izigame.me

Maybe my expectations were too high, but even with lower expectations, Cocoon would still be a boring puzzle game.
Having heard that one of the developers behind Inside & Limbo worked on Cocoon, I was excited. Inside is a masterpiece in my eyes, so I was eager to see what Cocoon had to offer. However, Cocoon turned out to be an overhyped, linear, top-down puzzle game that failed to engage me.
The music didn't interest me, the art style felt bland, and the puzzles were more tedious than challenging. Most of the puzzles involved tedious back & forth mechanics. While the bosses provided a brief change of pace, they too failed to add any significant interest.
After playing for about 100 minutes and realizing I had already completed 51% of the game, I was struck by the repetitive nature of the gameplay. I began to wonder if the rest of the game would just be more of the same. Checking other reviews, I found that most people seemed to enjoy Cocoon, which left me feeling surprised. Was I the only one who thought this game was bad? Despite my growing disinterest, I decided to finish the game to provide a fair critique. Two late game puzzles stood out as mildly interesting, but by then, it was too late to change my overall impression. By the time the credits rolled, I felt a sense of relief rather than satisfaction.
Curious about the connection to Playdead I looked into the involvement of the studio and discovered that Playdead had no role in the making of Cocoon. The game was the work of Jeppe Carlsen, the puzzle designer behind Inside and Limbo. However, what made Limbo and Inside so fascinating was not just the puzzles, but their cohesiveness. the atmosphere, immersive storytelling, and artistic direction. Cocoon lacked this cohesion and depth, feeling like a series of endless waves of puzzles rather than an interesting experience.
In Inside and Limbo, the puzzles, environment, music, and story all worked together to create a compelling and immersive experience. On the other hand, Cocoon felt like a tedious series of top-down puzzles without interesting environments or moments of wonder.
Cocoon made me wish I was playing Limbo or Inside instead. I did not find Cocoon enjoyable, and I would not recommend it to anyone.