Combat is deliberate and slow-paced, demanding players to dodge enemy attacks, identify openings, and leverage their shell's abilities to survive.

Environmental storytelling is emphasized by Aggro Crab, integrating the narrative into the world design, item descriptions, and cryptic messages from fellow inhabitants.

Kril successfully manages to find the treasure, though he discovers that Magista and her guards have succumbed to the Gunk, an affliction that makes sea creatures mindlessly hostile and nihilistic.

Kril follows the loan shark, who appears to have sold the shell to "prawnshop" owner Prawnathan in New Carcinia, a massive city built out of trash in a nearby reef.

On his quest to recover the missing pieces of the map, Kril meets Chitan, one of Magista's former guards, who tells him the Gunk, caused by ocean pollution, has been progressively spreading.

During the confrontation, Kril accidentally capsizes the barge, causing them to fall into the abyssal depths of the Unfathom, which is considered a kind of Hell for the New Carcinians.

Praya Dubia's attempts to convince Kril to use the Whorl to destroy the world are unsuccessful, and it puppets Chitan to fight him before discarding her body for one final attack.

After Praya Dubia is defeated, Kril resolves to use the Perfect Whorl to heal Chitan; however, he is interrupted by Firth, who takes it for himself and flees to the surface.

Kril follows and confronts Firth, who reveals that he seeks to sink Trash Island onto New Carcinia to stimulate the economy, not realizing it will advance the Gunk.

Information regarding the core mechanics like the "Shell System" – where discarded trash becomes Kril's customizable armor – and the emphasis on exploration and environmental storytelling were revealed.