Through the years, many video games have tried to recreate the exact, tough 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 considered one of these endeavours, albeit with a considerably extra vibrant method in comparison with the same old 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 resulting from 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 pretty tide pool. The writing is charming and stuffed with witty remarks from the sport’s forged of characters, leading to an enticing narrative that may present a couple of laughs right here and there.
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At first look, labelling One other Crab’s Treasure as a Soulslike could appear absurd in case you solely give attention to its vibrant artwork model and total presentation. Nevertheless, this underwater expedition incorporates the required traits, equivalent to exact, punishing fight, deep ability methods, and penalties for demise.
Preventing enemies is sluggish and methodical, with Kril utilizing a fork as his weapon of selection, while additionally having the ability to dodge out of the way in which 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 harm by guarding, although it’s going to break after a sure variety of hits. Essentially the most fascinating factor concerning the shells is their distinctive skills, which are available all sizes and shapes. The primary shell you discover, a Soda Can, means that you can ship a sequence of bubbles into an opponent, dealing a bit of injury as every one makes contact. Earlier than lengthy, you begin to discover extra shells with wackier skills, equivalent to a Get together Hat that explodes in an enemy’s face, or a Banana Peel, for some cause.
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A lot of the journey is spent exploring the depths of the ocean, which options quite a few fundamental and elective 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 resulting from barely odd hit detection. Not solely does this affect platforming however, frustratingly, it additionally influences facets of fight, resulting in some low cost hits from enemies, or Kril failing to land an assault.
Because the rise in reputation of all these video games, an argument has been made to incorporate extra problem choices, and One other Crab’s Treasure consists of an in depth checklist. From easy issues equivalent to decreasing the quantity of injury you are taking, to extra absurd additions equivalent to supplying you with a gun, there are many choices to customize your expertise.
In fact, 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 quite a lot of them. Aggro Crab has achieved a superb job leaning into the underwater setting, which means that boss fights are designed with the surroundings in thoughts. Every has a novel moveset and you will have to study patterns and dodge unblockable strikes. Though these fights are gratifying for essentially the most half, there are sometimes vital issues with the positioning of the digicam. A extra vital drawback occurred for us when a boss determined to get caught inside a wall, which led to a comfortable reset of the sport.
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Regardless of having some glorious concepts, One other Crab’s Treasure on Change is buried underneath a sea of efficiency points, with vital drops in body price, quite a few game-breaking glitches, and washed-out visuals. In our expertise, body price 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 because of the demanding precision required to succeed. There have been moments the place we had been unable to dodge out of the way in which 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 same old aspects of a Soulslike while additionally implementing its personal tackle well-known mechanics. However, vital drops in body price, quite a few glitches, and sometimes awkward controls do hinder the expertise, at the least on Nintendo Change. Should you can look previous these issues, or if updates arrive to patch them up, One other Crab’s Treasure might scratch your Soulslike itch.