So, this isn’t going to be one of my usual sing-song reviews. Instead, I’m writing this to hopefully warn someone before they get reeled in by the same “I caught a fish this big!” story that I fell for when I decided to buy Another Crab’s Treasure for myself and my partner as the cherry on what has otherwise been a great gaming cake.
Another Crab’s Treasure pitches itself as something similar to two of my favourite games: Crypt Custodian and Death’s Door, and yes, just the mere thought of a game swimming in that same stream already had me hooked. It also promises to recreate the precise, challenging nature of FromSoftware’s Dark Souls but with a much more colourful and noob-friendly approach.
And while you might look at the attached screenshots and shake your head like a confused guppy at the Soulslike claim, I promise you it’s got all the genre’s essentials: punishing combat (although not in the way you’d want it to slap), a skill system, and penalties for death.
However, what Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t have is a strong enough hook to keep me swimming in its waters or recommending it to others.
But before I dive into everything I didn’t enjoy about the game, let’s cover what didn’t leave me floundering. First off, I really enjoyed the ocean theme. It was a nice break from the usual high-stakes, high-stress backdrops of many other Soulslike games – no fire-breathing dragons here, just fish trying to mind their own business. And if I’m being honest, the setting was as calming as a gentle wave lapping the shore.
I also loved that the game really cares about all the Arielle’s out there, offering a super customizable difficulty system. In theory, you can tweak the game to be exactly what you want it to be, although, spoiler alert, fun was somehow never a checkable option.
The game starts by introducing players to the protagonist, Kril, a Hermit Crab living above the surrounding ocean in a small tide pool.
Before long, Kril is removed from his precious shell. Due to new tax laws, he now seemingly owes money to a creature named the Duchess.
Kril’s shell is taken as collateral, sending the adorable young crustacean on a journey to the ocean’s depths to retrieve his shell and return to his lovely tide pool.
And while you might read that and think that you’re surely in for a great time with a premise like that, you’d be wrong. Also, the engaging voice acting filled with witty remarks? Yeah, that doesn’t stick around for long.
Now, the moment your little crab finds himself shell-less in the vast ocean, the game really kicks off. The concept? Simple as a sardine sandwich:
Kill enemies, collect microplastics, use microplastics to level up your crab, fight bosses, rinse and repeat. It’s a cycle that feels as endless as the ocean itself—kill, collect, upgrade, repeat. You get the drift.
At the start, you’re armed with a rusty old fork and you can stagger enemies once you fill up a meter, plus dodge incoming attacks. Sounds good, right? Well, here’s the catch: combat in Another Crab’s Treasure always feels slow, inefficient, and just a tad inaccurate—to put it nicely.
And in a game where you risk losing everything when you get sent back to the depths after dying, the last thing you want is sluggish, clunky combat. Unfortunately, that’s where the real ugliness starts to surface, like a bad fish smell.
And speaking of bad fish smells, let’s talk about the game’s shell mechanic. As Kril is a hermit crab, he’s practically naked without a shell to call home.
Throughout the game, you’ll stumble upon an array of exciting new shells to equip, each with its own defence stat to keep things fresh. These shells allow you to absorb damage by guarding, though they’ll eventually break after taking too many hits.
Now, this idea sounds great on paper—shell swapping should be fun, right? But, much like the rest of the game, the execution just doesn’t stick the landing.
Another Crab’s Treasure desperately wants to be crowned as a Soulslike, but instead of the challenge coming from strategic, nail-biting fights, the real battle is trying to figure out how to kill an enemy through a rock, a wall, or whatever other obstacle they’ve glitched into.
It’s like fishing in the dark: you’re not sure what you’re going to get, but it’s probably not what you’re hoping for.
Still, despite the voice acting dropping off faster than my attention span during a Teams meeting, and despite the general clunkiness of the combat, the real dealbreaker for me, the thing that finally made me uninstall Another Crab’s Treasure and swim on, was that it never managed to evolve into something fun.
There are moments when the game throws in some platforming challenges, but the controls are about as responsive as a fish trying to ride a bicycle.
The hit detection is off, which makes these moments frustrating at best. And this doesn’t just affect platforming, oh no, it bleeds into the combat as well.
Kril ends up taking cheap shots from enemies or flubbing attacks because of this, leaving you wondering if you’re battling enemies or the game’s janky mechanics.
Sure, you could argue that awkward controls, glitches, and quality issues are forgivable in certain games. But with so many Soulslike fish in the sea, why would you waste your time on this one?
