First and foremost, I would not recommend that you get this game on Switch in its current state (as of May 2024). Second, I will be reviewing this game as if it didn't have infuriating performance issues basically the whole time, because if I considered those in my rating it'd be like a 3 at best and that wouldn't be an accurate representation of the game as a whole. It looks and plays so much better on PC.
Another Crab's Treasure has a lot of charm and is pretty funny both in its writing and its mechanics. For example, the XP system is Microplastics, the magic is called Umami and the skill point system to power it is called MSG. Cleverly silly stuff.
Gameplay ★★★★
ACT takes inspiration from all of the Soulsborne games in part. There is a grapple mechanic, parry, and stagger bar like in Sekiro, there is revenge healing like in Bloodborne (for your shell durability at least), and the whole game is structured like Souls games from the healing items, losing your XP (Microplastics), bonfire-like checkpoints (Snail Shells), and well-crafted level design with lots of shortcuts to unlock.
Combat is pretty simple with only one weapon to use and a four-hit combo, with the last hit being the most damaging to both HP and stagger meter. For some reason some basic mechanics are locked behind ability upgrades, like the parry and a plunging attack. There is a small amount of variety with your fighting style in the form of two equipable items, one that makes your attacks slower but more powerful, and one that makes them quicker but less powerful, and another skill that allows you to attach a shell to your weapon to turn it into a slow hammer attack. I like this mechanic and found myself using it pretty frequently which was interesting because I typically hate slow weapons in soulslikes.
The shells are the best part of the game. Equipping a shell gives you an extra health bar above your own, reduces the damage you take even when not blocking, and also gives you access to a spell. Shells have different durabilities and weights and they're all over the place so you will have plenty of opportunities to try different ones, especially when the break in the middle of a boss fight and you have to just quickly pick up whichever one you can scamper to the fastest.
Story ★★★
The story is an effective "reluctant adventurer" tale that forces the protagonist, Krill, to interact, help, and get help from a cast of well-written, if two dimensional, characters.
Characters ★★★
Though none of the characters are particularly memorable they work just fine to be what they need to be in the story. They move the plot along and provide bits of humor here and there but are not spectacular in any way, but I don't think they need to be or were trying to be.
Art Direction and Level Design ★★★★
The levels are incredibly clever in their use of trash and human-made litter making up everything and having it all make sense in most cases. You grapple to fish hooks, climb on fishing nets stuck to rocks, and navigate floating platforms made of cardboard and clouds of shaving cream. NPC houses are made from cardboard, bottles, or planters. Very effective ideas.
Music ★★★
The music was really quite strange. It was definitely meant to just be in the background, as there were no stand-out tracks. But beyond that, I just found it to be incredibly strange. I don't really know what they were going for. Weird rhythms, weird instrumentations, weird silence in between tracks. None of it was bad but it was definitely odd.
I really wish I'd played this on PC instead of Switch because the videos I've seen of it there are so much better. I think it could have been a true 4+ star experience. I give it 4 stars even though the performance sucked because, even though I was constantly mad because of clipping, or lag, or frame rate drops, I still wanted to keep playing. And if the game is designed well enough that I want to keep playing it while its performance is trying to get me to quit, well, I think that means it must be a pretty great game.
