Release: 2024
Developer/Publisher: Aggro Crab
Gameplay Stats: 26 hours, 32/32 achievements
Heard about this game from an Iron Pineapple video, he said it was great!
Aesthetics: We have high(ish) poly character models in low poly backgrounds similar to the studio's previous game Going Under. A good number of undersea creatures for you to fight but they were mostly crabs. There weren't a great deal of enemy types on display, but I think they did a good enough job varying the encounters so it didn't feel stale. Most enemy designs were good at telegraphing how enemies would attack the player so I didn't feel like I was guessing for the most part. The sounds are very good here, someone on the team has a really good ear for sound effects that don't get too repetitive and for music that kinda slaps. I can't think of any of the tunes now, but I remember enjoying them while I was playing. Probably not a soundtrack I'll revisit, but definitely one I enjoyed while playing.
Plot: The plot arc here wasn't anything too special but I think the presentation makes it stand out. The writing kept everything moving and entertaining while you continued on with the story. There was a surprising amount of capitalist and environmental critiques here. It makes sense given that the game takes place in an ocean where microplastics are currency and the title basically points at trash, but I didn't think that much about it going in. They gave our main character a bit of development also which I wasn't expecting but makes sense since he wasn't silent. I did grow to like Krill over the journey.
Gameplay: This team took notes from what makes Dark Souls combat good and rolled with them. This is a refreshing spin on the formula and I didn't honestly know at first where it was going mechanically. It started out pretty plainly Dark Souls but kind of morphed the formula into Hollow Knight in a way that was very fun. There was a dash of Sekiro mixed in which is always important for a bit of flavor with deflects, but they also took some movement mechanics which flowed very well.
I can't really say overall what this game did that makes it stand out to me, but the whole package here really works. This is an indie Souls-like that I would recommend to any fan of the genre. The fresh packaging really helps the overall presentation as well. Not many games where you are a hermit crab and the McGuffin is to retrieve your shell that was taxed away by a corrupt monarch.
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