It’s important to hand it to Cherry – she is robust. From the second you meet, and she or he’s dragging what’s left of her overwhelmed, damaged android physique throughout the bottom in vengeful pursuit of the man who ran off along with her woman, all the things about who Cherry is – sturdy, sassy, principled, and gloriously self-conscious – turns into immediately clear. Not solely does it properly set the stage for one in every of 2023’s extra unforgettable online game heroes, it leaves you with little question what metroidvania Cookie Cutter is all about.
It is about violence. The gorier and the bloodier the higher.
Not like different current video games pressed from the identical mildew, although, Cookie Cutter is not about innovating the metroidvania template or incorporating concepts impressed by different genres, resembling Hole Knight’s soulslike influences. As outdated-college a metroidvania because it comes, Cookie Cutter blends a memorable forged with a sprawling, interconnected world and putting hand-drawn graphics. And though it does often frustrate as a lot because it entertains, it is nonetheless one of many extra approachable entries to the style. Should you like blood, after all. Tons and plenty of blood.
I’ve spent lots of time with metroidvanias over the previous couple of years, and as most have been grim, gothic, oh-so-critical affairs, Cookie Cutter’s unabashed, over-the-prime presentation and celebration of colour are refreshing. I additionally cared about Cherry and her quest, and was intrigued by the best way she’s capable of increase herself to adapt to the challenges of The Megastructure you’ll discover along with her. Accompanied by her pal Regina – a disembodied robotic head that intently resembles the a part of the feminine anatomy that rhymes along with her identify (sure, actually) – Cherry lets her fists do the speaking as she punches, smacks, and flattens something silly sufficient to get in her means.
Cookie Cutter’s world is wealthy intimately, and every biome of the map is dwelling to a singular number of critters – say, the Denzel Manufacturing facility’s droids, or the Bloody Den’s maddeningly electrified eel issues. You’ll assault them with a mix of sunshine and arduous assaults – the previous builds up VOID energy; the latter makes use of it up – and there are numerous combos to good as you kick and punch your means via the world. One-on-one, most enemies aren’t too tough to defeat, however even in the event you’re higher than me at parrying (which would not be tough), very straightforward enemies will be overwhelming if there are sufficient of them.
The way you play will change over time, although, significantly as you unlock new skills and discover parts that assist you tweak Cherry’s skillset to higher fit your playstyle, resembling focussing on offensive expertise or making it faster to self-heal. Nevertheless it would not matter how bombastic the animations are when Cherry wipes out a boss with a bike or beats one thing to loss of life with an electrical guitar – typically, you may simply by no means really feel fairly highly effective sufficient to tackle the sheer variety of enemies round you (particularly those that may shoot via partitions).
As a result of it takes some time so that you can unlock Cherry’s full potential, the primary half of Cookie Cutter’s 20-ish hour run-time has a few surprisingly difficult boss fights, in addition to some significantly tough horde-like auto-lock rooms the place you need to tackle waves of more and more more durable enemies to proceed. A part of the attraction of a metroidvania is that everytime you unintentionally stumble right into a boss lair and get your face kicked in, you can also make a swift exit, discover some upgrades or secrets and techniques alongside different paths, after which come again buffed up and prepared for a struggle. However though Cookie Cutter ostensibly provides a nonlinear strategy, on a few events, I found that the subsequent factor I wanted to stage up was simply previous the enemies in that room, which meant I had to sort out them with a view to progress the story, which will be frustratingly limiting.
And sure, there are secrets and techniques for these ready to hunt them out. In true metroidvania type, there are many hidden supplies, weapons, and skills for Cherry to seek out in the event you’re the curious kind who at all times has to punch a wall earlier than you permit simply in case it is breakable. Generally your curiosity might be rewarded. Generally it won’t. The glee of discovering a secret, off-the-map room by no means will get outdated, although.
The most effective half about Cookie Cutter is the way it consistently reinvents itself. Simply as you begin to really feel a little bit uninterested in bashing issues along with your fists, you may unlock a guitar that you may smash on enemy heads. And as quickly as you suppose you have exhausted each cave and hall, you may unlock a brand new potential that may allow you to floor stomp, or fast sprint, or grapple, which opens up beforehand inaccessible areas. You may learn to whack not solely interactive objects across the map – say, big spheres which act as locks – but additionally enemies to ship them flying into environmental hazards, too, so the electrified flooring and steam vents that made getting round for Cherry so tough can now be used to her benefit.
That mentioned, it may possibly get a little bit tough to see what is going on on, particularly because the digicam often zooms out once I’d desire it was nearer and vice versa, with no approach to change it manually. That is significantly irritating if you’re locked in a room with dozens of enemies and might’t fairly see the place you might be, not to mention the place you are going, inflicting me to typically lose sight of Cherry fully in a cloud of fists and blood and dismembered physique elements.
Fortunately, she strikes round fairly properly. Regardless of the frenzied motion, Cherry is responsive, shifting with function and fluidity as she fights, and you may unlock sufficient save factors that loss of life hardly ever feels overly punishing (other than a few cruelly distant checkpoints earlier than boss rooms). Quick touring is more durable however not agonisingly so, as every space of the map solely has one or two Denzel Stations with teleporters that allow you to nope out of an space fully. Vitality Cells, the collectible slots Cherry makes use of to equip passive buffs, are not less than in plentiful provide, letting you lengthen your well being bar, enhance your “ass-kicking,” or add an extra uppercut throughout a multi-hit combo.
The primary difficulty, actually, is Cherry’s self-therapeutic potential. Her offensive expertise use VOID energy, which you construct up by touchdown mild assaults, however you may as well use this energy to self-heal just by hitting down on the D-pad. Let there be little question – I’m very, very grateful it exists, and suspect my expertise would’ve been a extra irritating one with out it. Nevertheless, it takes so lengthy for Cherry to tug it off – as soon as once more, particularly in excessive-octane rooms the place you are locked in and the enemies simply carry on spawning. You are ultimately capable of improve it to be a bit sooner, however it makes the early hours simply that rather more difficult.
And in the event you do discover Cookie Cutter too robust, there’s nothing you are able to do about that, both. Though it is undoubtedly one of many simpler Metroidvanias I’ve loved, it has nearly no customizable choices past key rebinding, and no potential to tweak the problem – be that to make it tougher or simpler – to higher fit your ability stage.