The Chao, a race of mystical beings with gelatinous appearances, have been seen throughout Sonic’s world. They are peaceful creatures who prefer to live safely in Chao Gardens, where they can swim, play, and eat fruit to their heart’s desire. Although Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team, confirmed in an interview that Kocos would be quite different from Chao, many fans still theorize that the Kocos’ inclusion in Frontiers herald the return of a mode similar to previous Sonic titles’ Chao Garden mini-games.
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Kocos Could Be The Next Chao Garden
First introduced in Sonic Adventure, the Chao Gardens were a number of locations where players could raise, play with, and breed Chao. Performing various tasks could reward the players with Chao Eggs, which would hatch into Chao if stored in the garden. Depending on how well the Chao was cared for, and which Chaos Drives and Animals it was fed, it could evolve into one of over 100 adult Chao variants. These Chao could then be entered into Chao Races and Chao Karate, and would eventually reach full maturity and reincarnate into another Chao egg. Many Sonic Adventure players reportedly spent hours in the Gardens raising high-level Chao.
Information shared about Kocos confirm that, like Chaos, they live in tight communities deep within the natural world. This makes them an obvious choice for a Chao Garden-like mode where Kocos can be collected, organized, bred, and evolved. Koco are also confirmed to have varied appearances based on the style of leaf on their head, giving players incentive to raise and care for many types of Koco. In addition, Kocos have been confirmed to provide different benefits to Sonic, which could potentially encourage players to care for Kocos. The previously revealed Elder and Hermit Kocos could also serve as special versions of the Koco, similar to Dark and Hero Chao in previous titles.
Kocos Are Also Likely Similar to Koroks
Fans have also noticed similarities between the appearance of the Kocos and the Koroks of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. These tiny creatures who resemble sticks and leaves like to play hide and seek around the land of Hyrule, encouraging Link to find them. Solving a Korok’s puzzle and determining its location earns Link a Korok Seed; he can exchange Korok Seeds for expansions to his inventory size. There are 900 Korok seeds for players to collect throughout Hyrule, although only 441 of the seeds are necessary to receive the maximum number of inventory upgrades.
Based on information shared by SEGA, it seems that Sonic will be able to encounter Kocos hidden around the Starfall Islands. When Sonic locates enough Kocos and delivers them to the Elder or Hermit, he can trade them in for enhancements to his attack, health, Ring capacity, and, of course, speed. Hermit Kocos will reportedly focus on strength and defense, while Elder Kocos will focus on improving Sonic’s speed and ring limit. This definitely brings Koroks to mind, although, unlike the creatures from Breath of the Wild, the Kocos are primarily located via sound - the Kocos make a unique bell-like noise when discovered.
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Will Chao Race or Chao Karate Return in Sonic Frontiers?
In addition to raising Chao in the Garden, players of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 could enter their Chao into races on a variety of tracks. The performance of Chaos in the races depended on their stats, including Swim, Fly, Power, and Stamina. Certain races were exclusive to Dark and Hero Chao, while others - known as Party Races - could be played together with friends. The enhanced port Sonic Adventure 2: Battle also added Chao Karate, another mini-game where Chao could compete against each other in combat.
It has not yet been confirmed whether the Kocos in Sonic Frontier will be able to compete in races or combat. However, it has been confirmed that there will be mini-games featuring Kocos, including one where Sonic has to find lost Kocos and guide them home. As SEGA currently has no plans to release a free demo of Sonic Frontiers, it is likely that the Kocos’ full role will not be revealed until the full game debuts later in 2022.
Sonic Frontiers will release on November 8, 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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