Cat Quest III Review

Developer The Gentlebros is back and you know what that means, another addition to the Cat Quest franchise! Cat Quest III, like the titles that came before it, is a 2.5D open-world action RPG full of heart and features a plethora of cat puns and references. For the first time in the series, you will get to hit the high seas, sailing your ship around the pirate world of the Purribean. You aren’t confined to your ship however, you can easily hop off to explore the islands to discover the treasures and weapons hidden around the world like the blunderpuss, pirate-themed costumes, and a variety of spells to use against the rat army that is trying to find the powerful North Star Treasure that is said to exist here.

Like the previous titles, you will find a ton of cat-themed content here. From locations on your map like the Purribean to Catuga Beach, it will be hard to find a place that doesn’t have a feline reference in its name! Map locations aren’t the only thing that follows this naming tactic: spells and weapons are also at its mercy. The first spell that you will learn is called the Flamepurr, it's essentially just fireballs, so not really cat-related, but that didn’t stop the developers. There is no end to the cat puns, so be prepared for a tonne of dad joke-level humour such as Fast Furward the dialogue.

Visually the game feels similar to the earlier titles, but the worlds you explore have more detail and a pop of colour, especially when you encounter the zero dimension: it is absolutely beautiful. The music is catchy and full of sea shanty-like music that is perfect for a story full of pirates, sorry pi-rats. I loved it when boss fights have epic themes that make you realise that it's an important part of the story and that you should take it seriously. It isn’t just little rats annoying you with their weak attacks.

Before our cat tale begins, you will select the appearance of your pirate kitty protagonist from two options, the only difference being the hairstyle. Next, select your difficulty between easy where the enemies have less health and inflict less damage or normal which is the intended way to play. We are treated to a cinematic battle at sea with rat pirates (pi-rats) attacking a ship with two cats on board with a barrage of cannonballs. They blast the other ship apart and debris is scattered over the water. Here we meet Captain Cappey, your floating blue kitty guide who is decked out in pirate gear, and in possession of a map of the Purribean.

Suddenly, Cappey hears baby meows and we see a yellow kitten in a basket among the ship pieces, on the back of his head is a glowing star. We time skip 15 years where our little kitten is now a teen, he is piloting his own ship and has landed on a beach. This location is special, rumour is there is a clue here to where the North Star treasure is located on this island. Cappey is accompanying the teen and reveals that their goal is to become the most famous pirates and finding the star is sure to help them with their task.

On the island, you will encounter rats that are eager to attack. If you have played either of the previous Cat Quest games, you will already be familiar with the controls, but if you haven’t, they are very easy to learn. Your main attack is the left face button, to dodge an enemy attack or to dash out of the way, the bottom face button is used. This dash can also be used to hurt the enemy as you acquire more weapons. Our kitty can do melee attacks with a sword, and more ranged ones with a gun. Seriously, I can’t think of a better name than the Meowchine gun! The shoulder buttons and triggers are for spells that you learn on your journey, you can pick which is assigned to what button so it is totally customisable to what you like. For me, I had the shoulder buttons for attacks like fire and ice, and my triggers were for healing and for shields. To access your menu, the pause button is used, here you can view the map that shows you exactly where you are currently located. It also lets you put a marker down on any location and an arrow will lead you to that spot. Here you also select the armour your hero wears on their head and body, the melee weapon they are equipped with and the trinkets they carry. These can be changed at any time, even in the middle of a boss battle. This menu also lets you select what spells you want to equip, the higher your level, the more you can select. Important quest items you have acquired can be viewed and you can also access the options menu.

Cat Quest III is open-world, so you are free to explore and go anywhere that you want. In the beginning, the bulletin board lets you accept quests for rewards like gold and XP. If you select one of these, the main quest will be paused and you can continue at a later time.
Your weapons, armour, and trinkets can all be upgraded at the blacksmith in exchange for gold, and your spells at the Arcane Temple if you have enough gems.

There are save “beakons” located all over the map, these spots don’t only record your progress but restore your health and mana. Plus, if someone else wants to battle alongside you, they can easily jump in! If you do decide to play with two players, you aren’t stuck with that mode for the rest of the game, it is easy to resume solo. Playing co-op was a tonne of fun, the trickiest part was figuring out who was going to take which weapon, armour, and spells. Either way, you have twice the attack power so it doesn’t really matter in the end, it was nice to have someone to watch my back and attack the foes coming up from behind.

If you ever feel that you are lost and aren’t sure what to do or where to go next, visit the lightmouse (lighthouse) located by the blacksmith. You will get a clue that will point you in the right direction, or at least give you a general idea of where to go. If I was ever unsure, I would just go fight all the enemies that I came across, besides getting gold, I was levelling up to make the upcoming battles easier. While exploring, you come across caves and dungeons that tell you the recommended level that you should be before entering. If your level is too low, it is very hard to survive the attacks from stronger enemies, so it’s worth trying to level up when you have time.

One of my favourite things to do in Cat Quest III was sail the ship around the waters. There is nothing more satisfying than destroying an enemy ship with your cannons! If your ship takes too much damage you aren’t dead, your ship is incapacitated, which means you need to repair it before you can set sail again. This is simple to fix, all you need to do is stand in the circle around the ship. Once fixed, you can hop back in and continue your journey.

I’ve absolutely loved my time with Cat Quest III, it took me about 11 hours to complete, and that included a bit of side-quests, but now that it’s done there is a + game unlocked to go back and finish off everything else. I haven’t been this obsessed with a game in a while, I just had to find out how the story ended! This is a must-play for anyone who has played the previous games in the series, or even just people who like open-world RPGs, though hopefully you are a fan of cats as you will be inundated with puns, constantly. I can’t wait to play through the game again and complete all the quests that I never finished the first time around.