It’s been 15 years since the birth of the Souls genre, with the arrival of Demon Souls, bringing about other From-Soft games including Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. But there have also been many other titles in the genre which bring about some neat features, and aesthetics such as Lords of the Fallen, Lo Wong, and many more. But most of these games do take themselves way too seriously, and I do fancy playing a Souls-Borne that’s a tat bit silly.
Oh, what’s this? May I present to you Another Crab’s Treasure!
What is Another Crabs Treasure 
With the trend of Souls-Borne games being rather moody, gritty and downright morbid, it’s refreshing to see a more colourful, silly, and ultra-charming take on the genre. And Another Crab’s Treasure manages to pull this off incredibly well.
Set within the Great Deep Blue, we see Kril, a young hermit crab whose home has been stolen from his very back by a novelty Shark toy. It seems like Krill’s shell was taken in the name of the new Dutchess as part of a massive protection tax that has been introduced.
What starts as a fairly straightforward venture soon turns into an epic adventure of discovery, and solving a major problem in the ocean, Pollution! But to reclaim your home, Krill must wear trash to so do. Exploring the deep blue, making new friends, donning on empty cans, tennis balls, and coffee cups while battling polluted crustaceans, and other corrupted sea life is pretty much the core of Another Crab’s Treasure. Along the way you’ll be picking up micro-plastics (a great touch if I do say so myself) which will be used to level up Krill’s strength, Vitality, and Shell defences, along with purchasing other bits and pieces to ward away death. And of course, dying will result in your stash being dropped, and dying again before collecting it means it’ll be lost forever.
All the familiar beats are here, yet Another Crab's Treasure is an immensely charming Souls-Like that gives a different perspective for the setting and tone.
Under the Sea! 
The developer, Aggro Crab, made another game titled Going Under (which we reviewed back in 2020) which was a colourful and cleaver Rogue-Like that focused its narrative on an up-and-coming Start-up company. It made plenty of jokes about Influencer culture, Online Personalities, Startups, and Life Coaches such as Tai Lopez. It's a hilarious, witty, and thoroughly on-the-point game which took much of what was relevant (and still is now), and made fun of it in meaningful ways.
Another Crab’s Treasure is something you can pick up and play with, admiring the cute aesthetics, quirky humour, and crab puns very easily. But there is a great sense of depth and an important message at the heart, taking us across the bottom of the sea, and seeing the ruined natural beauties caused by Ocean pollution. In a way observing a bizarre Stockholm syndrome effect as trash is littered everywhere and the denizens of the deep have become accustomed to it, even more so, like the trash over natural beauty. I sense a jab at capitalism, where we have material goods over other living things and the honesty of natural beauty and life. Receiving vibes that I felt when watching Little Shop of Horror just by playing this. But as said, on the surface, it’s a fun little game which reflects the harsh truths of the world, mimicking the film Furngully, but not so cheesy and written with talent. But underneath that is something surprisingly more complex and deeper.
There are some neat elements of world buildings, seen throughout the world. Where micro-plastics form paths, glass bottles and other larger items of trash create blockades and walls, while cigarette butts look like makeshift torches. There’s a terrific amount of environmental storytelling be it a little repetitive at times, but this is an important aspect to nail for a video game, especially nowadays a Souls-Like.
But there are other intriguing tad-bits of lore such as the citizens of the largest city you visit, adoring the arrival of trash day, where trash falls from “The Heavens” which they can use for goods, services, and building the material aspects of their lives. Then we have the numerous other settlements and places taken over by corruption, affecting the crab inhabitants of those places, including their elders, and mightiest warriors, who provide for compelling boss battles.
The entirety of Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t match that of many other Souls-Likes, which leap massive gaps and vague notions for the plot, world and all that lore. I’m delighted this is the case. Another Crab’s Treasure sticks to a traditional format for a story in a Souls-Like, which pays off for the best, even if the story is simple. Plus, it’s not horridly morbid and dire like Demon Souls, or Bloodborne … which is a nice change. Although there are indeed some dark moments in the story which stuck with me.
Krill’s exploits land him in hot water, eventually towards a grand treasure hunt where other creatures of the deep are taking part. There are exciting events which keep the pacing nicely flowing and memorable characters who help to inject humour, drama, and intensity. And the monster lore while never as vast as something like Elden Ring, does have its spooky moments, such as a Giant, diseased Crab that has forks for claws, and eats anyone alive who dares strays off a very tortuous path. And a hideous collective of sea creatures in a box, which felt like that giant corpse boss in Castlevania: SOTN. Very nice work Aggro Crab (that thing will haunt my nightmares surely).
But what we get is pretty great, and all the bosses have those epic-sounding fantasy names like something from a George R.R. Martin novel. And the story, while traditional, there are compelling twists and turns, plenty of lovable characters, and a world that is quite fantastical, yet touches on some real-world issues.
Look like Crab, Play like Souls-Like!
Another Crab's Treasure does not reinvent anything major of the old, trusted formula, but manages to pull off a compelling and exciting Souls-Like with plenty of charm. Even the idea of donning a Shell has been seen with the likes of Skul: The Hero Slayer and switching between different skulls to provide new powers and weapons. But the honest design principle of “wear any old trash” for extra protection and being granted a wide variety of abilities and perks does keep the experience thoroughly engaging until the end. Mainly due to the vast number of different shells, and the layers of functionality to them, including insurances, powerups and abilities which allow for greater traversal. Such as using a Tennis Ball’s (my favourite shell) charged attack to go down slides or over bumps to launch yourself over great distances.
But of course, Shells are designed to take on extra damage, by ducking inside your shell, you can withstand several different attacks, and avoid losing chunks of your HP. But all shells break, and when that happens, you’ll be out in the open. The Shell is your shield and a means to block and soak up damage you might not be fast enough to avoid. You can look after your Shell, counter-attacks, and even equip abilities to make the most of it. Such as fixing your Shell when defeating an enemy or having it auto-repair once between resting at save points. While it might not seem vast at the outset, there are quite a few layers to care for and pick your ideal shell for the right situation.
But it is quite humorous when your Shell breaks, and you’re scavenging for anything nearby that might offer a bit of protection. From finding a banana skin, an old jam jar, and even a shuttle cock, you will panic and make do with what you can get. It’s hilarious, but a nice way to add tension during a fight.
I found the Shell mechanic to be quite a meaningful inclusion, and it’s something you can invest in, especially with other features that can strengthen it, and add various perks and abilities, making you more confident even on the hardest boss battles.
And especially as you will die very easily without a Shell, and there’s little to help you out during the first few hours of the game.
As for everything else, it's a solid action-adventure, Souls-Like attire with plenty of exploration, fighting numerous enemies that each pose their unique challenges and rewards, collecting goodies and all that fun jazz.
The many parts of the world do vary in design, allowing for massive open spaces to explore and fight in, while others are quite cramped and offer different terrains and obstacles to overcome. The environment variety is incredibly brilliant, capturing much of what we’ve seen on TV or online, and utilising those personality traits into meaningful traversal and gameplay mechanics. Places such as The Old Ocean, which is where life thrived before the pollution got too much, an area made completely out of trash, and the freakiest place which engulfs you in darkness; The Unfanthom. Where you must explore in near pitch-black visuals with little sources, and face against some of the game’s weirder enemies. The deepest parts where no living being wants to explore …
The level design is terrific, and there is an abundance of characters to speak to, secrets to find, optional bosses to fight, and beautiful discoveries that will shock and leave you in wonder. And the focus on platforming and puzzle solving is a fantastic change of pace compared to many other Souls-Like titles.
Attack the crab's weak point .... FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE
As for combat, generally, it’s fine, rather serviceable and fun at times. But does suffer from being a little too simplistic and underbaked.
Now that’s not to say I’m a huge fan of typical Souls-Like RPG elements for combat. While I love a game like Wo Land and Bloodborne, despite having numerous weapons that feel pointless, have to manage them all and fight through endless stats and buffs which I tend to ignore. So, I’m thankful Another Crab’s Treasure for Combat does have focus … but it does so way too much. Limiting weapons massively, and the range in techniques, tactics, and manoeuvres again feels quite handicapped. Games like old Zelda titles, Onimusha, and Castlevania, provide you with a stable, solid selection of weapons in which you can invest your time in, and produce fun and impactful outcomes for all of them. Even DOOM does a great job at weapon variety and usefulness.
Another Crab’s Treasure feels very much like Hollow Knight, which I adore, but the combat again is limited as you have one weapon only. While true you have abilities from different shells, retaliation attacks, and evasive manoeuvres. But there truly isn’t enough for the length of the campaign and the number of enemies you fight against. But I do love the fact when you perfectly parry a crab enemy and flip it over, you can attack its weak spot for massive damage …
Oh, man. I had flashbacks to 2005 … Thanks Aggro Crab.
But thankfully the 69 (nice) shells and their powers do spice things up quite nicely, and the creative boss designs and enemy roaster again compensate for the humdrum, yet fair combat core. Plus there are light RPG elements which I do prefer over many other games, where you can equip various trinkets to add more strength, Vitality, and so forth.
While the many staples of the Souls-Like genre are present, I do feel that Another Crab’s Treasure is on the lighter side of the difficulty scales. It’s no Bloodborne, and this could be something you may love or hate. I found the game challenging enough, but did see its forgiving side shine through quite often, with the time-friendly counter/parry windows, and generous helpings of micro-plastics given for some of the larger, but not so tough enemies. That is until you get stun-locked by a hoard of smaller enemies, whose cool-down on attacks is milliseconds.
There are also some other small annoyances I found during my time playing, from a couple of irritating glitches, wonky camera work, and particular bridges and paths in the world which were way too easy to fall off from. Thankfully, when you do fall off, you can recover. But there are some rough edges which a Souls-Like, and any game, shouldn’t have. As the penalty is quite high to be far, it can easily be the game’s fault and not yours.
There are hints that the developers decided to play it quite safe for combat complexity, and this is felt more so in the later stages of the game. Where the one weapons and limited perks and powers do catch up. But the amount of charm from the world and characters, the incredible action that comes from the Shells, and the great enemy/boss variety push past any complaints or lack of depth for the core combat. And Another Crab’s Treasure is immensely approachable, and an ideal place to start for those looking to get into the genre, but don’t want to start with the heavyweights.
Overall?The Souls-Like genre is a drab, dank, and depressing place to play in. It’s a genre about loss, hardships, and overcoming such immense difficulties, that being victorious there is still more to come. And often enough, we gamers do love a good punishment and just want more of it repeatedly.
So it’s amazing to see a game which not only makes a nice, light-hearted jab at all of that but nails the gameplay without compromise. While the core combat lacks depth, and a few rough edges to notice, the remainder is sheer brilliance. Another Crab’s Treasure is simply a wonderous video game, that’s bright, lovable, immensely charming, and so much fun, that you’ll wonder why nothing like this has been done sooner. It’s a remarkable and lighthearted Souls-Like with a great setting, brilliant writing, clever thematic beats, and fantastic gameplay features that compensate for the core combat.
Overall, Another Crab’s Treasure is a deep-sea adventure with plenty of heart, souls, and funky crustacean fun, that you can’t miss out on.
++ Fantastic world-building, amazing aesthetics and immense charm!
++ Solid Souls-Like gameplay from rewarding exploration, epic bosses, and lots of cool surprises
+ Looks and sounds fantastic.
+ The Shell mechanic is awesome.
- The core combat never evolves in meaningful ways.
- Various small bugs and annoying camera angles.
A PC copy of Another Crab's Treasure was kindly provided by the publisher for this review.
