Cat Quest is a light-hearted and almost purrfect little catventure
What happens when a cat goes on a quest? Well, usually it returns with a big fat mouse or rat as a gift to you. In Cat Quest, they return with big fat loot too, but this time it’s hours of light-hearted, easy-going roleplaying fun with tons of feline puns. Singapore-based developer The Gentlebros delivers a highly polished and addictive little adventure to all cat lovers (and to those who will become cat lovers soon). Let’s dive right into it.
Cat Quest is set in a fantasy open world populated by our feline friends called – yep – Felingard. The beautifully crafted 2D world will be our playground for the next few hours as we embark on a trip with our cat hero to liberate the world from dark forces and evil mages. The story is a straightforward parody of Skyrim, involving of course dragons and dark magic. Prepare for a vast amount of cat wordplay on the way!
With our kitten friend and its helper fairy (with cat ears) we explore the world from a top down perspective. All gameplay is handled in this view which gives a very immersive feeling. As in true roleplaying games, we want to become stronger by earning experience and gold. This is accomplished through completing the main and many side quests on the way. None of those take longer than a few minutes to accomplish, providing a very satisfying flow. Helping the inhabitants of Felingard usually involves fighting monsters, investigating strange events or fetching items. While this doesn’t sound very innovative, it’s the little stories that make the deal. Each quest has its own little adventure told in light-hearted and quite funny conversations with sometimes surprising twists and lots of humor.
Cats usually fight with fangs and claws but in Cat Quest, they rely on more traditional RPG material: Swords, axes, chain armor or mage robes. Those items are awarded as rewards for accomplished quests, can be found in dungeons and bought from the merchant. Fighting involves melee attack chains and the ability to dodge enemy attacks. It is concluded with a range of powerful spells. While not utterly complex, the fights against various enemy types require different strategies and can be quite challenging against bosses or high level foes.
Cat Quest has a few minor flaws. Combat can sometimes be confusing as too many effects appear on screen at the same time. Quests involve a lot of traveling that sometimes feels as a mean to artificially stretch the play time. And the over 60 dungeons of the game appear quite repetitive after a while. Yet, The Gentlebros accomplish to deliver some surprises for attentive travelers who like to explore. The good news is, that they also work on making their game a better experience. The developers recently released a huge update with bug fixes, comfort functions and new game modes such as a new game plus.
Cat Quest could easily be mistaken as a standard casual game at first. Its game mechanics are simple, and the story isn’t very deep. Yet, it achieves to bridge the gap between casual and hardcore RPGs in a very satisfying way through challenging fights, a motivating leveling system and charming characters. Drawing inspiration from older Zelda titles and the aforementioned Skyrim, it delivers an entertaining little adventure that will keep you busy for a few hours and make you laugh a lot along the way.
This review of Cat Quest is based on the Steam version. The game is also available on mobile platforms Android and iOS as well as consoles PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
