Hazelight Studios have just released Split Fiction to the world to universal acclaim for its endless creativity, exceptional level design and being a benchmark for what co-op experiences should be like. Lead Game Director, Josef Fares, is a regular appearing character in the gaming space and has directed all of Hazelight’s hits through the years. His ‘F**k the Oscars’ rant at the Game Awards in 2017 will go down in the Awards season hall of fame but the sentiment of that speech, amongst the drivel, was impactful. His talk of the amount of passion that goes into gaming via its developers was simply undeniable and his games showcase that belief. It Takes Two was the second Hazelight release and if there was ever a game that truly showcased passion for the artform, this is up there.

It Takes Two released in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and that worked significantly in its favour. It truly came at the perfect time as people were obviously struggling to maintain connections through lockdown and there was a lot of joy missing from people’s lives. Like all Hazelight’s games, this is an exclusively two-player experience so through lockdown, this was a craved experience. When this released, couples, friends, families, whether they were living together or trapped in seperate spaces, this helped bridge the gaps people had and allowed a true shared experience. And what an experience it was with a deeply heartfelt story about love and connection, structured around multiple expertly-crafted gameplay sequences, each with their own unique mechanics.

The story centres around May and Cody, a couple who are on the brink of divorce. They are still living together with their daughter, Rose, who is struggling to cope with what is happening and just wants her parents to ‘be friends again’ as she constrantly exclaims. She makes two dolls of her parents and after crying with them held in her hands, her parents souls are transferred inside the dolls, trapping them. In their doll forms, Cody and May bicker as usual but are taunted by a ‘Book of Love’ personfied as Dr. Hakim. Hakim lectures them through their relationship, giving them challenges to complete together with the reward of becoming human again. However, in completing these challenges, Cody and May reminisce over their relationship, their love and slowly start to reforge those bonds that were broken.

It is a great fairy-tale setup and throughout it is consistently well written. Hakim’s promise of humanity being the reward to then trick them into realising each other are the reward instead could be seen as incredibly cheesy and yet it works beautifully. The narrative takes its time to get to the goal too and that is probably why it works so well. It is very nuanced too with subtle leanings from Cody and May into how they’re feeling. They aren’t hating each other one minute and loving each other the next. Instead, it is pristinely paced over its 10-12 hour runtime like a therapy session, with one problem highlighted at the beginning of the level and it being explored over the course of it. It is an efficient pattern and as well as it works story-wise, it works even better gameplay-wise.

Every level of It Takes Two, is different and not just from its setting. This game would work fine as just being a co-op adventure platformer with a unique mechanic throughout that keeps being built upon. This game instead decides to give the players a new mechanic each level, expands upon it with its different capabilities and then moves onto the next one, the previous mechanic never to be reused. It is mind-blowing because every single one of these could be used for a full length game but it is constantly changing. To go even further, each power up works thematically for the stage of the narrative you are at. A good example is a level where both players have half a magnet and they can push and pull different objects but also be drawn towards each other. This level is obviously focused on building attraction and connection between Cody and May. Again, this can seem cheesy but it is so intelligently presented that it just works. This level in particular is set within a snow globe that was a souvenir from where Cody proposed to May so even the setting weaves into it perfectly too.

What really makes this game work is just the brillaince of its co-op experience. It is rare these days to get a game specfically made with co-op in mind, rather than just being a tacked-on feature. It helps that the experience is top of the range too. With the different variations in play, you will not get bored ever. If you are more competetive too, there are challenges scattered across each level that let the players compete with one another and even these are mostly well designed fun. To pinpoint exactly why this experience is so essential to play with someone though comes from assembling all its elements together. By working together in the gameplay, to witnessing how its beautiful story unfolds, it makes a story that you have with someone. It is not just building the connection of Cody and May, it’s building your own connection with your partner, friend or relative.

All these things make It Takes Two, a beautiful, one of a kind gaming experience. This is a game about passion in its narrative but is also a true reflection of passion for craft also. Hazelight hones that passion and drive that Fares has always championed and that is why they have delivered another succesful venture with Split Fiction. To top it off, these games are rare in how consumer friendly they are. If one person buys either of these games, they can invite a friend online for free, no matter the console gap or if they have it or not. That kind of compassion for players is why Hazelight are succesful and respected across all gaming developers and it certainly helps that they make brillaint games like this one.

Expect a Split Fiction review at some point soon but in the meantime, this is a must-play!