Cookie Cutter Review – Metroid-PAIN-ia (PC)

Cookie Cutter is a 2023 punk rock Metroidvania beat em up developed by Rogue Games and released in 2023. It’s an ultra violent indie game full of beautiful and gory art all centered around a beautiful girl protagonist. A clash of styles that worked wonders for Lollipop Chainsaw. Remember that game? There’s an achievement in it for looking up the main character’s skirt. Which you basically do constantly in Cookie Cutter.

The cybernetic psycho-pop style of the game certainly isn’t for everyone. However, it gives this game a unique and recognizable flair which never hurts. The gameplay is fast and fun. And the Metroidvania aspect is done fairly well. There are proper incentives and rewards for exploration. As well as a solid level of challenge that essentially forces players to get very good at the game.

However, the final product feels unfinished and unpolished. A few more months of Quality Assurance and Beta Testing would have done this game wonders. Just to iron out the little bugs and glitches. And to refine certain hitboxes so they actually feel fair. It takes away from the fun of the game when you have to backtrack just to redo something you already did.

Cookie Cutter is available for PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as PlayStation and Xbox for $19.99

This review contains minor spoilers for Cookie Cutter.

Story – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

Cookie Cutter follows an artificial intelligence “Denzel” named Cherry as she attempts to rescue her creator and lover Shinji Fallon. Yeah, it’s a weird dynamic. Anyway. Shinji is captured by the Garbanzos family. The family behind Infocorp, which runs the Megastructure everyone resides in and controls the Void power within it. They turned millions of people into robot slaves named Denzels. No Washington.

Cherry is created by Shinji as a part of the rebellion against Infocorp and the Garbanzos family as people try to reclaim their freedom. She is rebuilt after Shinji is captured, and must venture through the Megastructure in an effort to find her. It’s a simple rescue plot with a lot of Sci-Fi dressing to spice things up. Nothing too complicated, but this game is way more about gameplay and worldbuilding than plot.

However, the story does end very abruptly in a rather unsatisfying way. Seemingly saving the conclusion for either DLC or a sequel. Like imagine if Persona 5 ended as soon as the investigation caught up to the present time. 

Cherry waking up after being rebuilt

Gameplay – Raw Dough

The gameplay in Cookie Cutter needs a little more time in the oven. There’s nothing egregiously wrong with it. However, the small issues pile up over the course of the game. Certain sections, especially toward the end, feel designed more to be annoying than challenging. Indicators that should pop up on the map sometimes don’t. And the game seems to value animation over gameplay. So you can’t pull off certain maneuvers because you have to wait for the animations to finish. It definitely killed me a few times. 

Solid Megastructure

Most gamers have probably heard the term “Metroidvania.” It refers to a style of game where you’re typically in one large location, and unlock powers and abilities throughout the story that give you access to new areas. It’s a very broad genre, with the term deriving from the two popular video games series Metroid and Castlevania. Other popular games with Metroidvania qualities include Batman Arkham Asylum, Control, and Hollow Knight.

Cookie Cutter is very much a Metroidvania game. As Cherry gains new cybernetic abilities that allow her to discover new paths and secrets across the Megastructure. However, there was one time all the paths I had opened were closed once I opened the game again. I’m not sure if that was a glitch or if it was patched out, but beware that it could happen. Also the actual traversal could be improved.

A glimpse inside the Megastructure

A lot of the rooms feel rather empty and lifeless. Most are full of the same handful of enemies. Or covered in environmental hazards with gigantic hitboxes. Which includes some hazards that are instant kills. So that’s fun. Also, the fast travel system is very limited. Meaning you have to explore the same areas and fight the same respawning enemies over and over again just to reach new areas. 

Cherry Bomb

Cherry does a lot of fighting in Cookie Cutter. Though you can defeat most enemies by simply spamming attacks. However, veteran beat ’em up players may experience a few annoyances. For example, Cherry only has one attack that interrupts enemy attacks. However, every attack interrupts her animations. And as I mentioned before, a lot of the hitboxes feel off. Like you’ll constantly be hit by things you feel like shouldn’t have touched you. Meanwhile you stand right in front of an enemy and your attack doesn’t land.

The abilities and attacks you unlock throughout the game are fun to use. However, I think the game would benefit from combo moves. You pretty much reach the apex of your basic combat attacks as soon as you start. Also, the game essentially forces you to explore every corner of every map. You’ll be way too weak to enjoy the experience otherwise. You need to find all the energy upgrades so you can equip more add-ons. It can be a very annoying roadblock. Especially if you don’t know where to look next.

She stepped on him so hard his soul left his body

Finally, just don’t use the parry. It’s very inconsistent. And meant for the sweatiest of gamers. You get access to an invincible dash pretty quickly that you can use instead. It’s also helpful since Cherry isn’t equipped to handle groups of enemies until much later.

Graphics & Sound – Visceral Cleanup

This game has some beautiful 2D art. I can’t fault it at all for its art direction. Though there are some strange choices here and there. Like Cherry having the worst haircut this side of Tyson Kidd. Or the palette-swapped enemies. However, there are a few instances where the animation gets in the way of crisp gameplay. And I won’t sit here and act like Cherry wearing a short skirt you constantly see up isn’t a selling point for some. Go for it if that’s enough to make you buy the game.

The sound design is also very good, if a bit inconsistent. Sometimes no sound effect played when it should have. Other times the sound effect would play over itself, cutting itself off multiple times. And sometimes the sound effect plays louder than it should. Nothing that drastically impacts the quality of the game. Just small things I noticed.

Cookie Cutter was reviewed on PC with a code from Reverb Inc.