At first glance, it would be easy to mistake Another Crab’s Treasure as something akin to lighthearted early 2000s action platformers (such as Battle for Bikini Bottom), but Aggro Crab is delivering a rather serious Soulslike game in terms of game mechanics. Befitting of the genre, Another Crab’s Treasure taps into the satisfaction of conquering challenging bosses after numerous failed attempts by mastering the move set and getting a feel for the rhythmic pace of combat.
Despite occupying the same genre, Soulslike games can differ tremendously with just a few minor mechanical tweaks, as evidenced by FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Sekiro. Due to Sekiro‘s more aggressive pace and reliance on parrying and even jumping, a seasoned Dark Souls trilogy veteran may have serious trouble initially, as the game calls for an entirely different approach to combat where spamming dodge roll doesn’t quite cut it. According to Aggro Crab creative director and narrative lead Caelan Pollock, Another Crab’s Treasure tends to lean more toward Sekiro‘s brand of fast-paced, reactive, aggressive combat.
7 Soulslike Games More Like Sekiro Than Dark Souls
Although the Dark Souls franchise is a common source of inspiration, Sekiro has also inspired many Soulslikes as well.
Another Crab’s Treasure Emphasizes Aggressive Playstyles
The first hurdle for Aggro Crab was coming up with a Soulslike combat system for a game featuring a hermit crab as a protagonist rather than a typical humanoid character. Understanding that hermit crabs are all about using shells they find for protection, much of the game is centered around the ability to block and parry with the all-important shell. Departing from the more dodge-oriented Dark Souls combat style in favor of a system that frequently rewards blocking and parrying helps the game lean more toward Sekiro’s approach.
It all starts with combat, and how do you get that
Souls
combat across in a game that doesn’t look anything like
Souls,
right? So we started with: Okay, you’re a hermit crab. What does the hermit crab want to do? He wants to hide in his shell. A lot of our gameplay is focused around that ability to block with your shell, parry, counter-attack, that sort of thing.
Another Crab’s Treasure also seems to draw some inspiration from Sekiro in more subtle ways. For example, a blue “aggro symbol” appears when enemies are about to unleash an unblockable attack, which indicates that the player should try to dodge rather than risk their guard being broken. This is reminiscent of Sekiro‘s “perilous attack” kanji, and games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have also started to borrow this. Such a warning keeps the game feeling fair, as it’d otherwise be rather tedious to be punished for guessing incorrectly.
Sekiro’s Lack of Stamina System Completely Changes Soulslike Gameplay
Possibly the biggest design choice that takes Another Crab’s Treasure into Sekiro territory is its deliberate lack of a stamina system. Managing limited stamina has long been a staple of Souls games and their genre contemporaries like The Surge, regulating the flow of combat and ensuring that players economize their attacks and dodges. This departure from a stamina system doesn’t necessarily make the gameplay trivial, but rather it opens things up to a faster-paced playstyle. After all, if players can attack with no limits, then they’re also given proportionally more opportunities to make costly mistakes.
In that sense, it gets us closer to a
Sekiro
style of gameplay, as opposed to straight-up
Dark Souls,
where you’re encouraged to stay up close in the fight. Our game doesn’t have stamina, as well. You really do just want to get in there, take some hits with your shell, dodge when you can, but keep whaling on your opponent.
Of course, Another Crab’s Treasure is very much its own game. There might be some inspiration from Sekiro in terms of the underlying combat system, but deciding between equipping a soda can or a bottle cap before jumping into a furious duel with a much larger crab is undoubtedly a first for the Soulslike genre.
Another Crab’s Treasure
Aggro Crab’s Another Crab’s Treasure provides a maritime twist on the Souls-like formula. Using the trash around him as armor and weapons, Kril must travel across an underwater kingdom while fighting off all sorts of impressive threats.
- Released
- April 25, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Aggro Crab
- Publisher(s)
- Aggro Crab
- Genre(s)
- Adventure , Soulslike , RPG
- Engine
- Unity
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence