elden crab? shell-den ring? whatever pun can be made here, another crab's treasure (ACT) is a cute but incredibly competent souls-like. while many of the souls-likes i see and have played try to riff off DS1, Bloodborne, or even Sekiro, ACT's biggest inspiration is so clearly Elden Ring. youve got crucible knights, crumbling farum azula, the open world, and a mishmash of fromsoft's previous game systems such as Sekiro's posture bar and Bloodborne's rallying locked behind a skill. despite plastering the fromsoft formula onto its sleeves, it's still distinct by removing stamina and adding shells. youre forced into a specific playstyle, becoming a bit personalized when upgrading to the skill trees, but at the end of the day you use the same abilities and must adapt to it. the main customization are your umami adaptations (think of sekiro prosthetics), shell powers, and stowaways which are like rings/talismans. regardless of that, you have the same moveset throughout the game. fast swipes with your fork or slow heaving blows when transformed into a hammer with the right skill. it all comes together to make a fun game that gets hampered by some encounter designs. the irritation of being stun locked into oblivion or being knocked off a cliff by a lesser foe because of a tiny ass platform became too familiar for comfort. oh and the camera can be hellish at times with who you want to lock on to or if in a tight spot. but dude, when you combo umami abilities, parries, grapple hooks, and everything else in your kit, its bliss. maybe im just goated but i first timed so many bosses once i got into my flow state. it was genuinely some of the smoothest combat experiences ive had in a game. story-wise, it's very on the nose but it's not pretending to be anything else. capitalism sucks, greedy people suck, money ruins everything it touches, no need to remind me so hard. its like the game is hoping itll change a capitalists mind into seeing empathy, but it knows its a fruitless endeavor since there isnt a single moment of kindness shown to them.

anyways one of the better non-fromsoft souls-likes. its cute and whimsical, aggro crab understand how to bang out a game.