I might like to start out this One other Crab’s Treasure overview with an admission: I did not know issues have been so brutal beneath the ocean. Do you know crabs are actually killing one another down there with improvised swords, bows, and even weapons? It is loopy how a lot crabs have developed over the centuries, is not it?
Clearly, that is not true, but it surely’s actually true of One other Crab’s Treasure, which is a cartoony and cutesy Soulslike from Aggro Crab, the nice people behind satirical internship roguelite Going Underneath.
Soulslikes are sometimes gloomy, grandiose affairs, however One other Crab’s Treasure is a way more lighthearted tackle the style, not less than at first look.
That stated, it is nonetheless obtained all the trimmings of a Soulslike: winding, interconnected ranges, block and dodge-based fight, and boss encounters that may take a look at your fight mettle. Will this uncommon tackle the style pay dividends, or is One other Crab’s Treasure only a shell of its betters?
One other Crab’s Treasure Tells a Surprisingly Compelling Story
Not like many Soulslikes, One other Crab’s Treasure has an overt and pretty conventional story.
Kril is a hermit crab dwelling in a blissfully uneventful tide pool, however in the future, he is informed by a “mortgage shark” (ha ha) that he should pay taxes to the Duchess of his kingdom or have his shell taken away.
Naturally, Kril does not know what taxes are, so his shell is repossessed and he embarks on a quest to retrieve it.
Beneath the ocean, Kril discovers an enormous civilization stricken by an odd polluting sickness recognized solely because the Gunk, and he should unravel what the Gunk is and the way it threatens his world.
One other Crab’s Treasure’s story is surprisingly affecting and compelling.
I discovered myself genuinely caring about Kril and his plight, and with out wishing to spoil, there are moments afterward within the story that hit me laborious emotionally, notably one latter-stage stage that makes use of environmental storytelling to nice impact.
Aggro Crab has constructed a cleverly constructed and quietly shifting world in One other Crab’s Treasure. Human detritus is strewn throughout the ocean ground; you may come throughout bottlecaps, cigarette butts, and plastic bottles, amongst many different monuments to our civilization’s tendency for waste.
After all, to Kril and his compatriots, these objects are sometimes sacred artifacts, improvised weapons, and even treasure maps pointing to legendary hauls.
It is all immensely endearing stuff, but it surely packs a punch as effectively; whereas Kril’s world is fictional, the issues that afflict it are very actual.
One other Crab’s Treasure Retains Its Soulslike Gameplay Recent
One other Crab’s Treasure is, at its core, a hybrid of conventional Soulslike gameplay and 3D platforming. Think about Darkish Souls crossed with SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Backside and a a lot much less terrifying Subnautica and also you’re in the best ballpark.
Fight and exploration listed below are pretty normal stuff for Soulslikes; you may discover large ranges, search for shortcuts, and battle numerous crabs and different sea creatures as you accomplish that, waiting for weak factors and punishing hesitation on the a part of your enemies.
There are a few key improvements that assist One other Crab’s Treasure stand out, although. First amongst them is the defend system; as an alternative of carrying a defend, you may scavenge one from the particles scattered round you, utilizing objects like shot glasses, shotgun shells, and tin cans to guard you.
It is each lovable and heartbreaking to see tiny hermit crab Kril wandering round with a soda can on his again, however this technique additionally provides an additional dimension to gameplay within the type of skills.
Every defend has a unique capability that you should use in fight, in addition to a weight score that dictates how sluggish your dodge roll might be. The aforementioned soda can, as an example, can summon magical bubbles to assault your enemies, whereas the shotgun shell can deal large explosive injury, though you may lose the defend within the course of.
You are typically restricted to the shields you see round you, however you too can pay foreign money (“microplastics”, additionally heartrending) to insure a shell, which means you may all the time spawn with that shell once you return from demise.
It is an incredible little system which means you all the time must be scanning your atmosphere and searching for the best shell, and it additionally results in some brilliantly furry moments in fight as your shell shatters and also you scramble to seek out one other one.
One other Crab’s Treasure Has Some Fairly Compelling Boss Fights
Bosses in One other Crab’s Treasure are one other sudden spotlight. They’re different and fascinating; I do not suppose I got here throughout two bosses who actually felt the identical over the course of my 15-hour playthrough. Some are easy one-on-one encounters, whereas others demand a bit of extra technique from you.
I’ve typically felt like there’s far more room for Soulslikes to innovate by way of boss construction, and fortunately, One other Crab’s Treasure explores some new methods to current traditional Soulslike boss fights.
There’s nothing earth-shatteringly completely different right here, but it surely looks like Aggro Crab needs to push the style ahead somewhat than simply wallowing in its tropes.
True to type, nonetheless, One other Crab’s Treasure’s loading screens will typically warn you that it is supposed to be a tough expertise and that in case you’re struggling, it might merely be as a result of you have not honed your expertise sufficient but.
I can solely communicate for myself, however as a veteran of the style, I did discover One other Crab’s Treasure to be a contact on the simple aspect.
Whereas enemy variants do use completely different expertise afterward, the identical handful of fundamental movesets are reused pretty often, and as soon as I might realized the timings for every enemy, dodging and parrying grew to become a breeze. Bosses momentarily supplied a bit of extra problem, however their restricted movesets meant it did not take lengthy to grasp them.
After all, your mileage will range greater than regular on this level; in case you’re not a fan of higher-difficulty video games, then One other Crab’s Treasure could function the proper entry level to the style, and chances are you’ll discover it a tougher expertise than I did.
Simply do not go in anticipating any Malenia, Blade of Miquella-level occasions, as a result of, for probably the most half, One other Crab’s Treasure is on the simpler aspect of the Soulslike problem spectrum, even when it does have its pricklier moments.
One other Crab’s Treasure Evaluate | Last Ideas
I used to be very pleasantly shocked by One other Crab’s Treasure. The Soulslike style is arguably beginning to present indicators of stagnation, however Aggro Crab’s effort exhibits that it’s potential to create genuinely fresh-feeling and new video games that also adhere to acquainted gameplay loops.
In case you’re searching for the sort of obscure background storytelling that From Software program excels at, then One other Crab’s Treasure will not be for you, however in case you’ve ever thought that Darkish Souls or Sekiro can be well-served by a wholesome injection of Jak and Daxter, your day has come.
One other Crab’s Treasure was reviewed on PC with a replica supplied by the developer over the course of 15 hours of gameplay – all screenshots have been taken through the means of overview.
