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Cocoon is easily one of the best games at Summer Game Fest 2023Insect lad’s world-hopping adventures are shaping up a treat
Insect lad’s world-hopping adventures are shaping up a treat
Image credit:Annapurna Interactive
Image credit:Annapurna Interactive
Playingpuzzle gamesat events frightens me, because: 1) my brain is rarely able to overcome a puzzle in public; 2) people might be watching, and therefore, 3) I can hear them sniggering behind my back. I had no such trouble with Cocoon, though, because its challenges tweaked my brain receptors in what can only be described as a gentle brush of the neurons. Wander about as Insect Lad and the map presents you with a slow wave of clues that even someone like me is able to piece together. I think that’s thanks to the minimalism of it all.
COCOON | Reveal TrailerWatch on YouTube
COCOON | Reveal Trailer
I was lucky enough to experience a touch of world-hopping too, as I explored one world which I then happened to carry on my back. The recursive concept might be bonkers ambitious (and veryPatrick’s Parabox), yet it seemed to work a treat in the short time I played. Hopping between worlds is as you see in the trailer, an instantaneous whizz into another space. And you’re encouraged to jump between them in a Metroid-like a manner once you’ve bagged items that’ll let you progress through bits you couldn’t before. I eventually got this little triangular robot fella from one world, who I then took into the previous world, and used him to unlock a boss battle with a big robo-moth.
Image credit:Annapurna Interactive
Image credit:Annapurna Interactive
Cocoon is easily one of the highlights here at Summer Game Fest for me, and easily one of the best games I’ve played here so far. I was worried it was going to be a pure puzzler, in the sense it would focus entirely on intricate orb placements in slightly dull, metallic arenas. Oh no. It’s a puzzler which makes exploration a thrill, with a world you’re excited to observe and orb-hopping that truly goes places. I’ve heard from a fellow pal who got to spend a touch more time with the demo that there’s a bit where you place an orb within an orb. Sheesh.
