The themes and the ending hit hard. Climate change, pollution of land/water, factory farming, land encroachment from farming, mining, and the lumber industries, hunters with no regard for endangered species, and a world continuously edging towards an inhospitable and desolate wasteland. There are moments of kindness, beauty, and love in Endling, but the reminder of how dire life is is just a few steps away.

I'm amazed there isn't a content warning. The ending feels a little random, but that's how life goes. One moment you're happy and content and the next you're in shambles. I also enjoyed how the trapper's story had hidden depth. It's a little predictable but satisfying.

I like how the game feels almost like a rouge-like, where you never know what dangers and boons await you and your cubs. I love the art. It doesn't fall victim to having visual clutter. But at the same time has a lot of detail. They do a good job highlighting what is important in your environment. The difficulty was a bit too easy. I always had a plethora of food options. Especially once you "rank up" your cubs, by teaching them in scripted moments.

The music is decent. I feel like it's missing that special sauce though. I've heard many similar tracks before. The haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are expertly utilized. Haven't seen many games use them better. Most games don't use them at all, which is a bummer. Feeling the raindrops on the controller during a storm is just as tantalizing as it was in Astro's Playroom.

The game starts slow, but gets interesting once your cubs are up and about. I had a good time here as much as it was brutal and depressing. The sad thing is that entertainment that seeks to change minds is usually preaching to the choir. The people who need to hear it won't.

The best of Cocoon is back-loaded, so you do have to make your way through some okay puzzles before you get to the good stuff.

Pros
1. Everything is so slick. All the animations (jumping in and out of orbs, opening up orb stations, upgrading orbs, all the different kinds of doors, elevators, etc) are exquisite.
2. Using the different orb's powers and upgrading them. The drip feed of new mechanics and combining them in satisfying ways.
3. The puzzle design progressively gets more interesting as new mechanics are introduced and expanded upon.
4. The sound design is phenomenal. The sound of depositing and picking up orbs. So good! I love that stuff. There is so much attention to detail. Moving through the grass and walking over the different surfaces all add subtle auditory details.
5. Something I found out while playing was that the music will change once you are on the right track and are about to solve a puzzle. I didn't even notice it at first, but after many instances, it was clear that they were giving a subtle nod to the player that they were going to solve it. It was simply brilliant. It felt like they were in your head, going "Yep, you're doing it correctly. Keep going!" I feel like I saw something similar in the game Creaks, but I may be misremembering. Another great game with generative audio.
6. Its presentation is gorgeous. I'm often caught off guard by how immaculate Cocoon looks. It's truly ensconced in stylistic flourishes that stop me in my tracks. It's a masterclass in visual design.

Cons
1. Orb backtracking gets tedious at points.
2. I wish the puzzles were more difficult.
3. I wish the story had more substance. It's the vaguest of Jeppe Carlson's games. With Limbo and Inside, I could speculate about their stories and meanings, but with Cocoon I don't have much to go on. You're running through the remnants of some dormant civilization. The ending was showing a metamorphosis or something. It wasn't very compelling.
4. The secret ending wasn’t worth the extreme effort required to pull it off.
5. Its boss fight design isn't that inspired and relies upon the design of many other games.

I think using the hidden and dormant guardian areas would have been a good place to add more difficult and optional puzzles for those inclined. That would have satisfied both camps: Those who just want a flow-like puzzler with little friction and those who want optional difficult puzzles. Maybe that is what they would have done, but ran out of time to implement them. That may have been the case since at least one guardian did have a puzzle attached to its activation.