‘Curse of the Sea Rats’ promises too much

Fast action, magic and swashbuckling adventures await players in “Curse of the Sea Rats,” the latest release from independent games developer Petoons Studio. Available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox, the platform adventure role-playing game follows the metroidvania tradition.

A group of prisoners aboard a British naval ship are transformed into rats by the evil pirate witch Flora Burn. The prisoners agree to save the Admiral’s kidnapped son, defeat Flora and break the magical spell to regain their freedom. “Curse of the Sea Rats” delivers gorgeous animations, but ultimately fails to fully commit to its “ratoidvania” premise.

“Curse of the Sea Rats” follows various characters embroiled in the political turmoil of colonization. The year is 1777, and with the entire crew turned into giant rats, the outlook isn’t good. Fortunately, players can choose from four heroes to embark on an epic journey across the mysterious coasts of Ireland to end their magical punishment: American soldier David Douglas, Cheyenne hunter Buffalo Calf, Bajan rebel leader Bussa or Japanese Onna-bugeisha warrior Akane Yamakawa. Each character has a distinct personality and motivation to return to their human form, but hold little sway over the story’s direction.

The game relies on a few tired tropes to get each hero’s concept across and doesn’t provide much character development overall. However, as a combat-heavy metroidvania, the narrative’s limited player choice doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

Swapping between characters is actually encouraged. After each failed battle, players return to a mystical checkpoint where they meet Wu Yun, a spirit that inhabits an ancient talisman. Wu Yun promises to turn the heroes back into humans if they help him recover his magical energy.

The heart of “Curse of the Sea Rats” lies in its art. The setting is rich with detail and colors that immerse players in the enigmatic beauty of the Irish coast. The hand-drawn 2D character animations are overlaid nicely onto 3D environments, creating a 2.5D side-scrolling experience that breathes life into the bizarre enemies obstructing the player’s journey. In between defeating combusting crustaceans and malevolent molluscs, players can admire the deep glens and ancient ruins of the Irish seaside.

For the most part, land progression isn’t locked behind certain story checkpoints. This nonlinear storytelling forms a very individualized experience since players can encounter different bosses on their own timelines. 

Minor characters scattered throughout the map offer players side quests. Most of these side quests have little effect on the main story but can provide helpful items for players to use in combat. Players will have to keep careful track of each side quest on their own, since there isn’t a side quest tracker to remind players of their progress, leaving many encounters completely forgotten.

Despite its appealing visuals and enthralling premise, “Curse of the Sea Rats” has a few gameplay mechanic issues that make its core combat too unbalanced. The game has both a single-player and local co-op multiplayer mode. When in co-op mode, the heroes’ various fighting styles complement each other well and make progression smooth. Unfortunately, this leaves the single-player mode with a somewhat lopsided difficulty scale.

The first boss, Flora’s righthand rat nicknamed “Fatso,” is one of the most difficult bosses in the entire game. After breezing through the first level of minor enemies, Fatso is a powerhouse that requires a lot of level grinding right away. For players new to metroidvanias or just getting used to the controls, this can be demoralizing. The next few bosses following Fatso are much easier, since the player has presumably leveled up significantly in between checkpoints. 

Metroidvanias aren’t supposed to be easy, but by starting out at a higher difficulty than its final few bosses, “Curse of the Sea Rats” impedes its own fun. Rewards feel earned on the basis of grinding instead of utilizing strategy. 

The beautiful character animations also hinder combat since each intricate attack takes a significant amount of time to complete. Attacking leaves characters incapable of making critical mid-move changes or defending themselves as player movement is locked during attack animations. Sometimes, characters’ hitboxes don’t align with the animation and can make it difficult to tell when an enemy has landed a hit or not.

“Curse of the Sea Rats” has an incredible atmosphere and lovingly hand-drawn visuals that make the pirate-infested seaside a true wonder. The interesting premise and fun rat-filled world may engage many players, but for those looking for a challenging metroidvania, the unpolished combat leaves much to be desired. Future patches to fix bugs and the difficulty scaling may improve player experience.