These days, it seems everyone wants to provide their own original touch on the Metroidvania genre. We’ve certainly gotten some significant developments from this, like the amazing Dead Cells; the inspiredGuacamelee! games; and the retro-riffic Axiom Verge saga. But we’ve also gotten some games that have shown ingeniousness with their design, but came up a bit short in terms of long-term play value. And, sadly, Curse of the Sea Rats falls in this category.
Featuring beautiful artwork and clever character design, Curse gets off on the right foot. It has a story involving heroic humans transformed into rats, trying to work their way back to their original selves with a bit of questing. And even some of the combat works in its favor as well, particularly against some bosses.
But, alas, the whole thing crumbles thanks to some heinous difficulty settings, lackluster teamwork options, and bugs that make the quest hard to swallow overall. As a result, these Sea Rats are all washed up before they can unleash their potential.
A Unique Cast of Characters, But Why Can’t They Work Together?
There are four different characters, each with something to present to the table. They include Buffalo Calf, who can use daggers for fighting at close range and at a distance; David Douglas, who wields a dangerous cutlass; Bussa, a slave that can punch enemies into oblivion; and Akane Yamakawa, a Japanese hero who can carve up foes with her naginata.
They each bring something fun to the game, particularly with their combat styles. However, the game missed a royal opportunity here, as you can’t switch between them. What’s more, some boss battles are incredibly challenging, and the wrong character can doom you even quicker than you might expect. This game could’ve definitely used a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES or even The Lost Vikings approach, letting you choose from these characters on the fly to stand a better chance.
But what’s more frustrating is another aspect of the gameplay that fails for Curse of the Sea Rats – exploration. The ability to map out your levels and find secrets is poorly missing, and, as a result, finding key items comes up short. That and there are areas where you might be fooled into dropping into, but, surprise, it’s death.
I would say that the game’s skill trees give you a better chance to survive…but they don’t. Even if you fill all the ranks, the enemies are still a pain to defeat. That makes no sense, as progression is supposed to make you better. Right?
Overall, it just feels like Curse of the Sea Rats is off with its limitations, not to mention its lack of cohesive difficulty. An easier option might’ve made this a little easier to swallow. As it stands, the taste of adventure wears off quickly.
Not a Bad Looking Adventure
Where Curse of the Sea Rats excels is with its hand-drawn animation. PQube’s latest has some terrific moments with character designs, as well as some of its level details. It’s also great to see what secondary characters pop up over the course of the journey, as some of them have imaginative aspects.
Alas, it comes apart with the flawed level design. It can be frustrating trying to find key items or survive certain things, like a sea serpent that should be easy to dismiss. Plus, again, the bugs that the game has get in the way, instead of serving the adventure better.
Fortunately, the voice acting isn’t bad, and the music even has some thematic choices to it. But audio can only go so far if the rest of the game doesn’t work in its favor.
Cursed, Indeed
I really wanted to like Curse of the Sea Rats more, thanks to its potential story, its likable characters and sweet presentation. But the unforgivable difficulty, the bugs and the inability to switch between characters is just too much to make the game worth a recommendation. There could’ve been a lot of treasure to uncover here. As it stands, however, the journey just isn’t worth it. Just let these Sea Rats float into the sunset.
