Cat Quest (2017)

Played on PC.

This game was exactly made for me. At the beginning I struggled a bit with the dodging but in the end I was able to make it work and clearing dungeons and fighting bosses for the quests felt very satisfying. It helped a lot to be able to save cat nap in many locations and even in the midst of quests.

They outdid themselves with the side quests and I highly recommend doing all of these.

The cat puns are just purrfect and I played it in German and they made them work in my first language, but I think in English there are fur more options.

I am not playing the +mode, I don't want it to get more difficult. I rather lick my fur and take a nap. I also haven't used a guide so I was missing two hidden dungeons or something, that's fine.

It is a short game, fun with a lot of charm. Definitely on the easier side and since it lets you overlevel dungeons and quest also doable if you are more on the slow side like me. It is not a stress free game though and not a cozy game despite the cozy look.

If you need more challenge there ist the + mode but also weapons and armor that you can choose to up the difficulty by a lot.

Highly recommended and a game that made it into my 100 favorites.

Rating: 8.48/10

I know this rating may seem high but this game seemingly was made for me....

Writing/story: Firstly, the characters in the game were hard very distinct personalaties making them rememorable. Additonally the humour in the writing of the game generally made me laugh due to its goofiness and the sprinkling of puns are always welcomed for me. Makign it extremely charming and to me the main selling point of the game.

Story wise for the main plot it had a basic plot fitting to its appearence but it did include some plot twists which made it more interesting. Though it seemed a little vague in answereing some minor question in the plot but for me that's not such a huge deal.

Gameplay: Starting with the combat I really like how simple it was so that it was easy to jump into and get into the swing of the game. Having a simple melee attack, dodge as well as having max of 4 basic spells which use are mostly showcased by the surrounding enemies to where you pick them! The spells help direct how you wanna play the game as they can majorly affect ur fighting style. Similarly to the weapons where the 4 starts being mana, damaga, health, sheild where you either have very even stats or very skewed stats. Allowing you to choose how you want to fight in the game. Even though as you level ur stats progress at a fix rate.

As for the movement/transport mechanics as you explore more and more of the map it introduces faster modes of movement which I though was clever though the enemies in the main travels proved an nightmare early on.

Graphics: Very cute cartoony style which fit the vibe of the game though some of the actual visual designs of the enemies of thought was on the more generic side. However I point I like is generally the more detail they put in a character the stronger is relative to its level which gave good visual indication imo.

Other: Sound effects were effective but nothing to write for like the music it did its job in setting the mood. But for the music I feel like maybe more variety would be good as there was a very limited amount of tracks.

Odly there was a little sponsor island to a mobile game which to be fair was integrated fairly well except they narrative break of telling you to play the game? Which was one of the very few things I disliked.

P.S. Sometime you cannot do quests if you flying which I eventually had to figure out lol

I'm so glad I finally played this game through. Not only do I have the sequel but I also am eyeballing the third of the franchise on the Switch. Kind of silly to buy 3 iterations of a game you've never really played.

This game isn't terribly complex, which is a relief after playing Breath of the Wild, Harvestella, and Fae Farm with only a small breath of fresh air in Cereza, and Lost in Random. Anyway, being relatively simple isn't a bad thing. I only played through the main story, no "mew game" option use.

The story is a pretty straightforward hero's quest with something of a last minute twist. The end is kind of abrupt and only leaves questions deeper than any posed while still playing the game. In honor of that, I'm just going to end this review abruptly. 👋

Sometimes, all you need is a small game that feels like a big game. I interrupted a whole bunch of long RPGs to play this game. And it was exactly what I was craving.

It's cute art style is attractive, and the cat premise is adorable. It's story embraces the RPG/fantasy tropes and slathers them with cute kitty humor. The combat can be incredibly satisfying. It is quite easy to grind to higher levels and take out enemies willy-nilly. However, for those attempting some of the harder dungeons or going for 100% completion, it is paramount to develop strategies, dodge attacks with good timing, and attack at ideal moments.

I really, really, really enjoyed this game! It has provided me with such a joy and thrill that I've craved for so long! I was honestly so excited to start a play session!

For those looking for a quick game, this main campaign can be tackled pretty easily without needing to completing anywhere near all the side missions. For completitionist looking for something they can keep coming back to, there can be a lot of content—although repetitive—for you to dig into.

Give Cat Quest a chance! I'm excited to start Cat Quest 2 soon!

It's an Action RPG about cats. There's not a ton more that needs to be said!

I definitely recommend picking up this game when it goes on sale. I quite liked it, but it's too short to justify $20. The battle system is actually really fun, forcing you to dodge around the different characters and time your attacks. Quests were pretty repetitive, so the combat really carried the monotony sometimes. But again, it's short--only about 4 hours--so you're in and out before the game grows weary.

I also really liked the armour system. There's a pretty good array of equipment, allowing you to customize your cat to your liking, and if you collect two of the same piece of equipment, they stack, serving to level up your first piece. I did switch my armour up a few times depending on what I was fighting, but for the most part I stuck with a set that gave me a balance of armour, attack, and magic.

If you REALLY liked the game, there is quite a bit of post-game to keep you occupied, but it all looks pretty repetitive, so I only kept playing for about an hour while listening to an audiobook over lunch one day before moving onto the next game.

I played this one on a challenge from an Extra Life donor who sent me a steam key for the game. We all thought it was going to just be ridiculous over-the-top chibi cuteness, but it was actually a legit overland RPG.

I enjoyed the combat and progression, which reminded me of the old 2D Legend of Zelda games, except with 100% more chibi cats and feline-related puns. The mechanics were engaging, and the quests and dialogue were entertaining enough to compel me all the way through the game and keep me giggling with every cat pun.

“Cat Quest is an aesthetically pleasing but mechanically shallow game.” as someone wrote on steam reviews is a perfect summary of the game.

The game looks good. And by good I mean pretty and cute. The map is super nice looking - characters look and walk cute although they’re limited in numbers and repeat all too often. Topped with a nice pleasant music the game at first glance looks really well.

Just after you start playing you figure out just how shallow it really is. In short this game could be described as really light RPG. You play as Dragonblood - a cat infused with power to kill dragons. Your sister is taken away by an evil cat and you have to kill dragons to get her back because the evil cat said so. Yeah - that’s the story in a nutshell.

Mechanically - it’s follow the arrow, interact with quest board - read some text, follow the arrow and kill some baddies. Follow the arrow again. Repeat until you’ve unlocked ability to slay a specific dragon. Repeat the above until you finish the game.

In a way the novelty wears out in an hour and the rest of it is essentially a grind. Killing the same enemies but with higher level and doing meaningless quests which as mentioned - follow the arrow and kill some baddies.

There’s no meaningful class system in the game. When you level up - you level up. The only reminiscent of it is the gear you can wear. Each have different stat and you can kind of become a mage, warrior, ninja or rogue. But it’s rather impossible to focus on one as some enemies almost require magic to get them killed while you can’t really rely on magic as your “mana” is restored by hitting enemies.

The fights are not bad. A little bit arcade’y but feel responsive and with the use of magic - you can assign up to four (out of eight I think) spells to the bumpers of a gamepad and use them as required - is quite interesting. All attacks are signaled and you need to pay attention to dodge at appropriate moment - this part was probably what kept me going.

The quests themselves are pretty repetitive with a lot of pop-culture references. Nothing interesting really. There are some caves to explore - but they’re pretty much the same thing - short and filled with enemies. You just do them to get more experience.

One thing I did like was the limited pool of items - that merged together to create a better version of themselves. I.e. sword + sword = sword with double damage and so on. Cool mechanic.

Apart from that it’s good the game is like 5 hours long. I’ve got sick of all the “meow…” and “purr…” puns and generally not a big cat fan.

Overall not sure why I did finish the game at all. It looked nice I guess and was short enough. I’m completely puzzled with the steam reviews for it though. It’s just probably not for me I guess.

"Do you recommend this game?" It seems like such a simple question, but it's sometimes surprisingly hard to answer.

I spent 8 hours on this game and completed the normal mode (i.e. all quests and dungeons). I kinda enjoyed this. The gameplay is simple and fun. It has some interesting quests and level design. And its biggest strength is that you can't do anything 'wrong'.

Sure, there are bad choices you can make. Investing in the healing spell is 100% pointless. The same goes for buying chests from smiths. And you have so save manually during quests or you might have to re-do parts of it if you die. But you can always get more money and if you die you retain all XP gained since your last save. A bad choice will just cost you more time.

But being a very simple game also has its drawbacks. There's only one melee attack. Only two of the seven spells are really relevant (fire debuff/trap). Other than gaining achievements for playing the game with restrictions (e.g. no levelling) there's no replay value. I tried both NewGame+ options but quickly got bored.

There's a whole bunch of other flaws. You constantly have to backtrack. Constantly. Quests generally have multiple stages but there's no option to automatically continue them, you have to go back to the quest board - sometimes on the other side of the map. It's also very annoying when you clear a dungeon only to get a quest to do that all over again.

The dialogue uses "....." every other sentence which gets on your nerves. Most items are useless. Once you have the legendary items loot becomes irrelevant. Finding some of these and certain other items is also very unlikely without looking up where they are (you have to follow invisible paths).

I was looking forward to playing Cat Quest ever since i played the demo. But it's just not good enough to recommend, especially not for €13. For 50 cents less you can buy Bastion, a very similar but infinitely better game. It's worth trying out if you already own this from a bundle or something. But even then it's barely worth your time.

To Note- I beat Cat Quest’s main story and many of its side quests. I finished the game at level 69 (nice) and found some of its end game secrets. I believe there is much more content to this game. However, I feel I have played enough to form my own honest opinion on the main mechanics and content of this game. I plan to keep playing this game after my review and any updates will be noted at the bottom of this review

Cat Quest; a fantasy action RPG you can really get your claws into!

Pardon the pun, but after playing Gentlebros charming RPG I can’t help it. With its wonderfully cute characters and its colourful art style, this game will have any Switch owner pawing to play it…

The Story

The evil Drakoth has kidnapped your sister and the ensuing trauma from her kidnapping has awoken something ancient and powerful inside you. You are the Dragonblood, an ancient hero and slayer of dragons. After what seems like an epic battle at sea with the villainous Drakoth, you wake up on a beach. However, now you have magical powers and a bright blue guardian spirit called Spirry. Spirry leads you to the Catpital. There you meet a mage who teaches you your first magic spell and starts you on your quest to save your sister, defeat Drakoth and become the most cattastic hero in history!

To be honest, the main story in Cat Quest is rather bare and didn’t really hold my interest throughout my play through. It tries to shock the player with a revelation late on in the game, but I thought it missed its mark and was totally confusing.

However, the thing that really shines in Cat Quest is its side quests. Though the mechanics of the side quests are very simple (they are usually a fetch quest or a dungeon) the stories are fantastic. Each side quest has around five missions with the same overarch of story. This reminded me of the Witcher 3’s side quests. Firstly because they are delivered to you on a notice board in town. Secondly, because even though Cat Quest’s side stories were much shorter and simpler, they were nonetheless as memorable as The Witcher 3’s. My personal favourites were the side stories about: the town that goes crazy from eating monster meat, the feud between the French chef and her brother and Cara Loft’s search for a mysterious book. There were many other great tales from this game and they packed the meat on the bare bones of Cat Quest’s main story.

The Game

I would describe Cat Quest as an RPG light game. Like most role playing games, it has a levelling system that increases your health, strength and mana every time you level up. Experience is given through the game’s main story missions and its numerous side quests, which typically give you a new level every time you complete one. The game is a mix (as the Gentlebros stated themselves) of the overworlds of Final Fantasy games, with the dungeon crawling and loot of old school Zelda games. Like those classic Zelda games, Cat Quest has you exploring caves and dungeons to fight the toughest enemies and gain the best loot. However, a mechanic that is different to most RPGs and which I think is very unique and fun about Cat Quest, (and is why I think CQ is a RPG light) is that its class system is not locked. The system is linked to the armour and weapons you choose to use in the game.

The game is packed full of different armour sets and weapons, which caters to different play styles. For example, I played most of the game in ‘Furry Tank Armour’ as it gave me extra amour and strength. However, if you wanted to play a more typical rogue class you could wear the ‘Ninja Robes’, which offer no armour but an increase to strength. I thought this was such a unique idea that doesn’t lock players into a role like many other traditional RPGs. It gives the player the freedom to choose how they play throughout the game. Whether you want to be a tank like me, or a magic user, or you just want to wear whichever armour set looks the coolest; you have total freedom to do so in the game. In addition, the armour upgrades over time. So if you find something early on in the game, there is a high chance you could keep that armour the entire game (as long as you do enough side quests and RNG is on your side). That is until the end game, where you unlock armour that is objectively better than all the rest. Nevertheless, I think Gentlebros should be commended on this choice as I found it extremely fun and liberating.

The combat in Cat Quest is very interesting. The melee abilities are light and simple with Y being attack and B being a dodge roll. Magic skills are slightly more complexed. The player has four magic slots that bind to the Switch’s four trigger and bumper buttons. Each magic ability has a direction or shape around the player. For example, the ‘Flamepurr’ skill creates fire in a wide circle around the player, whereas the ’Lightnyan’ skill shoots bolts of lightning to the left and the right of the player. This means the player has to choose wisely when picking their magic skills to ensure all directions are covered. In addition, enemies are weak to certain types of magic. Therefore, the player has to choose wisely when picking their magic skills to ensure they have a strategic advantage over their enemies. This adds a great amount of depth to the combat mechanic and I honestly thought every battle was fun and precise. Meaning that whenever I died I knew it was my mistake and that I should rethink my skills and return to fight my enemy.

Art, Writing and Music

I loved the art style of this game. The colour really popped on the Nintendo Switch’s screen and looked amazing on my TV. The overworld especially was a joy to explore. It is set out like an old map or tapestry with names of towns and landmarks written on the floor. Then these beautifully crafted, almost cartoonish buildings and characters pop on the screen. They would always make me get side tracked from my mission to go and look at a new location or character. My favourites were the unique characters like King Lionardo, Spirry and the Governor. They looked so different from anyone else in the game. Though they mostly were represented through still images, the writing and humour of the game gave them charm and a sense of humour, making them feel unique in this universe.

The writing in this game is what we in Britain call a Marmite issue. You either love it or you hate it. I actually quite liked it. I thought it didn’t take itself too seriously and broke down the fourth wall a few times that made me literally laugh out loud. The thing that people might not like is all of the cat puns (so many cat puns!) and as you can see from my intro, they’re rubbing off on me! At the start of the game they are cute and funny. However, by the end they are stretching the puns; a lot. This was to the point where I would read something, know it was a pun because of the way it was written but have no idea what its reference was or why it was funny. Nevertheless, some people will either love or hate this, but I’m just happy for the Gentlebros, that they stuck to their guns and kept the puns coming; all the way to the end…

The music complemented the art by giving the game a fantasy and whimsical feel, reminding me again of games like Final Fantasy and Zelda.

Problems

The main overlying problem I had with Cat Quest was that I thought it was too repetitive. As I said above, the stories in the side quests were great but the actual tasks were pretty much exactly the same as the side quests I’d already done. They were all usually beat a dungeon, follow a trail, go to this spot on the map or kill some enemies; there was nothing unique or special about them. This was true for enemies too. After about the first hour of the game I’d say you’ve fought 90% of the enemies in it. Even the bosses get reused numerous times towards the end of the game. I was mostly motivated to do the side quests because of the story and I fought the repetitive enemies because I found the combat fun, but still, more variety would have been welcomed.

A second smaller problem was the RNG aspect of the chests in the game. I think it might just be the time I’m writing this review (late 2017) but lootcrates have a stigma around them at the minute and though this game has no micro transactions in it. The way the crates open makes me think that the developers had them in mind when developing the game. You can use in game currency to buy extra ones if you want to and I have no problem with that, it was just very jarring and random when I first came across them.

Some feedback on smaller aspects of the game would be that I wish there was some way of tracking quests and dungeons. I think the next Cat Quest game would benefit hugely from some type of journal which tells you which quests are active and which dungeons are 100% cleared. It means I would not have to go running from town to town, looking for new side mission or going into dungeons that I’d already unlocked the gold chests in. On the other hand, an easier and quicker way to solve the problem of which quests are active, would be to let the player scroll on the map instead of just zooming in and out. Then the player could see every town and look if the notice board has a quest on it. Again these are just small quality of life problems, but I think they would be a huge improvement in Cat Quest 2.

The Sumpurry

All in all I really enjoyed my time with Cat Quest. If you like classic Zelda and Final Fantasy games, Cat Quest is a great game to relax with and laugh along to (if you enjoy the many, many cat puns). The art is beautiful and looks great on the Switch. Although its main story was nothing special, its side quests and end game secrets are worth its price tag.

Update 1.01

The day before I planned to publish my review of Cat Quest, the Gentlebros released their 1.01 update for the game.

The update added two new game modes, some game updates and a new Christmas themed quest. The new game modes are: New Game+ and Mew Game. New Game+ is pretty self-explanatory. Mew Game is basically a challenge mode that gives you unique rewards. Rewards are given out for beating the game in under 9 lives or beating it without armour. I think both of these modes are great for experienced players who want to revisit the world of Cat Quest.

The new quest story is as memorable as any other in the game. You try and save Kitmas, as someone mysterious is stealing all of Felingrad’s christmas presents. It’s a fun and quirky tale and well worth checking out if you have already beaten the main quest in Cat Quest.

Finally, the biggest and most quality of life update in 1.01 is that caves and dungeons now have a gold chest above them if you haven’t unlocked the gold chest in them! As you hopefully just read, this was one of the issues I had with the core game. This small detail, along with another great quest and new game modes, made my score of Cat Quest go up one point. So I’m glad the update was released before my review was published!

That’s why I give Cat Quest by Gentlebros my score of… 7

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