Another Crab’s Treasure, as the name suggests, is a humorous and pun-filled world where the sea is an oyster like your soul. A fork acts as your defacto sword, while various other debris from above, including shot glasses, soda cans, and more, act as your shield. With a fork in hand and a can on his back, Krill, a shy but easy-going hermit crab, sets off into the aquatic kingdom to find his favorite shell stolen by a loan shark tax collector. Next is an adventurous, entertaining and bright retreat from the otherwise dark and terror-filled Soulslike genre. However, the action doesn’t hit the same highs; While unique and elaborate in some ways, it’s too floaty, too imprecise and too annoying, polluting a fun 15-hour cruise through a trash-filled ocean.
Developer Agro Crab tends to a neat game premise, and the results often make me laugh. Whether it’s inside-world jokes, about real-world and man-made problems, or simple wordplay (shuck, carp, cod, and more replace similar-sounding real-world curse words), I’m constantly smiling as I interact with the ocean’s various creatures. Solid voice acting and design make every NPC and boss a feast.
This penchant for premise extends to the action of the game, but it is less successful. To Agro Crab’s credit, the combat continues to make sense with different, weird mechanics and abilities. Instead of a standard weapon-based parry, you have to hide in your shell and get out of it before the enemy hits to parry properly; Defeating a large crustacean boss gives it a special hammer claw-like ability for great big shots; The “umami” magic inside each shell manifests in interesting ways, like a shot glass that shatters into pieces when attacked, a bowling ball-like roll inside a tennis ball shell, or homing carbonation bubbles that shoot out of a soda can.
Much of my joy in battle came from seeing the “new” – a special umami magic in a new shell, a new ability gained after defeating a major boss, or a new stowaway attachment that increased my stamina or defense. There’s no shortage of flair in the combat, and there’s a respectable amount of departure from what I’d normally expect in a Soulslike.
That is why it is a shame that the foundations of war are so shaky. Considering that Krill’s adventure takes place mostly underwater, it’s a buoyant, purposeful, but precise exchange of feeling that doesn’t work with such a challenging game. The camera is also clever, leaving me to simultaneously fight various enemies that cornered me against a wall without giving me any real view of what was going on. Critically, when I died in combat, it usually felt like little to nothing I could personally improve on – a staple of the genre – and the game cheated me in death.
All of this is exacerbated by a story that starts off strong before spiraling into a rushed finale, with my least favorite area and horde of bosses, everyone thinking they could be the finale in the game. It doesn’t help that various game crashes and bugs slowed my progress here in the final hours.
Although the battle between service and annoyance threatens my happiness, I still find joy in another crab’s treasure trove. Krill’s reluctance to become a hero and his subsequent journey, the message surrounding the dangers corporations pose to our oceans, and the clever twists on the Soulslike formula provide a satisfying journey through uncharted waters, albeit uneven and flawed.