2023-09-28 16:00:00
Given the success of Limbo and especially Inside, it’s no surprise that the time is ripe for a new project from the Playdead alum to see the light of day. Last fall it was Dino Patti’s Somerville, and now Jeppe Carlsen’s studio Geometric Interactive has their first game ready, Cocoon. But while Somerville sticks relatively close to the Playdead formula, Cocoon feels more like its own unique creature. While Playdead’s legacy is there, particularly the influence of Portal and classic 2D Zelda games, it would be unfair to focus too much on the source of inspiration. Because with its consistent visual expression, evocative sound design, and equally rich and original gameplay, Cocoon is a very rare experience. As mentioned before, several key figures from Geometric Interactive have pasts at Playdead. For example, director Jeppe Carlsen was the lead game designer on both Limbo and Inside, and almost from the first screen you realize that the gameplay is more important to the experience than those two games. In truth, the game’s premise is simple, but once you dig into the possibilities it opens up, it’s still breathtaking. In Cocoon, you control your little insect explorer through an overworld and a series of dungeons that are very similar to classic Zelda games like A Link to the Past. So far, so good. The twist is that all dungeons exist within a perfectly formed sphere that you can carry on your back and even carry into other dungeons. Why would I do this, you might be thinking? Well, each orb has an ability that activates when you put it on your back. For example, your first sphere can form bridges in certain places, another sphere allows you to change the shape of a certain material, making it a solid or a liquid, and the third sphere enables you to fire bullets, which activate other Inaccessible switches, etc. So it’s all regarding picking the right bullet/ability for the right situation, which is fairly simple when you only have one bullet/ability, but becomes downright mind-bending towards the end – especially because of some of the more complex puzzles It requires you to start an almost domino-like sequence through multiple worlds. This might be a shot that requires traveling from one world to another to activate the ability to change the shape of a material, allowing you to fall from it, to the point where you need to form a bridge with the orbs on your back. Here’s an ad: This may sound overwhelming, but in practice, I’ve never felt overwhelmed, mainly due to three things. First off, the introduction to the concept of worlds within worlds is done at a leisurely pace, and every time you gain a new ability, Geometric Interactive makes sure to give you time to get used to it. Additionally, the rules of what you can and cannot do in the world of Cocoon are clearly defined, and finally, the game delineates your play space by closing the door behind you, so you never wonder whether the key to the solution lies beyond in the room. This sets the perfect foundation for going all out as the game progresses. There were several times towards the end of the game when my jaw nearly dropped from the mind-expanding yet logically profound puzzles. I almost always know what to do, just not how to do it. When the eureka moment comes, they almost always turn out to be correct. Absolutely necessary qualities of a good puzzle game. This is an ad: But Cocoon is more than just its puzzles. Audiovisually, it’s also in a league of its own. The graphical style clearly draws unique worlds, each built around a clearly defined color palette. It’s a long way from the orange rocky landscape that opens the game to the cold, metallic overworld, but Geometric Interactive’s Erwin Kho still manages to tie it all together in a satisfying way. At the same time, easily identifiable worlds serve the game’s gameplay, as they make it easier to quickly navigate from one to another and remember which abilities belong to which world. The real connective tissue, however, is the soundtrack, which creates a vast atmospheric soundscape with its ominous and triumphant synths and alienating sound effects. The music is not recorded but generated on the fly by a programmed synthesizer, meaning there is no repetition. There’s just an endless supply of atmospheric tones, which is a huge plus when trying to solve your next mind-bending puzzle. As far as sound effects go, they’re created through synthesis, which means every sound – whether it’s the hum of a marsh or the rush of wind on a mountain peak – has an alien feel and isn’t something of this planet. And the feeling of complete unfamiliarity is a rich quality that Cocoon possesses. This mysterious story will take your character on a journey across the universe. What exactly happened is not easy to decipher, but I felt like the mystery was solved. The places you go and the creatures you encounter are equally difficult to figure out. Because they are at the intersection between organic and mechanical. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the bosses, who occasionally push the game in a more action-packed direction. Clearly inspired by Zelda, the diverse and gigantic insect-like creatures are an exercise in combining cleverness and precision. First, find the Achilles’ heel, then it’s up to fine motor skills to secure victory. This is the classic approach to boss fights, but in Cocoon, many fights are actually challenging, even if you’ve discovered the boss’s weakness. This is especially true since the slightest touch will send you out of this world by the boss himself. This may sound frustrating, but since the challenge is fair, the controls are sharp, and there’s the option to jump right back to the boss, it never really does. Instead, Boss is a natural crescendo that will briefly elevate your heart rate and make you sweat. Some of them are enthusiastically introducing new mechanics unique to that particular battle. That’s impressive in itself, and even better, they work flawlessly and are satisfying. There’s one late boss fight in particular, where the introduction, combat arena, and central premise combine to create one of the most memorable duels I’ve had the pleasure of winning in recent years. The bosses are also one of the reasons why the game’s pacing is so successful. They usually come following some of the more challenging puzzles in the game, replaced by more passive and entirely linear sequences where the image is the focus and you get a chance to breathe some fresh air before your brain needs to be seriously rebooted once more. This creates a nice rhythm, and overall, Cocoon is a very good game. As mentioned above, the controls are razor sharp and the technical conditions are so rock solid it almost feels like you’re holding a physical object in your hands. Yes, I’m very excited regarding Geometric Interactive’s first game. My only complaint is that sometimes the travel times are a bit too long – especially in the last few hours of the game – as you attempt solutions that fail and therefore have to travel across the world to rearrange different areas. This is a problem that many puzzle games suffer from to one degree or another, but here the solution often triggers eureka moments and of course completely seamless transfers between worlds, allowing you to travel back and forth, which is nothing short of mind-blowing. Pleasant animations accompany the swishing sound. Few games captivated me like Cocoon, with its meter-thick atmosphere and reality-bending challenges. It’s Alien among its peers on Earth, and even though it draws from classic series like The Legend of Zelda, it twists concepts we’re very familiar with, like requiring you to travel between worlds in a split second. . There are games that captivate you with their breadth and almost arrogant ambition. Cocoon does this by executing its tight focus flawlessly – just like its role model, Portal, did more than a decade ago.
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