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.
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.