Cat Quest III is taking the series to new heights as it goes fully open world. You’ll be able to explore the seas with your own ship (complete with cannons), while swashbuckling all the way. We got a chance to check how the threequel is coming along in a hands-off preview format, and from what we can tell; it’s shaping up to be something special so far.
A pretty open world to explore – that will take you 10-15 hours to finish
I’m in love with this game’s vibrant visuals.
The waves shimmer as you explore this world, and the whole “actual map” motif really helps the style sing. Everything you see in the background can be explored, and even the clouds are drawn in an artistic way like you’d see from a graphic novel. As you’d expect from a Cat Quest game, the world features cameos from pop culture, which keeps things bright and cheery.
Cat Quest III will be a step up from its previous games based on what we’ve seen of the sequel. The visuals aren’t the only thing that’s a step up either, as it’s “5-6 times bigger than Cat Quest 1,” according to the CEO of developer The Gentlebros Desmond Wong. “The main reason for this is due to the ship which makes traversal much faster,” Wong notes, and the team wants to “make the world feel intimate like in the previous games.” Many open world games have big dull open spaces, so that’s a relief that the studio is going in with that mindset. If you want to find everything in this new open world, Wong expects a 15-hour playthrough, but if you just want to play the main game, he estimates playtime at roughly 10 hours.
While developing this open world 10-15 hour experience, Wong says The Gentlebros are inspired by The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and The Elder Scrolls series. However, it has been challenging for the studio as “a lot of the solutions [they] had to come up with had to be original” as the game is 2.5D. There weren’t a lot of 2.5D open-world game resources to pull from.
What is Cat Quest III‘s combat like?
While the action-RPG-based system from Cat Quest 1 and 2 is still present, you can now swap between your cat protagonist and your ship. Its cannon fire can dish out a lot of damage as you face big bosses in the world, and the best part? The switch between water and land is actually seamless. Your ship will also gain XP independently.
While pirates aren’t typically associated with magic, you can cast all sorts of spells in the game. There’s “the fiery Flamepurr spell that shoots a raging fireball, to the shocking Lightnyan that can stun foes,” said Wong. “There will also be supportive spells that heal the player and create defensive shields!” Action-wise the game seems competent mechanically, as you’ll dodge roll out of the way from powerful attacks, using guns to fire at foes, while frantically swiping your sword. It looks frenetic and entertaining as you have all manner of options available to you like the aforementioned spells and use of the ship’s cannons.
While the combat has a lot of potential, the patterns enemies were using were less inspiring. During the hands-off footage, I saw two different bosses following the same attack pattern: jumping up in the air and then bashing the ground with their butts. This could add a repetitive nature to Cat Quest III. “Those two bosses were part of the same ‘crew’ so it made sense to give them similar-looking attacks thematically,” Wong explained. “However, a big focus this time was creating a huge variety of boss fights.” According to Wong, there will be bosses that teleport, use magic, and utilize many other tactics. So hopefully we’ll see more fruit there.
So much loot!
As an RPG fan, I love it when there’s all sorts of meaningful loot to find. From the Cat Quest III gameplay demo publisher Kepler Interactive showed to the press, it’s clear that it’s jam-packed with treasure to find. One cool piece of equipment their kitty found was the Gunner Eyepatch. On the surface, it gives you a 25% faster reload speed; but you can also see the piece of clothing on the cat itself. It’s always a treat when the armor you collect is actually visible. If you’re fond of your cat’s new look, you can also upgrade their armor and weapons in the game. You can also change the look of your sails by defeating legendary pirate ships and gaining their blueprints. It’s truly customizable.
You won’t be able to share the look of your boat and equipment with a player online, because once again, the game is focused on couch co-op. You can indeed use Steam Remote Play PlayStation’s Share Play to check the game out with your pals, but it’s a bit of a bummer.
X marks the spot
Cat Quest 3 seems like a game to watch out for, even if you’ve never heard of its predecessors. The visuals are super charming, combat has evolved with ship combat, and there’s an open world that’s supposedly filled to the brim with detail. Hopefully, it will tail a great story alongside it too.
Cat Quest III is releasing next year for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
