Crabs have been in vogue lately and it’s hard to blame them; they’re cute little dudes with giant claws why wouldn’t you want to play as a crab? We’ve had crab shooters, crab fighting games, and now we’re getting a crab soulslike with Another Crab’s Treasure.
Another Crab’s Treasure
Developer: Aggro Crab
Price: $29.99
Platform: PC, PS5, Switch and XSX
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Another Crab’s Treasure opens with our (very) reluctant hero, Kril, being repossessed of his shell due to new “taxes” being implemented by the new ruler of the area. This journey leads him on a treasure hunt with the various crustacean citizens of the city in a race against the hyper-capitalist mayor of the city. Now this game might genuinely be one of the most damning takedowns of capitalism I’ve seen in a game in a long while; the game is making zero qualms about constantly reminding you how busted of a system it is and the game’s frankness with its commitment to the messaging is honestly a bit refreshing. Of course, being a soulslike, there’s an esoteric evil being behind the scenes that you need to deal with as well, but it all eventually loops back to capitalism being the real villain all along and I love this cute crab game for really going for it.
Being a soulslike, Another Crab’s Treasure features all of the hallmarks of the genre from the methodical combat, challenging difficulty, and the importance of death to not lose your currency. What makes this game stand apart, besides its adorable art style, is the fact that instead of armor in these sort of games, Kril simply has his shell. Without his shell he’s naked and susceptible to massive amounts of damage; plop on a shell however and you can mitigate a lot of it and also gain access to special magic called umami. There are dozens of shells to find, from bottle caps and tissue boxes, to sillier things like a Rubik’s cube. Each shell has a different weight to it (affecting your dodge), armor rating for Kril, and health for the shell itself.
It’s a treat to see something new buried in the sand and see what kind of shell you might stumble across, and you’ll eventually find your favorites. I was particularly favorable towards the sriracha bottle cap that allowed Kril to spin like a top and shred enemies. Umami is the game’s magic system, and while you’ll find two or three shells share the same umami ability, there’s still an impressive breadth available for you to experiment with. Thankfully if you find an ability you like, you can permanently purchase the shell from a shopkeeper so that even if it breaks, you can always recover it at your campfire moon shell.
Like any typical soulslike, exploration is a big part of the game as you’ll be able to stick your nose in every corner of various surprisingly large zones from a polluted trash wasteland to the deep bioluminescent depths of the ocean. Each new area is a feast for the eyes with its bright colors making things pop. Of course, you’ll find lots of enemies looking to pick a fight in these areas, and the game strikes a pretty nice balance of difficulty where it still makes you work for the win but without having any controller throwing moments. The game even manages to take advantage of Kril’s diminutive size by throwing some massive bosses at you that strike an imposing figure against you. The only issue I found was that many of the bosses are very exploitable by simply hugging their side and running against them as they get stuck in a loop of turning to face you. Not a major deal, simply play normally and it’s fine, but I do wish a few of the boss fights were a bit more balanced in that regard. The majority of the gameplay here is rock solid however; Another Crab’s Treasure isn’t blowing the doors open on the genre but what it’s doing here is very good and very fun.
Something that can’t be understated is Aggro Crab’s effort to bring newcomers to the genre into the space with some really friendly accessibility options here. There’s everything from being able to reduce damage taken by varying degrees to extra health for yourself or less for enemies. You can even adjust invincibility frames on dodges, parry window timing, and even turn off the feature of losing your XP/currency upon your death. Hilariously enough, you can even flip a setting that gives Kril a massive gun that can one-shot anything in the game, including bosses. It’s a lot of nice settings to allow someone new to finetune their experience as they slowly get accustomed to things and I think will go a long way in making new fans of the genre.
The Final Word
Another Crab’s Treasure might be one of the most delightful games you’ll play this year, and is great fun for veterans or newcomers to the genre.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
