It wasn't that long ago that I wrote a post that was less than flattering about Cocoon, a game that was recently dropped for free as part of the PS-Plus Extra or higher subscription plan on the PS5.
I wasn't very happy with the game but I realize now that the reason why I felt that way was because I got so amped about how it was from a designer that worked on Limbo and Inside and I consider those two games to be some of the most incredible gaming work that has ever been done.
When you are getting compared to the "best ever," it is always going to be difficult to please people and well, I rushed to judgement.
Just as a brief intro, Cocoon is a game where you are told absolutely nothing about what is going on in time and space, you just appear and have at it. Some good examples of this sort of game would be Journey, Inside, and of course Limbo. As play carries on you kind of get to make your own determinations about what is going on, what you are, and what your objectives are.
It isn't that difficult to determine what your immediate objectives are, this is nearly always some sort of puzzle where you have to activate certain switches and move these little orbs from one place to another in order to advance further on the level. What I mean about not knowing what your objective is, is that you don't really know what you are, why you are here, and where you are trying to go. Obviously, you the human player, your objective is to get to the next room.
The puzzles are massively difficult, but some of them can be quite time consuming and some of the more tedious ones involve a great deal of backtracking, trying a different approach, or perhaps jumping into the world of one of your 4 orbs in order to progress.
The puzzles themselves, with a few exceptions, aren't really all that complicated but if you find yourself stuck you might be like me and feel compelled to run around looking for what you might have missed and then when you still can't figure it out you go on YouTube and get a hint and then feel like a real dope because you couldn't figure it out on your own. I'm sure we've all been there.
One type of puzzle that I think annoys more people than not is the glyph puzzles. In these situations there are 5 symbols on the ground and you have to touch them in a particular order in order to release some "goop" that turns into some sort of flying thing you need to move forward. What order are they activated in you ask? Well you need to wander around the immediate area in order to figure that out. It is probably written somewhere on the wall or the ground but it isn't always very evident where that information is or how you access it. I've gotten stuck a number of times and am actually stuck now. I'm gonna wander a bit longer and then go "cheat" online for the answer if I can't figure it out. I'm sure it is something super-obvious that is hiding in plain sight.
I walked away from this game before because I wanted it to be like Limbo and Inside but after playing for a few hours I am actually kind of glad that it isn't just the same thing as those games. The idea behind gaming it to innovate and try new things, right?
They say if it aint broke, don't fix it, but if we all did that we would be playing side-scrolling platformers with seriously intense graphics and sound. People need innovation and while I still think that the previous 2 games from this studio are better than this one, this one is still pretty great.
Reasons to like Cocoon
The game only uses one button. There is an "action" button and that is it
The game has been designed so that you cannot do things that are going to result in you getting hopelessly lost, or end up losing one of your orbs somewhere
the "bossfights" are a nice way to mix things up, and they aren't very difficult at all and this is almost certainly by design.
In this boss fight for example, you are facing off against some sort of jumping guy that starts off with 4 legs and is quite slow. If you have ever played a videogame before you already know that as the number of legs gets lower, he gets faster. The red areas on the floor make you walk slow, and you can launch yourself into the air in the white circles.
You might die a couple of times but it automatically reloads you right outside the entrance to the lair and you get right back to the action. None of these fights are going to require you to learn some sort of Nioh style timing or parries. It's really just a question of learning some rather simplistic moves that the boss has and then you will defeat it rather easily. In that regard this game is easier than Inside and definitely easier than Limbo.
There is no limit on the lives you use and the game is only over when you decide to turn it off. All in all this is a 3 or 3.5 hour adventure from start to finish and it is just a visual delight. The music is also extremely top drawer.
Reasons to not like Cocoon
- The game is very easy
- the game is quite short
For me, whether or not I am going to enjoy this game depends entirely on my mood. Sometimes I am in the mood for something that I have to be on the edge of my seat and other times I enjoy leaning back on my sofa and just having a super casual time of it.
I'm glad I returned to Cocoon and I would imagine I am pretty close to finishing the game. Since you get the game as part of your subscription anyway, I think this game is worth checking out if you have a sub already. I don't think that this game would be worth spending more than say $5 on though. The thing with all games of this type is that they don't really have a lot of replayability and there are no side missions or anything like that. There are some collectibles but I am one of those gamers that doesn't give two craps about that.
So I apologize for being a bit too harsh on you Cocoon, I was wrong, and I admit it.