Through the years, many video games have tried to recreate the exact, troublesome nature of FromSoftware’s Darkish Souls, a revolutionary title that created the aptly named Soulslike style. One other Crab’s Treasure, from developer Aggro Crab, is one other one among these endeavours, albeit with a considerably extra vibrant strategy in comparison with the standard depth of many Soulslikes.
The journey begins with the introduction of protagonist, Kril, a Hermit Crab residing above the encompassing ocean in a small tide pool. Earlier than lengthy, Kril is faraway from his valuable shell, as he now seemingly owes cash to a creature by the identify of the Duchess as a consequence of new tax legal guidelines. A Mortgage Shark — who takes the type of a plastic Shark-head-on-a-stick toy with a prime hat — takes Kril’s shell as collateral, sending the lovely younger crustacean on a journey to the depths of the ocean to retrieve his shell and return to his beautiful tide pool. The writing is charming and filled with witty remarks from the sport’s solid of characters, leading to an enticing narrative that can present just a few laughs right here and there.
At first look, labelling One other Crab’s Treasure as a Soulslike could appear absurd in the event you solely give attention to its vibrant artwork type and total presentation. Nonetheless, this underwater expedition incorporates the required traits, similar to exact, punishing fight, deep talent methods, and penalties for demise.
Combating enemies is gradual and methodical, with Kril utilizing a fork as his weapon of alternative, while additionally having the ability to dodge out of the best way of incoming assaults, and stagger enemies upon filling up a meter. It is all considerably acquainted, however One other Crab’s Treasure manages to innovate with its Shell mechanics.
As Kril is a hermit crab, he’s just about bare with out a shell to name his house, and you’ll encounter 69 distinctive shells to equip all through the journey. Every Shell comes with its personal defence stat, permitting you to soak up injury by guarding, although it can break after a sure variety of hits. Probably the most attention-grabbing factor in regards to the shells is their distinctive talents, which are available all styles and sizes. The primary shell you discover, a Soda Can, lets you ship a sequence of bubbles into an opponent, dealing a bit of injury as each makes contact. Earlier than lengthy, you begin to discover extra shells with wackier talents, similar to a Social gathering Hat that explodes in an enemy’s face, or a Banana Peel, for some motive.
A lot of the journey is spent exploring the depths of the ocean, which options quite a few primary and non-obligatory areas to find. There are moments the place the sport makes an attempt to throw in some platforming challenges, although the responsiveness of the controls right here is inconsistent, primarily as a consequence of barely odd hit detection. Not solely does this influence platforming however, frustratingly, it additionally influences points of fight, resulting in some low-cost hits from enemies, or Kril failing to land an assault.
Because the rise in reputation of these kind of video games, an argument has been made to incorporate extra problem choices, and One other Crab’s Treasure contains an in depth checklist. From easy issues similar to decreasing the quantity of injury you’re taking, to extra absurd additions similar to supplying you with a gun, there are many choices to customize your expertise.
After all, as anticipated, One other Crab’s Treasure incorporates a lineup of considerably extra highly effective enemies within the type of boss encounters, and there are a number of them. Aggro Crab has carried out a superb job leaning into the underwater setting, that means that boss fights are designed with the setting in thoughts. Every has a novel moveset and you will have to be taught patterns and dodge unblockable strikes. Though these fights are gratifying for essentially the most half, there are sometimes important issues with the positioning of the digital camera. A extra important drawback occurred for us when a boss determined to get caught inside a wall, which led to a smooth reset of the sport.
Regardless of having some glorious concepts, One other Crab’s Treasure on Change is buried beneath a sea of efficiency points, with important drops in body charge, quite a few game-breaking glitches, and washed-out visuals. In our expertise, body charge issues occurred in each handheld and docked modes, although it was much more noticeable in handheld, particularly throughout boss fights and cutscenes. Efficiency points within the Soulslike style will be particularly problematic as a result of demanding precision required to succeed. There have been moments the place we had been unable to dodge out of the best way of a boss’s tremendous transfer, as the sport would freeze barely earlier than resuming the motion.
Conclusion
One other Crab’s Treasure boasts the standard sides of a Soulslike while additionally implementing its personal tackle well-known mechanics. Nonetheless, important drops in body charge, quite a few glitches, and infrequently awkward controls do hinder the expertise, no less than on Nintendo Change. For those who can look previous these issues, or if updates arrive to patch them up, One other Crab’s Treasure might scratch your Soulslike itch.
