If games that feature adventuring felines is your catnip—you know, the type that have you sailing the Purribean Sea and scratching out treasure—then Cat Quest III may be a game you’ll meow warmly over.
This sequel (of similar but unconnected Cat Quest tales) is a fast-paced, open, and easily approachable role-playing game that pits a swashbuckling tabby against a bunch of bashing and slashing cartoony baddies.
The tale opens after a sea battle that leaves an abandoned kitten floating in a basket toward an island shore. But this isn’t any random kitten: This one has the magical stamp of a “seeker” on his neck. He’s soon found and then raised by a ghost cat who was once a seasoned pirate. Arrgh!
Fifteen years later, you step forth as a furry but nameless adventurer who’s taken on the sword and high-topped boots of a cat pirate yourself. And together with your poltergeist papa, Captain Cappey, you set off in search of the North Star Treasure: A mysterious and well-hidden prize that legends say will lead its bearer to their “deepest desire.”
Ah, but here’s the hairball in the mix: Desire is a tricky thing. Many seek the North Star and the power it holds. And those scallywags will be more than happy to send you sinking to Doggy Jones’ Locker. Your pirate will face off with furry buccaneers, growling thugs and beastly monsters in the treasure’s pursuit. And that lot includes the Pi-rat King, a wheezing, bloodthirsty and manipulative seagoing rodent.
Gameplay involves sailing to and traversing the islands scattered across the game’s world map, exploring dungeons, caves, ruins and hideouts along the way. You also meet other animal characters who give you short quests to fulfill. But the largest portion of the play is centered on battling baddies and bosses and then claiming their treasure chests.
Those chests reward you with gold and a variety of weapons and clothes that improve your health and fighting abilities. The treasures include melee, ranged and magic weapons such as swords, claw gloves, shields, rifles, cannons and staffs. Wearable gear fits your head, legs, torso and hands and offers boosts to your pirate’s health and attacks. The key then becomes finding the right combination of equipment to use against any given foe or foes.
This is a single player game that offers local co-op play. The game does not require an online connection (other than potentially during download.)
Cat Quest III is crafted with a very nice art design and packed with colorful visuals. And the constantly quippy cat-and-rat dialogue is easy to grasp.
Despite the fact that combat between the cats and rats and other beasties is nearly constant (including some ship-to-ship sea battles), there’s little to worry over visually. Cannon blasts and sword slashes are exchanged between the tiny game characters and represented by a white flash. There’s no mess or goop as fallen foes disappear.
The game also explores the North Star treasure’s stated “power” to help its bearer find his or her “deepest desire.” And Cat Quest III makes it plain that following your desires and pursuing power can be a trap that ensnares you.
Transversely, the game states that friends and loved ones can lift you up and help guide you in positive directions. (There’s a redeemed relationship in the mix that reflects that truth by game’s end.)
The game dialogue is relatively problem-free, but there is one use of the word “d–nation” and some other bits of pirate lingo such as “blimey” and “curses!”
The biggest content concern for some will be the game’s spiritual world of ghost-like characters and curses that your cat pirate must romp through. (It’s feels very akin to light versions of spiritual realms in Disney pirate movies.) There’s nothing particularly dark, you do encounter a space alien-like creature that communicates telepathically and proclaims that is a “god.” We must defeat this creature near the game’s end.
Cat Quest III is quite a fun game. The only thing that keeps it from being purrfect family fare are some small ghosty spiritual bits. That said, there’s nothing a-paw-calyptic here to worry over.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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