Aggro Crab is back after Going Under with another unique mix of lighthearted comedy and action-packed innovative mechanics. This time, it’s taking us under the sea with Another Crab’s Treasure, a mixture of Souslike combat and Zelda-esque exploration and platforming.
Unlike Going Under, Aggro Crab has gone full-in on the semi-open world aspect with tons of world-building. Another Crab’s Treasure aims to present a much more ambitious and vast adventure with unique combat mechanics and comedic lore. There’s an ocean-scale pollution threat as a premise, an upstart hermit crab adventurer named Krill looking for his shell, and a slew of combat options and platforming to dive into. Let’s see how Another Crab’s Treasure innovates the Soulslike genre and whether it’s worth your attention.
Combat and Umami Shell Abilities
First off, the Soulslike genre has been an oversaturated market in the past several years, and what I like about Another Crab’s Treasure is that it does something new. Essentially, the main idea of its third-person hack-and-slash combat system is you’re constantly changing shells as a hermit crab, which have unique Umami abilities. In addition to your main weapon, each shell has an active Umami skill with several charges, like a tin can shell that electrifies enemies, a soda can that shoots bubble projectiles, or a shot glass that gives you crystallized counter-attacking armor.
This elevates the standard attack, dodge, block, and parry formula of Soulslikes since you’re constantly scrambling for shells and switching abilities mid-fight. They work as your tool for blocking, too, either by reducing damage or parrying attacks. The shell abilities are also complemented by various active skills from a skill tree and Adaptations, which are power special attacks. As a nice touch, Another Crab’s Treasure makes all skills in the tree active abilities rather than superfluous passive abilities. The Adaptations further diversify your combat approach, giving you plenty of tools to play with in combat, even though it’s simplified with no stamina.
One nitpick I have with the game is the need for more base weapon options. Yes, you have various shell abilities, Adaptation attacks, and skills, but you’re always light and charge-attacking with a fork. This can become repetitive later, even with the Grappling Hook and various alternative attacks from the skill tree. The only way to change this up is by picking up the hammer skill, where you can gain a slower weapon. I get that shells are meant to replace this, but finding a new weapon in a Soulslike and learning its move set is what makes these types of games fun. Another Crab’s Treasure diversifies your options, but if it had just a little bit more complex base weapon variety, it would be perfect.
Still, that base weapon is well-implemented, with a rhythmic attack sequence and fluid animations that tie into other attacks. You can fluidly mix attacks, Adaptations, skills, and Umami shell abilities. Furthermore, dodging feels responsive even though some enemies have exaggerated attack ranges. I played the demo, and Aggro Crab has improved numerous faulty mechanics for 1.0.
As for difficulty, it’s definitely easier than a lot of other popular Soulslikes. There’s no stamina to manage, the bosses can stagger if you keep attacking while dodging their repeating attack patterns, and attacks are decently fast. There’s even an assist mode where you can tweak various helpful statistics if you’re struggling.
Overall, Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t have the most complex combat system. There are five stats to level up, and each player’s leveling journey will make the stats look the same or similar by the late game, even with different trinket combinations. That said, the game offers you a lot of tools to play with, and this is what makes the combat experimental and fun. You’re encouraged to constantly switch shells and try out new things rather than sticking to the same build.
Exploration and Platforming
Movement, platforming, and exploration are another part of what makes Another Crab’s Treasure fun. Mainly, you’re swimming, using the grappling hook, air-dashes, jump pads, or rolling in your shell down slopes to explore the world. This makes platforming quite fun and a genuinely interesting exploration aspect where it’s usually scoffed at or tedious in Soulslikes that aren’t designed for platforming. As Krill, you’ll be grappling to great heights, going fast with shell rolling, and gliding down upon enemies, giving this sense of a Breath of the Wild world. That said, Aggro Crab needs to work a little more on its models since platforming can feel slippery at times when you’re not colliding with some particles properly and accidentally falling off.
The level design is also commendable, using elevations and interconnecting paths to create a semi-open world filled with shortcuts. You’ll find various fishing hooks that act as shortcuts to previous areas you visited. This, in combination with the readily accessible fast travel system between checkpoints, makes the world easily traversable.
The main adventure is more or less a repeating loop of visiting a distant area, then returning to the main hub and progressing the story. That said, the different areas are visually and mechanically diverse enough to avoid repetitiveness. Enemy variety is decent, which is important, though there seem to be a lot of ranged enemies. Luckily, the grappling hook takes care of those.
Lastly, the world is saturated with stowaway trinkets and sellable loot to find, so exploring secret nooks and crannies is worthwhile. Despite being mostly passive bonuses, the stowaways alter your play style in impactful ways, so exploring and finding them feels meaningful.
Ambiance and Light Heartedness
As for elements like the story, ambiance, graphics, and music, they all contribute to Another Crab’s Treasure‘s peculiar style. The world-building, character dialogue, voice acting, and story are all meant to be light-hearted and comedic. This isn’t your typical grim, dark setting but a cute Sunday morning cartoon premise that you can genuinely chuckle at from time to time. While the graphics and textures aren’t of the best quality, they do have a certain charm to them. Perhaps it’s my Cartoon Network nostalgia acting up.
Apart from the first area’s music theme, the soundtrack is great. I loved each area’s theme and visual ambiance. You’ll find the terrain pieces and bosses most interesting, as they’re represented by detritus from the surface world. One of my favorite scenes was fighting against a samurai crab ceremonially unsheathing his pair of chopsticks as a katana blade.
Another Crab’s Treasure Review: The Bottom Line
Pros
- Plenty of tools to play with in the combat system, from shell abilities and Adaptations to skills and stowaways.
- A satisfying platforming system with grappling hooks, gliding, air dashes, rolling at high speeds, etc.
- Laudable level design with interconnecting pathways and shortcuts.
- A genuinely cute art style with engaging, light-hearted humor.
- Great soundtrack and ambiance for each level.
Cons
- Platforming sometimes feels slippery when you’re falling off platforms by accident.
- Could use more variety for the base weapon to avoid repetitive attack combos.
- Some enemy attack animations are too fast, and some are too frantic or vast to be able to block or dodge properly.
Another Crab’s Treasure seems like a project Aggro Crab would make, and that’s a compliment. The unique combat mechanics and humorous world-building are something right out of their book. The engaging exploration and platforming, combined with the experimentation-encouraging shell-switching combat style, provides a quirky Soulslike experience in a good way. While I would like some more base weapons to choose from and the slippery side of platforming could use a little work, it’s a satisfying innovation to the Soulslike genre. If you like a cute and light-hearted adventure with a unique approach to combat, then Another Crab’s Treasure is for you.
