Cally's Caves 3

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In Cally's Caves 3, players control Cally as she embarks on a mission to rescue her parents from a group of evil scientists. This metroidvania-style platformer features a variety of weapons and abilities to unlock, and numerous enemies and bosses to defeat across multiple levels. With challenging gameplay and a humorous tone, Cally's Caves 3 offers an entertaining experience for fans of action-packed platformers.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 192 reviews

music17 positive mentions

grinding25 negative mentions

Engaging platforming with a variety of weapons that level up and evolve as you use them.
Fun and colorful graphics with a charming aesthetic that appeals to players.
Great soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience.

Clunky controls and a frustrating weapon selection system that only allows cycling through weapons in one direction.
Repetitive gameplay with basic enemy AI and minimal challenge, leading to a lack of engagement over time.
Bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including issues with achievements and freezing during music transitions.

music
59 mentions
29 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its quality and ability to enhance the experience, describing it as "grimly beautiful" and "fantastic." However, several users noted that the soundtrack can be repetitive, often looping the same 10-15 tracks throughout gameplay, which detracts from the overall atmosphere. While some found the music enjoyable and fitting for the genre, others felt it lacked variety and depth, leading to a less immersive experience.
- “The soundtrack is grimly beautiful, but it's likewise so out of place in a game about plowing through baddies, winning big fights, sticking it to bosses and bringing parents home.”
- “There are loads of secrets to find, and best of all, the music is fantastic.”
- “The music is great.”
- “The game's soundtrack is bland and completely forgettable and does nothing to add to the atmosphere of any of the levels, as all of the levels have the same set of tracks that play continually on a loop.”
- “The soundtrack is exceedingly repetitive and even with just 3 hours in, I really don't want to hear anymore of it right now.”
- “Music doesn't follow the gameplay very well; the title screen music just keeps playing when you press start and is the background music for that area of the game.”
story
59 mentions
8 % positive mentions
83 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered simplistic and predictable, often serving merely as a backdrop for gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. While some players appreciate moments of depth and humor, many find the plot underdeveloped and reliant on familiar tropes, with side quests like Bera's and Marvin's adding minimal engagement. Overall, the narrative lacks depth and fails to leave a lasting impression, making it feel more like a vehicle for action than a meaningful story.
- “The story and dialogue, while predominantly simple and cliché, also have moments of depth, world-building, intrigue, and some self-aware humor.”
- “While I can appreciate that this plot doesn't try to pretend to be bigger than it is, and I like that it doesn't impose itself too much, the hands-off experience can go too far in the other direction and leave us feeling like Cally has been abandoned, save at times for that one advising guitarist.”
- “Although the story isn't anything new (your parents get captured and you gotta save 'em), I think the devs did that on purpose as a kind of satire.”
- “- The story sucks and apparently assumes you're well-familiar with the first two games (which aren't on Steam, or PC at all).”
- “The gameplay is smooth but not exceptional, and the story is better left ignored.”
- “Talking about endings, this game is weirdly weak with story, only having random encounters with Lloyd, an awesome green fedora, white suit-wearing musician who acts as a good tutorial buddy, hint giver, and basic storyteller. Honestly, I'm glad the writer of the story basically gave enough hints as to what happened for me to get the gist of the main antagonist, and honestly, it had the ability to be something quite special and interesting if they put more effort in; instead, it seems more like why?”
gameplay
45 mentions
31 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Cally's Caves 3" is characterized by a mix of enjoyable mechanics, such as weapon leveling and smooth controls, but is often criticized for its repetitiveness and grindy nature. While the game offers a nostalgic platforming experience reminiscent of classic titles, many players find the overall gameplay to be simplistic and occasionally marred by bugs and underwhelming boss battles. Despite these drawbacks, some players appreciate the forgiving mechanics and the depth provided by weapon upgrades, leading to a fun, albeit flawed, gaming experience.
- “Cally's Caves 3 is a side-scroller action game with double jump and weapon mechanics. The developers seem to care much more for the players than the trends, offering more content than your standard online mode. This is an outstanding game with no loading screens, free extra content, and awesome gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is fun enough to overlook the art and sound, making it an enjoyable experience overall.”
- “An enjoyable simple platformer game with an addicting weapon leveling mechanic that keeps you playing.”
- “Unfortunately, the awful controls hurt the game massively, and what makes it worse is that the gameplay can get quite boring after a while.”
- “Gameplay is simplistic, and most of the game is extremely trivialized if you have a turbo controller.”
- “Cally's Caves 3 is an interesting platformer, but one bogged down with extremely low difficulty and dubious grinding mechanics.”
graphics
26 mentions
38 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as charming and reminiscent of retro DOS-era platformers, featuring cute pixel art and smooth aesthetics. While some reviewers appreciate the nostalgic feel and crisp visuals, others criticize the graphics for appearing lazy or underdeveloped, suggesting that the focus on aesthetics may overshadow gameplay quality. Overall, the graphics evoke a mix of nostalgia and charm, appealing to fans of classic gaming while also facing some technical critiques.
- “The graphics and gameplay remind me so much of the good old days of Apogee and id software platforming games.”
- “The graphics are slightly more advanced than period appropriate, but the music is spot on and pretty decent overall.”
- “Cute and simple action platformer that plays much better than you might anticipate from its visuals.”
- “The graphics, enemies, music, and level design looked lazy, and I was afraid that meant it was going to be another third-rate platformer that got way too much attention.”
- “The ultimate proof that you can have lousy graphics (even by retro standards), no real plot, and no more backstory that can fit in a pin ...”
- “This game isn't terrible but it's clear most of the work went into its graphics and that the game design had a kitchen sink approach where aspects of the creator's favorite games were just added in without thought.”
grinding
25 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is a mixed bag, with many players noting that while it can be tedious and time-consuming—especially for leveling up weapons and collecting upgrades—it is often seen as manageable and even enjoyable for those who appreciate the grind. Some players find the grinding necessary for progression, while others feel it detracts from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than a challenge. Overall, the game offers a significant amount of grinding, but opinions vary on whether this enhances or hinders gameplay.
- “Just bloody ridiculous amounts of grinding required to fully level up almost any weapon.”
- “The game is very grindy, but not in the way you would expect. If you want, you could simply use one gun the entire game, but the game offers you a lot of them, too many in fact, and each of them needs to be leveled up to level 20, so if you're interested in knowing what kind of upgrade that gun gets when it levels up, to grinding you go.”
- “And while that's still fun to explore all the different upgrades your guns get, as the game goes on you get more and more guns, and it almost feels like school homework to level up all of them, eventually making your experience less about the challenges before you and more about grinding all day.”
stability
9 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is marred by numerous bugs and glitches, particularly during boss battles and menu navigation, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. Players have reported issues such as falling through the floor, unresponsive menus, and game freezes caused by soundtrack loading, which significantly detracts from overall enjoyment. While some users acknowledge the game isn't entirely bad, the frequency and severity of these glitches create a challenging and often unplayable experience.
- “It has annoying little bugs/glitches, the boss battles were underwhelming and the gameplay becomes quite repetitive after a while.”
- “This isn't a bad game, but I suffered through many glitches including falling through the floor of a lava pool.”
- “Which made this incredibly reliable glitch where, if you use consumables during a boss battle, the display glitches out and makes the level unplayable, an absolute nightmare.”
humor
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of simple yet engaging dialogue and self-aware moments, with some bosses providing comedic relief, such as a memorable middle-aged eagle character. While the bosses may lack originality, their quirky designs and the creative use of weapons add a humorous twist to the gameplay experience. Overall, the humor enhances the game's charm, despite its reliance on clichés.
- “The story and dialogue, while predominantly simple and cliché, also have moments of depth, world-building, intrigue, and some self-aware humor.”
- “I was expecting to fight a funny middle-aged-looking eagle with a balding head.”
- “The bosses were a little basic in the main game, but this is why the weapons shine so much. (Wait, okay, Carl was a funny boss... you'll understand when you see it.)”
replayability
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers a mix of high replayability due to a vast array of guns and decent bosses, but some players feel that the ease of defeating enemies and the lack of significant challenge, even in New Game + mode, may limit long-term engagement. While some find the replay value impressive, others believe it may not be as high as expected for a game of its type.
- “But the many enemies are pretty easy to thwart, there are some decent bosses to decimate, there are an absolute ton of guns to discover and level up, and the replay value is crazy good.”
- “Things aren't ridiculously difficult even on new game + mode (harder for sure though!) it might be small for a game, but it has excellent replay value.”
- “Luckily, getting it on sale for $2.99 doesn't make me too bummed out with the game, but I don't think the replay value is that high for a game like this.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is criticized for its lack of engaging music and repetitive soundtracks, which fail to enhance the experience or differentiate the levels. Additionally, abrupt transitions, such as cutting to black during gameplay, detract from immersion. Overall, the atmosphere is described as bland and forgettable.
- “The worst, as previously mentioned, is when you upgrade a weapon and the game suddenly cuts to black (while you're fighting). The new area intros would be cool, but the game doesn't have localized music, so there's not enough atmosphere.”
- “The game's soundtrack is bland and completely forgettable and does nothing to add to the atmosphere of any of the levels, as all of the levels have the same set of tracks that play continually on a loop.”
monetization
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-500 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The game appears to be designed with mobile microtransactions in mind, as it retains similar pricing structures on PC despite the absence of actual microtransactions. This has led to some criticism regarding the perceived value and fairness of the pricing model.
- “The game was likely designed with mobile microtransactions in mind, as the prices remain the same on PC.”
- “I appreciate that the monetization model is fair and doesn't pressure players into spending money to enjoy the game.”
- “The in-game purchases are optional and don't hinder the overall experience, which is a refreshing change.”
- “The game seems to have been designed with mobile microtransactions in mind; even though they aren't present on PC, the prices remain the same.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, as it pushes players to spend more for basic features that should be included in the game.”
- “It's frustrating to see essential content locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game without shelling out extra money.”
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the emotional disconnect in gameplay, noting that despite the visual cues of a stunned enemy, they can still take damage from them, leading to a sense of unfairness and confusion. This mechanic detracts from the overall emotional engagement, as it disrupts the expected cause-and-effect relationship in combat.