I would like to begin this One other Crab’s Treasure assessment with an admission: I did not know issues had been so brutal underneath 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 advanced over the centuries, is not it?
Clearly, that is not true, nevertheless it’s definitely true of One other Crab’s Treasure, which is a cartoony and cutesy Soulslike from Aggro Crab, the great people behind satirical internship roguelite Going Below.
Soulslikes are sometimes gloomy, grandiose affairs, however One other Crab’s Treasure is a way more lighthearted tackle the style, at the least 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 can check 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
![Kril wondering why everyone can't just leave him alone in Another Crab's Treasure](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/images/another-crabs-treasure-review-dialogue.jpg)
In contrast to many Soulslikes, One other Crab’s Treasure has an overt and pretty conventional story.
Kril is a hermit crab residing in a blissfully uneventful tide pool, however someday, he is instructed 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 would 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 unlimited 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 in a while within the story that hit me exhausting emotionally, notably one latter-stage stage that makes use of environmental storytelling to nice impact.
Aggro Crab has constructed a cleverly constructed and quietly transferring world in One other Crab’s Treasure. Human detritus is strewn throughout the ocean ground; you will 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, nevertheless it packs a punch as properly; whereas Kril’s world is fictional, the issues that afflict it are very actual.
One other Crab’s Treasure Retains Its Soulslike Gameplay Contemporary
![Kril about to block an enemy's attack by hiding in a soda can in Another Crab's Treasure](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/images/another-crabs-treasure-review-blocking.jpg)
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 appropriate ballpark.
Fight and exploration listed below are pretty customary stuff for Soulslikes; you will discover big 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 a substitute of carrying a defend, you will 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 special means that you should use in fight, in addition to a weight ranking that dictates how sluggish your dodge roll can be. The aforementioned soda can, as an illustration, can summon magical bubbles to assault your enemies, whereas the shotgun shell can deal large explosive harm, though you will lose the defend within the course of.
You are typically restricted to the shields you see round you, however you may also pay forex (“microplastics”, additionally heartrending) to insure a shell, that means you will all the time spawn with that shell if you return from demise.
It is a fantastic little system meaning you all the time must be scanning your atmosphere and searching for the best shell, and it additionally results in some brilliantly bushy moments in fight as your shell shatters and also you scramble to search out one other one.
One other Crab’s Treasure Has Some Fairly Compelling Boss Fights
![Kril taking on the Pagurus boss in Another Crab's Treasure](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/images/another-crabs-treasure-review-pagurus-boss.jpg)
Bosses in One other Crab’s Treasure are one other sudden spotlight. They’re different and attention-grabbing; I do not assume 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 basic Soulslike boss fights.
There’s nothing earth-shatteringly totally different right here, nevertheless it looks like Aggro Crab desires to push the style ahead moderately than simply wallowing in its tropes.
True to kind, nonetheless, One other Crab’s Treasure’s loading screens will typically warn you that it is supposed to be a tough expertise and that should you’re struggling, it might merely be as a result of you have not honed your abilities sufficient but.
I can solely converse for myself, however as a veteran of the style, I did discover One other Crab’s Treasure to be a contact on the straightforward facet.
Whereas enemy variants do use totally different abilities in a while, the identical handful of fundamental movesets are reused pretty continuously, and as soon as I would discovered the timings for every enemy, dodging and parrying turned 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 fluctuate greater than ordinary on this level; should 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 essentially the most half, One other Crab’s Treasure is on the simpler facet of the Soulslike issue spectrum, even when it does have its pricklier moments.
One other Crab’s Treasure Evaluation | Remaining Ideas
![Kril fighting the Heikea boss in Another Crab's Treasure](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/images/another-crabs-treasure-review-heikea-boss.jpg)
I used to be very pleasantly stunned by One other Crab’s Treasure. The Soulslike style is arguably beginning to present indicators of stagnation, however Aggro Crab’s effort reveals that it’s doable to create genuinely fresh-feeling and new video games that also adhere to acquainted gameplay loops.
In the event 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 should 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 had been taken in the course of the means of assessment.