There is an ongoing debate on what the difficulty level of a video game should be. Some prefer easy games they can relax to, others prefer games with the option of different levels of difficulty, and some believe many games should force you to suffer through a difficulty spike for a better experience. Cosmophony will appeal to those that want gruelingly hard games. It may start off easy, too, but don’t let its aesthetically pleasing looks deceive you.


           Cosmophony does have a story, but it’s definitely not the selling point of the game. It’s somewhat just filler, but it also sets an odd mood for the game. The story initially revolves around trying to rescue someone who basically caused the entire Universe to cease to exist, but the “plot” does twist around a little bit. There’s nothing that will keep you on the edge of your seat will happen during the game, though.

           However, what will keep you on the edge of your seat is the gameplay. The entire game can be played with 3 buttons: ZR, ZL, and A, and it’s possible to swap these out with other buttons or the analog sticks, if you wish to do so. The ZL and ZR keys are used for moving what you play as left and right once, and you can hold them or press them repeatedly to move more spaces. The A button is used to shoot a single enemy, and this can be used however many times you like (though there are only specific points in which you’ll actually want/have to use it). As simple as this sounds, once the game speeds up it becomes nearly impossible to move the correct amount of spaces left or right fast enough at exactly the right times (it gets to the point where you have an incredibly small timeframe to move out of the way of an incoming obstacle). Many times, your instinctive reaction will not be fast enough to keep up with the later levels and you will have to rely on memory to get you through the levels.


           There are only five levels in Cosmophony. This is by no stretch a bad thing though, since it will most likely take you hours (and, unless you’re a video gaming god, many hours) just to get through levels 4 and 5, and levels 1 through 3 could take you a while to beat. Even after you beat the levels, you could spend even more time going through them again and hitting all the enemies (as defeating most of the enemies is optional, though there are some you are required to hit to get through a gap, for example). There’s also an included practice mode that we found useful for seeing the layout of the level before playing it (though, even with this mode it still took us a very long time to beat the later levels). With this mode, you can start and retry from specific zones, whereas in Normal mode you have to play through the entire level without starting at a specific zone. Beating a level in Normal mode is the only way to progress to the next level, however.

           The graphics in Cosmophony are very simplistic but also aesthetically pleasing. It’s always easy to distinguish what’s what during the gameplay as a result of the contrast present in the game. The music in this “100% DrumAndBass” game is one of the advertised selling points of the game, but unfortunately it doesn’t entirely live up to expectations. It’s interestingly incorporated into the game, yes, but the sounds of the game are not always essential to follow. There are points in which the music can help guide you through a level, but there are also many points in which you don’t necessarily have to follow the music. This doesn’t take too much from the game, but it’s somewhat a shame that this wasn’t tied in more to the gameplay.


          Cosmophony is undoubtedly one of the most challenging games we have ever played. Even though it consists of only five levels, it’ll take you much longer than you expect to beat the later levels, and you’ll find yourself addicted to retrying the levels until you beat them. The difficulty is comparable to VVVVVV in the way that muscle memory can eventually assist you with beating levels. If you’re into casual games for relaxing and just enjoying the game, this probably isn’t the game for you. If you’re a gaming masochist that enjoys the ecstasy of beating an insanely hard level after hundreds of retries, this is the perfect game to keep you occupied with playing a level, perhaps throwing your head back in a frustration at making a mistake, and then retrying the level to play it until you beat it. For only $3.99, if you’re the latter type of gamer, this is the perfect game to pick up and enjoy.




Review copy provided by Moving Player.