Cat Quest 3 review

Pirates and video games go back a long way, and it’s easy to see why. Swashbuckling settings are almost always great, whether it’s for an adventure game like The Secret of Monkey Island and its many sequels or an online multiplayer treasure fest like Sea of Thieves. I must admit though I’ve never played a cat-themed pirate game before, or at least that was the case until Cat Quest 3 arrived.

The Purribean is a dangerous place full of Pi-rats, but for those brave enough to face it treasure awaits. The mysterious Northern Star has been lost for many years, but is known to be a hugely valuable and powerful artifact that all pirates dream of owning. The adorable kitty you play as is one such pirate, but finding and obtaining this precious booty without ending up in Davy Jones’ Locker seems unlikely. The story of Cat Quest 3 is as pun filled and light hearted as I had hoped, and never outstays its welcome.

To survive the many threats you’ll find across the seas in Cat Quest 3, you’ll need to master the sword and gun. Slashing is easy with a few bashes of the attack button resulting in a deadly combo, but when enemies are out of range only bullets will do. Switching to your gun and letting loose with a load of bullets is satisfying, but it won’t take long for you to empty your clip and have to wait a while for it to reload. Switching between the offensive options is the key to victory, as well as utilising the other tricks up your sleeve.

Normal pirate weapons are all well and good, but magic is important when dealing with bigger threats. With a whole host of spells to gather and four slots to fill with them, you’ll be hurling lightning bolts, healing wounds and shielding from incoming damage in no time. With only limited mana though, you’ll need to keep it topped up by hitting standard attacks if you want to keep slinging those spells.

Fighting enemies is a fun aspect of this almost purrfect action RPG, but exploring the world is the real jewel in the crown of Cat Quest 3. The gorgeous map inspired environments of the overworld are a joy to scour (either on foot or in your very own pirate ship) with treasure chests, side quests and mysteries in every corner. With each island shown on your map with the number of chests remaining to find there, it’s easy to get a bit too eager to check off every last one before proceeding.

All the treasure chests hidden in Cat Quest 3 are worth finding, because you’ll need the gold and experience orbs inside them to get stronger. Leveling up will grant you all the usual stat boosts you’d expect, and at certain thresholds you’ll unlock extra accessory slots for yourself and your ship. Money can be used to upgrade all the weapons, armour and trinkets you find to improve your battle prowess even more, so look after the pennies.

As you progress further through the game you’ll find all sorts of different gear you can equip, and I was surprised quite how many viable build options there were to play around with. Initially I used equipped gear that was best suited for fast attacking and that granted bonus hits while dodge rolling, which saw me through a good chunk of the game. After completing a particularly chunky side quest, though, I gathered a load of gorgeous pink gear that gave me the ability to harm enemies any time I healed, which was a delightfully fun way to play the game. There are tons of other viable equipment options to be found across the ocean though, so you’re sure to find a build that suits you.

Cat Quest 3 is a seriously tough game to put down once you start playing it, and in part that’s because of the variety of tasks you’ll find on the waves. There’s plenty of fighting of course both on land and sea, but there are also caves with spike filled obstacle courses, puzzles to solve to unearth new chests, and even a romantic choose-your-adventure experience. It’s hard to get bored when there’s always something fresh and fun around the corner.

Cat Quest 3 is a charming nautical action RPG, but it does have some minor issues. It can be easy to die when you explore somewhere beyond your level, and if you don’t sleep at save point parrots often enough you might face a frustrating rewind. Ship combat is also a little clunky compared to land combat, and although a nice change of pace sometimes the controls make it less enjoyable.

Cat Quest 3 is an incredibly compelling and endearing experience, with top notch combat, a gorgeous world to explore and way more cat puns than most games. If a lighthearted RPG with just the right amount of depth and a lot of variety sounds like something you need in your life, then Cat Quest 3 be the booty you seek