Cat Quest 3 Interview
Image: Push Square

The Cat Quest series has long impressed us with its all-ages take on the action RPG formula, and with Cat Quest 3 fast approaching, we wanted to check in with developer The Gentlebros. Luckily for us, studio CEO, artist, and designer Desmond Wong was willing to answer our questions, telling us all about the new game's additions, improvements, and lessons learned from previous projects. We even got some insight into The Gentlebros itself, and what's next for the team.

Push Square: To start with, can you give us an overview of what's new in Cat Quest 3?

Desmond Wong, CEO, artist, and designer: The biggest new addition in Cat Quest 3 is the fully controllable pirate ship players can sail around the Purribean with. The pirate ship is smooth and easy to control, making it feel different from ships in other games.

In addition to that, we’ve revamped almost every mechanic and system in Cat Quest 3 so everything feels tighter and fresh again.

Have you made any notable changes or improvements to existing gameplay, like the combat system, or the co-op system?

Yes! Combat is tighter with much greater feedback when attacking and damaging enemies. We’ve added a new swap weapon action that allows players to swap between a melee and long ranged weapon, expanding the option in combat two-fold.

Exploration has also been improved with a change in camera angle. Players can now see much further than they ever could, which allows for new explorative elements that a Cat Quest never had before.

The co-op system also went through a minor revamp and will no longer require an AI partner to take the second player’s role. A totally new and original purrcaneer will appear whenever co-op is enabled, allowing players to have the best of both worlds.

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Cat Quest 3 obviously has a pirate theme — what made you decide on this direction?

We knew it was going to be pirates right from the beginning. Back when we were first concepting the Cat Quest world, we had already planned what each kingdom in this world would be like. Therefore, when it came to introducing the pi-rats to the Cat Quest universe, it was natural to bring players to the Purribean!

How long can players expect the adventure to last?

The main catventure will range around 10 hours, but a full complete playthrough could last up to 15-20 hours. This doesn’t take into consideration New Game+ or the upcoming Mew Game mode which could double that even further!

Does New Game+ return in Cat Quest 3?

Absolutely! New Game+ works slightly differently this time too. Besides retaining all their levels and armor, NG+ will award players a special quest item that would allow them to skip events right up to the final boss. This change in structure allows players to craft the existing adventure in a way that previous games did not allow.

How big is the team that's working on Cat Quest 3 at this point? How much has The Gentlebros grown over the years in terms of studio size?

We’re eight people now, and we’ve grown from the three co-founders that made the first Cat Quest. With more people, we’re able to create more varied things in the game and incorporate so many cool ideas that the original three members could not on their own.

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Did you always plan on making three Cat Quest games, or is it just something that was decided over time?

We actually have a road map of nine Cat Quest games (because cats have nine lives), and we’ve followed that plan quite closely so far! We know what is going to happen next in the series, and if Cat Quest 3 does well, we can’t wait to make it a reality!

What's it been like to see the Cat Quest games be so well received, by both critics and players?

It has been amazing, and we feel so lucky for that! We’ve always strived to make games that we would like to play ourselves, so it’s very heartwarming to see so many people share our passions too.

Did you learn any important lessons from making Cat Quest and Cat Quest 2? How did your experience with those games change your approach to Cat Quest 3?

Yes, we learned a lot about how to approach and design a sequel. When working on Cat Quest 2, although we added an entirely new co-op system, many other aspects of the game were simply tweaked or improved slightly. On the whole, Cat Quest 2 was simply a bigger and better version of the first Cat Quest.

When approaching Cat Quest 3, we wanted to do better. We wanted the third iteration to still feel like a Cat Quest game, but also feel fresh and new at the same time. To do this, we looked at every system we had originally designed and asked ourselves if we could do it in a different way. Even the camera angle did not escape this scrutiny, and as can be seen, just a small tweak in the camera results in something that instantly feels fresh and different!

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We have to ask: is there potential for another Cat Quest game after Cat Quest 3? Or might the team move on to something new?

We do have plans for a fourth one sometime down the road, but for our next project we’re eager to try something completely new!

And finally, do you have anything you'd like to say to our readers?

We can never say this enough but thank you to everyone for playing the Cat Quest games. It’s only because of our fans that we can keep making more in this series!

We really hope people like the third installment and enjoy all the little references and lore we’ve crammed into this one! See you all in the Purribean on August 8th!

Huge thanks to Desmond Wong for taking the time to answer our questions. Special thanks to Creeson Martin and the team at Tinsley PR for making this interview possible.

Are you a fan of Cat Quest? Are you looking forward to this third game? Unfurl your sails in the comments section below.