Wandersong Part #30

Part 30: The Bugs

Update 29 - The Bugs

MUSIC: Mountainbirds Released!

Now that we've learned how to dab, we can continue our trek up this mountain by heading to the right side this time.

We found another troll! We haven't seen a troll since Act 2! Let's see if we can head through that cave behind it.

Mr. Monster! Wow, I can't believe it's you! Do you live in this cave now?

Bard... I don't think this is the same troll...

Can I come through?

Oh.

. . .

Uh, welp! We've done all we can here... the monster won't talk to us so we've got no choice but to turn back and look for another way in.

Hmm? Is that bird going to help us out again?

MUSIC: Wingman

The birds continue to help us out! As well, we get a troll buddy for this cave! The troll is somehow less grumpy than Miriam was

MUSIC: Cave Exploration

The troll will help us out by moving these boulders out of our path so we can head through the cave.

Jeez, there's a lot of bugs in this cave. They seem to be everywhere! Hopefully they aren't the kind that hates Bards.

The troll is even helping us platform! This dude's the best wingman.

Now we just need to head down this hallwa--

Well uh... we wouldn't want to step on the bugs. They are being pretty harmless. Let's jump over them and keep going.

Aww, the troll didn't want to make the jump over the bugs. We lost our troll companion to make sure the bugs get to live. That sucks, but that's the cost of being an awesome Bard dude I guess.

Since the troll is gone, we can't have it lift this boulder out of the way. We'll have to jump on top and go above and hope there's a way forward through there.

The bugs have now become regular obstacles in our path and must be jumped over to progress. They basically act like pits if you touch them, where bard will jump back to a safe spot to avoid stomping on them.

Holy crap, there's so many bugs in here! Is this where they keep a giant nest? Because there's a lot of the creepy crawlies.

Long ago, I mentioned the use of perspective in terms of graphics. Here's where it comes into play for solving platform/puzzle issues. The bugs below us, look like they're on the wall, but that is actually a walkable platform they're on. If we drop down here, Bard will jump back up to avoid stepping on the critters.

We've got to thread the needle to make it past this group.

We went a long way just to make a couple meters in distance. But, that is the price we have to pay to help the little bugs live on.

Though we likely would have been stopped here anyway, since the troll has marked its refusal to jump.

We can't make that jump with the ceiling being so low right here. We'll have to go around, again.

The use of perspective is really cool right here, and can also lead you down a wrong path by taking the upper platform. The game has always been pretty good about switching things up and never feeling stale despite using the same game mechanics, and I don't think I've credited it for that.

Despite looking similar, we did go up a level and have to make it through another corridor with bugs in it.

And here's where we were originally, though on the other side of these bugs.

Uh oh... There's no troll to lift up this boulder. And we can't go back the way we came... what do we do?

If the bugs want us to sing, let's sing!

MUSIC: Even the Tiniest Bugs

The groups of bugs we've been seeing will now lift up boulders in our way if we tell them where to go! We can now use the bugs to help us progress and solve puzzles! They also have a cute singing voice, because of course they sing along with us

Oh no! We don't want to fall on the bugs... thankfully, we now have a solution to this!

Bugs can be used to great effect for getting us through these areas now. Singing downwards will cause them to become almost level with the ground so they can duck past obstacles in their way. And, conversely, singing upwards lets them lift the boulders up and either out of the way or for us to use them as platforms.

Despite being in a mostly enclosed location, these bugs want to be free!

We can use the bugs to get across these gaps by moving the big boulders over so we can jump across.

The first group of bugs next to us aren't enough to lift this boulder to an appropriate height. So, we need to get that group of bugs to meet up with the other group of bugs and form...

A larger group of bugs! Now we can reach that next platform and move on.

We've got to get all the way to that upper level, but our bugs can only reach a couple feet off the ground. So what do we do? Well, you can slightly see some bugs in that last picture... so let's go collect some more!