I also strongly recommend this game. I actually just beat it. It's definitely a love letter to the original two Paper Mario games.
It's an RPG set in a fantasy world inhabited by intelligent bugs. The game plays very much like Paper Mario TTYD, except instead of having one main character and several partners who you can switch out, you have three characters who are all equally the main character and you use all three of them in all battles: Kabbu, a beetle who has a strong sense of justice and loves to help people; Vi, a hot-headed bee who's eager to prove her worth as an adventurer to a family that doesn't believe in her; and Leif, a moth with a mysterious past who only refers to himself with plural pronouns. Together, the three journey to find several ancient artifacts for the Ant Queen, though what she plans to do with them is unclear.
The worldbuilding, large cast of diverse characters with unique personalities and brilliant writing to back it all up are the lifeblood of Bug Fables. I found myself legitimately invested in the story and characters which has become a very rare feeling in games lately. The OST is also fantastic, with not a single song that wasn't at least good.
Gameplay-wise, you'll be traveling to all corners of this fantasy world, which of course means many diverse locations such as a beehive, an Earthbound-esque magic forest, a desert, and many other places I don't want to spoil. Basically if there were a world with intelligent bugs who built nations and advanced societies, it's probably in this game. The main story took me about 37 hours, though that also included doing some of the optional side-quests (of which there are MANY, and through them you'll get to know dozens of the unique bugs). Battles play like TTYD battles, down to the beep beep beep BEEP attack timing and the HP, FP and BP level up mechanics (technically HP, TP (Team points) and MP (Medal points) but they're functionally the same). Medals are also the same as badges in TTYD, except greatly expanded upon. The game is actually quite challenging by default, but there's also a "Hard Mode" medal available right at the beginning of the game that makes it even more challenging, while also increasing your EXP and money gain in return. Great for a challenge, and it can be toggled on or off at any time and is free to equip.
I really can't recommend it enough. Especially if you're a fan of classic Paper Mario, I'm confident this will be one of your favorite games this year.
