Man, this is a shame. Not because the game isn't good, but because it could have been even better than it turned out to be. Let me start with what I liked.
The art direction in the game is pretty fantastic, everything fits the setting, the trash from above littering the ocean combining with the organic environment is pretty masterfully done. The level design is pretty great as well, the levels feel well connected and with plenty to explore off the beaten path. The shell system and how it can also enhance your weapons was pretty cool, and definitely mixed up gameplay so things didn't get too same-y for the most part. The soundtrack isn't something i'd put in my playlist, but its definitely fitting for the game and it never put me off. The combat, while far from perfect(i'll get to that) is mostly good and I did enjoy the gameplay, bosses and enemies for the most part. Now to what I didn't enjoy
First of all, the map. Man, what the hell is this map? Its literally just a stagnant paper map that barely gives any information. You get some minor metroidvania like powers for backtracking and exploring, but the map really puts you off from doing so with how little it helps in the exploration. Next, the camera. Especially the lock on camera, which for some strange reason they decided to put giant black bars on the top and bottom when you locked on that really limit visibility. On top of that, its very easy for the camera to get slammed into the wall along with you when your pushed up against one, making combat during that kind of situation very annoying. Granted, dark souls has a similar camera but this game has more moments were your pushed against a wall in my experience. Next, the combat does have some occasional jankiness. On more than one occasion, after hooking an enemy or hitting a major attack after an enemys poise is broken, i would be sent into the air and either fall through the ground, or end up in a spot of the map i wasn't suppose to be. This also occasionally happened when an enemy attacked me up against a small object on the ground. Very frustrating and definitely ruined certain sections for me. I also found that the game overstayed its welcome for the final 25%. More than once, I found myself thinking "yeah this is the final boss" only for it to just not be and the game kept going, far after I completed the skill tree and had my build set, and it felt the game was crescendoing. It didn't help I found the story to be kind of not interesting? Its not that I didn't agree with a lot of the themes, but I've seen this kind of commentary done a million times especially in indie games at this point, and this game certainly doesn't do it better than the actual good ones. So for me the ending certainly dragged and I was ready to be done far before the end credits.
Another crabs treasure is far from a terrible game, but its also far from an exceptional one. Its certainly one of the better souls-likes not made by fromsoft, but its still riddled with issues that I find it hard to recommend outside of a decent discount.
The art direction in the game is pretty fantastic, everything fits the setting, the trash from above littering the ocean combining with the organic environment is pretty masterfully done. The level design is pretty great as well, the levels feel well connected and with plenty to explore off the beaten path. The shell system and how it can also enhance your weapons was pretty cool, and definitely mixed up gameplay so things didn't get too same-y for the most part. The soundtrack isn't something i'd put in my playlist, but its definitely fitting for the game and it never put me off. The combat, while far from perfect(i'll get to that) is mostly good and I did enjoy the gameplay, bosses and enemies for the most part. Now to what I didn't enjoy
First of all, the map. Man, what the hell is this map? Its literally just a stagnant paper map that barely gives any information. You get some minor metroidvania like powers for backtracking and exploring, but the map really puts you off from doing so with how little it helps in the exploration. Next, the camera. Especially the lock on camera, which for some strange reason they decided to put giant black bars on the top and bottom when you locked on that really limit visibility. On top of that, its very easy for the camera to get slammed into the wall along with you when your pushed up against one, making combat during that kind of situation very annoying. Granted, dark souls has a similar camera but this game has more moments were your pushed against a wall in my experience. Next, the combat does have some occasional jankiness. On more than one occasion, after hooking an enemy or hitting a major attack after an enemys poise is broken, i would be sent into the air and either fall through the ground, or end up in a spot of the map i wasn't suppose to be. This also occasionally happened when an enemy attacked me up against a small object on the ground. Very frustrating and definitely ruined certain sections for me. I also found that the game overstayed its welcome for the final 25%. More than once, I found myself thinking "yeah this is the final boss" only for it to just not be and the game kept going, far after I completed the skill tree and had my build set, and it felt the game was crescendoing. It didn't help I found the story to be kind of not interesting? Its not that I didn't agree with a lot of the themes, but I've seen this kind of commentary done a million times especially in indie games at this point, and this game certainly doesn't do it better than the actual good ones. So for me the ending certainly dragged and I was ready to be done far before the end credits.
Another crabs treasure is far from a terrible game, but its also far from an exceptional one. Its certainly one of the better souls-likes not made by fromsoft, but its still riddled with issues that I find it hard to recommend outside of a decent discount.