Meet Kenzo. He enjoys dressing up as a witch low key (esp in undead forest), and his favorite jail is reaper (tho he thinks they're all pretty cool). Oh also he has the hots for Noah (last pic happened in his head cause lets be real Noah prob into Valentin)
Recently saw a similar post re: Elden Ring basically making the same statement and tbh that was real for me but thought CV2 actually did it better - hear me out:
- cozy label frequently gets tied to a specific aesthetic (chibi, pastels, etc) but really is about the rhythm + dollhouse mechanics, or like a meditative rhythm. Open world soulslikes (or maybe, Elden-likes?) give you vast exploration, a travel medium (motorcycle, Torrent), and permission to just…wander. CV2 follows suit but throws in hot springs with notably modern onsen furnishings to overlook the post-apocalypse - cozy asf. You get gutted by a mini boss or story progressing battle? Cool go somewhere else. Weird NPC? Listen to the cryptic nonsense and google how to progress it or don’t. Stumble into a creepy forest or a pretty flowered meadow? That’s not stressful it’s a vibe. No quest markers, no nagging indicators, no FOMO mechanics, just the grind until you hit a death loop which itself is a kinda low stakes meditation once past the initial wall
- absence of optimization anxiety - you get most of your weapons/jails/offensive forma/beginner blood codes pretty early game, and each of your weapon moves / base line battle rhythms are different (even if slightly) so each weapon can more or less be your forever weapon provided you upgrade (how many folks stuck with the Ancient Hunter Twin blades from beginning to end?). Basically, your relationship with your character is about creativity, not just min-max’ing
- cosmetics + appearance save slots - contrary to ER’s approach, you don’t find equipment to visually characterize, your look is completely customizable and non-gated. That’s cozy asf for those of us that care. Like, I want to be a badass and power through a tough boss fight but I want to do it looking like a pink fairy, get at me bro
- something I wish was in ER: hot springs/onsen - the hot springs are nice not just for the aspects already mention, but also it’s a good characterization outlet for revenant partners. It gives some texture outside of just fighting/leveling. You spend hours in oppressive souls-coded spaces and then pampers you with high fidelity pockets of warmth/stillness (that many folks have probably also used for photo ops) with tbh pretty cool characters holistically
TLDR: CV2 is cozy cause it trusts you to play the way you need to enjoy the experience without punishing you for doing things your way / just cause