Game Review: Cuccchi (Xbox Series X)

Cuccchi is the first artist archive created in the form of a video game. It’s the official playable archive of Enzo Cucchi’s works of art. How cool is that? It’s just a shame that as a game, it really lacks.

From Fantastico Studio, Cuccchi has you explore dioramas and go through labyrinths, in a journey inside the paintings of Enzo Cucchi. There are 7 unique areas to explore with 51 hidden objects to collect. Which will unlock an archive gallery displaying the different sets of paintings that inspired the visuals for the game.

I didn’t know who Enzo Cucchi was before playing this but I do now. His work is portrayed in a way that makes them very memorable. Sometimes playful and weird, sometimes sinister and unsettling, and sometimes vibrantly colourful and piercing. If the goal of this release was to make me aware of who Enzo Cucchi is, it worked.

Part of that comes from how you explore the ‘dioramas’ and how they warp to you, as you move around and through them. It can be a joy to explore while also being incredibly disorientating. The latter, more so when having to work your way through one of a couple of labyrinths.

Gamplay is really limited, in most cases you’re just moving forward towards an exit. However, in an attempt to make it more like a game, Fantastico have thrown in loads of ‘floating eyes’ to collect. Some easy and obvious, others off the beaten path. That’s no bad thing as hunting down all the secrets allows you to really see the nuances of the paintings.

As an artistic experience, Cucchi deserves praise. As a game? Not so much and nowhere is better proven then with the aforementioned labyrinths.

Turning into a dungeon crawler where you also must avoid floating skulls, these sections are down right awful. Finding the hidden eyes and avoiding the skulls to get to the exit is just not fun. Especially as being ‘hit’ by one of the skulls removes a hidden eye and you’ll have to restart the level if you want to get it back.

It’s a strange thing to say but had Cucchi just been the surreal experience of exploring the dioramas, it would have been a much better game. The visuals are good, even if there are a few times where things get a bit too jagged. Though the music fits the style of game perfectly.

Overall, I really liked exploring the artwork and learning about this talented artist. If you’re not achievement hunting, it’s over in 30 minutes. If you are, it might take just a bit longer as some of the hidden eyes are quite tricky to find.

Is it worth the asking price? Probably not but it’s worth experiencing if you can.