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Cookie Cutter

Despite some minor missteps, Cookie Cutter is easily one of the best Metroidvania games of this year, and an absolute must-play.
Cookie Cutter Game Cover
79%Game Brain Score
graphics, story
stability, grinding
78% User Score Based on 724 reviews
Critic Score 90%Based on 11 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5XboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
Cookie Cutter Game Cover

About

Cookie Cutter is a single player role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Rogue Games and was released on December 14, 2023. It received positive reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

In "Cookie Cutter," play as Cherry, a vengeful android on a mission to rescue her creator and loved one from a twisted villain. Explore the massive Megastructure, battling INFONET's armies in this 2D platformer filled with irreverent humor, graphic violence, and mature themes. Prepare for an unforgettable, action-packed experience as you seek retribution and uncover the truth behind the decaying world.

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78%
Audience ScoreBased on 724 reviews
graphics144 positive mentions
stability38 negative mentions

  • Incredible art style and animations that bring the game to life.
  • Engaging combat system with satisfying finishers and a variety of weapons.
  • Fun exploration with a large interconnected map filled with secrets.
  • Parry system is inconsistent and often feels unreliable.
  • Numerous bugs, including map progress resetting and issues with teleporters.
  • Some platforming sections are frustrating due to instant-death spikes and unclear hitboxes.
  • graphics
    271 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their unique hand-drawn art style, fluid animations, and vibrant colors, which many players find captivating and immersive. However, some reviews note that while the visuals are impressive, they are occasionally marred by graphical glitches and issues with level design that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the aesthetic is a standout feature, appealing particularly to fans of the metroidvania genre, though opinions on specific character designs and the coherence of the art style vary.

    • “The hand-drawn art style is beautiful, and the world the devs created is super interesting.”
    • “The stunning hand-drawn visuals are pure eye candy, and I find myself slowing down just to bask in their beauty.”
    • “The art style and animation is superb and something to marvel at.”
    • “The graphics hurt your eyes after 30 minutes of playing.”
    • “It's unclear whether it's supposed to be a city populated by aliens and robots or not; the art style and world-building simply lack coherence.”
    • “From the gutter punk aesthetic to MTV-style death animations.”
  • story
    234 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its potential but criticizing its execution. While some appreciate the unique world-building and character designs, others find the narrative lacking depth and coherence, often feeling like a setup for future content rather than a complete experience. The abrupt ending and unresolved plot threads leave players wanting more, suggesting that while the story has engaging elements, it ultimately falls short of being fully satisfying.

    • “The world-building is just as impressive, offering a rich story that keeps you invested, blending narrative depth with engaging gameplay in a way that draws you in without overwhelming.”
    • “The story is a little woke, but overall it is a really great game.”
    • “In the depths of the megastructure, Cherry’s quest did unfurl, a tale of vengeance, love, and a world in peril.”
    • “The story is unfortunately lacking, and the game can be very janky at times.”
    • “The story is serviceable and fine, and hits some good emotional beats, but the ending is seriously abrupt and leaves major chunks of the story unresolved.”
    • “Every single story thread is left unresolved in order to hype up a sequel (or expansion?) we may never see at this solo developer's pace, so it feels like the credits roll at what ought to be the halfway point.”
  • gameplay
    222 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its art style and core mechanics while criticizing level design and combat execution. Players noted issues such as repetitive combat, frustrating parry mechanics, and poor enemy placement, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, some found the gameplay enjoyable and engaging, particularly for fans of the metroidvania genre, highlighting a fun exploration and combat loop, albeit with some technical flaws.

    • “The gameplay is tight and the combat is super rewarding.”
    • “The gameplay is fun and pretty in-depth for a game of this type.”
    • “Cookie cutter is an excellent metroidvania with consistently satisfying moment to moment gameplay.”
    • “Gameplay is marred by bad decisions, so much that it feels it was the game’s last priority. The worst offender is enemy placement, often patrolling ledges you need to jump onto, combined with the overly long stun/fallback animation clocking at over 3 seconds for every hit. Many enemies start attacks at almost no windup, and later in the game, instant death environment hazards make the experience incredibly frustrating.”
    • “The combat, which comprises the vast majority of the gameplay, is not very interesting or varied. The game has some wonderful art, but the combat is the weakest element of the game, which is unforgivable given that that is basically what 99% of the gameplay consists of.”
    • “The first hour I hated combat, specifically the parry. I dislike parry mechanics in games, but this one was horrible. I persisted and ultimately never got the hang of it, and it made me hate the game.”
  • music
    78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and complement the gameplay, particularly in the metroidvania genre. While some players find the soundtrack to be memorable and engaging, others describe it as bland or forgettable, with only a few standout tracks. Overall, the music is generally considered good, contributing positively to the game's artistic and immersive experience, despite some criticisms regarding its repetitiveness and lack of distinctiveness.

    • “They have a really nice atmosphere from what I've seen, and the music complements it very well.”
    • “Oh, it slaps hard—a furious, headbanging soundtrack that keeps your adrenaline spiked.”
    • “The animations are exquisite, especially the finishers that are different for each type of enemy in the game, and the soundtrack that accompanies the carnage is very cool!”
    • “Music feels rather bland, too, but it gets the job done.”
    • “Whilst I doubt this would change my opinion of it, it surely would be less boring overall if the music wasn't utterly bland lounge tunes that plod along.”
    • “When the action is plodding (which it does for the first hour or so) and the music is so wishy-washy that even basic background ambience would have more life to it, then it becomes a slog exploring.”
  • humor
    68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is polarizing, with many players appreciating its crude, dark, and often juvenile style, while others find it immature and forced. Some enjoy the quirky banter and absurdity, particularly in the context of its grotesque art and action, while others criticize it for relying too heavily on sexual innuendos and shock value. Overall, the humor resonates well with those who appreciate edgy comedy, but it may not appeal to everyone, especially those seeking more sophisticated or nuanced humor.

    • “Great game, love the combat and the voice acting, the art style grew on me and I enjoyed its humor.”
    • “Really enjoyable, funny and brutal.”
    • “The animation is just amazing and the humor was right up my alley.”
  • stability
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting persistent bugs and glitches that can lead to game-breaking issues, such as progress loss and freezing. Despite some patches improving the experience, many users still encounter frustrating UI problems, camera glitches, and inconsistent mechanics that detract from overall enjoyment. Overall, while the game has potential, its stability issues remain a major drawback, even months after launch.

    • “The main issue with this game is that it's filled with glitches and other annoyances.”
    • “The game is also very buggy, even a year after its launch, and that's not acceptable (map not updating correctly, enemy health bar not showing up correctly, and some checkpoints not respawning me at the right place were the most common for me).”
    • “Game constantly freezes every time you use a teleporter.”
  • grinding
    23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly in the mid- to late-game stages where excessive enemy encounters and backtracking diminish enjoyment. Many reviewers express a desire for more fast travel options and boss encounters to alleviate the monotony of grinding for upgrades and materials. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant detractor from the game's potential, leading to a repetitive and dull gameplay experience.

    • “Dead ends, excessive enemy spam, instant-kill spikes, and long, tedious sections with little payoff make the experience frustrating and dull.”
    • “While the game starts off fine, the mid- and late-game are overly grindy, which detracts from the experience.”
    • “Grinding for money to afford upgrades is a tedious chore.”
  • optimization
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, particularly on the Steam Deck, where players report significant stuttering, low frame rates, and long load times, especially in later levels. While some users found the performance acceptable with adjustments, many experienced frustrating gameplay issues due to these optimization shortcomings, making it difficult to recommend for that platform. Overall, while the game has potential, its optimization issues detract from the experience, particularly in more demanding scenarios.

    • “If you want to play this on the Steam Deck, make sure you set the FPS to 40 in the performance settings; otherwise, the game will draw way too much power that it doesn't need.”
    • “Performance has been wonderful for me; controls are tight and punchy, visuals are incredible, audio is spot on, and overall this is well worth the current price.”
    • “Especially when optimization seems to suffer so much from all the fancy lighting and stuff.”
    • “The combination of the stuttering with much more annoying enemy types that shoot lots of projectiles and the introduction of spikes that do 9999 damage (insta kill) and boot you back to a checkpoint and respawn all enemies, and the game basically became unplayable at that point.”
    • “Don't know if I am the only one, but when I was somewhere in the middle of the game, the frame drops and stuttering on Steam Deck were unbearable, and we are speaking of a game that was classified as 'verified' on Steam Deck.”
    • “It runs like ass on Steam Deck despite being 'verified'. I played a large chunk of it on the deck and I lost count of how many times I died due to it stuttering like crazy.”
  • character development
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the unique and vibrant character designs that enhance the game's personality and aesthetic, while others find the designs distracting or lackluster. The voice acting and fluid animations contribute positively to character engagement, but opinions vary on how well the designs fit within the game's overall world. Overall, the character development is seen as a blend of strong artistic choices and some inconsistencies that affect player immersion.

    • “The art direction in general is very nice with a lot of unique character designs.”
    • “The character designs have so much personality that I feel like I know what they'd sound like just from their animations.”
    • “The character design is very much in touch with the setting, starting with Cherry who I really liked, and with varied NPCs that bring to life a world that goes from colorful to dreary in just a few steps.”
    • “The character designs are lackluster, the backgrounds are poorly merged into the game, the enemies seem out of place, the game world simply feels disjointed.”
    • “I want to like this one, but the character design is so deliberately bad that it's distracting.”
    • “I wasn't a huge fan of the character design either, to be honest.”
  • atmosphere
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its immersive and captivating environments, enhanced by a well-complementing soundtrack and detailed animations. While many reviewers appreciate the unique style and ambiance, some feel that the music lacks standout tracks and that certain elements may not resonate with all players. Overall, the game's atmosphere is a significant highlight, contributing to its engaging experience despite some mixed opinions on specific aspects.

    • “They have a really nice atmosphere from what I've seen, and the music complements it very well.”
    • “The aesthetics, especially the detailed and wild animation, are obviously the main draw, but the game looks great elsewhere too with some subtle lighting and varied, atmospheric environments and background detail.”
    • “The punk atmosphere is great, and the combat feels messy in a good way.”
    • “The animations are fun if occasionally disturbing (wasn't bargaining on that opening cutscene where you're walking around mostly destroyed), but the game world/atmosphere/ambiance is well developed and looks great.”
    • “There's no atmosphere, just this wanky, slow, chill-out music that bored the sh*t out of me 25+ years ago as a genre, and that hasn't changed since.”
    • “This type of humour and atmosphere is right up my alley, but may turn off the more prudish.”
  • emotional
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the game emotionally engaging, appreciating its anticapitalist narrative and wholesome love interest, though some express frustration with abrupt story resolutions and gameplay mechanics that can lead to sudden deaths. While the emotional beats resonate well, the overall execution leaves some players feeling unsatisfied and hesitant to revisit the game.

    • “I wanted to play a fun beat-em-up style metroidvania with an anti-capitalist story and a really wholesome love interest, and that's what I got.”
    • “My next thought is more an expression of how the game made me feel than an actual educated supposition about the game's development.”
    • “The story is serviceable and fine, and hits some good emotional beats, but the ending is seriously abrupt and leaves major chunks of the story unresolved.”
  • replayability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is limited due to the absence of post-game content or a new game plus mode, resulting in a low replay value. While some players find it fun and stylish, the consensus indicates a significant lack of longevity, with ratings reflecting minimal replayability.

    • “Fun, stylish, and highly replayable.”
    • “[i]replay value - longevity and replayability.”
    • “[i]replay value - longevity and replayability.”
    • “There’s no post-game content or new game plus mode, which limits replayability.”
    • “Replayability: 0/5”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization model primarily relies on microtransactions for in-game purchases, which users generally find acceptable if they maintain realistic expectations and appreciate the game's style.

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10h Median play time
8h Average play time
4-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Cookie Cutter is a role playing game with science fiction theme.

Cookie Cutter is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing Cookie Cutter.

Cookie Cutter was released on December 14, 2023.

Cookie Cutter was developed by Rogue Games.

Cookie Cutter has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its graphics but disliked it for its stability.

Cookie Cutter is a single player game.

Similar games include Blue Fire, The Knightling, The Last Faith, Blasphemous, BioGun and others.