User Reviews (1 - 11 of 30)

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This Game really stinks!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: June 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is so really lame that I'm wasting my time writing this! Whaterver you do don't by this! And it's 15 hours long.

REPETITIVE

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: October 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

At first the graphics and the whole monster transforming idea was quite intriguing... Unfortunately, every other level looked the same, too many of the monsters were too similar. The plot had little effect on your decision making and the whole psuedo spiritual theme was annoying. I beat the game in three days, and I haven't picked it up since then. You'd be better off renting it.

An update - how very disillusioned...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: June 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Now that I've owned the game for a couple of months and beat it two or three times, I believe an update to my earlier review is in order. As you can see from the drop in the ratings from my previous review (below), Jade Cocoon doesn't make an awfully positive impression in the long term. In this update review I will center on all the negativities - if you care about the game's good sides - read the review below.

First of all there are the graphics: however much I like the color green, I don't enjoy the green of a television screen with skewed color balance. Alas, the game is full of it. Some (namely, the last five out of eight) of the levels are far too dark to either see the rather well-hidden items or take any pleasure from the pretty scenery. The graphics are not only dark - they're depressing!

Likewise, the discordant tones of music in some of the later "Netherworld" levels nearly drove me insane. Ugh.

However "unique" the monster-breeding element is, in the end you realize that pretty much all 150+ minions can be categorized into about ten species and merging them will often lead to similar and frequently uninspired results. Most combinations are simply ugly because important features like eyes and jaws are treated like skins and are frequently stretched over the parent frames with no rhyme or reason (causing eyes to look flat and out of place). There are few spells, most of them rather useless. Combat frequently contains no strategic elements whatsoever, regressing into turn-based you-hit-me-and-I'll-hit-you-back. Even the eternal corridor doesn't provide any depth for this game due to its incredible annoyance factor.

The storyline is an amazing job of starting out with a very original premise and slowly turning it into a "let's save the world", finally topping everything off with a "and it all came back to normal".

If owned for more than a couple of months, this game is a real pain. Rent it.

It degenerates!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 8
Date: July 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

In the exact sense of the word, the game cheated me. The suspense built up by the time you finish the third level culminates in one of the most shocking and innovative pieces of plot I have seen to date. What's the problem? The remainder of the plot is a piteous attempt to bring the innovation and tie it onto the "and all was well" ending.

The graphics are amazing, although there is way too much green, and you spent less time in original-looking levels than in the "normal" ones. Nevertheless, from the beginning, they look quite surreal and amazingly life-like. More than that - they are aesthetic. The main character is pretty much non-existent, snce he has no lines, and his only role in the game is to capture monsters. The battle engine offers far too few choices, since upgrading your character's equipment is nonsense (he rarely enters actual combat), and you can't equip your monsters. Therefore, the game's central and only concept is to go through level after level, capturing and merging monsters. There's nothing more to the game. Oh, yes, there are several original parts (you earn money by selling the captured monsters), but they are too few.

Didn't live up

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Don't get me wrong I did like the concept of this game but the controls and the way that the story progressed was very difficult to get down. I was waiting for this game to come out and when I picked it up and played it I was really disappointed. The controls were difficult to get used to. I decided to give it time and see if the story progressed any better and that was another disappointment. The art was good and the idea is great but unfortuneatly I can't recommend this for anyone.

persona revisited

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The graphics were great, but the plot was thin and the game to easy to beat. Reminded me of a higher quality version of the Playstation game Persona, but with better creature creation.

It rules! At first at least.....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I saw a video demo of this in my OPM Mag and was blown away! So, Almost a year after, I bought it..., I played it 3 hours straight....and beat it...The game is super-short, but its like Pokemon without all the little cute cuddly thingy's. Buy it if you kinda like Pokemon, but the game is WAY too short. Graphics are good, but i really do wish it would be longer, but it gets boring and repetitive after a while....Catch Minion....fight minions....build up minions.....catch minions....etc.

bleh, spiced up pokemon clone

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

meh, this game isn't too great as far as RPGs go, just about average. Just really a dressed up Pokemon, and when ure playing a system featuring games like Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX and Breath of Fire 4, this is very inferior. Really just for the fans...

ADDICTING

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: June 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Never. That's what I thought about the catch and train monster games. With Pokemon nearly smothering the genreral public with merchindise and Monster Rancher chasing it's tail I thought that I would be the last person to fall into the insane craze of monster games. I do however enjoy stunning visuals and wonderful storylines, which is why RPG's intrance me so much. What lacks in graphics usually compenstates in plot and game play, with Jade Cocoon, I found myself emersed for hours.

I put the game in and literally watched slack jawed at the amazing opening sequence. It was beautiful animation, and that was followed by a captivating narrative. There was text, and spoken dialouge, which I don't mind reading, but I was impressed. Most conversations had spoken dialouge, not just in key moments of the game, but everwhere. The other element of the game that caught my eye was the stunning visuals. I was so happy to see that the characters weren't sprite-like people walking on maps with heads bigger than their bodies.

Now to every gamer, you will find faults, and I found a few, but compaired to the pros, the cons couldn't make me stop playing. As lush and beautiful the backgrounds were, they were also dark. Objects sliped by many times, and sometimes there were parts of the background that looked like paths that weren't. Minor complaints to a great game, despite the fact that it's based on capturing and combining monsters dubed minions.

Additiced is all I can say now. After I had captured my first monster, and began merging and fighting I became emersed in the game. The story had me, the graphics and animation had me, and I hate to admit it, but I kind of liked the whole Cocoon Master concept.

This rocks!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I rented this game-but got pretty far so i get the idea. This game is a mix of Final Fantasy (the newer versions) and some sort of Pokemon, Robopon DWM catch em all game. When I say Pokemon-i dont mean real cutsie-pie cuddlie wuddly...I mean MONSTERS! These are all the bad things: Cut scenes and talking talking takes WAY tooo looonnng annd sllllowws time downn, moving controls are hard(looks like youre walking drunk) , monster designs arent that great, and (might be just on my copy) but most menu items are blank! but that wasnt to bad...The best part is when you take two monsters, you can merge them to create a better skilled and looking guy without worring about the cost, gender or level! And for guys you already have or dont want, you can have your girlfriend spin them into silk and then sell them! Another thing is that most characters talk! not just text but real speech! Overall, this game is a must have or must rent for a really long time... Hope this helps!

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