Kabuto Park Testbericht (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

Kabuto Park dials it back to the bare necessities—to the simpler times of picnic-topped meadows, friendly neighbors, and tambourine-plated beetle battles. With a coating of sugar and honey, yellow boots and a heart of gold, this delightful indie feels like a breath of fresh to unwind to. Of course, it doesn’t stick around all that long, nor does it sugarcoat its sumo-like composition with a plethora of extracurricular activities. Instead, it invites you to sit awhile, catch a handful of bugs, and enjoy a sweet summer vacation in a park where bugs are plentiful and wholesome competition is far from fierce. Frankly, it doesn’t need to offer much more than that. It’s clean, simple, and oh-so-wholesome.

It goes like this: you arrive at the titular park with just a single month to claim the esteemed position of the ultimate bug catcher. Each day, you visit one of four spots on the map, after which you complete simple slider-based tasks, collect various bugs of all shapes and sizes, and then use them in a sumo-like battle against various foes. Along the way, you earn coins, which can be used to unlock better boots, nets, and magnifying glasses—and clotted candies, which can be used to upgrade your bug collection and, ultimately, to boost one of three attributes—Strength, Defense, and Energy, naturally.

The whole purpose of the game is simple: collect bugs, build your team, and compete in daily battles to, well, unlock more gold pieces, more candy, and after so long, more locations on the map to explore. And if you think this sounds a little too easy, well, that’s because it is. See, Kabuto Park is a game that you can quite easily learn and master in the first several minutes. Moreover, as you have an infinite amount of time to collect and even sell your bugs, you can essentially build an unstoppable trio of beetles on the first day. After that, it merely becomes a walk in the park — literally. Also, if all else fails, you can more or less spam buttons until your beetles violently overthrow their opponents.

The gameplay is torn between two parts, with one part being a simple QTE-based slider game that tasks you with stopping a cursor on a green line to successfully catch a bug, and another that allows you to compete in short strategy-based card battles with AI. And, thankfully, the battles really aren’t that complicated here, nor are they made to feel unnecessarily difficult, for that matter. And even if you do fail to beat an opponent, the game still rewards you with another chance to compete. If that does happen, then you can simply take a moment to reshuffle your chaffers and formulate a new synergy.

With cards—abilities that orbit the aforementioned trio of attributes—you have the straightforward task of highlighting one of several moves—pushing, kicking or holding your position, for example—and knocking the opponent off of the other side of the board. For example, a team that boasts a higher Strength stat can deal more damage, and a team with a higher Defense rating can hold their ground more effectively against oncoming attacks. It’s your job, in short, to find a suitable squad that can balance out the attributes. And, again, this is a rather simple task, given that you can more or less max out your levels on the first day.

While Kabuto Park isn’t exactly blessed with the gift of longevity, it is a game that comes across as both complete and airtight. It’s also incredibly easy on the eyes, too, given that it caters to a lovingly crafted cartoon-like aesthetic that has all of the hallmark traits of a Ghibli-inspired diorama. It’s cute, compact, and about as wholesome as bug-addled indies come, thus making it a real delight to stroll through for two or three hours. The only thing that might not appeal to the casual gamer is the dialogue. Personally, I couldn’t care less about someone’s cow and their fresh supply of milk. I also have little time for lingo like ‘no cap’ — but that’s just me.

Of course, its lack of areas to explore and incremental nature might not appeal to everyone here. As you only have a few locations to flaunt your net and boots in, you can more or less experience the full weight of the game in less than thirty of forty minutes. To add, the game doesn’t offer much of a challenge, given that the battle system predominantly works on its own accord without any real player input. For instance, if you select the Hold ability, and just so happen to have a bug with a stupidly high Strength stat, then the team will automatically reverse the tide and claim the fight on your behalf. And to be honest, that same trick works across most battles.

With all of the above said, Kabuto Park isn’t a game that you rely on for competitive gameplay. Rather, it’s a game that wants you to win. Moreover, it’s a game that enjoys holding your hand as you gradually carve through the encyclopedia in search of that next bee or beetle. For some, this might feel a little too friendly. But for those who enjoy the act of skipping along the primrose path, it’s a great way to inflate an ego and elevate a mood. And if there’s one thing that Kabuto Park does and does well, it’s putting a smile on your face. You can’t put a price on that.

Verdict

Kabuto Park delivers a wholesome entry-level bug battling summer vacation that’s both lovable and, more importantly, surprisingly fun to watch unfold from the sidelines of a beetle-bloated tambourine. While it is rather short and without the full weight of a gripping plot, it does make up for its shortcomings with a lot of elegant features. Visually, it’s about as cute and as elegant as indie battlers come. Gameplay-wise, it’s an incredibly forgiving experience, which in itself makes it an ideal choice for younger players. And therefore, while it isn’t a perfect fit for hardcore gamers, it is a great way for newcomers to learn the basics of a card-based PvE system.

To cut a long story short, if you’re all for the idea of easy achievements and stress-free PvE combat, then you should definitely take a moment to check out Kabuto Park and its vibrant host of beetles and bees. It might not hold a candle to the likes of Pokemon, but it’ll certainly give you something to smile about for a few hours. That, in itself, is enough of an incentive to warrant a trip out to Kabuto Park.