It Takes Two Review

 

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Hazelight

Release: Mar 26, 2021
Reviewed on: Xbox X/S

Romantic relationships always have indescribable passion in the beginning. As time goes on, the enthusiasm of the relationship takes a downward spiral to the point where we ask ourselves: What happened and why did we get here? Many people give up at this critical moment. It Takes Two, created by Joseph Fares, a new movie director and famous game designer, targets exactly this critical stage and tries to provide you with practical solutions to get through this period, in addition to having fun.

Hazelight Studio, which has previously shown its prowess in creating co-op titles such as A Way Out, has come up with a fantastic game this time; A title that has brought you a pure and unique experience.


The story of It Takes Two is about parents named Cody & May who decide to get divorce. Their daughter Rose, upset by this incident, asks for a magic book to dissuade her parents from this decision. Dr. Hakim, who is the character of the magic book of the story, put the soul of Rose’s parents into the body of two of her dolls. After Cody and May wake up, they find themselves in the body of two wooden dolls, a man and a woman. At this point, Dr. Hakim tells them: In order to be able to wake up, you have to go through some steps to be able to repair your relationship. However, from the beginning you can guess the end of the game; But like many Disney animations, storytelling in this title is summed up in influential moments throughout the story, not necessarily its happy ending.

 

From the narrative point of view, It Takes Two is divided into two important parts. The first part of the storytelling in the cutscenes, which is very similar to the Pixar animations, and it is no exaggeration to say that we see a perfect animation there. The second part of the narrative also takes place completely in the gameplay; The design of stages, mechanics and puzzles with the help of visual and artistic visuals of the game are the main pillars of storytelling in It Takes Two.

The culmination of the game’s narrative art takes place in the design of the game’s stages and puzzles. While the Cody and May dialogues reveal their differences during the root stages, the method of using the elements and solving the puzzles shows you the way to resolve these differences.

For example, in a part of the game, you will notice that Cody and May are no longer attractive to each other, and the next stage is designed to create enthusiasm and passion between them. In this part of the game, a magnet is divided into two halves and the positive and negative poles of each are given to one of the two main characters of the story. All major puzzles can be solved in one way or another; Cody and May interact in pairs using a magnet. The use of magnets and the concept of attraction and tension between a couple, in the most artistic and beautiful way possible carry the story of the game. In addition, the dialogue, atmosphere and game graphics are fully available to the gameplay to double the sweetness of the story.


The remarkable thing is the difficulty of the puzzles. The puzzles in the game are not so hard that the rhythm of the story is forgotten, nor so easy that they cannot convey the message. Another part of the storytelling process in It Takes Two is the game’s usable mechanics. During the 4 main levels of the game, various capabilities are given to the two main characters of the game. For example, early in the game, May can use a hammer and Cody can use a nail. Nails and hammers subconsciously evoke the role of two supplements in our minds. The interesting thing about mechanics is the use of nails and hammers. The synchronization of steps for the timely use of nails and hammers forces players to play a complementary role to control the two main characters of the game and progress in it. Without even a specific dialogue being a storytelling tool, the storytelling is done by designing game mechanics. The great variety of stages, puzzles and mechanics of the game play the role of entertaining the narration of the game and prevent its repetition and boredom.


It is not unreasonable to say that the most important strength of It Takes Two is its gameplay.
Nine different stages, thanks to the design of the game’s creative system, make each of the levels offer you a different gameplay.
For example, while at one level, playing with time along with teleportation play the complementary role of platforming the game; In the next step, the use of two magnets and ice skating completely change the nature of the gameplay. The focus of solving puzzles on two-person interaction also makes the Co-Op nature of the game feel instantaneous from moment to moment.

Variety in the gameplay of It Takes Two makes us experience different genres. This is one of the characteristics of Joseph Fars, the creator of this game, and he had done this before with A Way Out.

Genres such as third-person shooter, platformer puzzle and open world adventure are some of the genres you will encounter during the game. Although it takes between 12 to 15 hours to finish the game; But for each of the main characters (Cody & May), we see a different gameplay. This has doubled the value of repeating the game. In addition to the main levels of the game, there are 25 Mini Games in It Takes Two. Chess games or remote-control machine races are examples of these small games.


Another fun feature of It Takes Two is its easter eggs. Some of these references refer to animations, games, and movies. For example, during the game experience, you will encounter excerpts from the Bee Hatch animation, the God of War series, and the Terminator movie. One of the most important easter egg of the game is the complete repetition of one of the levels of Hazelight Studio’s first game, entitled Brothers: Tale of Two Sons. Fars, who used to be considered one of the most talented directors in Swedish cinema, shows his skills in this field so well that his Easter egg becomes one of the most attractive parts of the game. Simply put, his good taste in choosing these references is one of the main bases of the game’s entertainment. The complete focus of It Takes Two game on Co-Op game and the absence of technical problems in the gameplay are the final spices of this lovely potion.

Like Fars’s previous A Way Out, this game is a two-player adventure that splits in two for a visual experience, and interestingly, despite being a split screen that always has its own technical difficulties, but in It Takes You will not see the frame drop or slow loading even once. The importance of this issue is doubled when you know that the location of the game camera is constantly changing. The difference in the position of the camera, as well as the difference in the images in the two halves of the screen, does not harm your visual experience anywhere in the game. In some levels, such as ice skating or rock climbing, the importance of this technical feature of the game’s graphics becomes more apparent. Another graphical advantage of It Takes Two is the variety of game environment design. The atmosphere of the game is very careful in creating details. For example, in the workshop level. In this part, the presence of tools, paint cans, old tools, as well as their color and location in the game environment, helps to guide and understand the game platforming.

The eye-catching visuals of this title are not limited to the above, and he has also spent a lot of creativity in designing NPCs and game bases. Vacuum cleaners and toolboxes are good examples of a perfect personality design in this collection. All in all, the title It Takes Two, in the graphics, gives you a perfect interactive animation that can be one of the best in the year 3 in terms of technical and artistic graphics.


It Takes Two comes at a price of $ 40, but for a two-player online experience, just one person can afford it; In fact, the second person can experience the game only with an invitation from the game owner. Apart from this, you can also play it as a duo on one platform.
The sound design of the game is flawless like other parts of the game. All of the above makes us face a valuable and entertaining work.

Finally, It Takes Two is one of the best Co-Op titles in the history of the gaming industry; This game goes beyond a video game, more impressive than an animation, and more entertaining than a movie, trying to change the way we look at romantic relationships. In fact, we can claim that no game has been made this focus so much on maintaining the emotional relationship between a couple. It Takes Two is an important achievement in the history of the gaming industry. The feature that made us give this game a perfect score.
100

It Takes Two Review

It Takes Two can be considered one of the best games in the history of Co-Op genre, one that takes it above and beyond video games, animations and even Hollywood movies in terms of emotional relationships.

BaziCenter Review


The story of It Takes Two is about parents named Cody & May who decide to get divorce. Their daughter Rose, upset by this incident, asks for a magic book to dissuade her parents from this decision. Dr. Hakim, who is the character of the magic book of the story, put the soul of Rose’s parents into the body of two of her dolls. After Cody and May wake up, they find themselves in the body of two wooden dolls, a man and a woman. At this point, Dr. Hakim tells them: In order to be able to wake up, you have to go through some steps to be able to repair your relationship. However, from the beginning you can guess the end of the game; But like many Disney animations, storytelling in this title is summed up in influential moments throughout the story, not necessarily its happy ending.

 

From the narrative point of view, It Takes Two is divided into two important parts. The first part of the storytelling in the cutscenes, which is very similar to the Pixar animations, and it is no exaggeration to say that we see a perfect animation there. The second part of the narrative also takes place completely in the gameplay; The design of stages, mechanics and puzzles with the help of visual and artistic visuals of the game are the main pillars of storytelling in It Takes Two.

The culmination of the game’s narrative art takes place in the design of the game’s stages and puzzles. While the Cody and May dialogues reveal their differences during the root stages, the method of using the elements and solving the puzzles shows you the way to resolve these differences.

For example, in a part of the game, you will notice that Cody and May are no longer attractive to each other, and the next stage is designed to create enthusiasm and passion between them. In this part of the game, a magnet is divided into two halves and the positive and negative poles of each are given to one of the two main characters of the story. All major puzzles can be solved in one way or another; Cody and May interact in pairs using a magnet. The use of magnets and the concept of attraction and tension between a couple, in the most artistic and beautiful way possible carry the story of the game. In addition, the dialogue, atmosphere and game graphics are fully available to the gameplay to double the sweetness of the story.


The remarkable thing is the difficulty of the puzzles. The puzzles in the game are not so hard that the rhythm of the story is forgotten, nor so easy that they cannot convey the message. Another part of the storytelling process in It Takes Two is the game’s usable mechanics. During the 4 main levels of the game, various capabilities are given to the two main characters of the game. For example, early in the game, May can use a hammer and Cody can use a nail. Nails and hammers subconsciously evoke the role of two supplements in our minds. The interesting thing about mechanics is the use of nails and hammers. The synchronization of steps for the timely use of nails and hammers forces players to play a complementary role to control the two main characters of the game and progress in it. Without even a specific dialogue being a storytelling tool, the storytelling is done by designing game mechanics. The great variety of stages, puzzles and mechanics of the game play the role of entertaining the narration of the game and prevent its repetition and boredom.


It is not unreasonable to say that the most important strength of It Takes Two is its gameplay.
Nine different stages, thanks to the design of the game’s creative system, make each of the levels offer you a different gameplay.
For example, while at one level, playing with time along with teleportation play the complementary role of platforming the game; In the next step, the use of two magnets and ice skating completely change the nature of the gameplay. The focus of solving puzzles on two-person interaction also makes the Co-Op nature of the game feel instantaneous from moment to moment.

Variety in the gameplay of It Takes Two makes us experience different genres. This is one of the characteristics of Joseph Fars, the creator of this game, and he had done this before with A Way Out.

Genres such as third-person shooter, platformer puzzle and open world adventure are some of the genres you will encounter during the game. Although it takes between 12 to 15 hours to finish the game; But for each of the main characters (Cody & May), we see a different gameplay. This has doubled the value of repeating the game. In addition to the main levels of the game, there are 25 Mini Games in It Takes Two. Chess games or remote-control machine races are examples of these small games.


Another fun feature of It Takes Two is its easter eggs. Some of these references refer to animations, games, and movies. For example, during the game experience, you will encounter excerpts from the Bee Hatch animation, the God of War series, and the Terminator movie. One of the most important easter egg of the game is the complete repetition of one of the levels of Hazelight Studio’s first game, entitled Brothers: Tale of Two Sons. Fars, who used to be considered one of the most talented directors in Swedish cinema, shows his skills in this field so well that his Easter egg becomes one of the most attractive parts of the game. Simply put, his good taste in choosing these references is one of the main bases of the game’s entertainment. The complete focus of It Takes Two game on Co-Op game and the absence of technical problems in the gameplay are the final spices of this lovely potion.

Like Fars’s previous A Way Out, this game is a two-player adventure that splits in two for a visual experience, and interestingly, despite being a split screen that always has its own technical difficulties, but in It Takes You will not see the frame drop or slow loading even once. The importance of this issue is doubled when you know that the location of the game camera is constantly changing. The difference in the position of the camera, as well as the difference in the images in the two halves of the screen, does not harm your visual experience anywhere in the game. In some levels, such as ice skating or rock climbing, the importance of this technical feature of the game’s graphics becomes more apparent. Another graphical advantage of It Takes Two is the variety of game environment design. The atmosphere of the game is very careful in creating details. For example, in the workshop level. In this part, the presence of tools, paint cans, old tools, as well as their color and location in the game environment, helps to guide and understand the game platforming.

The eye-catching visuals of this title are not limited to the above, and he has also spent a lot of creativity in designing NPCs and game bases. Vacuum cleaners and toolboxes are good examples of a perfect personality design in this collection. All in all, the title It Takes Two, in the graphics, gives you a perfect interactive animation that can be one of the best in the year 3 in terms of technical and artistic graphics.


It Takes Two comes at a price of $ 40, but for a two-player online experience, just one person can afford it; In fact, the second person can experience the game only with an invitation from the game owner. Apart from this, you can also play it as a duo on one platform.
The sound design of the game is flawless like other parts of the game. All of the above makes us face a valuable and entertaining work.

Finally, It Takes Two is one of the best Co-Op titles in the history of the gaming industry; This game goes beyond a video game, more impressive than an animation, and more entertaining than a movie, trying to change the way we look at romantic relationships. In fact, we can claim that no game has been made this focus so much on maintaining the emotional relationship between a couple. It Takes Two is an important achievement in the history of the gaming industry. The feature that made us give this game a perfect score.
100

It Takes Two Review

It Takes Two can be considered one of the best games in the history of Co-Op genre, one that takes it above and beyond video games, animations and even Hollywood movies in terms of emotional relationships.

BaziCenter Review