Cat Quest

 
Developer: The Gentlebros
Steam Release: Aug 2017
Hours Played: 9.2
Similar To: Deathspank / Sacred 2 Gold
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

The sweet and innocent-looking Cat Quest is a bright, jolly and thoroughly casual action rpg that's got a little something for the whole family. Not to mention, plenty of cats that go "meow" and who talk way too much! You take control of a unnamed feline character who starts off their journey armed with just a dinky sword and a little melee attack to match. You are then free to explore the genuinely open-world map which both looks like a cartoon-based map and is the actual environment you explore and do battle on. Swiping at your enemy and equipping magical abilities (that you buy from the shop with gold) to scorch and freeze enemies, you make your way to various quest-givers who give you tasks that rid the world of evil. Zooming out lets you see most of the entire world map and leveling up happens very swiftly.  
  

BALANCE & PACE

As such, and even though enemies are at fixed levels and do not scale up with you, it's possible to explore the entire mainland map in around three or four hours. Rest assured however, with plenty of hidden extras and indoor environments such as caves and dungeons to plunder, there is loads to keep you busy. The water-walking ability, that you can get access to at around Level 25, will also take you to those islands you've been wondering about and there is a flying ability to discover as well. You can only have one quest available at a time; either the one in the main quest-line or a side-quest. Side-quests are there if the main quest is insurmountable but this does involve back-tracking and scurrying around. It may also mean you end up doing unchallenging quests far below your level to reach the higher-tiered ones.    
 
   

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

To most, the balancing issue regarding quests shouldn't deter or detract players enjoying the experience. This is no Path of Exile. It's a casual game for casual players who like the idea of exploring and hopping around on an open-world island discovering new things. This is also helped by the simple design of the controls which work extremely well with the Xbox controller: X initiates your melee attack, A gives you the dodge-roll while the four magical abilities can easily be mapped to the triggers and bumpers. There are no potions (you have to equip the heal ability for a health boost) and very little by way of weapons and armour types. Be happy with just a melee weapon, a helmet and a suit of armour - for that is all you can equip in your inventory. It's all quite intuitive and easy to understand.    
      
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

The main goal of Cat Quest seems to be to complete the main quest-line and as the boss-like enemies pack quite a punch - with their fair share of hit-points - leveling up is required to get strong and tough enough to take them down. Leveling up is very fast but farming dungeons and caves for gold and experience is advised. You'll also need to plunder loot by not only finishing quests but opening chests. Spoiler: you have to get the water-walking ability to get to the island to get to the cave that hides the special chest-opening key. Loot will get you a new item or an upgrade to an item in your inventory. For those who like to peel away at a game's layers, it may have benefited with a fog-of-war hiding the map. However, the map is revealed in its entirety from the beginning.

CONCLUSION

With a heap of overwhelmingly positive reviews made by the Steam community, Cat Quest has garnered much critical acclaim. To be sure as an antidote to the more serious action rpgs, Cat Quest is a real breath of fresh air. Indeed, when it comes to isometric ARPGs that are truly open-world, I can only think of Sacred 2 Gold and Deathspank that successfully pulls it off. The need to search for a quest when the main one is too tough; the need to complete low-tier quests to unlock high-tier ones; the strange upgrade system that boosts stats to your items and the rather late reveal of the chest-key may all be quirky features we'll need to adapt to but for introducing the younger generation to what ARPGs offer, Cat Quest does a sterling job. Now if only there were an option to wipe out those bloody annoying dialogue boxes!