I am very torn on Another Crab's Treasure.. On one hand, it is a great looking game, with charm and love put into every aspect of the game, personality oozes from ever crevice, and the jokes constantly land. Scanning a random QR code in the main hub of the game only to get sent to a youtube video telling you that you've been "coconut malled" (mario kart wii) was honestly a highlight.

On the other hand, the combat is clunky, targeting does not always work, the camera does not cooperate, multiple actions share the same button (despite there being free buttons on a standard xbox controller), certain actions in the skilltree are straight downgrades (and there is no way around these upgrades if you want the later upgrades in the skilltree), frequent game-breaking glitches such as being teleported off the map, or bounce-pads shooting you at the speed of light to the other side of the map, and certain levels being big (and empty) just for the sake of being big makes for a game where you're constantly a little bit annoyed at something while you play.

The game also suffers from multiple quality of life issues. For example, when you make it to certain checkpoints, you probably want to take a step back and spend your currency to buy new upgrades, shells, and level up. Instead of having one hub world where you can do all of this, the game has 4 (though two of them at least connected). That means that you will have to fast travel to hub 1, walk to the second hub, then teleport to the third hub, and finally to the fourth hub just to get your daily shopping done. You will do this frequently, and it is such a big waste of time. This ties into how you upgrade your character; If you want to level up, you do that at any shell you find in the world. If you want to upgrade your skills, however, you need to go to a vendor. If you want to level up the skilltree, you need to go to another vendor. Why can't this be done in the shell? This would cut down on two of the hub worlds that you constantly need to visit. I am almost surprised you can lvl up your character at the shell, and that there is not a 5th hub world that only houses a character that is not relevant to the story at all, whose only purpose if to teach you that you can look into yourself to get stronger.

The gameplay itself, is serviceable. It is fine. It does not have particularly interesting movement for the platforming section, and the combat itself is watered down "fromsoft" type combat.
The issue with making combat so similar to something else, is that you invite direct comparisons, and unfortunately Another Crab's Treasure does not win any of the direct comparisons. Combat feels worse than Dark Souls, the parry mechanics are worse than Sekiro, and you don't have a lot of ways to mix up your gameplay as you are locked to one weapon for the entire gamel
That said, what makes this game stand out is once again the humor. You will fight a character that will pick you up, put you in a portable guillotine, your character will beg for his life, and it will instantly kill you. A character will look through random trash, find a magic wand vibrator, exclaim that "I have no idea what this even is" and try to whack you with it. Other enemies will be armed with tic tacs and try to shoot you with them, while others still will try to use a plastic fork and knife to eat you up.
It is fun, it is whacky, and you get to partake in this whackyness by equipping all sorts of trash as your shell. Use an F key from a keybard to defend yourself, or maybe a gacha capsule is more your style, or some used used medicine containers with some scraps left for you to consume. Or screw it, just put the amogus impostor on your back and call it a day, it for some reason has a ridiculously high defense stat.

Then you get to all the "packaging" surrounding this game. The story, the characters, the jokes, the music, it's all fantastic. I found myself just vibing to the music multiple times, not even playing the game or doing anything in particular, just enjoying the moment. This is why I am so torn on this game. I am so glad I got to experience all the charm, funny moments, attention to detail, passion and love put into this game, but at the same time itself I always felt like the gameplay itself wasn't that fun. At least it was easy and straightforward (compared to most soulslikes), so it never felt like a drag, but now that I have completed it and seen most of the game, I feel no drive to play again. I am kind of glad it is over, but I am also very glad it happened.

In conclusion, this is a very charming game with witty writing, funny jokes, great music and overall a fun adventure, however it is held back by not doing anything special in the gameplay department. The gameplay itself is just fine, but nothing to write home about. So if you are looking for more Soulslikes for the sake of great soulslike gameplay, I would not recommend this game; however if you are looking for a game to kick back, relax, and go on a witty adventure with, I recommend this game.

This is the best turn based/tactical RPG I have ever played, without a doubt. The world truly feels vast and lived in. Every NPC you encounter has something to say and a few items to trade. Every corner of the map is filled with details, loot to find, enemy encounters (often with their own small mini stories and motivations), and fun interactions. You'll find a random statue in the wild, you discover you can solve a small puzzle to interact with it, and boom, it's one of the most memorable and funny parts of the game, just out there, randomly in the wild. You could have easily missed it (and I am sure many does!). Small things like this really make every moment feel special.

The story is filled with interesting characters, with their own motivations, stories, history, and have their own things going on completely detached from what the player is doing, making the world feel a lot larger than what you see. You'll help these characters, they will help you, and depending on your choices, and the people you help, the crew you make, the story will change.

It all feels larger than the sum of its parts, and there are a lot of parts.

The combat revolves around an "Action Points" (AP) economy system, and a special armor system where you can deplete either someone's magic armor or physical armor. This means that different encounters feel more unique, as a mage enemy might be really strong against magic, but weak against physical hit, it makes every encounter feel unique. There are many fun combos and synergies you can discover, and sometimes it really feels like you are cheating, only for the game to throw yet another curve ball at you, making what was previously an "insane combo, the devs probably didnt think you'd be able to do this" into a "Oh yeah, I totally need this, the enemy combos are way stronger!".

There is something so satisfying about doing a combo like "Okay, I will save some AP for the next turn, then the turn after I can do a move that spawns blood under me, making my blood moves stronger, then I can hit them with a move that removes their armor, then a move that makes them bleed, then finally a move that uses that blood to totally destroy them". It all synergizes so well, and the more you look into it, the better it gets.

With you being able to spec into as many classes as you want and learn pretty much any spell you can imagine, there are countless of ways to play the game, and a ton of strategies for you to discover. You can't see it all in one playthrough. For example, I used a combo that made it so when enemies walk, they take very heavy damage, then I used another spell to make them "Terrified", which will force them to run away on their next turn. These combos belong to different classes, and there are plenty of examples like these ones, there is so much to discover, use and abuse.

You can play as an assortment of different characters (or make your own), all of which have different main stories, different interactions with characters, and ways to play the game. Your party can be 4 of these characters, or you can make your own party from hired characters you find in the game. Depending on the characters in your party, characters will react differently to you. Some places might not welcome an undead character, while others may let you pass because one of your characters are a royal lizard. Some will straight up pick fights with you because you are an elf, and if you were to talk to that same character with a different character they might be all friendly and even have a quest for you. The world truly reacts differently to your characters, which is fun and must have taken a lot of development time.

All of this on top of a fantastic skill system, crafting system, exploration, character affinity, stealth systems and more. It is a complete video game, that has all the video game things, maybe except for the now common DLCs and Microtransactions (remember when those were controversial?). There is so much to this game that I know for a fact that if I were to play it again, I would have a whole different experience, despite my 170 hours of playtime.
For example, I barely engaged with the crafting system in the game, and the few times I did use it, I found I could craft incredibly powerful armor.

The only thing really holding this game back is some quality of life for certain things. There are many small frustrations all over the game, and they can sometimes add up. You have an endlessly large inventory with things you need to keep "just in case" (after all, did you use that key yet or was that for something you'll need in the future?), but no search bar. Some characters especially in the town squares repeat the same voicelines way too quickly, truly making them feel like bots, and sometimes the combat can be quite frustrating because the game does not properly predict what will happen (it might say your move costs 1 AP, but it spends 2, meaning you can't afford to do your move). Furthermore, enemies sometimes just cheat. They straight up don't follow normal game mechanics like cooldown for moves, or they can't be stunned despite not having stun immunity, or they can't be targeted from where you're standing but they can target you. It can sometimes make the game feel frustrating. This is mixed with the game giving you very exciting abilities near the end, which you never get to use. For example, near the end I received a "Control Voidwoken" spell, but I only ever encountered Voidwoken twice after that point, which was a huge shame.

My main other gripe with the game, which is quite funny considering I spent 170 hours to beat the game, is that there isn't more of it. I really wanted more, and I wish they would spend more time to flesh out certain aspects of the game. You have seen and probably learned all the spells you will need by the time you're halfway through the game. I wish the game would let you discover more spells as you get stronger. Some spells also require you to multi class, but it's literally "ehh, put two points into this other class".
Some story elements also get glossed over a bit near the end. There is a huge voidwoken build up and attack, but you don't really see any voidwoken. They tease you with giant voicwoken you never get to fight, and you almost have to wonder what happened to them all considering theyre a world wide threat. A certain important story character you meet near the end of the game is also just... glossed over. You have one conversation with them, then you fight, then the game is over. For such an important character it is very weird that they get so little screen time. I wish there was more. And hopefully there will be more in a Divinity 3.

My gripes aside, this is still such a fantastic game, and Larian have shown that they are truly the masters of turn based RPGs. My dream Larian game would be a game with Divinity's combat, but with even more spells, mixed with Baldur's Gate's cinematic camera and quality of life features like a searchable inventory.

Needless to say, this game is absolutely fantastic, I recommend it to all.

Despite the 3.5-star rating I do want to recommend this game. It is fun for what it is. I enjoy the cocky and straightforward lines of the Dealer, and the first few runs of the game is a lot of fun, and it's great to see more games that remind you of Inscryption, though much darker.

The items offer more strategy other than just probability, though they can be pretty OP at times, especially when you combine them.

That said, this is very much a "minigame". You play it for a few rounds, and you've seen everything. Other than that, the game offers great atmosphere, a hard party, and chasing high scores.

Still, I recommend you give this one a shot. It is fun and worth experiencing. The main reason behind the 3.5 star rating is frankly because there is very little to this game. It is simple, and finished quickly.

This is definitely one of the best co-op games to come out. The quality overall is through the roof, with an incredible attention to detail in every aspect of the game.

The platforming is smooth, the voice acting is fantastic, and the environments are fun, unique, and are changed up very often. The game effortlessly mixes comedy with more serious relationship issues, and never drops a beat.

The gameplay, while a platformer most of the time, changes it up so often that it's almost like playing a succession of minigames. In
one moment you'll play a plaformer, the next you're flying, then skating, etc, so the gameplay remains fresh throughout.

My main gripe with this game is that while I appreciate that the game wants you to constantly move forward, the puzzles the game gives you can feel like they drag a lot, especially when there are multiple puzzles in quick succession. "Activate 6 of these things, by doing the exact same thing but slightly different 6 times", it is not really fun, and slows down the pace of the game.

Furthermore, while it is great that every chapter gives you new abilities to play with, some chapters leaves one player doing almost nothing. This is especially the case in certain chapters where Cody's abilities boil down to "hold the door so May can play the game".

Despite these flaws, the game is still a blast throughout, and should be at the top of the backlog for any couple looking for something to play together. I highly recommend it.