One of those short and sweat perfect experiences. Loved it
"To Pimp a Butterfly"
This definitely feels like one-half of Limbo or Inside. I've not played Somerville because I heard it was bad, but I think it's fascinating how much different, yet similar this game feels to Inside and Limbo. What it loses in it's atmosphere dark art direction and metanarrative, it makes up for in being one of the smartest and toughest puzzle games I've played in a long time. And considering how good the game looks and sounds anyway, I'd say that this game isn't a noticeable step down from Inside. The only minor disappointment is how little story there is, even compared to Inside which mostly shares it through subtext. There are some good ideas but there's nothing in this game as shocking or as memorable as the ending of Inside.
But it doesn't really need that, if it did it probably would have been the best puzzle game I've ever played, but it's still a really really good one. Even if it makes me lament when these two didn't fucking hate each other.
This definitely feels like one-half of Limbo or Inside. I've not played Somerville because I heard it was bad, but I think it's fascinating how much different, yet similar this game feels to Inside and Limbo. What it loses in it's atmosphere dark art direction and metanarrative, it makes up for in being one of the smartest and toughest puzzle games I've played in a long time. And considering how good the game looks and sounds anyway, I'd say that this game isn't a noticeable step down from Inside. The only minor disappointment is how little story there is, even compared to Inside which mostly shares it through subtext. There are some good ideas but there's nothing in this game as shocking or as memorable as the ending of Inside.
But it doesn't really need that, if it did it probably would have been the best puzzle game I've ever played, but it's still a really really good one. Even if it makes me lament when these two didn't fucking hate each other.
The game is visually very appealing, the puzzles are often simple, but yet they require some good thinking.
Cocoon is really well-designed and fun to play, the only thing I think could be better is the playtime. I'm not saying 4h is bad for an indie game, I really REALLY enjoyed and loved it, I think that some mechanics could be developed a little more in depth for that extra “ah-ha!” moment.
Solid game, 100% recommend it!
Cocoon is really well-designed and fun to play, the only thing I think could be better is the playtime. I'm not saying 4h is bad for an indie game, I really REALLY enjoyed and loved it, I think that some mechanics could be developed a little more in depth for that extra “ah-ha!” moment.
Solid game, 100% recommend it!
Adoré, on apprend à se déplacer dans cet univers étrange avec fluidité, les puzzles sont intéressants et neufs.
The moment, about an hour in, that you really see what type of puzzles Cocoon wants to propose you start to look differently at the game. But when you get to the second half of the game and the way those puzzles scale in subsequent iterations is not something I was expecting at all, while also really managing to not overstep that fine line between designing a puzzle that is satisfying, difficult and original enough to feel you smart, but not too difficult that will feel frustrating. Cocoon is full of moments like the first one.
It is not often you see something so well crafted that works even if having a design that anyone could think that it should break or get your game stuck easily. Coming from ex Playdead devs it doesn't have the narrative design of those games, but with how much thought and care was put into the game design itself, for me it doesn't need to match the former. Honestly, I find hard to say anything bad about this game; if you are even slightly interested in puzzle/adventure games this is a must.
It is not often you see something so well crafted that works even if having a design that anyone could think that it should break or get your game stuck easily. Coming from ex Playdead devs it doesn't have the narrative design of those games, but with how much thought and care was put into the game design itself, for me it doesn't need to match the former. Honestly, I find hard to say anything bad about this game; if you are even slightly interested in puzzle/adventure games this is a must.
Fairly brief but very creative game centered on the ability to carry and seamlessly jump into orbs that hold different areas, and using them to figure out how to progress. It wasn’t too difficult for me, but the concept is cleverly executed and makes full use of its time by quickly adding new puzzles with each orb you collect, along with an atmospheric setting that isn’t much explained but is fascinating nonetheless (much like Limbo and Inside as well). Definitely worth checking out!
I feel like Void Strangers releasing earlier this year really spoiled me and I'll never see puzzle games the same way going forward. I do not see why this game is getting so much praise. I don't really know how to say this without sounding like a jackass but I do not understand how this is being called the smartest and best puzzle game of the year when there are NO puzzles. I did not think about my actions ONCE. You move from point A to point B grabbing orbs and using interactables and I felt like I had no agency in the solutions; they were just right in front of me. The art and music are both top notch, creating a tremendous sense of mystery and awe which makes the tedium and banality of the gameplay only sting more. Like I guess if you just want to get blitzed and vibe and sink into the couch and see cool shit as sweeping synth pads wash over you without having to do much, you'll really have a good time? But otherwise I think it's just 3 hours better spent doing anything else.
God bless Annapurna and damn Microsoft for making game pass such a good deal
[PT-BR]
Infelizmente mais um jogo de puzzle que fiquei um pouco ''decepcionado'' MAS NADA DEMAIS, o jogo ainda é muito bom, designs de arte e áudio impecáveis, movimentação simples mas bem funcional e ideias de puzzle bem.. . daorinhas ... digo isso pois como Viewfinder, o jogo me decepcionou em questão de ser muito fácil, curto pelo preço sendo pedido (51 reais no Brasil) e a baixíssima chance de jogar de novo ele. Consigo sim falar que ele é um jogo divertido e que, se você tiver a chance, jogue ele! Mas não consigo falar que ele vale comprar full price, diria que ele valeria fácil até uns 30 reais, mais do que isso, só se você for muito fã da Annapurna e querer ter os jogos deles na sua biblioteca.
[ENG]
Unfortunally, another puzzle game that kinda left me underwhelmed this year. Like viewfinder, this game has a lot of cool ideas, mechanics, art and music. But... it just fails to develop more harder puzzles and how to use the mechanics in a creative way i think. Just like Viewfinder, if you really want to play it, of course i recommend it, but not at full price!! Here in brazil the game is 65 reais (about 13 dollars) and i simply cannot say ''Buy it at full price'' wait for some sale on steam or something and then get it!!
Infelizmente mais um jogo de puzzle que fiquei um pouco ''decepcionado'' MAS NADA DEMAIS, o jogo ainda é muito bom, designs de arte e áudio impecáveis, movimentação simples mas bem funcional e ideias de puzzle bem.. . daorinhas ... digo isso pois como Viewfinder, o jogo me decepcionou em questão de ser muito fácil, curto pelo preço sendo pedido (51 reais no Brasil) e a baixíssima chance de jogar de novo ele. Consigo sim falar que ele é um jogo divertido e que, se você tiver a chance, jogue ele! Mas não consigo falar que ele vale comprar full price, diria que ele valeria fácil até uns 30 reais, mais do que isso, só se você for muito fã da Annapurna e querer ter os jogos deles na sua biblioteca.
[ENG]
Unfortunally, another puzzle game that kinda left me underwhelmed this year. Like viewfinder, this game has a lot of cool ideas, mechanics, art and music. But... it just fails to develop more harder puzzles and how to use the mechanics in a creative way i think. Just like Viewfinder, if you really want to play it, of course i recommend it, but not at full price!! Here in brazil the game is 65 reais (about 13 dollars) and i simply cannot say ''Buy it at full price'' wait for some sale on steam or something and then get it!!
I loved the aesthetic and liked the puzzles. I wish it had been a little more difficult or a little longer maybe? I felt challenged only really a couple times the entire game.
There were a couple parts that blew my mind where I got to the solution more on accident than by intention and was like "WHOA!"
There were a couple parts that blew my mind where I got to the solution more on accident than by intention and was like "WHOA!"
Beautiful puzzle game that doesn't overstay its welcome. Some interesting stuff but a story thats far beyond my understanding.
If you go into this game believing it to be on the same level as Baba is You, The Witness, or even Return of the Obra Dinn in terms of puzzle complexity, you will be sorely disappointed. Cocoon has no interest in being those games; nearly all of its solutions are crystal clear once you think about them for a few moments. You can only interact with the world around you in few different ways, and the developers intentionally limit you from breaking away from their guided path. Despite the fact that--by the time you get two universe orbs--your options will blossom into myriad possible solutions, the reality is that there are almost always so few solutions that you can trial and error your way through every puzzle. Once you recognize that this is a game made by people who made Inside, and recognize it as more of a roped off experience with amusement park rides disguised as puzzles, you will find much more enjoyment here. In fact, I found myself being wowed several times in the short runtime. The conceit of the game is worth the price of admission alone, as it is used in such a way as to elicit wonder. This is less Zachtronics and more Gorogoa, making the dimension hopping a joy unto itself. Despite this, I couldn't help but feel like this concept could easily be used to craft a truly remarkable and challenging puzzle game. One moment near the end of the game sent my mind racing with possibilities, only to quickly be met by a final "puzzle" that was so milquetoast that I thought I got a bad ending. The game flirts with genius too much to acquiesce to its ultimate objective. It seems unfair to criticize it in this way, as it is clearly in the same lineage as the developers' previous games, but I think it speaks more to the latent potential in the concept.
When the trailers for this started to show the possible puzzles that I could encounter, my expectations had sky-rocketed for this game. It felt like it could be a puzzle game on the pedestal of the medium. Usually I don't let my expectations go wild, I truly believed the complexity of this game would be as polished as the greats with the complications of Baba is You.
It did not. Not to say it's bad in anyway but this game feels like it had so much potential but ended up pretty safe. Every puzzle is restricted in action to make solutions pretty realistic and although the final area touched on the absurdity this could have had, it limited itself extremely quickly leading to one solution to puzzles once again.
I'm complaining a lot but as I've suggested, my expectations were too high. Realistically in a game that could be recursively complicated, the scenario was streamlined for a wider audience and the fact that I didn't have many problem should be a compliment to how good the tools and interfacing is. The graphical style is great and sound design. The story for such a premise is suitable where the journey and world are more prominent then the ending itself.
This is a game I would still recommend to anyone with the time and money (and interest in puzzle games), I just really wish this was a bit more hardcore. I expected to be lost in open worlds with in worlds and what it presents is rooms within some rooms, but this craving for more only suggested that the time I had with it was a blast
It did not. Not to say it's bad in anyway but this game feels like it had so much potential but ended up pretty safe. Every puzzle is restricted in action to make solutions pretty realistic and although the final area touched on the absurdity this could have had, it limited itself extremely quickly leading to one solution to puzzles once again.
I'm complaining a lot but as I've suggested, my expectations were too high. Realistically in a game that could be recursively complicated, the scenario was streamlined for a wider audience and the fact that I didn't have many problem should be a compliment to how good the tools and interfacing is. The graphical style is great and sound design. The story for such a premise is suitable where the journey and world are more prominent then the ending itself.
This is a game I would still recommend to anyone with the time and money (and interest in puzzle games), I just really wish this was a bit more hardcore. I expected to be lost in open worlds with in worlds and what it presents is rooms within some rooms, but this craving for more only suggested that the time I had with it was a blast
The world warping mechanic is such an interesting hook and the potential for puzzle is intriguing. As more worlds are added, it does become slightly more interesting and challenging; however, the tedium of backtracking, warping and picking up worlds increases so much. It feels like I spend unnecessary time executing the solution than thinking about it. If the game removed or tweaked the timing puzzles in favor of a sprint or some movement mechanic, it would alleviate majority of the pain. The ability to skip the warp animation would also help with the tedium and nausea from repeated warps. Without the ability to quickly wrap worlds inside another via perhaps remembering prior player actions or certain anchor points, it hinders the puzzles from being more complex because of the tedium.
This is why I think the boss fights with different mechanics instead to compensate for the puzzles are somewhat acceptable. I can accept the boss fights allow only one hit because of how simple they are, but the lack of quick retry is questionable in this context. Still, the bosses do not feel mechanically interesting to highlight.
For smaller issues:
- Character motivation or story is not intriguing enough.
- The game only uses two buttons, so I feel it could use more.
- I wish the light bridges had some transparent path to see ahead instead of guessing.
What ultimately hurts this is the lack of more creative and challenging puzzles beyond its gimmick. Still, it does look nice and mercifully short. Overall, not recommend.
This is why I think the boss fights with different mechanics instead to compensate for the puzzles are somewhat acceptable. I can accept the boss fights allow only one hit because of how simple they are, but the lack of quick retry is questionable in this context. Still, the bosses do not feel mechanically interesting to highlight.
For smaller issues:
- Character motivation or story is not intriguing enough.
- The game only uses two buttons, so I feel it could use more.
- I wish the light bridges had some transparent path to see ahead instead of guessing.
What ultimately hurts this is the lack of more creative and challenging puzzles beyond its gimmick. Still, it does look nice and mercifully short. Overall, not recommend.
Great puzzle game with some interesting less puzzle-more-twitchy boss fights. Being a puzzle game I was afraid that it was going to be too hard, but I think it hits a good balance, with plenty of "a-ha!" moments and only a couple of places where you can get a bit stuck.
Impressive presentation and perfect length at around 5 hours.
Impressive presentation and perfect length at around 5 hours.
I never gave this game much thought from the glimpses I've seen of it up to release, but the quadruple combo of it being a shorter game published by Annapurna that got high review scores and is day one on Game Pass made it very hard to ignore. I'm glad I didn't as I can confidently say that Cocoon is so far my favorite Indie game of 2023.
The game never tells you how to do anything, which is one of my favorite things about it. It just feels intuitive, and its solely up to you to figure things out. I got stumped a lot but outside of something I'll get to in a bit, it basically never felt like the game was unfair. And even when things seemed impossible, every single time I found out the solution I was impressed with how clever the game was. The puzzle design is just simply excellent here and it feels consistently rewarding.
Now there is a reason this game is missing a star. A few smaller issues first: I didn't really care about the art style. It feels a bit generic but its not a bad looking game either so not really a negative. The soundtrack also exists. Its fine I guess, but I never really noticed it which feels like a missed opportunity. Also if this game has a story, its very vague. I'm sure there's some deeper meaning to everything but it very much takes a backseat. These three things are fine and didn't really bother me as the gameplay is still very engaging but they do stop me from fully loving it.
Now about the actual things I dislike about the game. It took me around 5 and a half hours to beat. This is a great length for a game like this, and the puzzles continued to expand and stay interesting the whole time. That being said, there were several moments that felt like finales where the game just kept continuing on after. It led to a conflicting feeling where I was enjoying the puzzles but still wishing for the game to be over. It was just a bit exhausting to be thrown for a loop that much. The only other thing I dislike about this game are some of the timed puzzles. For the most part these are perfectly fine, but in the last fourth there is three different timed sections each made up of three different parts. They're sort of like a boss battle but if you fail any part you have to restart the whole section. While other bosses do make you restart, at least they were based on skill, but this one is solely on timing. This led to a lot of having to redo parts I already knew how to just to get back to the part I was actually stuck on and it was quite frankly a pain in the ass. I don't like timed puzzles and this was a bad way to implement them. Otherwise the bosses are all sort of similar but still unique enough that their presence makes the game more interesting.
Overall, Cocoon is a fantastic puzzle game that's held back only by a handful of small things and the very occasional annoying section. None of its negatives take away from the fact that its highly creative and one of the best games I've played in an already stacked year.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far <3
Nancymeter - 85/100
Achievement Completion - 80%
Time Played - 5 hours 43 minutes
Completion #29 of September
Completion #192 of 2023
The game never tells you how to do anything, which is one of my favorite things about it. It just feels intuitive, and its solely up to you to figure things out. I got stumped a lot but outside of something I'll get to in a bit, it basically never felt like the game was unfair. And even when things seemed impossible, every single time I found out the solution I was impressed with how clever the game was. The puzzle design is just simply excellent here and it feels consistently rewarding.
Now there is a reason this game is missing a star. A few smaller issues first: I didn't really care about the art style. It feels a bit generic but its not a bad looking game either so not really a negative. The soundtrack also exists. Its fine I guess, but I never really noticed it which feels like a missed opportunity. Also if this game has a story, its very vague. I'm sure there's some deeper meaning to everything but it very much takes a backseat. These three things are fine and didn't really bother me as the gameplay is still very engaging but they do stop me from fully loving it.
Now about the actual things I dislike about the game. It took me around 5 and a half hours to beat. This is a great length for a game like this, and the puzzles continued to expand and stay interesting the whole time. That being said, there were several moments that felt like finales where the game just kept continuing on after. It led to a conflicting feeling where I was enjoying the puzzles but still wishing for the game to be over. It was just a bit exhausting to be thrown for a loop that much. The only other thing I dislike about this game are some of the timed puzzles. For the most part these are perfectly fine, but in the last fourth there is three different timed sections each made up of three different parts. They're sort of like a boss battle but if you fail any part you have to restart the whole section. While other bosses do make you restart, at least they were based on skill, but this one is solely on timing. This led to a lot of having to redo parts I already knew how to just to get back to the part I was actually stuck on and it was quite frankly a pain in the ass. I don't like timed puzzles and this was a bad way to implement them. Otherwise the bosses are all sort of similar but still unique enough that their presence makes the game more interesting.
Overall, Cocoon is a fantastic puzzle game that's held back only by a handful of small things and the very occasional annoying section. None of its negatives take away from the fact that its highly creative and one of the best games I've played in an already stacked year.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far <3
Nancymeter - 85/100
Achievement Completion - 80%
Time Played - 5 hours 43 minutes
Completion #29 of September
Completion #192 of 2023
Cocoon is an impeccably designed puzzle game with excellent art direction, but the narrative and the world felt lacking.
I had a great time blasting through the whole thing in one sitting, but I don't think this will be lingering with me for long -- certainly not in the way INSIDE did.
Somerville has all of Limbo/INSIDE's narrative design, but little of the gameplay design.
Cocoon has all of the gameplay design, but little of the narrative design.
Hopefully Geometric Interactive comes back in a few years with something that nails both.
I had a great time blasting through the whole thing in one sitting, but I don't think this will be lingering with me for long -- certainly not in the way INSIDE did.
Somerville has all of Limbo/INSIDE's narrative design, but little of the gameplay design.
Cocoon has all of the gameplay design, but little of the narrative design.
Hopefully Geometric Interactive comes back in a few years with something that nails both.
Limbo 3
Nice game creative , complicated , confusing puzzle that made me think how in the world they made this the way they did it’s such an incredible high level of creativity in term of linking puzzle and ideas to each other
the game is all about puzzle solving nothing else sometime it feels like it want more from your brain it’s weird and unique yet throughout the end all the puzzle felt like impossible and I didn’t get the satisfaction that I usually get when solving them
I enjoyed the game overall but some artistic aspects I didn’t like as much such as world designs and the almost nonexistent soundtrack I would recommend if you are someone who enjoy puzzles this game is surly for you
the game is all about puzzle solving nothing else sometime it feels like it want more from your brain it’s weird and unique yet throughout the end all the puzzle felt like impossible and I didn’t get the satisfaction that I usually get when solving them
I enjoyed the game overall but some artistic aspects I didn’t like as much such as world designs and the almost nonexistent soundtrack I would recommend if you are someone who enjoy puzzles this game is surly for you
Short, but worth playing if you have Game Pass. Talk about a brain tickler!
One that's kinda flown under the radar other than a few trailers - but a great easy-to-pick-up puzzle game I can easily recommend!
Very fun puzzles and beautiful visuals and sound design. Also has an extremely convenient loading system where you can load a checkpoint at pretty much any point in the game which is really nice to use when going back for some missed secrets!
Cocoon is a delight. A strange world all based around that joke at the end of Men in Black (1997) where you find out our whole galaxy exists in a game of marbles some alien dude is playing.
This game only really has about 5 levels, but the trick is that all 5 levels coexist and you're constantly traveling between them at a moment's notice. It's a marvel and a technical mystery. I love all the weird designs of the creatures and environments. feels kinda Cronenberg-y sometimes. I hope we get the sequel it kinda teased, cuz this was a really great and I want more.
This game only really has about 5 levels, but the trick is that all 5 levels coexist and you're constantly traveling between them at a moment's notice. It's a marvel and a technical mystery. I love all the weird designs of the creatures and environments. feels kinda Cronenberg-y sometimes. I hope we get the sequel it kinda teased, cuz this was a really great and I want more.
The puzzles are clever and satisfying, and they get more mind-bending over time. A game that makes me feel smart. The sci-fi presentation is dazzling.
This review contains spoilers
Although this game is pretty short, I really love this game. From the aesthetics of a Bio technology, exploring an alien world as bug alien, the mind bending puzzles that once you solve it you feel like a genius, the excellent boss battles, the music, and Ascending to godhood. This is the second best game I’ve played this year. Wait for a sale though. I’ve beaten it within a day and with no guide.
more video games should be about a weird little bug guy and some robot friends, great job folks
I don't understand it to be honest. I checked out an hour in (only 3-4 hours long). The world design was quite unpleasant for me on the eyes and not terribly interesting to explore. The game is filled with bog standard "video games are finally art" 'puzzles' that you typically see in games like this; they don't require any thought and are tedious and boring.
This review contains spoilers
What a sweet little gem. They had a vision and they delivered.
Masterful game design, beautiful art, nice puzzles and boss fights. I wish I had a epic final fight before the ending, which I found very very cool but kind of anticlimactic? I don't know.
A must-try if you have Game Pass.
Masterful game design, beautiful art, nice puzzles and boss fights. I wish I had a epic final fight before the ending, which I found very very cool but kind of anticlimactic? I don't know.
A must-try if you have Game Pass.
didn't expect such an absolute triumph in brain tingly puzzle design, vivid world design, and vibes-based-no-storyism from some of the playdead people.
worked through it over a day and never got so stuck that a fresh perspective a bit later couldn't fix it. The perfect length.
Also, mr cocoon moves the perfect speed, i don't know how they did it, but it's the perfect speed
i'm not sure what any of it means, but i do know that worlds should not exist in this way. i should not be able to jump out of the orb in my hands!
IT IS IMPURE! IT IS AGAINST THE BIBLE!
worked through it over a day and never got so stuck that a fresh perspective a bit later couldn't fix it. The perfect length.
Also, mr cocoon moves the perfect speed, i don't know how they did it, but it's the perfect speed
i'm not sure what any of it means, but i do know that worlds should not exist in this way. i should not be able to jump out of the orb in my hands!
IT IS IMPURE! IT IS AGAINST THE BIBLE!
A fun puzzler that excels in environmental and puzzle design. Much like Limbo and Inside, the game does so much with very little in terms of controls and complexity, yet unlike those titles, the imagery and themes aren't nearly as strong or memorable.
The puzzles themselves, though easy most of the time, are never tedious and the game's short runtime doesn't let it overstay its welcome.
Despite it not feeling nearly as impactful as previous titles by the same creator, Cocoon is, overall, a success. Its short length makes it an easy pick between this year's massive releases and its gamepass inclusion helps widen its appeal. However, this isn't a title I think will stick with me for very long.
6.8/10
The puzzles themselves, though easy most of the time, are never tedious and the game's short runtime doesn't let it overstay its welcome.
Despite it not feeling nearly as impactful as previous titles by the same creator, Cocoon is, overall, a success. Its short length makes it an easy pick between this year's massive releases and its gamepass inclusion helps widen its appeal. However, this isn't a title I think will stick with me for very long.
6.8/10