Koost

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I was not expecting stealth, horror, and anxiety-inducing feels in my little sapce exploration game. I won’t lie when I say that I had to pull myself together in order to finish the DLC, and I am glad I did. The new additions are so well put into the global story and makes for a very different experience and does not love new puzzle mechanics. The only thing I feel I didn't get to enjoy enough was the rafting, I loved the rafts and going through the rapids.

I had zero ideas, zero expectations - I had nothing, I bought this game only because I have seen a repeating phrase in the reviews when I quickly scanned through them: “I wish I could play this game for the first time again”, but the one that sealed the deal for me was “If you have any curiosity left, then this game is for you”. Boy, that was right on the money. There is nothing more fitting to use as a hook to attract new people to experience this masterpiece than one word - curiosity. From the moment you start your expedition, till the very end, the feeling of curiosity, the drive to find out what lies at the core of everything, the elementary urge and want to understand this world will serve as the main force which will propel you to an experience far too few people aim to live nowadays. Even though the world seems small, I think it is a perfect abstraction to the well-thought and executed mechanics at play, an applaudable design choice. The planets each have their own rules - hence each has its own character, or to put it less professionally - each planet has its own way to cause you to die in a stupid/hilarious way. Another enjoyable part of the game are the puzzles, perfectly crafted with the right amount of challenge. The feeling you get when your neurons link the various bits of information you have found around the world and give you that “Aha!” moment is truly spectacular. The soundtrack has a great mix between relaxing, cozy and tension-inducing. The placement of the tracks during gameplay being on point is an understatement. The sound is what gives heft and weight to the moments you encounter during your play-through and in the Outer Wilds’ case it passes all the marks with flying colours.

If you are familiar with Limbo and Inside you can see the semblance of minimalist philosophy, even though it is not as dark and sombre, it still makes you contemplate for a deeper meaning. The game thrives from the minimal hand-holding, minimal UI, minimal everything - less is more and it is applaudable the feat which was achieved here. The puzzles are very balanced. For me personally, they felt very seamless, I never thought once when playing this game that I have to solve a puzzle, I never saw them as an artificial obstacle, thinking to myself “oh, another puzzle to solve, let’s get going”. The puzzles blended very well with the level and the focus was not on overcoming difficulty but rather gaining understanding of the game’s systems. Once you solve a puzzle you get the prerequisite knowledge to solve the next and you become more knowledgeable about the world. The “orb worlds” mechanic is very interesting, at first you would think that it is a clever way to transport more world orbs, but close to the end of the game you get introduced to a mind-blowing application of the mechanic. It literally went from “huh, that’s cool” to “no way, you can do THAT?”. What truly stood out for me was that there was no hand-holding, no markers, no outright written quests, nothing was spelled out for you, but at the same time the game guides you so elegantly that it is eerie how well thought the levels are. Cocoon is different through the way it makes the player learn about the world and its systems, you are not forced into a failed state, not a traditional one at least, instead you are learning through the interaction with the puzzles of the world, logic and contextual queues taking care of the rest. A very relaxing and rewarding experience, not mind-blowing, not flashy, but memorable for entirely new reasons. It was not the story, it was not the conclusion either, it was the atmosphere and I am grateful to have enjoyed it.

An unusual game to say the least. A game about finding oneself, finding one’s purpose. The art direction in this game is quite astounding, besides the visual style. What really hit me after finishing my play-through was the beautifully crafted parallels to real life. You start in a small contained world, the starting area, you are surrounded by your kin, your family and closest friends. But then, the gates open, you go on your own in the big wide world. You have been told that you have to see the world for yourself, find what you love doing and choose a mask at the end of your journey. Along the way you are meeting lots of different places and characters. You get to know people who may guide you, assist you along the way, people who may need your help. All these small interactions build you as an individual, putting you to test seeing what path better suits you. This game felt small and big at the same time. I enjoyed every aspect of it, the world, the quests, the dialogue which seemed more like book prose rather than traditional voicelines, which was quite refreshing and detracted nothing from the quality. My main gripe with the game was its ending, but not because of it, I guess it has to do more with us - the player. Who would like to be reminded that sooner or later we all have to make a choice, stop wondering blindly and commit to something, commit to a career, to a person, to a choice, it doesn’t matter, all things come to and end, of course you will get anxious. I did not expect to be reminded of this lesson in such a game, but I am glad to have experienced it, no matter how bittersweet and unsatisfying it was.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

An elevator pitch would not be able to grasp the whole game, it would either: a) Undersell it; b)Overwhelm you into thinking you that it is too confusing to be enjoyable. I would recommend option (a) since that’s what the majority of the first-time players of the game have experienced. The moment you think you have got the hang of something during the playthrough and think to yourself “I guess that’s the game”, that’s when a new mechanic/ addition comes along. By the 4th or 5th “surprise” you’re probably thinking “Hmm, you know what would be great?” and behold — something new appears. The rate at which this game introduces new mechanics/activities is nothing short of high praise, the pacing and timing make for a very straightforward experience which does not detract from the game and instead enriches it. What is truly amazing is the fact that the base formula of the games does not change, hence the reason you are not overwhelmed and confused. If you are looking for a both relaxing and engaging experience then I recommend this game wholeheartedly.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Hollow Knight served for me as the first metroidvania and the first (serious) platformer. The first thing that captivated me was the music playing in Dirtmouth (first proper location), and that feeling stayed with me throughout the game. Whenever a certain mood or atmosphere was introduced, it succeeded without fail, either through the genius score and sound design or through the beautifully crafted level and artwork (amazing color palettes by the way), or a combination of both. The writing does not fall short either, the world building, the NPCs they all work masterfully together in creating the impression of a kingdom from a bygone era. In terms of mechanics, I fell in love with the responsive controls. I know it may sound strange for this type of game, but I have played it with mouse and keyboard, and I have never thought of switching to a controller. The level traversal and exploration are solid, the enemies and bosses are incredible. People might have some gripes with a few in terms of annoyance but I think that was part of the intention. To say I’d just recommend this game would be an enormous disservice. I would highly encourage everyone to try this gem and experience what it means to be lost in a beautifully crafted world, and also to see what it means when a passionate team manages to release something truly outstanding.