Review NaN of 8
, from PhoenixSummary:
Jade Cocoon 2 is one of the more complex, strange and lengthy games that I've ever played. At it's most basic, Jade Cocoon 2 is a strategy-based RPG on the Japanese random battle model. But it incorporates more than enough unique gameplay to stand out on it's own.
I've never played the original Jade Cocoon, but the one thing that I noticed right away with Jade Cocoon 2 is the concept of strategy combined with layered depth. And this means that a longish learning process is in order before a player can get a grasp on what is going on in this game.
Jade Cocoon 2 is a very lengthy game. For everyone who has ever complained about Playstation RPGs being way too short (like me), here's a bone for you to chew on. I have covered about 75% of the locations in this game, and it's taken me nearly 100 hours. I completed the quest portion of the game, beating the game's major boss at about 80 hours. However, Jade Cocoon is essentially open ended, allowing you to develop your beasts and compete with other CPU controlled BeastHunters for as long as you like. And these competitions never get boring. You can always get your ass kicked. Currently, I have about 75 Divine Beasts that I'm actively growing.
One of the reasons this game takes so long to complete is that you must go through every area at least twice, and preferably three or more times, to aquire every powerup available to you, as the contents of the Forests are randomly generated every time you go through them. And you will want to get every one of the powerups that you can, because you will die many times in this game.
And, these extra trips are not window dressing. Unlike many other RPGs, you never get to the point where winning battles becomes easy, or where money management is no longer a problem, or where planning a fighting strategy becomes a piece of cake. Jade Cocoon 2 stays challenging and interesting all the way through, with the exception of a few stretches of boredom.
Jade Cocoon 2 can be broken up into roughly three parts. The first part is the quest to get rid of your tail, and takes about 40 hours to complete. Once that is done, the second set of Forests become available to you. Finishing that part of the game culminates in the biggest Boss battle (Levant), which occurs at about the 80 hour point, and opens up yet a third group of forests. The third section is open ended as described above.
However, Jade Cocoon 2 does have facets that may turn off some gamers. For starters, there is a lot to learn at the beginning. Just getting a handle on gameplay mechanics can be quite rough. Secondly, there is a lot of visual repetition in the numerous levels (forests). Actually, all that changes, besides the monsters, is the textures used on the plants and the lighting. To be fair, though, the variety in monsters is very large, and for me, that offsets the repetitive environments. Also, the interface for managing and merging your beasts is quite klugey, and can be frustrating at first. After a while, though, when you start getting a handle on how to manage your beasts, you begin to modify several of them at a time, and then the UI becomes less cumbersome.
Jade Cocoon has a lot of what I call the 'Aha!' factor, with new insights occuring all during gameplay. You can save at any time, though you will have to restart an uncompleted level. Report this review >>
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