Cosmophony (Wii U) Second Opinion Review

Cosmophony is a game that can almost be summarised in one, single sentence. Fly a small ship (actually a heart) down a long corridor, shooting enemies and dodging obstacles, all in time to a musical rhythm. In fact, that is actually a pretty valid summary right there and almost enough to end the review on. There is a small ship - actually the heart of a fallen goddess - that is travelling down a long half-pipe hallway. Along the way, a multitude of obstacles and enemies appear. Shooting enemies is good, hitting obstacles is bad, and death is REALLY bad! There is help in avoiding the obstacles and shooting the enemies that comes in the form of a soundtrack that plays throughout the level and, if able to time actions to the music, will aid the player greatly in passing through to the end.

There are only two things of real note about Cosmophony that wouldn't simply be a repetition of that statement: the first is the difficulty and the second is the length.

Cosmophony is a difficult game - there is no other way to say it. One mess-up can easily spell death, and dying will send gamers all the way back to the beginning of a stage, no matter how far along they were. Mix in some tight and very tough songs to 'navigate' and this can make for an unforgiving, at times unfair, challenge to those not already heavily invested in bullet-hell (where precise movement is key) or rhythm (where following a song with precision is key) games. A course will suddenly accelerate, providing obstacles with only minor windows of error at best, and requiring a near-perfect run of every song in order to progress. While there is a practice mode designed to allow for the working out and testing of various sections of each song, repeatedly, and complete with checkpoints that can be returned to, ultimately the entire song will need to be played without any form of return markers or mess-ups permitted, making each song a decent test of both patience and memory until the songs are perfected.

Secondly, as of the time of writing this review, there are only a few songs available to be run through. While anyone not experienced in this sort of game may find themselves in a position similar to a fly attempting to move a bug-zapper on their own, those with experience will likely be able to conquer the songs in a day or less and, eventually, be able to beat the entire game in under an hour. While this song selection may increase in the future, for now it simply means that the game does not possess much in terms of depth or material.