CookieRun: The Darkest Evening Evaluate

TL;DR for CookieRun: The Darkest Evening – Chapter 1
(performed and skilled on a Meta Quest 3 128 GB mannequin)

Among the many VR video games launched this winter, CookieRun: The Darkest Evening – Chapter 1 (which we’ll simply name CookieRun for brevity, regardless of different video games from this writer sharing the title) stood out as a promising candidate. Its lovely trailer filled with vibrant characters offers an actual sense of story, journey, attraction, and—oh (hell) sure—whimsy.

I see the trailer for this right here cookie recreation and I’m reminded of colourful gems like Ōkami or Ni No Kuni or about two-thirds of the Zelda franchise; Ghibli-esque fantasy romps whose vibrant, stylized aesthetics set the stage for spectacular journey and deep, fascinating gameplay!

Sadly, this isn’t a type of video games; not by an extended shot.

STORY

CookieRun has you enjoying as Ginger Courageous, the Chosen One, the one cookie with out the phrase “cookie” in your title. The Prophecy says that you can be the one to lastly lead your individuals out of the damaging citadel from which you have been baked.

“Get up, Hyperlink!” plus or minus some phrases, says the little glowing fae who begins your journey. On this little little bit of familiarity and others, CookieRun exhibits how a lot it desires to be a VR Zelda recreation. I would like that additionally. And The Legend of Cookie does succeed at that in at the least one respect: its complete disregard for wise world-building.

Whereas I wasn’t precisely anticipating realism from the cookie recreation, I nonetheless discovered it lacked the same old give attention to inside logic discovered within the fantasy style.

Why is the Darkest Lord Cookie referred to as that when he’s clearly fabricated from Satan’s Meals Cake? Why is falling typically a deadly menace and typically a cutscene and a slide whistle? Why do cookies heal by consuming meat and why does that meat come from a bonsai tree?(!)

The unsatisfying however actually comprehensible implicit reply is “In the event you can droop disbelief sufficient to play as a VR Cookie Messiah then you have got it inside you to completely not fear about it.”

Okay, truthful. And whereas, no, I wasn’t precisely anticipating realism from the cookie recreation, I nonetheless discovered it lacked the same old give attention to inside logic discovered within the fantasy style—particularly one thing so dialogue-heavy—even whether it is however a brief, cutesy incarnation of that style.

And to be truthful, it could be that there are plenty of free threads solely as a result of this recreation is Act Certainly one of a three-act sequence. The argument might be made that the precedence for Act One must be, actually, to flesh out characters and relationships earlier than diving extra deeply into the world. So if that’s what finally ends up taking place in Acts Two and Three then be happy to inform me and I’ll retract this specific critique. And if somebody doesn’t inform me, then I gained’t discover out.

Alright, why am I placing a lot emphasis on the story right here? Effectively as a result of the sport places a lot emphasis on the story. In some ways, CookieRun feels much less like a recreation and extra like a storybook that you need to work together with to maneuver via. The gameplay in Cookie Storybookie is definitely straightforward to the purpose of being laborious to fail.

GAMEPLAY

For fight: Your candy-cane swords have large hitboxes and in addition act as shields. Enemies—together with bosses—fall shortly since your assault pace is just restricted by your personal capability to feverishly wiggle your palms about. You’ve invincible pets who provide help to in battle. You are taking a ton of hits earlier than falling. And therapeutic meats are ample. Must you by some means die, you’ll respawn to wherever you have been most lately secure with no penalties.

Puzzles too, are a complete non-challenge. The commonest kind of puzzle is one the place you need to rotate an emblem till it matches the image above it. And if that weren’t straightforward sufficient, you’re capable of actually not even take a look at the corresponding image and simply try and rotate the one beneath it 360°. The sport will cease you from rotating additional than the appropriate reply and also you’ll be rewarded with a Courageous Soul, a foreign money used to improve Ginger Courageous’s well being and stamina a la Spirit Orbs from Breath of the Wild.

These novel gimmicks sadly do little to counter the sport’s core lack of problem. 

When it comes to cool VR-specific mechanics, the sport takes classes from—humorous sufficient—thrillers like Resident Evil 4 and Half-Life: Alyx. Interactions that may usually be accomplished on an overlaid menu—like pulling up a map, drawing your weapon, or stashing gadgets—are as an alternative accomplished diegetically, by bringing the controller to a relative spot in your physique the place these issues are saved. And to test your well being or summon your pet, you work together with a wristwatch-like magic bracelet.

These novel gimmicks sadly do little to counter the sport’s core lack of problem (and due to this fact lack of potential for move). Gameplay is a verdant, winding, singular pathway—adorned with levers and bobbles—that takes you to the following little bit of dialogue.

And there’s quite a bit of dialogue… unskippable dialogue.

Not solely is the dialogue unskippable, however, hey, it’s additionally poorly written! And most of the time, you aren’t allowed to go away a given NPCs’ radius whereas they’re speaking. Already found out what to do subsequent within the recreation? Simply need to strive stuff out? Too unhealthy! Wizard Cookie has determined he’s feeling chatty simply now. So that you get to attend round in plodding dialog till NPC exposition-bot finishes printing out that paper with the phrase “go” on it.

And within the cases the place you aren’t bodily tethered to your NPCs, the sport will discover different inventive methods to cease you from progressing till it’s all completed its chittering.

Like I believed that if I shot at these plump bits of meat hanging from the bonsai tree with my slingshot they’d fall down. However oh properly, I suppose not… Wait, what’s that, gnome NPC? I ought to shoot the hanging meats with my slingshot? Effectively, nice concept! And now—since you’ve simply informed me to do it—it really works!

Hey, there’s three puzzle items lacking from this jigsaw puzzle on the witch’s desk! Perhaps I ought to discover them and put them again into place. Aw gee, nothing occurred… Wait, what’s that Alchemist Cookie? No, I already noticed the puzzle and put the items again and- Oh… Now that you simply’ve completed telling me that I ought to resolve the puzzle, the solved puzzle has became a MacGuffin-delivering portal! Nice!

Now once I say the ample and unskippable dialogue is poorly written, I mainly simply imply that it’s for youths. And primarily based on the extent of language used, it’s in all probability for youths too younger to be utilizing VR. It’s poorly written in the way in which that Dora the Explorer might be referred to as poorly written. It’s repetitive and overly expository to ensure that six-year-olds can grasp what’s occurring.

It may appear unusual how I’m mainly complaining {that a} piece of media the place you play because the Gingerbread Man’s chibi counterpart seems to be for infants, as if the aesthetic didn’t give it away. However this isn’t a film. This can be a online game (form of).

And gaming has an extended historical past of defying its personal bubbly aesthetics with difficult gameplay. To see what I imply, simply go the shortest doable distance from the very idea of a online game to the closest concrete instance of 1: Mario video games have lengthy made it plain that vibrant smiling clouds and glad dancing flowers are completely appropriate with a problem.

The workforce at Studio FreshDoh! actually did a wonderful job of creating probably the most out of the Meta Quest 3’s {hardware} capabilities.

So I refute the concept a recreation’s visuals are ever sufficient to guage how troublesome it is going to be. However whereas we’re on visuals—it should be stated—CookieRun is totally attractive.

Each character is properly communicated via their design, and their magical world is simply effervescent with life. Visible consideration to element is everywhere in the backgrounds and set items. Candle flames and glowing spirits illuminate the environment of tabletops and bookshelves that your little gingerbread toes faucet alongside.

The workforce at Studio FreshDoh! actually did a wonderful job of creating probably the most out of the Meta Quest 3’s {hardware} capabilities. I typically discovered myself staring out over the panorama from up excessive, simply taking in the great thing about this cozy fairytale come to life.

Oh expensive reader, how I want that I may wrap this up on that prime notice with no additional gripes. However for all the love the builders gave to the visuals, there’s a complete lack of care within the sound design. A number of essential moments the place there must be a significant sound impact merely had none, ruining immersion and making issues really feel weightless and unfinished.

At different factors, sound design didn’t precisely replicate the area I used to be in. Loud, clearly shut footsteps would change into the product of an enemy far off within the distance. The voice appearing, too, is in every single place. Some characters pull you in with attraction or gravitas, whereas others—who, once more, you’re actively compelled to hearken to—are simply plain annoying.

And the bugs! Bugs are all over the place each gentle and extreme: a malfunctioning begin menu, near-constant and unprompted haptic suggestions that compelled me to show the characteristic off, the recurring incapability to open my merchandise bag, and a defective save state that dropped me off the map each time I loaded my recreation.

Since launch, the dev workforce has put out a patch coping with a few of the bugs in addition to sound points, so there’s hope at the least that this primary entry into the sequence would possibly get sufficient TLC to show issues round down the highway.

There’s quite a bit of potential right here. And if the love from the devs continues—possibly a tougher issue mode will get added, in addition to the choice to skip dialogue—then CookieRun might be an actual winner.

However even then, at USD $25 for about three to eight hours of gameplay (possibly even two hours when you subtract the yapping) I can solely advocate it when you’ve acquired additional money, a deep love for whimsical aesthetics, and nil need for a problem.

VERDICT

CookieRun is an unfinished recreation with plenty of good concepts and large visible polish. You may hardly anticipate a extra lovely recreation given the {hardware}. However the magnificence and artistic mechanics are undone by bugs, gradual pacing, poor audio, and an understimulating degree of ease.

I wished this recreation to be glorious, and with sufficient consideration from the dev workforce it would even get there. For now although, there’s simply an excessive amount of standing in the way in which of what seems like ought to be a superb recreation.

In the event you’re all in favour of a guided tour via a small however lovely world of surprise, or if you wish to smash via a Sweet Land energy fantasy, then this recreation could be best for you!

In any other case, CookieRun: The Darkest Evening – Chapter 1 will get a 4/10.

Scoring & Rubric

Scores are out of 10, the place 10 is a masterpiece, 1 is the alternative, and 5 is simply common. Gameplay has a heavier weighting within the general rating.

Gameplay – 2
Immersion – 7
Visuals – 10
Sound – 4
Efficiency – 3
Replayability – 5

Picture / video credit score: Studio FreshDoh! / YouTube. Screenshots & GIFs: Auganix