Getting overexcited for big spectacle games is too much of a regular occurrence in our industry. Rarely is focus spent on the smaller scoped but incredibly well-executed projects. We need to go back to our roots. We need to give flowers to simple and clean games, much like the wise, iconic words of Hilary Utada in the Kingdom Hearts series’ soundtrack. Cat Quest III is exactly this, an underdog that is an utter delight and never overextends its welcome or ambition. It’s also one of the best indie game experiences of the year. I’m not even kidding.

Three entries into the quirky dungeon-crawling adventure series filled with feline friends and many a pun and developer The Gentlebros has knocked it out of the park and delivered one of the best pick-up-and-play co-op experiences in years.

Cat Quest III follows a swashbuckling tale where a cat adventurer (or a pair in co-op) take to the seas in search of a great treasure: The Northern Star treasure. Set in the Purribean, the archipelago that lies ahead of you is home to many dungeons, caves, secrets and quirky characters. However, like prior Cat Quest entries, the narrative takes a backseat and isn’t all that deep or involved with its beats, instead primarily offering a lush sandbox to explore in. Using a more grounded but welcome sense of discovery compared to those of bigger titles, there’s always an oddity or piece of loot within arm’s reach.

It doesn’t take long for it to become apparent that Cat Quest III is an amalgamation of all that has come before it in the series. Even if you’re a newcomer to it all, the good news is that you’re playing the best one with more quality-of-life additions than ever. The game just simply feels so good to play: You’ve got magic spells to use, a melee weapon such as a sword or shield and a ranged weapon in a gun or magical wand. You’re constantly getting new gear and levels and unlocking many a quest. Cat Quest III does an incredible job of dangling carrots or points of interest to its players. I played through the entire game in local couch co-op with my partner and often we’d drop what we were doing and see a curious island or person in need of rescuing and be led on a new path. Unlike in earlier titles, you can go anywhere in the Purribean at any time. There’s no ability that you have to wait for to fly to clear a gap or the ability to walk on water. You can just swim there now or travel by boat.

You’ll also happen upon NPCs in your expedition with side quests to issue you. From the local PostMutt General sending you on a comically long game of communication tag as you deliver mail across the land to getting sidetracked as you hunt for mystical fish or puzzles and caves that contain secrets… there’s never a shortage of stuff to do, all streamlined and introduced to the player with incredible pacing. The Purribean is also unbelievably gorgeous. The game has a quasi-isometric perspective, having you explore a 2.5D open-world environment overworld. Cat Quest III is like if the very original Final Fantasys were questathons with the HD graphics of today. Gorgeous crystal blue seas, striking and colourful character design that does well in distinguishing the cast, dozens of particle effects as you cast spells with electric blue lightning crackling across the screen or fiery orange fireballs erupting in an arena; Cat Quest III’s world is breathtaking. I want to bathe and be in it.

The co-op also smoothens out difficulty kinks and spikes. Often my partner and I felt confident in ourselves and took on enemies sufficient levels ahead of us. Ship combat found in the game is effective at raising havoc at not just other ships but mooks on the shore. With simple cannon fires and a special shot cooldown, it’s another button-mashy affair but effective if you boost and dodge in and out of canals and away from the gunfire. A really strong strategy that I recommend is to split your party up, having one of you on land pulling more enemies near the shore in the range of the ship while the other blasts away from the vessel. This is an important strategy because, in the only way that co-op gameplay lets up, you can only summon in one ship. You don’t get a ship each to control and whenever you’re both on board you both have the ability to control it, leading to awkward instances where your partner is accidentally pulling the vessel one way and you another. Just let us both control a ship each to fill our foes with cannon holes, I beg of you!

Cat Quest III is a game that might pass a lot of players by. You’d be forgiven if you considered it another one of ‘those’ indie games, highly disposable and made for a cheap buck. I promise it’s not and is instead, like the entire series, well worth your time. I know this because it used to be me until I earlier in the year took a chance on the franchise with the earlier games.  It’s an adventure game with a series of cats and a lot of puns thrown at you ad nauseam. It’s charming for a bit, then if you’re like me you might catch yourself rolling your eyes at the millionth time the game tries to find a way to fit meow or paw into another word (see: a-meowzing, meow-ntain, pawsome, apawling etc). Quickly though, I’m switching myself out of this ambivalence and marvelling at what a delight the game is. It’s comfort food for the soul. The pinnacle of ‘switch your brain off and mash some buttons’ video games. I love this game.

I managed to clear Cat Quest III in about seven hours with only a small serving of side offerings to spare. In that time I had so much fun with my partner buying, discovering and upgrading spells and weapons. I clashed heads with the villainous rat pirate known as the ‘Pi-rat King.’ I went to a Meowtallica concert. I developed a crush on a pretty cat lady barmaid and I sailed the high seas. I more than feel like I got my money’s worth and I can’t even detail or spoil some of the other exciting stuff! This is a video game ass video game and I wouldn’t want it any other way.