Cat Quest 3 review - A purrtastic cat & mouse pursuit of fool's gold

With Cat Quest 3, developer The Gentlebros returns to deliver a brand-new adventure centered around the adorable yellow kitty. Moving away from the fantasy setting of Felingard of the past two games, this new entry puts you in the shoes of a "purrivateer" as they venture across the Purribean archipelago, striving to hunt down a fabled treasure called the North Star.

Alongside their spirit buddy Captain Cappy, the duo must traverse the sandbox world in pursuit of what they believe will grant their deepest desires. What lies ahead is a journey teeming with perils and wonders, with both new allies to meet and foes to fight. Here's our full review of Cat Quest 3.

Cat Quest 3 is a delightful cat-buckling adventure that is as fun as it is charming

And so the adventure begins... (Image via Kepler Interactive)

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The story sees you step into the boots of the Seeker, a yellow kitty with a mysterious symbol on the back of their head. Together with his pirate-in-crime Captain Cappy, the two arrive on the shores of the Purribean, a massive archipelago that hides many secrets, including the elusive North Star treasure.

They are not alone in this treasure hunt. Various other pirate factions also seek the North Star for their attempts at world domination, so the Seeker will have ample competition amid this brief adventure. These include the main antagonist the Pi-Rat King and other Pirate Lords like the robotic Captain Meowtallika and the Japanglish-speaking Captain Takemeowki.

The Seeker will also meet new friendly faces, such as the muscle-bound tavern keeper Mama Milka or the mysterious Aelius. These characters will help the Seeker in their own way during the journey, giving rise to a tale of friendship, trust, and camaraderie - despite the obvious air of unforeseen danger lurking around the North Star and the fact that it is not what it seems. Overall, the story of Cat Quest 3 is a surprisingly wholesome one.

Things get crazy very quick (Image via Kepler Interactive)

Note that this is a direct sequel to the past two entries and the game's important plot sequences will touch on these elements. If, like me, Cat Quest 3 is your first venture into The Gentlebros' charming action RPG series, you will end up being slightly confused.

Still, playing the previous games is unnecessary. While the lore is well-established and even interesting to an extent, the largely predictable story is not the selling point of Cat Quest 3. In other words, newcomers can dive into this sea-faring adventure without hesitation.

The game also features multiple endings depending on how players go about accomplishing certain key objectives. While I will not spoil anything, readers should know that this is not the end of the Cat Quest series as the True Ending sets up the stage for a sequel with more high-stakes adventures to come.

Slash, shoot, and loot your way to the North Star

Every dungeon has hidden chests with random loot (Image via Kepler Interactive)

As mentioned before, Cat Quest 3 is an open-world action RPG. As the Seeker, you will explore the Purribean from an isometric perspective, exploring the islands for clues leading to the North Star and defeating foes that stand in your way. The world is decently sized, riddled with different islands and islets, each with its own enemy encounters, dungeons, puzzles, and rewards.

Since this is an archipelago, the primary mode of getting around will be via a ship. However, the non-linear nature of the sandbox means players can go anywhere on the map right from the get-go. In typical genre fashion, Cat Quest 3 governs progression by featuring higher-level enemies that roam further-off areas - including optional endgame bosses - so you must get stronger to beat them.

While you will start with basic equipment, you will quickly find new gear from chests and level up by gathering dropped XP crystals from foes. This is a very simple RPG, with no exaggerated stat screens to pour over or combo lists to memorize. Besides being able to run and dodge, there is only one button for attacking. Repeatedly tapping the button with a melee weapon equipped is enough to execute a combo.

Combat is fast and fluid yet simple to execute (Image via Kepler Interactive)

Projectile weapons also exist in the form of staves and guns, with the latter having ammo magazines that refill automatically. What doesn't is the magic meter; Cat Quest 3 also features a handful of spells for the Seeker to learn and equip. These spells, however, utilize MP indicated by crystals beneath the HP bar. Striking foes generate mana, so this incentivizes you to play aggressively.

The same is true of the ship combat, with standard attacks filling up the Special Cannon gauge to fire powerful attacks at any pesky enemy pirate ships. This is a fairly laid-back gameplay experience, so it is not a hard journey by any means. That said, you will still have to poke at every out-of-place object or solve simple puzzles to get rewarded with a cool item.

You can become stronger by leveling up acquired armor, weapons, and trinkets (of which there are dozens to be found) at the Blacksmith using Gold in Pawt Purrvana, the only town in the game. In-game money is easy to come buy via normal progression and exploration.

Each dungeon has a different boss, enemies, and rewards (Image via Kepler Interact)

On that line of thought, Cat Quest 3 does not believe in wasting the players' time. Save points dotted around the map allow saving progress and restoring HP/MP fully anytime at no extra cost or penalty. The dungeons are linear, allowing achievement hunters to avoid jumping through hoops to explore and fully exhaust an area with all its collectibles.

The game also features seamless drop-in drop-out co-op though it only supports local play for 2 players. For those who wish to grow stronger quickly, test out different gear setups, or simply whack away at foes, there is also a wave-based gauntlet that further adds replayability to the whole package.

All in all, it is this unburdened simplicity and ease of play that makes Cat Quest 3 so hard to put down once you pick it up. However, I do wish the game had a fast-travel system. While the map is not big by any means, sailing across the same straits and gulfs just to upgrade your gear can get boring.

Graphics, sound, and performance

The game is often a looker (Image via Kepler Interactive)

Cat Quest 3 features 2D elements juxtaposed against 3D backgrounds, and the end result is a gorgeous game that looks pretty no matter where you are on the map. The artwork and sprites are high-detail with simple but charming animations backing them.

The game runs surprisingly smoothly too. While the Graphics options are barebones, with only a resolution and visual quality toggle, I had no problem getting well over 100 FPS at 1440p max settings on my laptop-grade Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU.

All of this is wrapped in a medley of soothing adventurous pirate tunes whether you're traversing the isles beating up Pi-Rats or sailing the high seas in pursuit of mythical beasts and untold treasures - befitting for an adventure as grand yet charming as Cat Quest.

In conclusion

Set forth on a journey like no other (Image via Kepler Interactive)

Ever since Cat Quest 3 dropped on my radar, I had been looking forward to getting my hands on it. Now that I've beat the game in about 8 hours, I can happily say that the title met my expectations in nearly every aspect. This is a product that is as high quality as initial, eye-balling impressions make it out to be.

While I am not one to replay games, Cat Quest 3's whimsical story, easy-to-digest gameplay, and loot progression have lured me into starting a New Game Plus save file - which features stronger foes to defeat and increases the level cap for upgrading gear.

To achieve all that while also hooking the player in for a second sitting proves that developer The Gentlebros has managed to craft a treasure that is easily one of the most memorable indie gems of the year.