Paws for Adventure

A delightful little love letter to Link's N64 era mixed with the esoteric vibes of the Warrior Cats mythos, Paws for Adventure manages to capture what seems to have evaded several games of the last few years: the simple pleasure of being a cat. Granted, this isn't the plush and pampered lifestyle of a house cat, that all goes out the window within the game's first minutes, but by the time you find yourself mastering the art of sneaking up and pouncing on a bird before it flies away, or deftly darting left and right to take on a creature thrice your size with nothing but your claws, you'll really find yourself absorbed in the feline mindset. Pairing this experience with a charming little tale about the politics of cat clans, the mysteries of the spirit world, and the musical magic of meowing makes for a gameplay experience that had me grinning ear-to-ear throughout. This is all helped by the game's excellently chosen Kevin Mcleod soundtrack and retro visual design, made especially authentic by being made in a retro engine, Blitz3D, which gives it a sense of having found a hidden gem tucked away in the shovelware section of a games shop. Really, the only drawbacks in my experience were a few glitches I encountered, but none were gamebreaking, and all seem to be either addressed or are planning to be addressed in the near future, so I can only imagine other's experiences will be even smoother than mine. If you're in the mood for a nice little ~6 hour adventure of Ocarina of Time by way of Erin Hunter, there's really nowhere better to turn!

I have a long ways to go but it is already clear this game is made with a lot of passion. Can't wait to dig in more <3

A nice little game about cats!

100% RECOMMEND ! if you love cats you will enjoy playing as one :)

I bought Paws for Adventure to play with my 1 year old. So far the peekaboo cat on the start screens is the killer feature.

If you're a fan of chill games, check out Paws for Adventure. It only released a couple of weeks ago. While a little slow and repetitive to start, it really opens up and there's quite a bit to explore, challenging boss enemies to fight, hunting, puzzles... Paws for Adventure is a charming and relaxing game that sees you playing as a cat - hunting (sneaking, pouncing), fighting, & exploring. Quite a few nifty puzzles snuck in too. Be great for kids. For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/

Ignore my playtime, it initially said 19.2 hours but reset because I was playing this game offline. I then had to idle the game in online mode just to be able to write a review. This game is not short, though it's also not super long, it's just a fine amount of length. It was worth it when I bought it discounted and I can assure you had I bought it full price it would still have been worth it. There is a saying about diamonds in the rough, but diamonds are something seen as perfect. I would not say that this is a perfect game, but if you search the rough looking only for perfection, you'll miss out on all kinds of gems, flawed, uncut, fractured or fragmented, but gems nonetheless. Paws for Adventure is one of these gems. Seek not the diamond in the rough for you'll miss the joys provided by gems like this. Paws for Adventure is a 3D game with 2D art. It is an adventure game along the lines of The Legend of Zelda. It feels like a condensed version of the Young Link content of Ocarina of Time, if you want an idea of how long the game is. There are plenty of optional puzzles to do to get rewards and the game goes in several directions you wouldn't expect a game like this to go in. There are some issues, some bugs and glitches or some pains with the combat or platforming, but they are issues I was able to get used to and eventually felt second nature to work around. What used to be precise platforming perils became easy platforming. What used to be combat of attacking once and backflipping turned into a far more aggressive attack - dodge roll - attack pattern. The game is inspired by Zelda but instead of new items, you get new traversal moves that aid in moving around the various parts of the game world. The visuals are lovely and a standout point was when I was on the cliffs and could see the entire world map below, laid out like a Mode 7 SNES game world map. It was truly awe-inspiring. This game is also clearly inspired by the Warriors Cats book series, to some degree, but I cannot personally say how much as I am not familiar with the series. A friend who is very familiar has said that this takes inspiration from them but that it is definitely doing its own thing with the ideas of the multiple cat colony tribes and the like. If you are looking for a game that is more akin to Warriors Cats, my friend says that Cattails is closer. You should still try this game though, because it's good. To cut all the hoity toity talk, let me sum it up like this. Do you like cats? Do you like cheap games that are worth way more than their asking price? Do you like competent Zelda clones? Do you like very pretty uses of 2D sprites in a 3D world? You will like this game. I highly recommend it. Unless Grindalf releases 10 sequels to this game before the end of the year, this game will definitely be going onto my top 10 games I've played this year list. This is clearly a labor of love and passion, as well as a touching tribute to those creatures who spend their shorter lives making large impacts on our own lives. This is just an overall pleasant and lovely game and I will certainly be following the developer's future work. A game like this is what terms like underrated were made to describe and I hope I can bring more people to discovering and enjoying this game.

Meow Meow Meow Meooow Jokes aside; this is a lovely overlooked Hidden Gem with clearly many hours and love put into it. Very reminiscent of old RPG's. You must learn to behave like a wild cat, all the while befriending the local animal community's and fending off attackers. The story has some unexpected turns and I look forwards to seeing where it all takes me. There appears to be many extra things to do besides the main story quest too.

Go watch those trailers. Do you like the art, the music, the vibes? You will probably not be disappointed in this game, it has it's flaws but the style, sense of place, and overall vibes remain 10/10 the entire time. To get the bad out of the way: The eight way movement takes some getting used to, and I had to use third party software to rebind controls on the current PC version. (Steam Input apparently works fine for Steam Deck, and is being worked on for an update. By default movement is on the D-Pad, which makes sense for eight way movement but feels off in 3D to me.) The combat is extremely shallow and mostly feels like it's just there because this sort of adventure game is supposed to have combat. The singing controls on controller are really slow and get really tedious, and between some RNG and a fairly slow initial move speed, some of the hunting and fishing quests can as well. But I got used to the movement, the combat is mostly skippable outside of boss fights, and the hunting and fishing quests came with some extra time strolling around a lovely forest and beach respectively. (The singing never got better, but I just found out it has more direct input on keyboard.) So, at least for me, none of these are deal breakers. Meanwhile, the environments are excellent. From the serene forests and beaches, to the adventurous fields and mountains, to the mysterious and often eerie dungeons and other places. If you love low poly 3D environments, you are in for a treat here, and even moreso if you, like me, are a big fan of 2D sprites in 3D environments, and cats. Lots and lots of cats. The writing goes a few places I wouldn't have expected, both in ways that extended the game a bit longer than expected and in a few bits that made me legitimately tear up. Again, it can be a little rough, it maybe could have used some more proofreading for professionalism's sake, but that does leave it with a really charming amateur feel to it. Really, that's a good description of this game in general. It's incredibly charming. It's flawed, but it has heart. I certainly enjoyed my time with it, and I'm going to go back for those last couple of achievements, look forward to that update, and check out the dev's other projects while I'm at it. It's an incredibly chill and cozy game that still manages to nail the gravitas when it needs to. Definitely recommended.