You have to hand it to Cherry – she is tough. From the moment you meet, and she’s dragging what’s left of her beaten, broken android body across the ground in vengeful pursuit of the guy who ran off with her girl, everything about who Cherry is – strong, sassy, principled, and gloriously self-aware – becomes instantly clear. Not only does it nicely set the stage for one of 2023’s more unforgettable video game heroes, it leaves you with no doubt what metroidvania Cookie Cutter is all about.
It’s about violence. The gorier and the bloodier the better.
Unlike other recent games pressed from the same mold, though, Cookie Cutter isn’t about innovating the metroidvania template or incorporating ideas inspired by other genres, such as Hollow Knight’s soulslike influences. As old-school a metroidvania as it comes, Cookie Cutter blends a memorable cast with a sprawling, interconnected world and striking hand-drawn graphics. And although it does occasionally frustrate as much as it entertains, it’s nonetheless one of the more approachable entries to the genre. If you like blood, of course. Lots and lots of blood.
Cookie Cutter Gameplay Screenshots
I’ve spent a lot of time with metroidvanias over the last few years, and as most have been grim, gothic, oh-so-serious affairs, Cookie Cutter’s unabashed, over-the-top presentation and celebration of color are refreshing. I also cared about Cherry and her quest, and was intrigued by the way she’s able to augment herself to adapt to the challenges of The Megastructure you’ll explore with her. Accompanied by her friend Regina – a disembodied robotic head that closely resembles the part of the female anatomy that rhymes with her name (yes, really) – Cherry lets her fists do the talking as she punches, smacks, and flattens anything stupid enough to get in her way.
Rich, Detailed World
Cookie Cutter’s world is rich in detail, and each biome of the map is home to a unique selection of critters – say, the Denzel Factory’s droids, or the Bloody Den’s maddeningly electrified eel things. You’ll attack them with a combination of light and hard attacks – the former builds up VOID power; the latter uses it up – and there are countless combos to perfect as you kick and punch your way through the world. One-on-one, most enemies aren’t too difficult to defeat, but even if you’re better than me at parrying (which wouldn’t be difficult), very easy enemies can be overwhelming if there are enough of them. The over-the-top presentation and celebration of color are refreshing.
Learning and Advancing
How you play will change over time, though, particularly as you unlock new abilities and find components that help you tweak Cherry’s skillset to better suit your playstyle, such as focussing on offensive skills or making it quicker to self-heal. But it doesn’t matter how bombastic the animations are when Cherry wipes out a boss with a motorbike or beats something to death with an electric guitar – sometimes, you’ll just never feel quite powerful enough to take on the sheer number of enemies around you (especially the ones that can shoot through walls).
Challenging Boss Fights
Because it takes a while for you to unlock Cherry’s full potential, the first half of Cookie Cutter’s 20-ish hour run-time has a couple of surprisingly challenging boss fights, as well as some particularly difficult horde-like auto-lock rooms where you have to take on waves of increasingly tougher enemies to continue.
Exploring and Discovering Secrets
And yes, there are secrets for those prepared to seek them out. In true metroidvania style, there are plenty of hidden materials, weapons, and abilities for Cherry to find if you’re the curious sort who always has to punch a wall before you leave just in case it’s breakable. Sometimes your curiosity will be rewarded. Sometimes it will not. The glee of discovering a secret, off-the-map room never gets old, though. The best part about Cookie Cutter is how it constantly reinvents itself.
Responsive Gameplay
That said, it can get a little tricky to see what’s going on, especially as the camera occasionally zooms out when I’d prefer it was closer and vice versa, with no way to change it manually. This is particularly frustrating when you’re locked in a room with dozens of enemies and can’t quite see where you are, let alone where you’re going, causing me to sometimes lose sight of Cherry completely in a cloud of fists and blood and dismembered body parts.
Challenging but Rewarding
Thankfully, she moves around quite well. Despite the frenzied action, Cherry is responsive, moving with purpose and fluidity as she fights, and you’ll unlock enough save points that death rarely feels overly punishing (apart from a couple of cruelly distant checkpoints before boss rooms). Fast traveling is tougher but not agonisingly so, as each area of the map only has one or two Denzel Stations with teleporters that let you nope out of an area completely.
The very best Metroidvania games to keep you busy this festive season.
It takes a while for you to unlock Cherry’s full potential, the first half of Cookie Cutter’s 20-ish hour run-time has a couple of surprisingly challenging boss fights, as well as some particularly difficult horde-like auto-lock rooms where you have to take on waves of increasingly tougher enemies to continue.