Long time readers-who clearly exist and aren't the schizophrenic side effects of lowering the dose on my medication-will remember that I reviewed a game called Going Under from the team Aggro Crab. It was a solid title. And with it being their debut game, I was excited to see what they will do next.
That followup would end up being Another Crab's Treasure. A soulslike that aims to add more accessibility and color to the genre, which I appreciate. Considering all soulslikes tone range from fucked up to fucking fucked up, it's nice to have a soulslike with actual personality. Granted, it's still a fucked up game, but I will get to that later.
Another way Another Crab's Treasure deviates from the formula is that this game has a plot. You play as a hermit crab who gets his shell stolen, and he must trek across the ocean to get it back. It's like Finding Nemo if Marlin had to gut feral animals instead of running away from them.
With the premise set, you go off to do your series of soulslike gameplay which made me wonder. What makes soulslike gameplay? Because as I mention, it's less soulslike than say Lies of P. It doesn't have a stamina bar. It's overall a little more stripped down than traditional soulslike affairs. However, I think soulslike isn't really about the little things like stamina bars and whether the tone is grim. Rather, I think it is these three key things: You need to have story-intricate bosses. Level design that's oppressive, fair, and rewards exploration. And most importantly, a currency system that's streamlined and is woven into how you interact with the level design. Let's pull one a random one out of the hat and start there.
Level Design
Despite Dark Souls being so iconic a subgenre was named after it, it's a fairly derivative game. Ignoring already that the aesthetics, story, and even certain character designs are ripped from Berserk and Arthurian legends, the level design is not much difference from design sensibilities from games that are decades old.
A good comparison is Castlevania for the NES. Both games have the same sensibility. Levels are designed in a way that encourage careful play. Enemies hit hard. They're traps that brutally punishes careless players. Checkpoints are comparatively more sparse. Oh, and not to mention your player character isn't some overpowered anime protagonist but a regular person who likely had to stretch before starting his adventure.
Now that doesn't mean Castlevania for the NES is a soulslike, and that is because Dark Souls blends this level design with the exploration commonly seen in Metroidvania and classic Megaman. It's this that made Dark Souls a household name in my eyes. It's like chicken and waffles, a delicious mixture that seems like a no brainer in retrospect.
Demon's Souls really showcases how well this blend works. You have access to multiple levels that have wildly different attributes and items. This leads the player to cater their play style to the strengths and weaknesses of the levels. A magic user for example may start with the mines which has enemies mostly weak to magic, or they will head to another level for a particular weapon.
Now, Another Crab's Treasure isn't as open ended as Demon's Souls, but it carries the same kind of decision making. Some bosses can be tackled earlier which can net you access to levels and certain items. And as part of the push for more accessibility, this game's version of rings is a lot more lax. A lot of great abilities are available in the early game via purchasing them from the the shop. I found I was able to create my play style fairly early compared to other soulslikes which I appreciate.
Unfortunately, the level design is also where the game shows its indie game rough edges.
On top of the soulslike elements, the game takes cues from 3D platformers, so the levels feature more platforming, climbing, and crossing abysses. This is fine on the surface, but it leads to an annoying type of difficulty. It's funny I brought Castlevania earlier, because this game evokes that one by having lots of annoying enemies that like to push you into bottomless pits. Thankfully, you don't instantly die from falling, but the whole thing makes me wonder. Is the accessibility options really there for new players, or are they merely to bandaid some wonky level design? Cause I can tell you, I would have thrown this game in the trash if Another Crab's Treasure featured traps that can kill you in one hit.
The levels also reuse enemies and tends to sprinkled them about rather carelessly. It's not the worst thing ever, but I am also aware it's not the worst because the game is easier than Dark Souls. And if Dark Souls 2 taught me anything, it's that having enemies sprinkled all about can make for an annoying experience in a challenging game.
Currency
Probably the most influential mechanic Dark Souls introduced to gaming is the Soul Currency system. It's so prevalent now that I feel redundant merely explaining it, but I will do it anyway.
In a Soulsborne, you gain souls by killing enemies, finding them as items, or selling equipment at shops.
The soul currency is perhaps the most genius aspect of Dark Souls for two reasons. First, it streamlines currency by making it double as EXP. It makes souls extremely valuable encouraging players to actually fight enemies and explore. The second reason is because they're so valuable, it serves as a great punishment when you die since you lose your entire stock.
Now the thing with soul currency is that it is not always done right as it's also one of the most misunderstood mechanics even within the Soulsborne franchise.
See, the reason losing souls upon death works conceptually is that it makes you respect the difficulty and play carefully. And in Dark Souls and Demon's Souls, levels are designed to emphasize this feeling.
With the later games, there seems to be more of a push to make levels more difficult without thinking about how this would impact the soul currency system. Now, enemies and bosses have crazy movesets that require memorization and quick reflexes. It's not about playing carefully anymore but about running your head against the wall. This is almost an expectation that you will lose souls, so they feel less valuable.
Compare this to Demon's Souls and Dark Souls where even the bosses have slower attack patterns. They could still put up a fight, but the idea of retrieving and keeping souls felt within reach. Now, when I play a modern Souls game, I rarely pick my souls back up since I know I likely lose them again, and it's tedious to do it over and over again when grinding a particular section.
Anyway, Another Crab's Treasure has an option to turn losing soul currency off which ended up being the only accessibility option I used. And thank God, because Another Crab's Treasure is probably the worst possible game to have a soul currency mechanic.
Levels are too open and enemies are too dodge heavy and cheap. Archers who shoot better than Olympic athletes. One section has multiple enemies that can shoot a high damaging laser. The aforementioned bottomless pits are a lot.
The worst is losing them in boss fights. Sure, the game normally spawns you right at the boss gate but having the extra step of picking up your currency when it is right there completely defeats the purpose of the soul currency mechanic. You might as well not lose them in the first place.
It sounds like I hate this game. And granted, there is a lot of jank to cover. However, I really enjoyed my time with this game.
I think kind of like Elden Ring. Another Crab is a bad soulslike but a fine game as a whole. And like Elden Ring, it does a few things so incredibly well that it more than makes up for it.
Bosses Being the Story
Soulsborne is responsible for creating some of the best boss fights in gaming history. I know a good chunk of my favorites come from this genre.
They're great not just because they are fun fights, but they are the only form of explicit storytelling Soulsborne tend to provide. Let's face it, most of y'all aren't reading the item descriptions.
Because of this, bosses have more gravity to them. It is a step up from the days of Castlevania (NES) where they're a mere climax to a level. We get to learn about the world and your place in the story.
Now, Another Crab once again breaks from tradition by having-and you might want to sit down for this-a plot. You got characters, arcs and stakes. And obviously, these are very basic things that Soulsborne skirts around, so it's nice to see this in a Soulsborne plot. Actually to clarify, I don't think simply having a traditional narrative in a Soulsborne is welcomed. It's more that Aggro Crab are good at writing, so I'm happy to see it in this genre. If EA or Square Enix made a Soulsborne, I imagine the story will be intrusive and a slog. Actually, I don't need to imagine. It's called Jedi: Fallen Order.
Anyway, it's the story and bosses that Another Crab shows its strength in the Soulsborne genre.
Remember how I said this game is fucked up? Well yeah, it's pretty fucked up. This game can get pretty grim. Themes of exploitation from greedy corporate entities. The burn out from people pushed down by everyday struggles. It may not be dark in the fantastical dread like Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but it instead hits a dread that's much closer to home. You may not relate to a character fighting undead and decrepit shells of glorious warriors, but you could relate to a character disinterested in helping a society that doesn't treat him well.
The boss fights reflect this. Excluding the villains, the bosses are the consequences of pollution, and it all weaved within their combat design. My favorite boss, the Consortium, is the perfect example of this. You are fighting an octopus trapped in human made cage, and it's jerkier movements make both an interesting fight and a sad reflection of how animals are impacted by humanity.
If there is one thing from Going Under I'm happy to see return, it is the clever writing, and how the themes are interwoven into every gameplay element such as microplastics being currency and using trash as shells and weapons. This also applies to music which is solid, no notes.
Though that said, it be nice if the bosses didn't talk. The bosses lean dangerously close to a bad Sonic the Hedgehog boss where bosses will repeat lines, and it got annoying really fast.
And like later Soulsborne bosses, most fights are more about dodging attacks. Learning boss attacks is the most chorelike aspect to these games for me, so I dislike they are prevalent in this game. If there was any game that should replicated the boss design of Demon's Souls, I wish it would be this one.
Conclusion
I feel the team Aggro Crab is inching closer and closer to their masterpiece. Going Under felt like a solid first attempt, and Another Crab's Treasure felt like a solid second.
They haven't quite brushed off the indie game jank. However, what worked in Going Under works in Another Crab's Treasure all while under a bigger scope.
In the last review, I recall how Going Under fell into obscurity due to being a roguelike released in the same week as Hades. Hades is a masterpiece, but it took Supergiant several projects to get to that point.
I love that Another Crab's Treasure is a bigger success than Going Under. I hope it builds their confidence and resources. And hopefully in the not to distant future, I will be gushing about a game that underperformed because it released in the same week as Aggro Crab's crowning achievement.
