Another Crab's Treasure

ReleaseApril 25, 2024Genre(s)Action-adventureMode(s)Single-player

Another Crab's Treasure is a Soulslike action-adventure video game developed and published by Aggro Crab. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on April 25, 2024.^[1]

Gameplay

Another Crab's Treasure is a Soulslike action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective. The player controls Kril, a crab stripped of his protective shell. Shells function as Kril's armor, granting defensive capabilities, statistics, and even unique abilities. By scouring the seabed, Kril can transform discarded trash into functional tools for survival. A rusty can becomes a defensive powerhouse, while a chipped bottle transforms into a ranged weapon. Combat is deliberate and slow-paced, demanding players to dodge enemy attacks, identify openings, and leverage their shell's abilities to survive.^[2] Microplastics, remnants of a polluted world, become Kril's currency for upgrades and resources. Unlike most Soulslike games, Another Crab's Treasure allows players to change the difficulty at any time.^[3] Additionally, Kril uses the same weapon, a discarded fork, for the duration of the game, although he is able to upgrade it.

The underwater world is a web of interconnected environments. As Kril navigates these treacherous landscapes, he encounters environmental puzzles and gradually unveils the story of the polluted ocean and its history. Similar to the Soulsborne series that inspired it, Another Crab's Treasure offers a challenging experience.^[4] Enemies inflict significant damage, death comes with a penalty, and victory hinges on learning enemy patterns and strategizing one's approach. The world itself is designed for exploration, with shortcuts and hidden areas waiting to be discovered. Newfound abilities grant access to previously unreachable locations, encouraging players to revisit areas and delve deeper. Environmental storytelling is emphasized by Aggro Crab, integrating the narrative into the world design, item descriptions, and cryptic messages from fellow inhabitants.^[5][6]

Plot

Kril is a misanthropic hermit crab living alone in a tide pool, whose shell is confiscated by a "loan shark" as collateral for the taxes the shark tells him he owes the Duchess Magista. He meets the duchess, who agrees to trade his shell back for a treasure. However, upon Kril's return with a pearl, he discovers that the duchess and her guards have succumbed to Gunk, an affliction that makes them mindlessly hostile.

Kril follows the loan shark, who appears to have sold the shell to a pawnshop owner in New Carcinia, a massive city built out of trash in a nearby reef. While he is there, a garbage patch passes over and rains garbage, including a cereal box whose incomplete printed maze is interpreted by the citizens as part of a treasure map. The pawnshop owner offers Kril his shell in exchange for the treasure. Kril, agreeing to the deal, joins the other treasure hunters, including the entrepreneur Firth, tavern owner Nemma, museum curator Konche, and Shellfish Corp CEO Roland.

On his quest to recover the missing pieces of the map, Kril meets Chitan, the duchess' former guard, who tells him the Gunk, caused by ocean pollution, has been progressively spreading. After he has completed the map, the treasure is revealed to be located in a lake of polluted sludge near a drop-off. Roland, as the only one with the resources to dredge the lake, confiscates the map and resolves to take the treasure unopposed. However, Kril, Firth, Nemma, Konche, Chitan, and a handful of townsfolk are able to follow and board Roland's barge. During the confrontation, Kril accidentally capsizes the barge, causing them to fall into the ocean's abyssal depths.

Firth realizes that the treasure, a chest of paper bills, is worthless and storms off alone in disgust. Meanwhile, Konche identifies nearby architectural ruins as Carcinia, an ancient city with valuable artifacts, and enlists Kril to find the Perfect Whorl, a shell capable of conferring godlike powers. Upon finding the Whorl, they are ambushed by a Gunk-afflicted Chitan, who kills Konche. Chitan is revealed to be under the control of Praya Dubia, an enormous siphonophore comprising the souls of all ocean life that had succumbed to pollution. Praya Dubia's attempts to convince Kril to use the Whorl to destroy the world are unsuccessful, and it puppets Chitan to fight him.

After Praya Dubia is defeated, Kril resolves to use the Perfect Whorl to heal Chitan; however, he is interrupted by Firth, who takes it for himself and flees to the surface. Kril follows and confronts Firth, resulting in the Whorl being shattered and New Carcinia buried in trash. Back in the city, Kril finds the pawnshop owner and kills him when he refuses to return his shell.

An epilogue reveals that New Carcinia began cleaning up its trash, Chitan survived and began training again, and that Kril, ultimately dissatisfied with his old life in the tide pool, decided to remain under the sea as a traveling adventurer. A final shot reveals that he left his shell to a homeless hermit crab.

Development

Another Crab's Treasure was announced during a Nintendo Indie World presentation in 2022. Aggro Crab showcased the game's Soulslike concept.^[7] Following the announcement, details about the game emerged throughout 2023. Information regarding the core mechanics like the "Shell System" – where discarded trash becomes Kril's customizable armor – and the emphasis on exploration and environmental storytelling were revealed. Additionally, the developers confirmed the game's release platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One and Series X/S. The confirmation of Xbox availability, including its inclusion on Xbox Game Pass on launch day, came in June 2023. Aggro Crab announced that the game would be released on April 25, 2024.^[1]

Reception

Another Crab's Treasure received "generally favorable" reviews from critics according to Metacritic.^[8]

References

External links

• Official website