The acclaimed Cat Quest series is returning with a new and pawtentially awesome chapter, filled with adventure and kitty puns. Trading the fantasy theme of the previous games for a tale filled with seafaring and salty scallywags, Cat Quest 3 retains all the feline charm while putting you in search for treasure with exciting land and sea battles, and a healthy dose of puzzles. The playable build we got to enjoy shows a promising adventure with plenty of combat and exploration, and more meowing than you can find in any other tail.

Tails of the Sea

Cat Quest 3 is an action RPG that can be played solo or in local cooperative mode with a friend. The colorful and cheerful atmosphere is even more vibrant than in previous games, with this distinct swashbuckling flavor where you can almost feel the sand on your toes and the salt in your mouth. Between islands of diverse sizes, your cat is going to jump into their ship to reach the destination, discovering new quests, odd faces, and various dungeons filled with enemies and secrets.

Some of the missions are tongue-in-cheek, reflecting the relaxed and humorous pick-and-play nature of the gameplay, without sacrificing the challenge and a satisfying progression loop. You can be fighting in the overworld to recover a chest or destroy a gate, but the more resourceful pirates will look for opportunities to jump into their vessel and fire cannonballs at the hapless enemies standing on the shore. Other times you will be faced with puzzles, trying to decipher the order which you must hit this group of rocks, look for buried treasure following the clues, or help the triplets to recover their chest keys.

Several dungeons are spread across the islands, some of them retaining the isometric perspective of the overworld, but others taking you into these 2D side-scrolling sections to mix the flavors up a bit. These will again pit you versus a series of enemies, with some puzzles to solve and secrets to find. The overworld map shows the full number of quests in a given island and how many you have completed, which is a nice signal to have, saving you time and keeping you on the right track.

Your cat protagonist can use melee weapons such as swords and claws, but also ranged ones including muskets, along with equipment that gives you various buffs such as hats and shirts. A series of trinkets may give you other advantages when active, from earning additional mana to a chance of casting a spell, but you can only use more of these simultaneously as you level up, unlocking more slots. The same applies to spells, with a dedicated mage where you can upgrade them, as well as a blacksmith that will gladly level up your gear in exchange for some coin. It’s a familiar system that is nonetheless appealing and rewarding, and keeps you striving for better gear, as your cat levels up and becomes stronger with all the new toys.

Your nemesis is the rat faction, or pi-rats, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter other foes such as boars, starfish, and more. So far, it’s not extremely diverse but enough to provide some challenges due to the different attack patterns that you have to learn and anticipate on the spot, and you also have the boss fights to test your skills. With a second player along for the ride, the overworld and dungeon battles become a lot more fun to play, making this a game that seems destined to become a favorite to play with a buddy.

Pawsitive First Impressions

Cat Quest 3 doesn’t reinvent the wool ball, but it’s a delightful and vibrant open world action adventure that is unlikely to fail on what it tries to deliver. The instant gratification that you get from the first few minutes is something that not many games manage to nail down, and exploring the islands the way we see fit is a joy, even more with another player on our side. Even if you are a dog person, these pirate kitties are bound to give you some exciting adventures when the official launch arrives next August.

MP1st was given access to a preview build of Cat Quest 3 for our hands-on session. Cat Quest 3 is launching for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and Series S in August 8, 2024.