Another Crab’s Treasure is finally out, and if you’re as much of a sucker for soulslikes as I am, you’re likely picking it up. Good news: it’s pretty great and packed to the brim with charming nods to the Souls games, tight combat and skills, and funny-as-hell jokes. One of its running gags could potentially bite you in the ass though, costing you some much-needed healing. Here’s what you need to know to not get suckered by a cute animation in Another Crab’s Treasure.
The main character, Kril, has an idle animation that begins to cycle after about 50 seconds of leaving him alone. The animation itself is adorable, and features Kril juggling a heartkelp pod, Another Crab’s Treasure’s equivalent of healing potions or estus flasks. It’s a playful bit that has him using his fork and various appendages to juggle the kelp like a seasoned futbolista. You go, Kril! However, taking control of him once again will abruptly scare Kril out of the idle animation, causing him to fumble the heartkelp pod and potentially lose it.
Don’t fret, you can pick it back up assuming that the heartkelp has landed somewhere reachable. They can often be picked up around the world and are featured in a number of boss fights, so hope is never entirely lost if you do happen to drop one into a chasm, which can happen more often than you might think. Players also regain all their heartkelps upon resting at Another Crab’s Treasure’s bonfires, which are called Moon Snail Shells. However, I would still be mindful of where exactly you let Kril idle, as many locations—including a number of Moon Snail shells—are precarious spots for heartkelp juggling, being situated on ledges or sometimes bridges missing a few planks. I let Kril idle at some of these supposed safe spots thinking I’d be fine, only to be betrayed by this Trojan horse of an animation, because when he fumbles the heartkelp, he sends it flying forward quite a bit more than you’d expect. To get away with it and face no consequences, give Kril ample room so that you can see the animation and still recover your stuff.
It’s important to note that if you don’t have heartkelp pods in your inventory, Kril won’t do any idle animation. Without them, Kril will simply stand in place. Can’t lose what you don’t have after all, but you do miss out on a hell of cute time watching him go at it.
Assuming you do have heartkelp pods, you might not want to risk losing one of them in the early stretches of Another Crab’s Treasure, when there are precious few to go around. And despite the fact that resting at Moon Snail shells is always generally a good idea—since they heal you, restore your heartkelp pods, and serve as checkpoints and fast-travel spots—they also respawn enemies. Another Crab’s Treasure’s common enemies are as devious as some of its bosses, and in certain tough areas, you might be better off taking the loss of a heartkelp pod than resetting some tough-as-nails hammer-swinging crabs.
Basically, be careful where you leave Kril. And for the love of god, if you’re facing an edge, just pause the actual game rather than leaving Kril just standing there. You’ll thank me later.