Image Credits: Geometric Interactive via Wikipedia
Have you ever felt lost? I’m not talking emotionally here, but physically have you ever just had no idea where you were going. Where every corner becomes a mystery and what lies ahead is uncertain. It’s a scary feeling, one that once you’re out of you never want to experience again. I have always thought this way, but for the cicada-like creature in Cocoon, being lost is all the fun.
With no dialogue you are left stranded, exploring vast worlds that you gain access through a series of orbs you find along your journey. These orbs lead you to many different lands, which can range from a rainy jungle, a desolate desert or a harsh and gray mechanical landscape. Each world comes with its own set of puzzles and solving each one can become quite the challenge.
The puzzles were by far the most intriguing and interesting part of this whole game. The further you progress the more orbs you get at your disposal and the more worlds you get to explore. To progress though you must traverse back and forth between each world, and search through new areas as you pick up new abilities and more orbs. If you are a fan of Christopher Nolan you will immediately get “Inception” vibes, and don’t let this scare you because it is just as fun as it looks. As you begin to learn each world/orb, you must remember to keep your focus and know which orbs contain which world and which worlds contain the puzzle you are looking to solve.
As I hopped into one world, and then into another and into another, there was definitely a lot of confusion in the air, but it never felt too frustrating. Anytime I got stuck though, which was rare in this short four to five hour game, I never felt as if the game was pushing me too hard. Not to say all the puzzles are easy, because they’re definitely not, but this game does a phenomenal job at keeping the pace of the game on par with the difficulty of the puzzles. Every puzzle works off the last to make the player not only think more, but to enjoy the strange and unique experience this game offers.
Almost every idea here is really fun and innovative, and it all meshes really well with Cocoon’s art design. While it is simple, there are a lot of original and creative designs that are visible from the game’s first frame to its last. Every world you enter not only looks vastly different than the last, but each is beautiful to view in their own way.
These scenic landscapes are all shown with very menial amounts of music, which I would normally feel is a misstep, but Cocoon makes up for this with its incredible sound design. Especially playing with headphones, you become completely immersed into every world you enter. Everything from the sound of your feet hitting the floor, to the rain hitting the water, the sound design makes the atmosphere of this whole game so much more thick.
While the gameplay is a real one of a kind experience, and is definitely worth playing for that alone, it’s the story that Cocoon is severely lacking. From the moment the game begins you feel lost, wandering in strange worlds with no clue what lies ahead. While at times this felt really interesting and immersive, at other times I had very little motivation to play. While it is clear that telling an interesting story wasn’t their purpose here, I think it was a major misstep by Geometric Interactive. There is nothing in the story here that inspires me to continue playing, as the only real goal is to complete the next puzzle. Why we have to complete these puzzles is left completely to the player, which I just don’t think was enough for a game this creative. By the time I reached the end, I felt lost again, but not in the entrancing way I had felt earlier, but in a more confused and disappointed way.
The one good thing to come from this heavy lack of story, is that it allowed the developers more time to focus on the atmosphere, puzzles and art design, which are definitely the game’s strong suits.
Cocoon is without a doubt a well made game, with a lot of thought and effort placed into immersing you in these strange lands. The lack of story and player motivation halts this game in its tracks from becoming something I would require anyone to play, but instead just a fun puzzle game with some new ideas. I would really only recommend if you are merely looking for a fun puzzle game with a unique and interesting play style but aren’t worried about a story at all.
6/10
Samuel J. Beadle is a second-year English major. SB1033446@wcupa.edu