Curse of the Sea Rats Review (PlayStation 5)

by Jim Smale · April 11, 2023

For our Curse of the Sea Rats, Where we play embark on an epic, hand-animated, ‘ratoidvania’ adventure, our crew has been turned into rats by a pirate witch! We explore a rich non-linear world, enjoy fun action platforming, face challenging bosses, and unlock unique abilities. To regain their human bodies, they will have to fight dangerous bosses, uncover the secrets of the vast Irish coast, and ultimately capture the witch who cursed them.

Curse of the Sea Rats Review Pros:

Beautiful high-def cartoon graphics.
3.17GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
You get the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game.
Game settings – combat text, minimap, multiplayer camera type, screenshake, and vibration.
3 save slots.
Four characters – David Douglas, Buffalo Calf, Bussa, and Akane Yamakawa.
2 – 4 Player local multiplayer.
Good voicework.
Metroidvania platformer gameplay.
2D perspective.
In-game cutscenes.
Tutorial pop-ups and set pieces as you play.
Hack and slash melee combat housing a lot of attacks from crouch kicks to uppercuts and bodyslams.
The map fills in as you explore.
Full 3D animated backdrops.
You can fast-forward interactions and cutscenes.
Wu Yun allows you to swap characters, and upgrade with your tokens. He heals you aswel.
When you die you drop all your tokens and have one life to retrieve them.
Enemies respawn when you leave the screen.
Loot chests and enemy drops.
A handy shortcut for eating food to replenish health.
Combat does require a skill.
You can grab onto ledges and pull yourself up.
Ancestral doors are used as fast travel points.
You can farm sections to level up.
Two upgrade trees for melee and magic.

Curse of the Sea Rats Review Cons:

Combat takes some getting used to.
The opening segment is very slow.
Each character plays differently and you don’t get told that or have any help when changing to a new character.
The annoying mechanic where you lose tons of damage by being too close to an enemy.
Difficulty spikes especially with boss fights.
Cannot pan the camera around.
Never sure what can or cannot be broken.
Checkpoints are far away from each other meaning a lot of replaying the same section.
Too many times you get a cheap shot by an enemy hidden by the foreground art.
Just feels a bit flat and lifeless.
It just takes ages to get going.
Combat is such that you can’t be punching and swapping directions.