System: Switch
Release date: August 8, 2024
Developer: The Gentlebros
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
We have had so many cat-focused indie games over the last decade that it could practically be a genre unto itself, but few are as charming, engaging, or downright fun, as Cat Quest. The simplistic yet punchy combat, tightly-packed but unrestricted open world, and overbearing onslaught of feline related puns all combine to make it an experience that has always left me wanting more. Developer The Gentlebros have now graced us with a third installment, Cat Quest III, which continues to improve upon the established formula and takes it into uncharted waters as we set sail on a swashbuckling pirate (or should that be “Pi-rat”?) adventure.
Like its predecessors, Cat Quest III isn’t overly concerned with telling a story. Alongside their spirit companion Captain Cappey, your feline hero is seeking the fabled North Star Treasure, which is located somewhere in the islands of the Purribean Sea. Of course, they’re not the only individuals seeking this prize: the villainous Pi-Rat King, heavy metal rockstar Meowtallika, and very Japanese squid Takomeowki, are all also on the hunt. Although it is largely unconnected to the previous titles, there are some connections in the form of a few recurring characters and references to past events for those who are familiar with them, and there are also multiple endings to see too, depending on your actions during the game. However, the overarching story serves more as an excuse to get you on your ship and out exploring the seas than something you’ll need to actively pay attention to while you play to figure out what to do next or why: you’ll encounter the villains at various points during your quest, but you will need to seek them out yourself to get the full story behind their actions, and the NPCs you won’t encounter at all unless you decide to engage with them.
Despite this relative lack of plot there is a lot of charm and personality in the various NPCs you can encounter over the course of your journey, most of whom have a sidequest or two attached to them which is just as engaging, if not more so sometimes, than the main plot itself. Everyone has a backstory, and they’re all too willing to share it. Of course even in the more serious story scenes when they’re sharing their tragic past or monologuing about how they’re going to realize their ambitions, characters will drop a cat or mouse-related pun without missing a beat. Be prepared to endure several puns every time a text box pops up on screen. It can be exhausting to sit through at times as they toe the line between being amusing and cringeworthy, but it’s a core part of the identity of the series and also one of the reasons it is often so utterly captivating. The usual references to other media franchises are also scattered about here and there as easter eggs, although the game is less reliant on these to make jokes than it is on its puns: mostly, these are just included for people who will be familiar with the franchise being referenced.
The Purribean Sea isn’t much bigger than the open worlds from the previous two games, but it feels so much more expansive, and it’s much easier to explore thanks to your ship propelling you across it at high speed. Points of interest are easily identifiable on your map with clear markers (you also have the ability to set your own, prompting a handy guide arrow to point you in the right direction) and there are plenty of hidden chests scattered around to make up for the surprisingly small number of caves. There might be slightly less to do in Cat Quest III when compared to its predecessors, but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality, with unique treasures or special bosses hidden in each optional area, and you won’t have to look very far for something to do. From the beginning you’re given almost complete freedom: if you can see it on the map, you can hop on your boat (if your boat isn’t immediately accessible, a nearby dock will teleport it to you instantly) and travel there immediately – or paddle in your life raft if you would prefer. If you’re unable to access a dungeon, defeating a nearby enemy, or progressing in the story or sidequest it relates to, will open it up in short order. Cat Quest III invites you to explore its open world, and gives you the tools to do so from the beginning, not requiring any special abilities or even to advance the story to unearth its secrets.
Some of those larger and more significant dungeons adopt a 2D side-scrolling approach, which I found a welcome change of pace from the standard 2.5D perspective, even if they don’t noticeably change up the combat or how the game plays. There are also some simple puzzles to be had in these areas, but these are mostly in the form of backtracking after finding a key or a switch to a different area, or interacting with something to trigger an event. The more obscure puzzles are typically found in the open world, relating to uncovering hidden treasures: although I stumbled across a few of these entirely by accident, more than once I was left momentarily stumped by the more cryptic clues the game presented me with as to their location. The smaller dungeons are played out from the 2.5D perspective and are typically mazelike in structure, with the occasional mines to navigate around, and small groups of enemies to clear. A counter in the corner of the screen will alert you as to how much treasure you’ve collected, meaning that time will never be wasted in trying to find treasure that doesn’t exist: as some of it can be quite cleverly hidden out of the immediate line of sight behind walls, it’s a useful feature to have.
The ship that serves as your primary mode of transportation in the world, although it is perhaps one of the weaker aspects of the game, as it is a little unwieldy to control at times and feels a bit lacking in combat, which involves little more than strafing around your far more maneuverable opponent, firing with your cannons, and hoping for the best. Or if possible, finding the closest landmass to park your ship on so you can pelt the enemy ship with ranged attacks and dodge more reliably. It never becomes so detrimental to the experience that it becomes an issue, but it does feel noticeably less polished than other aspects of the game. There is an option to change controller tolerance in the menu which makes turning feel a little tighter and is helpful when you need to navigate narrow channels, but this frequently reset itself for no reason I could identify, forcing me to constantly adjust it again.
Fortunately you’ll spend most of your time with your feet on the ground, battling enemies with swords and sorcery in the series’ simple yet engaging combat. There is a fantastic amount of variety to the weapons and armor available that makes every encounter feel satisfying: unlike its predecessors, Cat Quest III allows you to equip one melee and one ranged weapon and swap between them at the touch of a button, letting you adjust your strategy accordingly. Add the usual array of magic spells, as well as a variety of stat-boosting armor and accessories into the mix, and it allows for some highly specialized builds that can see you tearing through even bosses in a matter of seconds to have them explode in a shower of experience gems and money. You’ll undoubtedly come across weapons and armor you prefer as you progress, but everything can be upgraded to a scale that it’s viable to use even at the end of the game.
It isn’t difficult to intuit if you’re not supposed to be somewhere quite yet, as enemy levels will skyrocket and you’ll either need to spend several minutes chipping away at their health, or will die very quickly within a few hits. Checkpoints are plentiful, and your only punishment for dying in encounters is to be sent back to the last place the game autosaved, which it does frequently. But it’s not difficult to become overpowered in Cat Quest III as the game practically throws money at you for upgrading gear, and plenty of attacks and magic spells will stun enemies, allowing you to close in and combo them into oblivion with minimal risk. Even on Normal mode, once you’ve upgraded your gear a few levels and have some better magic at your disposal, any level difference between your feline hero and your opponent becomes meaningless. But the game gives you so many different options for building your character (and perhaps more importantly, makes it easy for you to get a new set of weapons and armor up to par) that finding new ways to break the game is a large part of the fun.
But if you’re looking for a challenge, it’s worth noting that at launch Cat Quest III does not include any of the Mew Game modifiers that featured in the previous titles, which added a layer of challenge that made building your character a much more important aspect of the gameplay. The currently available New Game+ removes the level cap placed on your character, makes enemies significantly stronger, and adds an endless dungeon in the form of the Infinity Tower, adding some incentive to continue playing beyond the main story.
Like its predecessors Cat Quest III is a great-looking game that is right at home on Switch in both docked and handheld modes, and it packs a surprising amount of detail into its overworld map. Despite the relative lack of enemy variety there are also some highly unique and memorable bosses that clearly draw inspiration from something else but have an adorable feline or rodent-related motif. It looks slightly more polished than its predecessors but does not suffer for this on the system, keeping a stable framerate even when there is a lot of action happening on screen (given my preference for magic-focused builds my screen was typically a storm of spells anytime I encountered an enemy) and loading into dungeons with minimal delay.
The Verdict
Cat Quest III is mostly more of the same, but it takes several positive steps in the right direction in expanding upon the formula. It’s all over with far too quickly, but it’s just as delightfully charming as its predecessors. Fans of the previous games will want to add this one immediately to their collection if they haven’t already, and for newcomers, there has never been a better time to get into the series than with this game.
