I bumped into an unlucky softlock throughout my evaluate of One other Crab’s Treasure, an lovely however nonetheless intimidating Soulslike, that has to date barred me from finishing the sport. Close to the top of the sport, you’re prompted to activate an elevator by an NPC that takes gamers to the ultimate main space and the previous couple of bosses, however I left the world and by accident despawned the NPC and the interplay. Regardless of this, I nonetheless actually loved One other Crab’s Treasure and needed to maintain taking part in it, so I booted up one other file and tried my best to speedrun the sport and get again to the place I left off.
At first, I used to be taking part in it straight and doing simply tremendous. Having turn into fairly proficient on the recreation’s mechanics through the evaluate interval, I cleaned up a number of the early bosses with minimal points (fuck you, Royal Shellsplitter), and even used a number of the similar methods I did the primary time round, however it wasn’t going fairly as quick as I hoped. That’s when it hit me, “Gun.”
One other Crab’s Treasure is a fully hilarious recreation, however certainly one of its very best jokes isn’t even a written, or spoken, line. Earlier than it was launched, the builders joked that they added a handgun as an accessibility characteristic of the sport. Since Soulslikes are sometimes troublesome video games (typically infuriatingly so) Aggro Crab developed a number of good and cautious accessibility options, corresponding to the flexibility to maintain your XP and forex after demise, or the addition of one other parry window. Some options scale back the quantity of harm you are taking, or nullify it fully if you fall off the sting of the map. However the easiest accessibility possibility within the recreation merely provides Kril a gun that dwarfs him a number of instances over. Eat your coronary heart out, Remnant 2, there’s a brand new Soulslike shooter in the marketplace.
The sight of the gun is really insane and in addition laugh-out-loud hilarious, but in follow, it’s one way or the other even wilder. The gun, which sits on Kril’s again like a shell, has essentially the most well being of any shell within the recreation. It mitigates injury so totally that you just’re principally invulnerable in it and by no means must depend on one other shell. If you maintain the guard button and conceal within it, you’re successfully simply a strolling gun. And its shell spell, which is solely referred to as “Shoot,” does simply that, besides it doesn’t waste any of your Umami fees (MP) and is a one-shot kill. The gun renders any and each approach, talent, and Adaptation ineffective, and so I did what some other affordable hermit crab on a deadline does, and shot my approach by means of the goddamn sea. It was a delight.
One other Crab’s Treasure is 2024’s most shocking shooter
Any rigidity this second run of One other Crab’s Treasure may’ve had evaporated into skinny air. I’ve by no means cleared rooms stuffed with enemies faster. Actually, it was even cathartic to revisit locations the place I’d endured hardships throughout my evaluate and wipe the ground with the enemies there. The lock-on characteristic in One other Crab’s Treasure is so deeply beneficiant which you could perch at vantage factors and simply flip a room right into a sniping gallery. I used to be taking out crabs I may barely see on the opposite aspect of a number of arenas. I shot one boss earlier than they may even get their opening line of dialogue out, and put one other one down earlier than their animation performed out. As a check, I sniped a boss earlier than I even entered the world. I don’t assume I’m taking part in the sport or utilizing the characteristic as Aggro Crab supposed, however by god it’s enjoyable to twist it into one thing it’s not meant to be.
Plus, the gun seems to be and feels so rattling good to make use of. One other Crab’s Treasure was already a visible and audio deal with, however the work that’s gone into making the gun greater than only a low cost trick is admirable. The pop of the pistol isn’t fairly as sensible because the SFX you’d hear in a normal FPS, which makes it much more welcoming and cartoonish somewhat than menacing. So far as I do know, nobody at Aggro Crab went to a variety, aired out a clip, and grabbed a recording of it to implement into the sport. If you hearth at an enemy, there’s a short second the place the spherical catches and type of freezes them in place. Then increase, their lifebar depletes and so they fall again. Briefly, the gun’s highly effective, and plenty of work went into making it look and sound that approach.
Regardless of the admittedly gratifying energy journey, I wouldn’t advocate this strategy on a primary run of One other Crab’s Treasure. Like every Soulslike, there’s tons of pleasure available in slamming your head into the wall earlier than finally breaking by means of. However I am saying that if you wish to give it a second move, and even simply crack up at one thing that’s absurd in each doable approach, give Kril a gun. For me, it’s been a good way to revisit the sport and catch again as much as the place I left off, which I’ve now completed! The gun is now toggled off, I’m able to effectively and actually end the sport, and I’m happy I used to be capable of get pleasure from this title I like in a completely new approach.
Alternatively, given how extensive One other Crab’s Treasure’s attain is, and the way doubtless it’s to herald people who could not love Soulslikes, fuck it: Use the gun. Blast your approach by means of this side-splitting recreation and put a number of holes within the rotting husk of capitalism for you and me. If the system received’t play truthful, why ought to we? Furthermore, video games are supposed to be gratifying, and if that’s the way you derive your pleasure from this recreation, who am I to yuck your yums?
In conclusion, crab gun enjoyable.
