Bugsnax is definitely one of the most bizarre PlayStation 5 launch titles announced so far. The upcoming adventure game puts players on an island full of half-food, half-insect hybrids called bugsnax. The island's creatures live off these bugsnax, which morphs their limbs into whatever snack the bugsnax resembles. A strawberry bugsnax could turn a creature's arm into a strawberry, a hamburger bugsnax could turn a creature's head into a hamburger, etc.
While the game seems to be light-hearted and targeting a younger audience, Bugsnax already has a plot fit for a petrifying survival horror title. The idea of an insect transforming a creature's body into different snack foods is terrifying, and Bugsnax could easily be a horror game if developers didn't take a family-friendly approach.
The game puts players in the shoes of an investigative journalist who travels to an island to find out more about its inhabitants and the bugsnax. The island's creatures are already weird looking, but if developers tweaked their style a bit, they could turn into horrendous beasts. Most of the creatures already have huge mouths that could devour a small animal effortlessly. If more rabid and frightening characteristics replaced their silly demeanor and appearance, Bugsnax could leave players ossified in horror.
The island's creatures wouldn't even need to change much for Bugsanx to be horrifying. The bugsnax themselves could resemble nightmarish insects that transform limbs into decaying appendages instead of cute critters that morph body parts into random snack foods. Maybe the island's inhabitants are suffering from the bugsnax body morphing powers and can't seem to find a cure. Players would have to capture the bugsnax and study them in hopes of finding a serum of some sort. Players would need to find a cure for the townspeople before the bugsnax turn the island into a leper's paradise.
Bugsnax's development team seems to understand that the game's strange premise could be transformed into a horror title rather easily. The game's reveal trailer ended with the bugsnax coming together to form a hideous abomination of snacks hurling itself towards the screen. This could hint at an underlying horror element within the game. Its possible an evil creature roams the island looking for helpless townsfolk to feast upon. The chances of this being true are slim to none, but the trailer left video game fans with more questions than answers.
Although Bugsnax appears to be a family-friendly game that takes players on a tropical adventure full of wacky creatures and bug/snack hybrids, it could be turned into a survival horror game with minimal effort. The bugsnax's ability to morph limbs into snack foods is already frightening. With a few minor tweaks to the game's plot and character design, Bugsnax could turn into one of the scariest horror games of the year. Other games like Five Nights At Freddy's had a lot of success turning cute, cuddly creatures into bone-chilling monsters. Maybe Bugsanx could do the same with a DLC or spinoff title. Nevertheless, Bugsanx is shaping up to be an incredibly unique game that will give video game fans an experience they won't soon forget.