I almost hung up. Genuinely, after 10 minutes, I had enough. A story about a girl’s divorced parents who are magically shrunk so they can embark on an adventure together, and in doing so resolve their differences and get back together? Do me a favor. People get divorced and families change. It is a normal part of life and should not be interpreted as anything other than. Should children play like this and believe that their parents could have rescued their relationship? Should divorced parents play and feel bad? It’s a dangerous idea to play with and I wish It Takes Two didn’t have it.
In addition, the story is told in a painful way. His daughter finds a book about love at school, and he manifests himself as a passionate and all-powerful Latin guru, an exaggerated love therapist for shrunken mom and dad. All they – you – need to do is learn to work together again! Rediscover your passion! Hhhhrrr. Pass me the seasickness bucket. It’s like being presented at a condescending and sugar-driven seminar on marital relationships by Cartoon Network. Each time a scene appears to tell another story, the game suffers, especially when the book appears.
However, there is also a lot to love in this game. Mechanically, it’s wonderful and one of the best cooperative experiences I’ve had in years. It seems that last week I was regretting the decrease in the amount of local cooperative experiences, so this came, a game that you can only play with someone else (and that gives you ‘Friend Pass’ to play online with someone for free) . What this means is that co-op is not just superficial, it is not an extra thing that the game offers: it is fundamental, and the whole experience is designed around it.
Consider, for example, an initial level. It’s a DIY-themed level where you venture out into a gigantic land inspired by a toolbox. For this adventure, like all adventures in the game, you are given a set of special toys. May, the mother, throws the head of a hammer on the back and uses it to hit things, in addition to swinging nails driven into the walls. Cody, the father, gets the ability to throw nails on the walls and then remember them as Thor does with his hammer. Make wooden puzzles for Cody to nail nails so that May can swing them, and the platforms that need to be nailed after May finds ways to hit them higher. The entire level is an endless variation on this theme, overlapping and interconnecting so that you have no choice but to chat and collaborate with the person you’re playing with, the screen dividing and then sharing as it decreases and flows in the puzzles in hand.
Each level follows the same idea, albeit with a theme around something different, and there is a new set of toys to play with each time. And it’s exciting to get them. They are funny! On one level, May receives a kind of rocket launcher, while Cody takes a sap weapon, which spreads over enemies and surfaces, and makes May’s explosions even bigger. Boom Boom Boom! They are extremely satisfactory. On another level, May receives gravity boots, while Cody receives an Ant-Man-style growth and shrinkage belt. And at one point, she’s messing with Cody in an arcade. On another level, you can mess with time (I’m trying really hard not to spoil them). They are all very creative.
But they are not the only toys. The levels are filled with many other things to play with, things to jump, things to slide along, things to throw out or even ride and ride. This is not a game that likes you to stand still. She delights in movement, and her movement is delicious. Not only can you run, jump twice and run in the air, you can also jump on the wall and hang on the wall as a pattern, and swing on ropes, slide on the rail and slide on the rear. And you will need to do all of this all the time.
There are bigger toys to play with as well. My favorites are the competitive games for two players that you will find in corners around the levels. These are games that you play against the person you are playing with, like extra multiplayer injections to cheer you up, not that you need it. There is a Whack-a-Mole mole, shooting ranges, snail races, toboggan runs, swing-jumping … There are dozens, and I challenge you to limit yourself to just once!
I know this is an official boring trailer, but it’s actually a good way to get a sneak peak at the many different things you can do in the game.
This is a game that constantly finds new ways to keep you entertained, sometimes to your detriment, but most of the time it is a wonder to behold. The basic game is a 3D platform game, but the levels can suddenly change to become something entirely different. I had endless runners, hack-and-slashers like Diablo (complete with two character classes), side platform games: never stop. Not your imagination for a set piece. I have already taken tours on spiritual whales inside the trees, I have been on roller coasters with wooden bars through an impossibly large castle that I apparently built for my daughter; and went into space. It is a wild ride, only loosely tied to reality, and I “marveled” more throughout this adventure than I can remember.
What really makes it all work is how well it works on the Xbox Series S (the platform I played on, in 1080p). Mostly, it is silky smooth, the action whipping fluidly. It is only in some larger environments with particle effects, such as blizzards and smoke, that the frame-rate drops slightly. But it is usually fast and agile and brought to life with great charisma, color, animation and care.
But it exceeds the welcome. What I thought would be only a few hours turned out to be about a dozen: more like five nights instead of two or three. It may seem strange to criticize this, but the game seems to be over long before. It seems that a second half has been added to make it longer, to go to some other environments, which are, admittedly, beautiful and fun toys to use, but did they need to be there? Because with each new level, my general pleasure became more and more tenuous.
And in this growing tiredness, the book of love appears, and the story reappears, and I wonder why I am still playing. Okay, there is heat in the story, and I do not envy the idea of a rekindled love. The tough pair is even nice in the end. But if divorce is in any way a sensitive issue for you or your partner, then go with caution.
That said, if you can put the story in the background and consider it a somewhat poorly chosen setting for an adventure, then there is a lot in It Takes Two to enjoy. This is a rare type of cooperative experience, with an energy, imagination and fun that sometimes rivals Nintendo’s. As a toy, it can be a joy and will create some unforgettable cooperative moments.
