Though I’ve admittedly always been more of a dog person, I adore our cat Ollie – the supreme overlord and purveyor of all snacks, giver of cuddles and desirer of lappies, source of endless energy and mischief, and primary keeper of the singular orange cat brain cell. He’s adorable and also kind of insane, and I love him dearly.
And who doesn’t love a good cat meme? I dare even the most hardened dog-lover to look at r/oneorangebraincell and not at least give a sensible chuckle at the craziness that is the orange cat thought process (or lack thereof).
I say this because Cat Quest is one big cat meme, and I mean this in the best pawsible way. It’s obvious that Singaporean developer Gentlebros made Cat Quest as a love letter to our feline overlords, and its constant stream of cat puns and references add up to an amewsing, adorably fun experience.
Seriously, there are a lot of cat puns in the game.
At its core, Cat Quest is a basic action RPG. You, the Hero, wander the world of Felingard with the goal of rescuing your sister, who has been catnapped by a mysterious sorcerer named Drakoth (also, you guessed it, a cat). You soon find out that you’re actually a Dragonblood – a cat with the power to defeat the dragons that have suddenly reappeared across the kingdom. It’s up to you, Hero, to save not only your sister, but the entire kingdom from cat-astrophe.
It definitely plays more as a satirical take on a classic RPG plot, but despite the absurd premise, the story actually has some deeper moments and emotional beats, and it’s solid enough to grab your attention for the 8 or so hours the game lasts.
The gameplay is that of a fairly standard 2D action RPG, with a heavy dose of Zelda and Diablo as inspiration. It’s very hack-and-slash, with a focus on avoiding enemy attacks that are telegraphed on the ground. When you see the circle or arrow that signifies an oncoming attack, you’ll have a brief oppurrtunity to dodge out of the way before running in to get off another flurry of attacks yourself. It’s basic, but fun, and it can get frantic when there are lots of enemies on screen.
Our totally pawsome Hero can also purchase and upgrade magic spells to use in combat. Cat Quest‘s magic system takes a bit of inspiration from the Tales series: once the Hero’s mana is depleted, it must be recharged by hitting enemies with weapon attacks. Just like when enemies cast spells, positioning is key as the spells each have a specific pattern in which they are cast on the battlefield. The spells themselves are fairly basic – fire, ice, healing, spikes on the ground, etc. – but everything comes together to create a satisfying combat system despite its simplicity.
The rewards for all this exploring and fighting come in the form of EXP, gold, and maybe most importantly of all, loot. Cat Quest is pretty generous with throwing new gear your way, and if you get a duplicate piece of armor or weapon, it’ll instead upgrade the one you already have. There’s a decent amount of experimentation that you can do with the gear you receive and it’s fun to try different builds to find the purrfect combination for your playstyle.
The journey across Felingard takes place on a big world map – and by that, I mean actually on a world map like you’d use for fast travel and navigation in an RPG. Locations are labeled directly on the map, and you’ll journey across such locales as the Catpital, Furbidden Fields, and Bermewda’s Triangle. It’s a decently-sized world for such a bite-sized game: big enough that the lack of fast travel can lead to some tedium.
Enemies appear directly on the map as well, and their difficulty scales the further you venture from your starting area near the capital. Towns are also generously scattered around Felingard, allowing you to restore your health (by taking a catnap, of course) and pick up side quests from the notice boards – more on those shortly.
A good chonk of your time in Cat Quest will be spent dungeon-crawling. Dozens of dungeons litter the map, each labeled with a suggested level. These dungeons are bite-sized chambers filled with enemies and treasure, usually with paths delineated by EXP points. None of them are particularly complex, and there’s nothing in the way of puzzles like you’d typically find in an RPG dungeon. They also all look pretty much the same with little to tell them apart from each other and a fairly plain cave aesthetic. They’re great for looting and grinding though since you can complete them any number of times, albeit the enemies and rewards never change, and any looted treasure chests stay looted.
As I mentioned before, side quests are available on the notice boards in many of the towns throughout Felingard. Most of these quests are simple “go here, do this, kill these enemies” type fodder, but they’re short enough that you can get into a groove very easily. Most towns have a set of four or five quests that build on each other and form a short narrative. Problem is, you can only have one quest active at a time, and you have to return to the same board to trigger the next quest. And, again, there’s no fast travel, so having to constantly return to the same town multiple times over can become tedious.
Your journey through Felingard isn’t a particularly punishing one, but it’s not a cakewalk either. There were several times during my playthrough that I got overwhelmed by enemies or bit off more than I could chew. Fortunately, you’re never more than a minute or two away from a checkpoint, and if you’re low on health you can just hop over to the nearest town for a free catnap. Grinding levels is also fairly speedy, especially in the late game, so things never get insurmountable.
Cat Quest is a fantastic palate cleanser game. It’s short enough to be beaten in a weekend with a good “just one more” hook to its quests; it’s humorous and fun; and it’s all wrapped up in a simple but colorful and delightful art style. I’d be lion if I said it was a purrfect game by any means – the combat is basic, the dungeon crawling and questing can get a bit repetitive, and I guess the constant stream of cat puns might be a bit much for some (soulless) people. But its flaws are furgivable, and Cat Quest is a charming action RPG worthy of all but the most hardened cat-detractor’s attention.
