This review contains spoilers
It Takes Two is a “divorce simulator” and wholesome action adventure co-op game developed by Hazelight, the developers of the previous cooperative hit under EA Originals, A Way Out. All I know of this game is my history with it as opposed to development stuff, which proved to be smooth sailing. I originally played this cooperatively with someone on Playstation 4, and I went into it blind. Not being in the “wholesome video game” camp, I was actively surprised how much I ended up enjoying the game and had built up an affinity for it. Eventually, I was seeking to replay the game again for personal reasons, and had decided to buy it and coop with a friend. They weren’t available so again I got it for ANOTHER friend, whom I actually played with on Steam so shout out to the big pimp Wrathne for playing the game with me, couldn’t have done it out you figuratively and literally as it’s co-op only.
Cooperative multiplayer only is a recurring phrase seemingly with Hazelight, at least in terms of A Way Out (though Josef Fare’s previous title, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, was good from what I heard). Everything is based around completing story objectives, competing in minigames around the map and generally just having a fun time with your partner. Each chapter has a bit of a different gameplay gimmick; for example the first chapter you’re stuck in a tool shed and you’re shooting nails to create poles to swing from while another chapter later on in the game takes the form of a top down dungeon crawler-styled game between two different classes. It’s varied enough in it’s gameplay and it’s teamwork to where you don’t do the same thing all the time for very long. I’m going to combine this with the plot because they both form the main core of this game: Teamwork.
The plot follows parents Cody and May, who are on the verge of getting a divorce until their daughter decides to summon an increasingly frustrating talking book named Hakim who shrinks them down and forces them to work together to get back to their daughter. The game isn’t exactly about the plot, there’s no crazy twists or turns. It’s about the journey, the respect that the main characters rediscover for each other, and the bonding time both between the main leads as well as the players controlling them. If I were to point out a time that the game was particularly dark, then I would say it’s the part with the Elephant (those who know will know of course lol). This is probably the only dark moment, but according to an interview it was made to show how callous the main leads are in their journey. The ending is predictable, sure, but the work that it took to get there was astounding and watching the characters grow felt like I was growing a bit myself (dad?). However, there apparently was a different ending (shoutout to TV Tropes for the find) which involved a completely different take but I’m glad they cut that and went for the simplified version because I felt that was what worked the most in context with the story.
This title is a wholesome one, one that made me feel things, lots of good and warm things and maybe even gave me goosebumps and made me tear up a little at the end. One thing I can say is that as someone who consumes mainly dark media, the game is one of those titles that made me open to more wholesome styled experiences and one that I can see myself playing in the future. Everything works in favor of the good vibes, from the graphics being great but not photorealistic to the fun and goofy nature of the art direction as you roam from place to place on the property while the main leads as well as Hakim are all excellently voiced and don’t take me out of the moment in the slightest. In the words of Todd Howard, everything just works.
It Takes Two was one of those games that when I played it, it meant a lot to me at that moment and hit me emotionally in a way that sort of resonated. While this game is about divorce, it’s also a game about love and respect, that we are all flawed human beings and that any relationship whether platonic or romantic takes work and cooperation on both sides. It was this sort of wholesome cacophony that really warmed my heart a bit and won the game the critical success that it frankly deserved, even getting Game of the Year awards. I’m not sure what’s going on for Hazelight’s future games but apparently It Takes Two is going to get adapted for television and the big screen? I have no clue if that’ll ever happen, mainly because everyone’s game seems to get adaptations that don’t end up going anywhere at all. However, the games that the developers have been delivering seem to have just been getting better and better with each one, and truth be told I’m curious as to what they’ll do next. Regardless, if you have a co-op player then this game is a hell of a time and definitely worth the money full price, and if you can’t do that then DEFINITELY get it on sale. Shout Out again to the homie Wrathne again, you’re awesome and I appreciate your existence, though if you could let me out of the basement and stop throwing sticks at my head so I could get some water then I’d appreciate it LOL.
Links:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ItTakesTwo2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_Two_(video_game)
https://www.hazelight.se/games/it-takes-two/
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/exclusive_josef_fares_discusses_the_infamous_elephant_scene_in_it_takes_two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0hUWSivWo&ab_channel=Bariskit
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
Cooperative multiplayer only is a recurring phrase seemingly with Hazelight, at least in terms of A Way Out (though Josef Fare’s previous title, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, was good from what I heard). Everything is based around completing story objectives, competing in minigames around the map and generally just having a fun time with your partner. Each chapter has a bit of a different gameplay gimmick; for example the first chapter you’re stuck in a tool shed and you’re shooting nails to create poles to swing from while another chapter later on in the game takes the form of a top down dungeon crawler-styled game between two different classes. It’s varied enough in it’s gameplay and it’s teamwork to where you don’t do the same thing all the time for very long. I’m going to combine this with the plot because they both form the main core of this game: Teamwork.
The plot follows parents Cody and May, who are on the verge of getting a divorce until their daughter decides to summon an increasingly frustrating talking book named Hakim who shrinks them down and forces them to work together to get back to their daughter. The game isn’t exactly about the plot, there’s no crazy twists or turns. It’s about the journey, the respect that the main characters rediscover for each other, and the bonding time both between the main leads as well as the players controlling them. If I were to point out a time that the game was particularly dark, then I would say it’s the part with the Elephant (those who know will know of course lol). This is probably the only dark moment, but according to an interview it was made to show how callous the main leads are in their journey. The ending is predictable, sure, but the work that it took to get there was astounding and watching the characters grow felt like I was growing a bit myself (dad?). However, there apparently was a different ending (shoutout to TV Tropes for the find) which involved a completely different take but I’m glad they cut that and went for the simplified version because I felt that was what worked the most in context with the story.
This title is a wholesome one, one that made me feel things, lots of good and warm things and maybe even gave me goosebumps and made me tear up a little at the end. One thing I can say is that as someone who consumes mainly dark media, the game is one of those titles that made me open to more wholesome styled experiences and one that I can see myself playing in the future. Everything works in favor of the good vibes, from the graphics being great but not photorealistic to the fun and goofy nature of the art direction as you roam from place to place on the property while the main leads as well as Hakim are all excellently voiced and don’t take me out of the moment in the slightest. In the words of Todd Howard, everything just works.
It Takes Two was one of those games that when I played it, it meant a lot to me at that moment and hit me emotionally in a way that sort of resonated. While this game is about divorce, it’s also a game about love and respect, that we are all flawed human beings and that any relationship whether platonic or romantic takes work and cooperation on both sides. It was this sort of wholesome cacophony that really warmed my heart a bit and won the game the critical success that it frankly deserved, even getting Game of the Year awards. I’m not sure what’s going on for Hazelight’s future games but apparently It Takes Two is going to get adapted for television and the big screen? I have no clue if that’ll ever happen, mainly because everyone’s game seems to get adaptations that don’t end up going anywhere at all. However, the games that the developers have been delivering seem to have just been getting better and better with each one, and truth be told I’m curious as to what they’ll do next. Regardless, if you have a co-op player then this game is a hell of a time and definitely worth the money full price, and if you can’t do that then DEFINITELY get it on sale. Shout Out again to the homie Wrathne again, you’re awesome and I appreciate your existence, though if you could let me out of the basement and stop throwing sticks at my head so I could get some water then I’d appreciate it LOL.
Links:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ItTakesTwo2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_Two_(video_game)
https://www.hazelight.se/games/it-takes-two/
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/exclusive_josef_fares_discusses_the_infamous_elephant_scene_in_it_takes_two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0hUWSivWo&ab_channel=Bariskit
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/