Summary
- Another Crab's Treasure excels in fair and rewarding combat encounters with well-telegraphed enemy attacks and generous counterattack windows.
- Despite most combat feeling fair, one-hit kills in boss fights can make players feel defeated and frustrated, disrupting the usual learning loop.
- However, these one-hit kills serve as a valuable lesson for newcomers to the genre and are visually impressive, adding a unique element to the game.
A genre pioneered by FromSoftware's Dark Souls, a high level of challenge quickly became part and parcel of the Soulslike genre. But the key thing that separates a good Soulslike from a bad one is how it implements and balances this high level of challenge. A good Soulslike needs to make its difficulty feel rewarding and fair, and for the most part, Another Crab's Treasure understands this careful dynamic.
The vast majority of combat encounters in Another Crab's Treasure will feel very fair. Enemy attacks are usually well-telegraphed in advance, windows for counterattacks are usually quite gracious, and the parry's timing is quite forgiving. All of this combines to make Another Crab's Treasure's challenging combat feel fair and rewarding. However, there's one feature that flies in the face of this meticulous balance.
Another Crab's Treasure: Why You Should Instantly Die
There are some good reasons to choose the "Instantly Die" option in Another Crab's Treasure – and ways to make it less punishing.
One-Hit Kills Might Not Belong in Another Crab's Treasure
One-Hit Kills Always Feel Cheap in a Soulslike
In the vast majority of combat encounters in Another Crab's Treasure, players will be strafing around their opponent, blocking oncoming attacks, parrying where they can, and dishing out their own combos when possible. As discussed up top, these encounters are almost always challenging but fair, but the same can't be said for Another Crab's Treasure's boss fights. While all of Crab's Treasure's boss fights follow this same general Soulslike combat rhythm, most also have access to a move that depletes a significant portion of the player's health bar, and towards the start of the game, it can kill the player in just one hit.
This one-hit kill move ends up making Another Crab's Treasure's boss fights feel a little cheap at times. While even regular enemy attacks in Soulslike games always deal a decent amount of damage, there's always enough health left over for players to take a step back, assess where they went wrong, and correct that behavior. This loop of getting damaged and then learning from mistakes is what often makes a Soulslike feel so rewarding to play. One-hit kills, however, don't allow for this learning loop to take place, instead punishing the player dramatically for failing to avoid just one attack, which can feel pretty defeating.
This sense of defeat is made much worse when the one-hit kill comes during a boss fight. Inherently some of the most difficult enemies in the game, Another Crab's Treasure's bosses can put up a tough fight that can last quite a while. This grind is necessary to fuel the satisfaction that comes from eventually defeating the boss, but it can quickly lead to frustration when a good run is abruptly ended by a one-hit kill, especially when the player has been performing perfectly up until that point.
One-Hit Kills Do Have Their Upsides in Another Crab's Treasure
But Another Crab's Treasure's one-hit kills aren't without a silver lining. So much of Another Crab's Treasure has been designed to give newcomers to the genre an accessible entry point, and in all fairness, these one-hit kills offer a valuable Soulslike lesson. One-hit kills aren't too rare in Soulslike games, and at least the ones in Another Crab's Treasure are heavily telegraphed before they occur, which is much easier on newcomers than some other Soulslikes.
It also helps that these one-hit kills in Another Crab's Treasure are at least given a fun, often surprisingly brutal animation, one that ties in nicely with their unique visual design. One of the best examples of this is Another Crab's Treasure's first optional boss, the Royal Shellsplitter, whose one-hit kill move sees the boss grab the player character, place them on his makeshift guillotine, and drop the blade onto their head. It's still a frustrating way to die, but at least it looks cool.
Another Crab's Treasure
- Released
- April 25, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.
TRASH OR TREASURE?
In this undersea society, trash is not only a way of life, but a valuable resource, used for everything from fashion to firearms. But with the presence of trash comes a mysterious infection known as the Gunk, which could spell doom for the entire ocean.
LEARN FROM NATURE
As Kril explores the ocean, he'll gain a variety of Umami Techniques—powerful attacks learned from the denizens of the seas. Punch your enemies with the overwhelming might of a Mantis Shrimp, ensnare them with the horrifying Bobbit Worm, and much more.
UNEXPLORED DEPTHS
The ocean goes deeper than one can imagine. Fight your way through kelp forests, coral reefs, sand castle cities, and even the unfathomable darkness of the deep-sea trenches, all in the name of getting back your prized shell.
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Aggro Crab
- Publisher(s)
- Aggro Crab
- Engine
- Unity
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
