I bumped into an unlucky softlock throughout my assessment of One other Crab’s Treasure, an cute however nonetheless intimidating Soulslike, that has to this point 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 few bosses, however I left the world and unintentionally despawned the NPC and the interplay. Regardless of this, I nonetheless actually loved One other Crab’s Treasure and needed to maintain enjoying 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 enjoying it straight and doing simply wonderful. Having change into fairly proficient on the recreation’s mechanics through the assessment 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 completely hilarious recreation, however considered 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 function of the sport. Since Soulslikes are sometimes troublesome video games (typically infuriatingly so) Aggro Crab developed a bunch of sensible and cautious accessibility options, resembling the flexibility to maintain your XP and forex after dying, or the addition of one other parry window. Some options scale back the quantity of injury you’re taking, or nullify it utterly whenever you fall off the sting of the map. However the perfect accessibility possibility within the recreation merely provides Kril a gun that dwarfs him a number of occasions 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 observe, it’s someway even wilder. The gun, which sits on Kril’s again like a shell, has probably the most well being of any shell within the recreation. It mitigates harm so completely that you simply’re principally invulnerable in it and by no means should depend on one other shell. Once you maintain the guard button and conceal within it, you’re successfully simply a strolling gun. And its shell spell, which is just known 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, ability, and Adaptation ineffective, and so I did what every other cheap 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 stress this second run of One other Crab’s Treasure might’ve had evaporated into skinny air. I’ve by no means cleared rooms filled with enemies faster. Actually, it was even cathartic to revisit locations the place I’d endured hardships throughout my assessment and wipe the ground with the enemies there. The lock-on function in One other Crab’s Treasure is so deeply beneficiant that you may perch at vantage factors and simply flip a room right into a sniping gallery. I used to be taking out crabs I might barely see on the opposite facet of a number of arenas. I shot one boss earlier than they might 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 suppose I’m enjoying the sport or utilizing the function 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 appears 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 real looking because the SFX you’d hear in a normal FPS, which makes it way more welcoming and cartoonish fairly than menacing. So far as I do know, nobody at Aggro Crab went to a spread, aired out a clip, and grabbed a recording of it to implement into the sport. Once you hearth at an enemy, there’s a quick second the place the spherical catches and form of freezes them in place. Then growth, their lifebar depletes and so they fall again. In brief, the gun’s highly effective, and loads of work went into making it look and sound that approach.
Regardless of the admittedly pleasant energy journey, I wouldn’t suggest this strategy on a primary run of One other Crab’s Treasure. Like several 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 attainable approach, give Kril a gun. For me, it’s been an effective way to revisit the sport and catch again as much as the place I left off, which I’ve now achieved! The gun is now toggled off, I’m able to nicely and really end the sport, and I’m happy I used to be in a position to take pleasure in this title I like in a wholly new approach.
Alternatively, given how extensive One other Crab’s Treasure’s attain is, and the way doubtless it’s to herald of us who might 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 pleasant, 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.