There has been a lot of attempts at creating horror themed adventures that focus on a stalker-type enemy ever since the 90s. Clock Tower series are possibly the best known example, but one can think of plenty of other examples, starting from something simple like the werewolf in Ecstatica, to the more recent and complex xenomorph in Alien: Isolation. Hollow Cocoon is a very respectable attempt at creating a horror themed stealth action adventure with a persistent stalker from a small studio. I’m very happy it exists and I really admire it. But it’s also not a game that I could recommend to most players.
As mentioned, this is an action adventure title that focuses on stealth. In fact, you have no ways of actively hurting or repelling the stalker enemy on yourself and can only hide from their constant patrols across the locations. So the gameplay usually consists of careful navigation across several disconnected medium sized areas to find items and solve puzzles that will eventually unlock your way forward. While hiding from the stalking enemy that is always somewhere out there.
Unlike Clock Tower series there is no clear distinction between a chase and exploration, meaning that even if you manage to successfully hide from the stalker or use specific location contextual ways of chasing them off, they are still active and may find you soon after. To accommodate this idea, the game simply blocks your ability to interact with specific puzzle elements if you’re being actively chased, until the stalker loses track of you. But this changes the dynamics of the game quite a bit, as there’s constant tension and uncertainty about if you have time to explore or get to a puzzle before you get discovered. Instead of being a more clearly paced sequence of high tension-low tension moments that these types of games usually attempt to achieve.
Which is what I really appreciated about the game, but also found not very fun in practice. As mentioned – you don’t have any options other than running and hiding. Due to which sometimes you have to preventively go and sit somewhere in a closet for a minute or two, waiting for the stalker to pass through your area to then have enough time to explore and solve puzzles. As if you don’t, you will lose even more time on escaping and hiding later. Which doesn’t lead to tension or being scared, rather to becoming bored, as every time the safest (and most boring option) is your only real option.
It’s a shame, since the rest of the game is quite well done and if the patrolling patterns accidentally align with your plans, the experience is genuinely fun and puzzles in the game, while simple, are quite good. Surprisingly, though, despite being so “fair” with the stalker patrols, the game still puts in several scripted chases that teleport the enemy to a specific spot after certain story events. Which provides developer controlled high tension moments at the right places, sure, but also feels at odds with how the rest of the game behaves. And ends up feeling as uneven as if these weren’t scripted.
Also while I appreciate the game’s attempt at creating fun (and even silly) new game plus content, I do not understand why there was a choice made to lock it all behind some of the worst mini-games I’ve ever experienced in my life. Not that it matters, really, because I don’t think a lot of people would want to replay the game and these unlocks don’t provide anything meaningful. But it’s yet another thing that feels like a great idea with a botched execution.
I think, people who like horror themed stealth action adventures, especially those who are fine with jank like the Clock Tower and the like titles, might enjoy this game. If you don’t, maybe you should select an easier difficulty and still check it out, as it really is admirable and full of really cool ideas and moments. But it most likely won’t click with people who expect this to be more of a survival horror experience, or the people who like more handcrafted and well scripted titles in the similar vein like SOMA. Personally, I’m glad I’ve played Hollow Cocoon, especially as someone who always wanted to see more developers experiment with persistent stalker enemy ideas. But I also think that this particular take on the concept ultimately doesn’t quite work.