How Another Crab’s Treasure’s Inkerton Boss Fight Compares to Bloodborne’s Father Gascoigne

The Soulslike genre essentially came to fruition when developers started trying to reproduce FromSoftware’s distinct third-person action-adventure formula, and naturally, that’s led to a lot of FromSoftware tropes and conventions carrying through to the rest of the genre even over a decade later. One of the biggest FromSoftware features to remain a staple of the wider Soulslike genre is the developer’s penchant for intense, challenging, and spectacular boss fights. And while not every Soulslike can even capture a fraction of FromSoftware’s boss fight magic, Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t have that problem.

There are almost 20 great, original bosses in Another Crab’s Treasure, all of which boast a unique visual design and a distinct moveset. That being said, there are one or two bosses in Another Crab’s Treasure that make their influences a tad more obvious than the rest, and Inkerton, Crab Hunter is certainly one of them.

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Comparing Another Crab’s Treasure’s Inkerton Boss to Bloodborne’s Father Gascoigne

Inkerton, Crab Hunter is a Clear Bloodborne Reference

First encountered as a brief boss fight in Flotsam Vale, Another Crab’s Treasure‘s Inkerton boss pays clear homage to FromSoftware’s beloved Lovecraftian PS4-exclusive Bloodborne. While Another Crab’s Treasure features a few bosses that share a few similarities with their FromSoftware influences, few are quite as overt as Inkerton, whose visual design seems to be a direct reference to Bloodborne‘s iconic Hunter, specifically the one adorning the game’s front cover, equipped with the full set of Hunter apparel.

While Inkerton is a big squid and not a human, his appearance still references Bloodborne, with the fins on the side of his head closely resembling the sides of the Hunter’s hat. Inkerton’s arsenal is also a pretty clear reference to the classic Hunter gear set, with the Another Crab’s Treasure boss wielding a large nutcracker in one hand, and a party popper in the other, designed to imitate the Hunter’s trick weapon and pistol combo.

Inkerton’s Moveset Shares Some Similarities With Bloodborne’s Father Gascoigne

But while Inkerton’s visual design seems to be based on Bloodborne‘s Hunter player character, his moveset and general attack pattern seem to share a few similarities with Bloodborne‘s Father Gascoigne. Inkerton uses his weapon to swipe at the player but can transform it into a longer variation that has a wider sweep, just like Gascoigne’s trick Hunter Axe weapon. And also much like Father Gascoigne, Inkerton uses his projectile weapon to quickly catch the player off-guard mid-combo.

A big difference between Another Crab’s Treasure‘s Inkerton boss fight and Bloodborne‘s Father Gascoigne fight, however, is the speed at which these attacks are delivered, and the overall pacing of the fight. In Bloodborne, Father Gascoigne frenetically zips around the arena, taking fast swipes with his axe and firing his gun in between them. In Another Crab’s Treasure, Inkerton follows a similar attack pattern but performs these moves a little slower, giving the player plenty of time to evade oncoming projectiles and melee attacks. This slower pace means that the Inkerton fight doesn’t feel quite as intense as Bloodborne‘s Gascoigne fight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as players are given more time to appreciate the boss’ visual and mechanical design.

Another Crab’s Treasure

Aggro Crab’s Another Crab’s Treasure provides a maritime twist on the Souls-like formula. Using the trash around him as armor and weapons, Kril must travel across an underwater kingdom while fighting off all sorts of impressive threats.

Released

April 25, 2024

Developer(s)

Aggro Crab

Publisher(s)

Aggro Crab

Genre(s)

Adventure , Soulslike , RPG

Engine

Unity

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence