, it didn’t have the benefit of having an already established universe like the Mario series does, so not only did it have to provide the gameplay, but it also had to build a completely new world for us players to get attached to from scratch. So, how did it do? Let’s get into it!

Gameplay: Arguably, I think you can make the case that it’s as good, if not, better than Paper Mario’s. There’s no partners in this game, however its unique gimmick is that you have 3 active team members out all at once, allowing for completely different strategies than those found in Paper Mario. This is thanks to some of the following things: The partner in front gets 1 extra bonus point for their attack damage, at the cost of being targeted more, turn switching, funneling stats into one member, and such. I really like a lot of the medals, there’s so many fun combinations and self imposed challenges you can do with them, or if you’re like me, you try and find busted set ups, like Poison Builds. The Field Skills were really cool, such as Leif’s Ice Rain skill, and I think the game was really based for adding a run button, and I think more games should do that (Bring back the Spin Dash!)

Story: As mentioned earlier, the game doesn’t have partners, which means that each character gets fully fleshed out as the story progresses, because let’s be honest, after completing a chapter in Paper Mario, any partner you gained in said chapter lowkey doesn’t stay relevant post chapter. It’s so refreshing to see these characters grow as the game keeps going. As for the game’s plot, it does start off as your standard MacGuffin plot, with the Everlasting Sapling, but the game’s surrounding world is fantastic, Vi’s Request was really cute and sweet, Leif’s backstory was phenomenal and something people should experience for themselves, and Kabbu’s whole story was surprisingly heavy. For those who played, you definitely got Queen Elizant II was secretly evil vibes, until it turns out, no she’s actually got a lot going on and has internal struggles. Also the Wasp King, is a really cool villain, and while it’s a shame that his backstory couldn’t make it into the game, seeing it in the game’s artbook definitely was cool to see how he got to that point in his life.

Other: Music, Top Tier, let me list some of my favorites real quick: Mothiva’s Grand Stand, MECHA BEE DESTROYER BLASTLORD, Team, This One's Stronger! This game also gives you some things you’d expect in a Paper Mario like game, such as its own version of the Pit of 100 Trials, and also providing things you wish they had, such as a way to re-fight bosses, and even stronger versions of them via the EX Mode. I like how this game has a sort of built in randomizer options, though it’s just for medals. Other fun facts, I own the Switch Collector’s Edition of this game, my favorite character is Mothiva (I own her plush), and it genuinely gave me more appreciation for insects IRL. Anyways, this game is really, really good. I haven’t really thought of my Top 10 games of all time recently, but I imagine this game is in there.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Hey! I thought we were discussing Paper Mario-like games, not the big M himself! Well, this game means too much to me for me to not discuss. To start, for the longest time, this was my favorite game of all time!.. Until Deltarune also took that title, but anyways. Why was this my favorite game? A little bit of everything really, gameplay, story, characters, bias even. It’s gonna be hard for me to put into words what this game means to me, but I’ll try my best.

Gameplay: To start, when it comes to Paper Mario games, I think this is the formula at its best. The addition of a superguard, while overpowered as hell, is extremely fun and satisfying to land! When it comes to badges, I think this is my favorite set of the two games that have badges, while some obviously fall flat *cough return postage cough*I love the variety that they provide, sometimes I feel like doing a jump only build, or if I want a challenge, I can do Hammer only build, or if I want to be overpowered, I bust out my favorite build D A N G E R M A R I O. Fun fact, I do a yearly playthrough of this game, and I try to do a different playstyle each time, whether it be BP only, Partners Only, Randomizers. Other things which I rapid fire since I want to condense this to a paragraph, partner’s movesets are extremely fleshed out and I feel *mostly* everyone is a solid pick, the Special Attacks are all great, the audience set up is really fun, the troubles/side quests are a great system, and I love the items.

Story: Technically, it’s nothing ground breaking, but I think execution wise, this game hits it out of the park! I think this game is definitely from a time where Nintendo wasn’t as afraid to do something more risky, as seen by the humor and plot (a freaking noose in the middle of rougeport is crazy). But what I think is the best written are the characters! I love them all, Goombella is based, I LOVE VIVIAN!, Bobbery is cool as fuck, Koops is a trooper, Yoshi is baby, Ms. Mowz sucks in combat but she’s great, and Flurrie, well, she’s okay. I think everyone mostly has a really fleshed out storyline of themselves, and I think one of the main components of a good cast is making me invested in them as characters, which the game successfully pulls off. More rapid fire: Bowser is at his funniest here, only being beat out by Bowser’s Inside Story, I love Luigi’s stories, and banger villains.

Other: Music, I love it, while YMMV on the remake’s OST, this specific track gives me life. It’s so good, but for other tracks, I think most are as good as the original at the very least. I think the original stuff from the remake is really great, it gave us our long overdue Prince Mush fight, as well as another cool secret boss. I also want to say that Paper Mario TTYD is a game that represents a specific era for me, a time where as a kid, I could plop down on the couch and boot up my favorite game to drown out any potential worries, it’s gotten me through some hard times, both back then and even now. It’s always going to be a fantastic game, nothing going on in my life will change that, and I love that. So, to you all, I say, Play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door!

Born of Bread

Now admittedly, this one’s the least fresh (haha, get it, cuz bread) in my memory because I beat this game over 2 years ago, but from what I remember, I liked it. I won’t be able to go as in-depth for this one because I don’t remember every detail like the other games in this section, which is not a knock at the game at all, I just have really bad memory sometimes. Anyways:

For the gameplay, I remember it being just about what you would expect from a Paper Mario-Like. You have your action commands and your equivalents for things like badges, BP, skills, partners, and the whatnot. Basically, it has the components for the general gameplay loop you would find in Paper Mario, so if you like the gameplay of PM, then of course you should find the gameplay loop of this game enjoyable as well. As you would expect from any PM-like game, the BP equivalent is OP and you should always level that up. This game also does a cool thing like in TTYD where after a chapter, you switch to a short interlude featuring the main villain where you play as them, which I am surprised more PM-Likes don’t do as often. Very cool!

The story wasn’t anything crazy from what I remember, you are Loaf, a sentient piece of dough brought to life by the royal baker, and then a group of archaeologists accidentally uncover an ancient demon. You know, things that happen in everyday life. The story essentially consists of trying to stop this demon and, well, save your world. You got your cast of partners, each varying with how much I liked them, but overall they were all enjoyable.

Ultimately, I would give this game a shot if you are in the mood for some Paper Mario type of games. Also here’s the mini-stats section, spoilered if you don’t want to see. You will have to highlight the bars to see the text since there’s no actual spoiler method on docs.

(Just Kidding, this method just breaks on Blogger and idk how to fix it, sorry!)

AP: About Town Level, given that the main bad turns into a storm that covers the entire kingdom and possibly the whole horizon at the end of the game, and then you beat up his dad. Speed, I can’t really recall anything off the top of my head sadly.

Escape From Ever After

Of all of the Paper-Mario Like games, this one is the one that’s freshest in my mind considering I just beat it. Of all of the games listed, I think this one is the one that wears its inspiration on its sleeves the most. Which isn’t a bad thing considering I think Paper Mario is a really good series, so a game being like that makes me go “wow, I like PM, so I like this thing too!” That being said, I think this is a game that gets better the longer you play it. Like, I’ll just be honest and say I think the first chapter was kind of a slog and not that good. That being said, the next chapters get like, really good in my opinion and go towards interesting directions especially in terms of story.

The story essentially consists of the idea of fictional characters being brought to life in order to be used for cheap labor. The bio for the game literally says to “fight capitalism”. Hell yeah. I think the idea of using fictional books as a basis for your world building is a good idea, as it lets you take something that exists and expand upon it with your own ideas, such as turning the Big Bad Wolf into a musician and goofy guy who’s not bad at all. That said, I was a little bit disappointed that after the first chapter, each chapter was based on genres within books that aren’t based on existing books/stories, given that the first chapter was based on Three Little Pigs. Though, given that I said that I think the first chapter is the weakest, maybe that’s actually a good thing. By the way, this game only has 5 chapters, but given each one has some heft to it, I think this is okay.

Gameplay, I like it. It’s cool that you don’t actually have to have the MC in the fight. The trinkets, aka, the badge equivalent, are solid, it’s kind of crazy that each character has their own individual TP rather than one pool, but considering some of your abilities and skills are Trinket Point based, I think this was an okay decision. However, some trinkets are either really good, or just not needed, at least in my opinion. I quickly found myself an OP setup for most fights, which I always love to do in these games.

Overall, I liked this one a good amount, so I would give this one a shot if you have the chance. Time for the stat talk, this one gets kind of crazy.

AP: Building from direct feats via tanking a fall from orbit. Patches is able to destroy large rock structures. Possibly Moon or Star level, defeated and harmed Mr. Moon and Starla, who represent the literal Sun and Moon from their respective Story Book. Possibly Universal to fucking Outerversal, the CEO of Ever After Inc literally makes fictional stories real via their technology, as well as make real people fictional via the same machine. As we see from going into different story books, they have celestial bodies such as stars, implying them to be actual universes. Given the ability to turn these fictional worlds into reality is done via a specific form of tech, the same tech powering the final boss mech, implies they have to deal with similar levels of power. Not sure the exact specifics of how Outerversal works personally, but it’s ticking some boxes. As for Speed: FTL, one of the enemies shoots out rainbows as attacks, Flynt, the MC, can throw his Buckler faster than their rainbow attacks.

Closing Thoughts

And here we are, at the end. What more can I say about Bug Fables that I didn’t already during its dedicated section in the Paper-Like segment. I really like the game, and you should play it if you haven’t already. Technically, this was on the shorter end of things I have researched due to just being one game and a few statements taken from the Art Book and Discord. If I had dedicated everything and locked in, I probably could have gotten this done very quickly since its announcement, but alas it’s never that easy with work, free time, and motivation. That being said, I am happy it’s out, and for you Bug Fables fans reading this, I tried my best here, and I hope you find it decent as that is always my fear whenever I make these. For this one in particular, I wanted this to essentially be my “best” blog. Whether or not it is pretty much depends on you, the readers, opinion, but in my own eyes, I think I am happy with the end result, especially with me trying out various graphics and edits to make this blog more visually appealing, so please let me know how you feel about those. I am unsure if I will be as satisfied with future blogs as I am with this one, not to say I will put in less effort in following ones, but rather I tried to go the extra mile here. Also, assuming I’m not bad at counting, this is now officially my longest blog via word count, so wooo!

Next Time?

As for future blogs… It’s time for the next time announcement… Kinda. Alright, let me cut straight to the chase, I have exactly 4 potential ideas, and all four of these have some kind of preliminary work already done on them, meaning these four would be simplest for me to turn into a full fledged blog. I want to gather some opinions before I decide which to go with, so let me just lay them out for you.

Note: I am not promising that all four of these will become a blog, in fact, it’s entirely possible that I decide to go with something completely different from these four. All of these could happen one day, or none of them, idk I’m just a fella.

Robotboy Character Analysis, Noise Vs Mettaton (Pizza Tower Vs Undertale), PJ Berri Vs KK Slider (PaRappa Vs Animal Crossing), and Lazlo Vs Jake Spidermonkey (Camp Lazlo Vs My Gym Partner’s a Monkey)

So, let me know which one sounds interesting, and which ones you would like to see, and other potential ideas you would maybe wanna see. Thanks again for reading, till next time.

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