Cocoon Review: Captivating Journey (PS4)

Cocoon was created by a team led by Jeppe Carlsen, who previously made Limbo and Inside with PlayDead. And the evolution in environmental storytelling from those games is crystallised here. This was an excellent puzzle adventure. With an interesting premise which captured my attention, the game is very good at progressing you through the story. Cocoon’s mystery is drip fed using world powers which make you feel smart. This leads to enjoying the discovery of more of the worlds available to you. By the end I did feel a little frazzled by the intricacy of the puzzles but the journey is very enjoyable and definitely worth seeing through to its conclusion.

Cocoon was created by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released on 29^th September 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Windows, and Xbox One/Xbox Series S.

One of Cocoon’s inspirations is the classic, Inside. We have an article at KeenGamer where Amos Bryne talks about the game’s main themes. 

Story: Seeing Is Believing

Not to dwell on previous games but PlayDead’s Limbo and specifically Inside told a journey through your own actions and their environment. And it’s more prominent here. Nothing is explained here. And what is shown here is mysterious, ambiguous and up to your imagination or interpretation. Part of me enjoyed the mystery while another part hoped to find answers.

This is a big part of the game’s appeal. It’s about the journey you take and environmental storytelling. Right from the beginning, whenever it decided to show me something, I asked myself, “what is going on here?” The game starts with a comet from the sky crashing into a natural resource which gives “birth” to you – Who I will call Beetle. You are a humanoid with wings, like a beetle. And you seem to be one of the few things alive in a desolate world. One which is a mixture of natural beauty and mechanical devices.

You soon come across Orbs. And Beetle has the unique ability to be sucked in & explore inside each one. Orbs are worlds within themselves which you will explore to progress the story. One is full of red sand, dry and barren. One is full of water, with a coral reef style area. Another is like a giant treehouse with rubbery pipes. The worlds themselves, to fit the puzzle filled nature of the game, are all organic but had been changed by a previous civilisation which thrived on technology. That is my interpretation anyway.

It was all beautiful to look at and explore. I will say the ending is good – but I would have liked more explanation to its environmental storytelling even as it finished.

I enjoyed seeing Cocoon’s worlds from a different perspective, even if it was brief.

Gameplay: World Bending Puzzles

Cocoon has a simple design structure, one on which the puzzles build on top of each other. This process had a good learning curve. It did become mind melting by the end, but it was also really gratifying to figure out.

Beetle has a limited move set but was quite nimble: he can run around, pick up orbs and use mechanical devices such as activation pads and moveable platforms. I quite liked the tubes which reached inaccessible areas. Reminded me of Yoku’s Island Express. The world design was great. You used the orbs to hop into a world, solve puzzles and explore before moving on. You would then be able to access new areas in each world once you acquired a certain orb. And then realising you carried orbs within each other to affect the world you currently resided was a game changer.

Each orb has different effects: one can see invisible pathways is just one example. Cocoon’s ability to combine all the effects of the orbs to affect change in the world you currently resided and being able to comprehend how it works is smart, effective and extremely gratifying to execute. I’ll admit struggling to figuring this out – specifically with an orb which fired a laser. The last 15% of the game can be very challenging. I think the puzzles end up being more convoluted than necessary. However, most of Cocoon is great. Once you learn the systems and figure out puzzles, it’s a great buzz.

One aspect of the game I liked was that within the pause menu is a checkpoint system. If you were stuck and if you missed something, you can go back to any point in time.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time swapping orbs and jumping into worlds.

Environmental Storytelling

While Cocoon’s focus are the orb puzzles, there are some side content to consider. One is mandatory: throughout the game there are gates blocking your progress within each world. And once you have a new orb, you’re able to access an area which resides a symbol puzzle. These symbols are points in the ground which you must hit in order. The solutions were found through the environmental storytelling I spoke of earlier. They were very clever in displaying a solution that you could see in front of you: you just need to figure out the perspective to understand it. Reflections in water, shadows on the ground. Figuring out the sequence made me feel smart.

Another puzzle element was activating walkers. These mechanical beings used your orb to be able to reach unobtainable areas you couldn’t do by yourself. They were a nice variation and broke up gameplay.

One of the many symbol puzzles. These were enjoyable to figure out.

You’re Not Alone

The biggest takeaway from Cocoon from a gameplay perspective was the sense of isolation. This is something I enjoyed from a gameplay standpoint. Allowing me to enjoy the game at my own pace and it allowed me to ruminate on what was going on. However, there are two main sections which involve other beings. One is supplementary: there is a sort of side quest where you can scour the world for remnants called Moon Ancestors. These were easily missed if you’re not looking for clues and it was enjoyable finding them.

These were nice to find off the beaten path…. if you know where to look.

Remnants of a Civilisation Past

By completing sections of the game, you’ll eventually come to face to face with a boss. They were like gatekeepers. There were two interactions with them. the first being a reaction test where you could attack a series of symbols which allowed you to face your adversary.

The main interaction is the boss fight itself. I found them to be entertaining but simplistic. You end up in a circular arena and the boss will attack in a repeated pattern you need to figure out. You need to find an orb to attack them a certain number of times. A boss has several phases to complete and if you are caught, you are thrown out of the arena and are required to start the process from the beginning.

I found bosses to be a highlight of the game despite their unsophisticated nature. Cocoon is a game about being on a journey, it is not about how strong you are. I found them to be satisfying to complete. However, they die horribly, and it made me wonder within the story – are you doing the right thing? Are you the good guy?

Understanding Cocoon’s orb mechanics will greatly benefit you in enjoying a linear exploration game which has great environment storytelling, enjoyable puzzles and fun bosses.

The bosses were nicely animated and designed

Graphics: Bright, Bold & Imaginative

Cocoon’s world is shown from an isometric perspective. And it is gorgeous. I thought all of it looked great. From an artistic standpoint to the graphics engine itself. I really enjoyed the design of each world and how it combined nature with machinery. The use of the camera was very good to show off the background and scenery. Beetle himself is nicely designed and everything runs smoothly. The game used bright colours, even the sandy desert world doesn’t look dull. There was plenty of detail in the water world showing off the coral. The bosses again, were a graphical highlight with plenty of detail. I liked how each boss was some sort of insect or animal, which also came across as part organic and machine, fitting the theme of the universe.

I loved Cocoon’s use of vivid colours.

Music & Audio: Atmosphere Is the Priority

Interestingly, as far as I could tell, it was mostly an ambient, mysterious sound in the background. And I was fine with this. Boss music was more of a pulsing rhythm, an almost otherworldly sounding stretched across the landscape. It wasn’t something I focused on during the fights but it fitted the situation. Music was nice and relaxing when played, usually around the success of a puzzle solve as an audio cue. Since music is mostly in the background the soundscape is key. And it was very good. Beetle patters across the world on his feet. Mechanical devices chirp, whirr, beep and bonk away. While organic, natural world sounds are stretchy, slimy, creaky.

Cocoon was played and reviewed on PlayStation 4.