General Information
Another Crab's Treasure hails from Aggro Crab, the indie studio behind workplace-parody roguelike Going Under, and throws players into another fantastical adventure featuring an unlikely protagonist using improvised weaponry. Kril the hermit crab has been forced on a treasure hunt after his prized shell is repossessed, and neither the onset of an underwater industrial revolution nor the hostile sea life is going to make that easy. In the face of looming taxes and corrupting Gunk, players will need to grab their trusty fork and embark on Another Crab's Treasure's silly Soulslike adventure across an ocean filled with trash, treasure, and a lot of crabs.
Another Crab's Treasure Promotes Motion In The Ocean
Despite its plot being straightforward, Another Crab's Treasure immerses players with a silly script and colorful cast. There are more friendly NPCs in it than the average Soulslike, especially in the main hub of New Carcinia, and they're kept interesting across its runtime. Environmentalism is the obvious central theme, but dialogue and environmental storytelling explore what else the Gunk's "pollution" means in ACT's decaying setting. While Another Crab's Treasure's writing will land differently for each player, a setting this cheerful that supports Souls satire, social commentary, and heads mounted on pikes must be doing something right.
Another Crab's Treasure's gameplay is an eclectic mixture of Going Under, Hollow Knight, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. Running, grappling, and gliding around huge environments give it the air of a 3D platformer, even while action stays the top priority. Blocking or dodging enemies presents openings for offense, all while forgoing standard Soulslike stamina like Sekiro. Instead, there are noticeable pauses between Kril's swings to discourage mashing, which, while never unfair, feels slightly too long. Gaining and maintaining lock-on is a more pressing issue, especially with groups or fast enemies, and the camera doesn't make it any easier near walls. Still, hits feel good, and sending enemies flying never gets old.
Said enemies also hit hard, even by Souls standards, and the only way to survive is either by mastering tight dodge and parry timings, or hiding under a shell. Comparable to Going Under's improvised weapons, the ocean in ACT contains over sixty different types of junk shells, each with different attributes and sometimes an extra property like physics-based rolling. Another Crab's Treasure's threatening enemies encourage guarding by default, and shell durability leads to frequent tense scrambles to switch mid-combat. Players always want a shell on, however, thanks to them diverting damage as well as enabling exclusive mechanics and boons.
Shells can be as important for offense as they are for defense thanks to their Shell Spells. These powerful Umami techniques include projectiles, counters, buffs, and more, only being limited by shell durability and Umami charges refilled through melee like Hollow Knight's Soul. Another Crab's Treasure also features Adaptations, derived from encountering the ocean's diverse wildlife. They're equally varied, and can also be equipped in pairs and upgraded. Accompanied by strategies like pressuring foes into flipping or literally fishing for critical hits, Another Crab's Treasure's battles assume a pleasing open-ended form.
Another Crab's Treasure Lets Everyone Play Their Way
While Another Crab's Treasure is not an open-world game, nor is it as interconnected or build-heavy as some other Souls games, it's still filled with exploration and player choice. Anywhere not themed around claustrophobia or linear platforming tends to be a massive play space filled with side paths, side quests, treasure, and even bonus bosses. The first of those is even available immediately, in a cheeky nod to Elden Ring's Tree Sentinel. Backtracking with later tools can yield further rewards, whether they be cosmetic capes, echoes of The Legend of Zelda's Heart Pieces, or other permanent upgrades, so players are encouraged to get lost in the Sands Between.
Four stats governing health, defense and status resistance, melee damage, and Umami damage — cleverly called MSG — streamline leveling, and equip-able Stowaways similar to Hollow Knight's Charms can facilitate all kinds of different builds. Those only work with a shell present, however, and stronger ones require stat thresholds to be met. A skill tree progressed using collectible crystals further expands the player's abilities, even if locking common Soulslikes features and some of ACT's own mechanics behind this system may dull their impact. Layering all of that on top of shells, Adaptations, combat, and platforming gives players a wealth of gameplay customization options.
Speaking of which, although Another Crab's Treasure doesn't boast as many accessibility features as the recent Rise of the Ronin, what it has may be more impactful. Button remapping and a sprinting toggle are appreciated, but the assist mode menu is another beast. Defaulting to Hard settings, players can choose from Easier or Story presets, as well as make their own custom difficulty. Apart from options like numerical changes or keeping currency on death, there are toggles to slow the game down and give Kril an instant-kill Gun. No penalty exists for this, though; it's so anyone can enjoy Another Crab's Treasure's cozy vibes without its difficulty getting in the way.
And it will get in the way, because Another Crab's Treasure exhibits far more Souls sadism than its innocent demeanor implies. Grouped enemies, fast attacks, and Gunk puddles foreshadowing the inevitable Soulslike poison swamp emphasize ACT's willingness to break any rules of engagement. Defense is strong to compensate, but it's a finite resource, and Aggro Attacks marked by Sekiro-like symbols over Kril's head mean an unblockable hit could ruin everything. After the first boss introduces them with a running command grab that nearly kills a full-health shelled Kril, enabling some assist features won't sound so bad. Fortunately, Another Crab's Treasure includes boss room checkpoints that catch lost currency, and invested players should learn the flow of combat soon enough, like any Souls title.
Another Crab's Treasure Makes Under The Sea The Place To Be
Combat is its focus, but players will want to slow down sometimes to soak in Another Crab's Treasure's vibes. Every model, menu asset, and art piece is fully realized in a vibrant style that still ropes in more realistic sea life, like ACT's Bobbit Worms, and junk heaps on occasion for unsettling undertones. Visual flourishes are everywhere, from clipping the camera through Kril and finding a tiny heart, to looking up in the first open area to see fish darting overhead, and even to enemy designs incorporating human trash in creative ways. It's unfortunate that the map menu lacks an option to scroll across its doodled interpretations, but Another Crab's Treasure still provides a refreshing change from the average desaturated Soulslike.
The same is true for ACT's audio, particularly the music. Souls games like Dark Souls and Hollow Knight have acclaimed soundtracks, but their genre's heavy emphasis on orchestral scores is subverted here. Another Crab's Treasure accompanies traversal and bosses with a unique and relatively relaxed soundtrack that fits with its chill tone. The quieter ambiance some areas use instead is pleasant, but it's a poor substitute for ACT's normal music. While voice acting is unfortunately even more sparse, it stands strong whenever a cutscene requires it. Kril's actor, Zuwie LeFou, does an admirable job of making his youthful energy infectious, and talkative bosses should prove equally memorable in their brief screen time, assuming players don't find ways to skip them.
Another Crab's Treasure is a technically sound game, running well at the highest PC settings with no serious issues. Minor foibles like nearby mobile enemies running at a low frame rate or the first boss being briefly confused by circle-strafing are excusable, and players are better equipped to escape getting stuck in geometry than the average Souls game. Where things get strange is in Another Crab's Treasure's sequence-breaking, as it's sometimes trivially easy to sprint-jump and glide into places the player shouldn't be. The amount of Souls knowledge Another Crab's Treasure displays, on top of how well it tracks triggered events, suggest this may be somewhat intentional on Aggro Crab's part, so speedrun enthusiasts should keep tabs on this game.
Another Crab's Treasure averages 25 hours to beat, though this will vary depending on player skill, completion, and assist features used.
While the Soulslike genre is no stranger to cute indie entries or a sense of humor, there's nothing quite like Another Crab's Treasure on the market. It affectionately parodies many Souls games in its Sands Between, while executing their tropes with all the passion of a hardcore fan. Another Crab's Treasure's family-friendly face hides surprising savagery, but doesn't neglect anyone who wants the relaxed experience it teases. Even its mechanics are often recycled from other Soulsbornes, but used in novel ways, even if there's some polish missing here and there. Delving into Another Crab's Treasure will unearth a mixture of the familiar and the unknown, the perfect accomplice to its quirky journey through the deep, blue sea.
