wow ITS AN ORB - valorant players probably
This game is incredibly slick. The puzzles flow seamlessly into each other and every part of the world has been designed so that you never have access to more than you need to solve the puzzle immediately in front of you. Its all really brilliantly put together, puzzle design at its most accessible. But in being so well put together it is almost too smooth.
Cocoon was designed by Jeppe Carlsen, best known for his work on Limbo and Inside. What’s interesting about Cocoon is while it appears very different from those games at the outset, it ends up sharing lots of dna. The camera never cuts, flowing through and around pieces of the world as you navigate, your characters verbs are simple, and most importantly, you never stop moving forward. Cocoon is filled with “aha!” moments, but i can count on one hand the number of times i actually got stuck. It does this in the interest of keeping you moving forward but in doing so i find the whole game also flows together in my mind. Those points where i got stuck end up being the only parts i can really strongly remember, the rest of the game slipping through my fingers like sand. The world itself is gorgeous, and the sound design truly evocative. The puzzles are well paced and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, but i expect the gameplay itself to be something i largely forget about in the coming years.
Cocoon is a truly singular experience, unlike anything ive ever played, but its a puzzle game without any room for player expression. Its a game where solving a puzzle often feels more like connecting the dots than discovering a solution. Here are your blocks, here are your sockets, please plug the blocks into the sockets in the only way they can possibly be plugged in, well done, proceed. You get more friction in the final section of the game, but then its over, and im left kind of wanting more, but also feeling like any more complexity would start becoming more annoying than fun as juggling all the orbs starts to get a bit tedious once you have four of them. Ultimately, i enjoyed my time with cocoon, and its aesthetic trappings will likely stick with me for a long time. I just wish the game had been willing to take the training wheels off sooner.
Cocoon was designed by Jeppe Carlsen, best known for his work on Limbo and Inside. What’s interesting about Cocoon is while it appears very different from those games at the outset, it ends up sharing lots of dna. The camera never cuts, flowing through and around pieces of the world as you navigate, your characters verbs are simple, and most importantly, you never stop moving forward. Cocoon is filled with “aha!” moments, but i can count on one hand the number of times i actually got stuck. It does this in the interest of keeping you moving forward but in doing so i find the whole game also flows together in my mind. Those points where i got stuck end up being the only parts i can really strongly remember, the rest of the game slipping through my fingers like sand. The world itself is gorgeous, and the sound design truly evocative. The puzzles are well paced and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, but i expect the gameplay itself to be something i largely forget about in the coming years.
Cocoon is a truly singular experience, unlike anything ive ever played, but its a puzzle game without any room for player expression. Its a game where solving a puzzle often feels more like connecting the dots than discovering a solution. Here are your blocks, here are your sockets, please plug the blocks into the sockets in the only way they can possibly be plugged in, well done, proceed. You get more friction in the final section of the game, but then its over, and im left kind of wanting more, but also feeling like any more complexity would start becoming more annoying than fun as juggling all the orbs starts to get a bit tedious once you have four of them. Ultimately, i enjoyed my time with cocoon, and its aesthetic trappings will likely stick with me for a long time. I just wish the game had been willing to take the training wheels off sooner.
Um jogo bem bonito, fluido e com desafios bem legais. gostei, me surpreendeu!
(100% achievements)
Solving the puzzles didn't make me feel smart, it make me thing the developers were smart.
Solving the puzzles didn't make me feel smart, it make me thing the developers were smart.
Facilmente uno de los mejores juegos de puzles jamas hechos. Tiene un diseño brillante y super ingenioso que te hace pensar a varios niveles de profundidad pero que al mismo tiempo es tremendamente intuitivo. Recomendadísimo.
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.
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.