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Saving the Cosmos with Gacha Waifus - Space Leaper: Cocoon Review

29K View2022-09-04

I’ve always been a fan of anime. Between the uniqueness of the narratives, the vibrancy and combinations of colors, and of course, the wackiness and large personalities, that format just speaks to me. Anime and otaku culture have certainly found their way to video games and mobile devices. With the release of Space Leaper: Cocoon, we get another unique entry in this category by way of an auto-battler set in the distant future and across the cosmos!

Newly released and developed by Damo Network, Space Leaper: Cocoon is a visually stunning gacha-style RPG that goes all out on the eye candy. From the opening cinematic, I experienced a funky and colorful introduction highlighting the game’s futuristic environment. The cast of characters is equipped with voice actors that highlight the wackiness of individual personalities. The game’s script features some oddly translated phrasing, to be sure—a personal standout was the “Victory Mission Succeed” message after winning a battle. But these awkward bits are small enough to be forgiven and never took me out of the gameplay, especially considering each character’s unique voice work.

Admittedly, I was a bit confused at the start of Space Leaper: Cocoon. The game starts in the middle of chaos and gets meta very quickly. Perhaps this explains why I had to go through about ten minutes of tutorials before I could get to the actual gameplay.

Nevertheless, the general gist of the story is unique. You play as a human who’s just downloaded a new game onto their phone. (Imagine that!) You’ll soon discover the characters in the game are alive and talking to this new “proxy” introduced into their world. This leads to some cool interactive choices for dialogue responses which I appreciated. The story takes place near the thirtieth century when the galaxy is a wreck. You’re recruited aboard a ship named The Cocoon, whose mission is to repair a threatened universe.

Adding to the meta elements of Space Leaper: Cocoon, the interface is stylized as a mobile phone. The main screen has your leaper campaign, where you can access the story mode, mail, game events, and leaper search. Like a phone, you can swipe right and left to access the in-game shop and rewards for completing tasks. If you’re confused by the term “leaper,” don’t worry. I was too at first. “Leapers” are the heroes of the game. To excel in Space Leaper: Cocoon, you’ll have to collect and upgrade your leapers to build the strongest squad to compete in the story campaign mode.

The leapers are truly varied. For example, Clara uses swords and looks like she’s made of diamonds, while Jade is equipped with a gigantic rifle and resembles a sea creature. There’s even a leaper named Millie who looks like a giant shark! This is where Space Leaper: Cocoon introduces its gacha elements. Each leaper is ranked via stars and can be upgraded with different gear.

Moreover, each character has a skill and element I took advantage of in my campaigns. Jade was a hunter and ranged fighter and was best in the back, while Clara, an assassin, was best put in the front lines to infiltrate the enemy lines from the back.

Notably, there’s one area in which the leapers aren’t so varied: All the characters I encountered seemed to be female. There was no explanation for this, and perhaps there are more male characters to unlock, but as far as my playthrough, it was definitely lady’s night! Space Leaper: Cocoon does a good job of keeping the characters unique (there’s a freaking shark lady, for crying out loud), but undoubtedly some of these characters are oversexualized. One character is a fox lady whose profile image features her ass stuck in the air. And then, of course, there’s this...well-endowed character. I could have done with a little more subtlety.

When choosing leapers for my campaigns, I needed to carefully consider where to place them on that stage’s grid. Each grid has its own challenges, such as traps to avoid or lure enemies into. If that sounds like too much of a headache to figure out, no worries. Space Leaper: Cocoon makes use of an auto-battle system.

There are pros and cons of auto-battling systems. At best, I can eat a sandwich while I sit back and enjoy the show, and at worst, the grind becomes repetitive and takes the fun out of combat. One thing is for sure: It definitely makes strategizing in battle easier, especially if your main interest is collecting a cool cast of leapers rather than actually controlling the combat.

While the auto-battle option is nice for some players, the combat system appears to have suffered as a result of it. Although I really like the animations and the special moves characters can pull off during fights, there isn’t depth to the combat. You move your characters around the board, press “combat,” and see how the battle plays out, and that’s about it.

You earn a currency called crystals from completing campaigns and various events. Crystals can be spent alongside experience points to upgrade your characters’ gear, but I preferred spending them on scanning for more leapers. The chance of getting a higher-starred (and thus rarer) leaper increases each time you scan. Of course, there’s always the option of going to the store and using real-world money to purchase gift packs and gain access to more diamonds to get more leapers.

What I like about Space Leaper: Cocoon is that it shows the exact probability of scoring leapers of different star rarities. For example, your chances of getting a three-star leaper is only three percent, but your chances go up when participating in campaigns and each time you scan for a new leaper. At the time of writing this The Aqualand Hot Sand Aquarium promotion gave me a higher probability of getting j-001-Sea Dream and Becky-Sea Dream, but with just seventy-nine scans, I was guaranteed a triple star leaper. At least they’re honest about what you’ll get if you’re planning on spending your money. Still, that’s a lot of resources you’ll need to acquire for a guaranteed triple-star leaper. It could very easily get costly.

Space Leaper: Cocoon’s best qualities are its voice acting and the remarkable diversity in character personalities, albeit not in gender. It didn’t take long for me to be impressed by this beautiful world and the unique storytelling that broke the fourth wall and made me, as the player,“connected” to their universe. While the combat didn’t move me, the world around that combat easily held my attention.

SCORE: 3 STARS OUT OF 5

PLAY IF YOU LIKE:

• Devil Book. Because of its unique cast of characters and RPG elements, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my playthrough. If you like Devil Book, you’ll like Space Leaper: Cocoon.

• Auto-Battlers. You know the style! Sit back, relax, and watch the chaos unwind. In fact, my homie Jay just did a collection about this type of idle gameplay. If this is your bag, you’ll find it all over Space Leaper: Cocoon.

💬 Who was your favorite character in Space Leaper: Cocoon? And, can you name any other games where you need to save the universe?

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