FromSoftware is inarguably one of the most influential video game developers this century. Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and the company's other titles have created a new genre: the soulslike. These dense and difficult action-RPGs are tough for any imitator to pull off, let alone an indie team like Aggro Crab. More than a mere parody, Aggro Crab's underwater odyssey Another Crab’s Treasure ($29.99 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S) is a legitimate entry in the soulslike canon. While the game follows a formula that can be frustrating to some players, there's no denying it does so incredibly well.
Under the Sea
In a world where Lies of P, an edgy Pinocchio soulslike, was a game of the year contender, Another Crab’s Treasure’s undersea setting and crustacean cast don’t seem that out of the ordinary. You play as a hermit crab who travels across a polluted ocean to reclaim his lost shell. Along the way, you encounter many colorful characters, seafood puns, and Wacky Packages-esque trash that recall real brands like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and Lego. You'll dig Another Crab's Treasure if you enjoy Octodad or Splatoon’s alt-rock, SpongeBob energy.
But Another Crab’s Treasure has more beneath the surface. Initially armed with only a rusty fork, you feel as powerless and confused as you would in any Souls game. Surprisingly, it mimics FromSoftware’s lonely gothic tone rather than spoofs it. The world is dirty and dying. Giant bosses are pitiful figures. The lore is obscure, but the source of the evil is clear.
In terms of the narrative, unchecked greed driven by ruthless hucksters is choking the ocean with toxic garbage. You level up by purging your body of microplastics. The only reason you lost your shell is because you couldn’t pay your taxes. The team’s previous title, Going Under, turned failed tech start-ups into dangerous dungeons, so it’s cool to see those raging anti-capitalist themes continue. Solid voice acting does a good job selling the tricky transitions from “cute crab game” to “filthy lucre is the author of all our pain.”
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The Shallows and the Depths
Another Crab’s Treasure isn’t an open-world game like Elden Ring or Rise of the Ronin. Instead, you travel between a few large environments separated by loading screens. You also stumble across special caves to rest and unlock fast travel locations. These areas showcase the team’s impressive vision, plus how the gameplay scope is just beyond its independent reach.
On the one hand, these places have tons of personality. You’ll explore many different environments, including a medieval castle, a 1920s-style bootlegger city, and alien depths that resemble something from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. However, some stretches are a little empty, plain, and undetailed. Again, I chalk this up to the game punching above its weight class. At its best, it looks like the world’s most mind-blowing Nintendo 64 game, like how Penny’s Big Breakaway is a forgotten Sega Saturn sleeper hit.
Speaking of the N64, Another Crab’s Treasure has numerous 3D platforming sequences that feel yanked from that era. You have a generous floaty jump (the game takes place underwater) and quickly find a nifty grappling hook to zip between distant targets. Frequently, I paused to observe the surroundings and figure out how to navigate the satisfyingly twisty and vertical level geometry (the map is intentionally vague). The platforming could be a bit more polished, as the slippery controls cause a few too many falls.
Hard Shell
As a true Souls game homage, Another Crab’s Treasure features many fights. You must carefully attack, block, and dodge to overcome dangerous opponents. Like Sekiro, your attacks can break an enemy’s posture, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up blows. I’ve written at length about how I find this punishing combat style more obnoxious than exhilarating, and that remains the case here. However, I must acknowledge the amount of thought that has clearly gone into designing the complex fighting system.
Another Crab’s Treasure's combat revolves around finding and equipping new shells, including soda cans, shot glasses, and old boxing gloves. Wearing this trash is vital for survival, and each has strengths and weaknesses. Some shells offer more damage protection, while others don’t weigh you down as much. Each shell has an Umami spell, such as bubbly projectiles or rising uppercuts. In addition, you can customize shells with stat-boosting upgrades. Since the world is littered with shells, there's an opportunity to experiment with a new one once the current one breaks. Exploring new loadouts is the game at its most creative.
You'll gain more special powers after major boss battles. These abilities can turn the tide in big fights, plus solve environmental puzzles (for example, using eel electricity to power a generator). For gnarly enemy design, Another Crab’s Treasure leans into how inherently scary a real-life armored crab looks. In the Bloodborne and Dark Souls tradition, the boss fights steal the show. They require you to master all your skills to take out exoskeleton abominations. The last stretch of bosses was so grand that I wasn't sure which duel would be the final confrontation.
Another Crab’s Treasure acknowledges how this unforgiving combat isn’t for everyone. Unfortunately, even as someone with little patience for arbitrary difficulty, I found the accessibility options both underpowered and overpowered, depending on the context. At any point during the lengthy journey, you can adjust the dodge window or stop yourself from losing experience upon dying. That’s nice, but it does little to alleviate the most frustrating moments.
Alternatively, you can also strap a huge handgun to your back, an extra durable shell that fires bullets capable of killing any enemy in one hit as long as you’re far enough away. That’s hilarious, but it breaks the game. Still, I appreciate any attempt to open this genre up to more players, even if the swings here are a bit too extreme.
Can Your PC Run Another Crab’s Treasure?
To play Another Crab’s Treasure, your gaming rig must house a 2.5GHz or faster CPU; an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 GPU; 4GB of RAM; and 6GB of available storage space. The game supports Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, and gamepads.
Another Crab’s Treasure isn’t Steam Deck verified, but I played it on Valve’s handheld PC (perhaps that’s why frame rates were never quite stable no matter which settings I adjusted). I kept everything at high settings and enjoyed the 60 frames per second sections when I could (admittedly, fairly often).
Why You Should Game on a PC
Verdict: Gets Its Claws in You
If you’re a soulslike die-hard, Another Crab’s Treasure is an intriguing new spin on the template, with far more depth than the tongue-in-cheek premise suggests. If you usually dislike these games, this one probably won't change your mind. However, the adjustable difficulty options may help you over the hurdle. Regardless, it’s worth celebrating how well developer Aggro Crab achieved this lofty soulslike goal, successfully delivering a full-fledged, indie take on the polarizing genre.
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Another Crab’s Treasure may not convince soulslike skeptics, but it's a lovingly executed underwater take on the challenging genre.
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