Unfortunately, the seven spells in the game are not all equally represented, nor do some of them appear to have any practical use beyond being a collectible.

The system is aesthetically and mechanically pleasing and offers some strategic choices for the player in more difficult dungeons. (Unless you’re the one casting, in which case the charge-time is reduced to zero regardless of what spell you’re using.) The pattern then fills up or flashes with a bright red progress bar, which indicates charge time and varies a little depending on who or what is casting the spell. As it turns out, Cat Quest’s magic system is the defining characteristic of combat within the game, for better or worse.Įvery spell has its own unique area of effect indicated by dark red patterns extending out from beneath the caster. In games, books, or movies, if there is a magic system, I want to know what makes it tick. Generally speaking, I am in love with magic systems. (This isn’t a bad thing, but we’ll get to it in a bit.) On the player’s end, attacking involves a choice between melee attacks and an assortment of magic spells, while defending is performed by dodging or just staying the hell out the way. In fact, the game pushes the player away from anything that doesn’t involve killing. In terms of pure gameplay, Cat Quest is its combat. In short, dying is easy, but so is the killing. Whether through offensive might, deft dodging, or just sheer patience, every battle feels like one in which the player can prevail, despite the constant threat of death from enemies who-even at equivalent levels to yours-all deal out significant damage in relation to your own health. One of the greatest successes in Cat Quest’s design is its ability to convey a balanced sense of power to the player. I will have become the very embodiment of the monster I tried so hard to slay. Fortunately, through the inexplicable graciousness of game design, I awake each time from a catnap, along the bank of the Pawcific Ocean, in the sleepy coastal village of East Pawt.Įventually, I will kill the monster inside the cave, looting a treasure that turns out to be so powerful that I become a sort of demi-god, able to deliver so much damage so quickly that nothing in the game even has a chance to kill me. In fact, when all is said and done, the great beast of Lonely Cave will have killed me 8 times. The monster kills me rather matter-of-factly. The monster’s spell lands on top of me, doing damage that extends well beyond my total hit points. Then, suddenly, I dodge the wrong direction. I down the riff-raff and get the monster’s health down a sliver. I want that treasure! I charge in, dodging like a mad man, getting just close enough to set my foes ablaze and land the occasional sword swipe while avoiding traps and the wickedly fast attacks from this beast and its companions. (I promise this is the only time I will make a cat pun throughout this review. And that golden chest happens to be guarded by, among other things, a particularly fur-ocious monster. Indeed, there is a lone golden chest within the cave.

The disparity is so large that I don’t really understand the significance of it, other than the general idea that this particular cave offers extreme difficulty, and probably equally powerful loot. That’s almost three times my feeble level 70. There is an indicator over the mouth of the cave that warns me of what I’m about to face. I levitate across the bay, from shore to shore, until I’m standing in front of the mouth of Lonely Cave. With my mighty purple sword in hand, I trudge southwest toward an island in the middle of a bay, where the entrance to a lone cave-called Lonely Cave, actually-dominates the isle’s geography.Ĭats hate water, naturally, but this does not concern me. Story time: On the banks of the Pawcific Ocean, in the sleepy coastal village of East Pawt, I rise from my catnap. While it doesn’t hit the target every time, it gets so much right that it’s difficult to deny how damn fun the game is. Before you know it, you’re fighting mighty dragons and slinging powerful spells on your quest to save your sis and foil Drakoth’s scheme.Ĭat Quest is, in a word, charming. The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed cat hero shortly after he sees his sister kidnapped by the sinister villain Drakoth, a white cat of unimaginable power and mysterious origin. This is the essence of Cat Quest, a 2D action-RPG from the Gentlebros (and published by PQube) that was recently nominated for GooglePlay’s 2017 Indie Game of the Year. In the land of Felingrad, there are cats, there are puns, and there is magic. A Punny, Satisfying Adventure Through the Fantastical Kingdom of Felingrad

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