Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

The gameplay of Bug Fables is heavily inspired by that of Paper Mario and its sequel, The Thousand-Year Door. The player controls three characters: Vi the bee, Kabbu the beetle, and Leif the moth. When exploring the overworld, these characters can use their unique abilities to traverse the environment, solve puzzles, and find secrets, and as the game progresses, more abilities are unlocked. Enemies are visible on the overworld and can be either engaged or avoided. Combat is played in a turn-based format which makes use of small minigames similar to Paper Mario, as the player must time button presses to maximize the efficacy of their moves, or to take less damage from enemy attacks. The party also shares Teamwork Points (TP), which are used for special attacks, as well as Medal Points (MP), which are used for equipable medals that can either enhance certain attributes, grant resistance to status debuffs, or unlock special moves. Upon winning a battle, the party is awarded Exploration Points (EP); earning enough EP will increase the party's level, where the player can choose to increase their HP, TP, or MP.[6][7]

Bug Fables was developed by independent Panamanian developer Moonsprout Games, made up of Jose Fernando Gracia and Marcio Cleiton. The game started development in 2015[8] and was tentatively titled Paper Bugs until its final name was revealed in January 2018, alongside an IndieGoGo campaign.[9][10] A playable demo was also released.[11] Bug Fables' gameplay and aesthetics were inspired by the first two Paper Mario titles, as the developers felt the later games strayed too far from those games' formula. Other role-playing games which influenced Bug Fables include Persona 5, Tales of Zestiria, Golden Sun, and Xenoblade.[12]

Bug Fables received generally favourable reviews, with most praise focusing on the game's level design and combat, citing it just as good as the early Paper Mario games as well as the writing being on par and one of the game's highlights.[16] Another highlight of the game is the art style which was both "pleasant and simple", although commenting that it did falter the platforming.[7] Website Dark Station considers the story basic but quite fun with plenty of charm in the characters and world.[19]

The platforming in the game was said to be quite lackluster, according to Metro, noting it as imprecise and cannot compare to the combat in the game.[20] The game was considered one of the "one of the best [role-playing games] of 2020" by Metro.[20] In addition, certain puzzles were cited as quite hard to accomplish due to the 'flat' artstyle, mostly with Vi's boomerang.[21]

• Official development blog
• Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling at MobyGames