Cat Quest 3 is the newest entry within the ever-adorable sequence of motion RPGs starring a heroic kitten on a quest for glory and, this time particularly, treasure. Set within the “Purribean” with a whimsical piracy theme, Cat Quest 3 doesn’t simply see you combating on land and in dungeons and castles. You’ll additionally take to the ocean in your very personal ship, the place enemy vessels will pose their very own distinctive challenges. With quite a lot of enjoyable sidequests, dungeons to discover, and the final word quest of discovering the North Star Treasure, Cat Quest 3 gives a jovial and entertaining journey that’s effectively value your time if you happen to get pleasure from light-hearted action-RPG shenanigans.
What platforms is Cat Quest 3 obtainable for?
Cat Quest 3 launches on August 8 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Collection X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Change, and Home windows. It runs flawlessly on Steam Deck, which was the place I spent the vast majority of my time. Cat Quest 3 can be finest skilled with a gamepad and, for my part, is an ideal moveable sport as evidenced by my time with it on Steam Deck.
Within the roughly five-or-so hours I’ve spent with Cat Quest 3, I’ve had a blast. Whereas the repetitious soundtrack grates a bit, the core fight and gameplay loop are wildly satisfying. As soon as I received the dangle of issues and realized to dodge successfully and put collectively a stable construct, I rapidly received hooked on crusing the seas of the Purribean to hunt out new gear and get into extra participating fights. And whereas the story is usually lighthearted enjoyable, it’s proving to be considerably intriguing as I come to be taught precisely who my kitty is within the sport’s lore and simply what my religious pirate companion is as much as.
You’re gonna be doing a variety of brawling in Cat Quest 3, so it’s an excellent factor the fight right here is a variety of enjoyable. You’ll be able to change between your melee and ranged weapon on the push of a button. Whereas there’s ammo in your ranged weapons, it recharges over time so that you don’t have to fret about preserving monitor of it. The identical is true of your magical useful resource, mana. Totally different gadgets will increase how rapidly mana and ammo recharges, and even grant new methods of combating, comparable to the flexibility to deal harm by rolling into enemies.
And don’t let the sport’s cuteness idiot you; the fight right here isn’t with out its challenges. Early on, you’ll rapidly encounter enemies all through the world who punch more durable than you, absorb far more harm, and sometimes outnumber you as effectively. Fortunately, you’ll be able to gear up with new weapons and spells to tackle the brand new threats, and fortunately there’s extra to beating your opponents than simply growing an assortment of energy numbers. New gear, and significantly spells, actually shake the sport up in some satisfying methods.
Take spells, for example. Proper now I’ve received two that I’m digging: a fireball that does a restricted quantity of persistent harm, and the flexibility to spawn ice shards on the bottom which each harm enemies and in addition sluggish them down. That final half is especially nice for coping with teams of foes as I can sluggish them down to focus on particular ones. These totally different spells can mix in some satisfying methods, too: I can decelerate an opponent with my ice spell, which additionally does harm. I can then comply with that up with a fireball that offers persistent harm. As they’re each slowed by the ice and taking harm from the fireball, I can empty my flintlock pistol into them, then change again to my melee which recharges my mana with every strike because of an merchandise I’ve geared up.
This mix of spells and gear can result in very satisfying methods you’ll be able to deploy towards teams of enemies or in one-on-one showdowns. And since discovering a brand new merchandise, spell, or weapon can add to your arsenal of assaults, the sport conjures up an exquisite ahead momentum to exit, discover, pillage, and develop in energy. And it’s all dropped at life with wonderful sound results and splendidly enjoyable animations that always look as foolish and pleasing as watching animals play-fighting.
What I haven’t discovered as satisfying early on, nevertheless, is the ship fight. Whereas I used to be in a position to rapidly develop in energy with my swords, weapons, and spells, ship upgrades have proved extra elusive. I believe that is considerably intentional as your ship is critical to cross the ocean to different islands, and so a weaker ship retains you targeted on the sooner areas as a substitute of letting you chart off to tougher fights earlier than you’re prepared (you’ll be able to swim in a life preserver, however you’ll get chewed up fairly rapidly by hostile ships and haven’t any strategy to battle again). I additionally discovered firing the ship’s cannons precisely to be a little bit of a problem. Up to now I’ve come out of most ship battles fairly banged up. That I’ve already gotten fairly highly effective on land however nonetheless suck out within the waters makes the sport really feel a little bit discordant, so I’m hoping to search out some new upgrades for my ship quickly.
Cat Quest 3 additionally has some great visible aptitude. With its vivid, cheery, and numerous shade palette that mixes issues up throughout the totally different areas of the Purribean, the entire expertise actually pops on Steam Deck OLED, and it’s all rendered with a beneficiant draw distance that conveys a superb sense of scale.
This music is pushing it, although
Sadly, regardless of the sport’s many charms, the music has dampened my need to spend extra time with Cat Quest 3. Don’t get me incorrect, the manufacturing worth is great…it’s simply, listening to pirate shanty-themed music for an prolonged time frame actually wore on me. I used to be delighted after I’d come throughout a dungeon or one thing that’d change up the soundtrack. Sadly, because the problem of fight will see you spending a little bit of time performing some light grinding (which hardly ever feels like a grind given how enjoyable the fight is), you’ll find yourself uncovered to the identical pirate-y melodies over and again and again.
To its credit score, the composition tries its finest to combine issues up even in the primary overworld area, however after a few hours I’d discover this music caught in my head as I went about my every day errands. As somebody who can discover such whimsical melodies grating, it wasn’t nice having them on loop in my head. That is the one factor that’s made me hesitate to leap again in (and I would decrease the music quantity a contact after I do).
Cat Quest 3 is a joyful, foolish, and satisfying strategy to spend time as a cute little cat pirate. Regardless of the allergic response I’m experiencing to its soundtrack, I’m trying ahead to leaping again in to stage up my gear, be taught some new spells, and proceed my seek for the mysterious North Star Treasure.
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