Addicting, great play. It does it all and more!
Want a new car? Buy Jade Cocoon.
Want a taco? Buy Jade Cocoon.
Want a great game that happens to be one of the best on the original Playstation? Have I got a game for you!
I might be exaggerating some, but trust me, its still a great game. I played this as a child and over ten years later, I still love replaying it on my PS3.
But why do I believe this nonsense, as you may have asked yourself? Well to start, the gameplay. If you've ever played Pokemon before, you can find a similar approach here. Its a monster breeding game like Pokemon, but has a more mature feel to it in that sense. Attacks and monsters vary between the four elements, fire, wind, water, and earth. You can battle with one of the monsters you have on you, or yourself, in a battle system that sticks to classic style turn based battles, but does it right. Outside of battle the gameplay isn't revolutionary, but will remind some of the original Resident Evil's style of pre-rendered backgrounds with 3D characters. Interaction is simply a click and react system. On the other hand, Jade Cocoon does consist of an extremely original and yet to be repeated (from my knowledge) system of monster merging, even by the second game. It involves picking two monsters, and their attributes and actual appearance will merge together. With the variety of monsters and large number of said monsters, this system is very addicting and can yield more combinations than one like I would be willing to ever count. This system adds to an already fun experience to make this game memorable even 10 years after you get it, like I have.
The story has its high and low points. Being quite personal and world involving at the same time, the story is good, though on the shorter side of both time and depth. Some events are just meant for extending the game time, but the majority have purpose to them.
The graphics are top notch for its time, but for the year of 2010, is dismissible for the sake of keeping expectations for a 12 year old game realistic.
Overall, Jade Cocoon can be a hit or miss. It depends on the person. If you're like me, then you'll love the experience and may even replay it in the future.