Cat Quest (PC) Review

The hero in Cat Quest is fairly typical of an adventure RPG. There's a damsel in distress in the form of the hero's sister, a malicious villain in the form of Drakoth, and a sidekick who talks just a tad too much. All the standards for a great video game tale are here, and yet, they feel wildly new. Cat Quest does an amazing job of injecting charm through a myriad of different avenues. One minute, you'll be meeting another cat who feels friendly and almost alive. The next, a string of cute, yet eye roll-inducing puns come courtesy of a script that feels mostly fun and engaging.

The look of the game would probably leave one assuming this is a kids' game. At the very least, it's something for parents to introduce their children to if they're a bit young for Chrono Trigger. In reality, this game can be pretty hard. It does a good enough job of introducing mechanics slowly, but as an open world title, it often lets things get out of hand. It's easy to wander off and end up somewhere where victory is little more than a pipe dream. Cat Quest does a decent job of trying to keep the adventure focused, but it doesn't always work out.

This is due to the quests, which often feel a bit outside the player's grasp. The good news is that the game introduces the quests, and by proxy the levelling, in such a genuine and organic way. One quest might span the player 10 to 15 levels, as it's broken up into multiple quests, each with a different recommended level. This allows levelling to coincide with new and more difficult quests, and rewards to be doled out more frequently. This also keeps quests manageably short, and keeps the adventure rolling forward at a healthy, albeit fairly brisk pace, depending on skill and levelling.

The problem is that, all too often, it's easy to get stuck, feeling as though there's no place to go. A good example is around level 10. Even at this level, recommended quests for it inevitably feel a bit too difficult, often leading to an abrupt death. This can lead to aimlessly wandering around, trying to find a quest that can be completed. There's a silver lining here, though, as it allows for plenty of grinding - although getting to stop and grind so soon after making a bit of headway can be irritating. The best way to summarize it would be getting writer's block for thirty minutes at a time, seven times a day.

Honestly, while this is a problem, it's not one that lasts awfully long. Like any good RPG, Cat Quest often hangs success just a bit out of reach, letting those who endure even just a little taste it in due time. Due time here manages to be impressively well balanced, and nothing feels like it is too long or too short to achieve. The biggest issue is just that it occurs a little too often to not feel like the game is falling into a rut from time to time.

There is a healthy focus on levelling items up as you go, and this is a definite high point. There are shops throughout the game that act similar to lotteries. One decides if they want to part with different denominations of gold, and is, in return, handed an item. This sounds pointless, but it's actually a subtle piece of brilliance. See, there are times when one might receive the same item multiple times. Instead of just being forced to hang onto a bunch of axes or hats, each time the player receives the same item again, it just levels up the one they already have. This is remarkably brilliant and makes each trip to the store, regardless of how random, a little adventure of its own.

Cat Quest offers a surprising amount of choices for how small a game it is. While on one hand, a hero could be focused heavily on spell casting, another could be a vicious melee cantered juggernaut. Sure, this is how all open world RPGs tend to function, but here it's distilled into only those components that make it genuinely enjoyable. The whole system is remarkably easy to grasp, yet offers a tremendous amount of variety.

There are also spells, which allow for the casting of magic. While that's no surprise, it is surprising how tight the spell controls are. Mapped to the right mouse button, one only needs to hold it down and drag the mouse around to pick their poison. Magic can be levelled up at specific locations, which are also utilized for acquiring the magic in the first place.

The final accolade Cat Quest receives is the combat itself. While it can often be hard to maintain a steady eye on your charter, what with all that is going on, combat is simple. The player will swing their weapon of choice at the enemy depending on which direction they're facing. The enemy will, while preparing for their attack, fill up a space around them. Once that space fills up, they attack. It fills up rather quickly, meaning the fights happen very fast.

Visually, though, Cat Quest is stunning. Designed around the overworld map, the character prances around from town to town, and dungeon to dungeon. There are a lot of places to see, and fiends appear on the map, allowing the player to pick when and where they fight. The artwork is probably a big part of why the game comes off as being childish. Rest assured, as cute as the art is, it's equally charming, and really drags you into the world further.