Review for It Takes Two. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 26/03/2021
Josef Fares and Hazelight Studios try again: after the expectations that fans have only half satisfied with A Way Out, guilty perhaps of having dared too little, they try a new coup with It Takes Two, another title in which the cooperation plays a vital role, both in terms of gameplay and storyline. With this new challenge on the horizon, the team has tried to play its cards right, laying the foundations on which to bet to give vent to all their imagination, giving birth to a title that is as changeable as it is fun. Compared to its predecessors, the atmosphere is totally different: forget the fantasy of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and the action / crime of A Way Out, It Takes Two leads us to experience the reconstruction of a through a rediscovered game of team in a kaleidoscope of settings (literally).
Collect the pieces ...
This time Hazelight Studios has decided to focus on a simpler, more linear plot, but which gives the entire title the central theme on which everything revolves, namely the couple, united in team play. This is exactly what Cody and May got lost: complicity, trust and mutual understanding. The married couple, after yet another quarrel, consider the idea of divorce and Rose, their daughter, is ready to look for a way to prevent the worst from happening. Desperate, she finds a book written by a certain Dr. Hakim, which could solve the problems facing her parents. Apparently the book, proponent of an unspecified magic, transposes the souls of the parents into two puppets created by Rose, starting a unique adventure that almost has the flavor of an 80s / 90s children's film reversed, as it is not the kids but the parents who are involved. The pace, apart from a few points, will always be a crescendo as Cody and May will be transported to every corner of their home and then travel to a sort of fantastic realm, created specifically for their "couple therapy". There will be no shortage of excited scenes as well as more intimate and reflective ones, which will lead the two parents to review their mistakes and try to recapture that passion that has flown away over time. A dip in the memories, respect for the passions and dreams of the partner and the time to devote to the family will be just some of the steps in the therapy that Dr. Hakim created especially for the star duo of It Takes Two.
… And bring them together, as a duo!
In the house of Rose, Cody and May it will be impossible to shoot solo. Cody won't be able to make much progress without May and vice versa. The concept of duo underlies not only the plot but also the gameplay of It Takes Two. At each "stage", if we can call the various settings of the title so, will be given specific skills to both May and Cody and, more importantly, these will be especially complementary. Missing one of the two, it will be impossible to solve the platform puzzles that will reveal themselves in front of the players, thus requiring analysis skills and alertness on the part of both. The challenge level is very well balanced, as the puzzles / puzzles will never be too easy but neither will they be insurmountable, thus giving players a sense of fulfillment and having fun at the same time, without ever being frustrating. The most attractive thing is that the powers at your disposal will be themed with the environments in which you will be catapulted and that often will also have different applications, thus opening a range of possibilities for developers regarding the puzzles to invent. It would not be bad, among other things, to open a sort of "laboratory" of levels created by users (in the Little Big Planet style to be clear), to be able to give free rein to their imagination.
The puzzles already present in It Takes Two, however, have nothing to envy to those seen in the other exponents of the genre: it will often happen to be more anxious to discover the next puzzle than to see how the plot will progress. However, the title is not limited to a sequence of puzzles placed one after the other: these will be interspersed with more action sections (pass the term) such as the escape from a pack of moles, boss battles or minitasks to be carried out in the style Among Us to make the audience dance (including a rhythm game). It Takes Two thus opens up to a world of absurd situations, catapulting the players, not just in puzzle solving, but in actual sections of another kind of title (rhyhtm, platform, action and so on), thus always keeping the players' eyes glued to the screen. As if that were not enough there will also be gods minigames along the way, where Cody and May can challenge each other: however, these will be discovered, exploring, and then also be available in the initial menu, in order to replay them whenever you want.
Megaminimondo
The screen division system of It Takes Two is the same split screen already seen in A Way Out. Here, however, the maneuverability of the camera (never annoying or stuck somewhere) and the positioning of the points of interest in the various settings are to be praised . Despite the split screen in fact you never get the feeling of "restricted" which typically occurs when playing in split screen. Among other things, this also varies according to the puzzles or game sections to be tackled, arranging each time in the most appropriate way for the situation.
The graphic rendering of It Takes Two is very good even if, from time to time, we ran into some short drops in frame rates (but never at crucial moments). Just the imagination in the development of the setting lavished by the developers pushes the players to want to explore the game world, in which among other things there are numerous easter eggs linked to both the world of cinema and video games, to fully enjoy it. To top it all there is an always enjoyable and inspired soundtrack, especially in the final part of the title.
It Takes Two is a title that should not be missing in a player's library, especially if he loves spending time with friends. We are talking about a cooperative title like no one has seen in recent decades, which makes collaboration and team play its cornerstones, making the two players complementary to each other. The balanced and never frustrating level of challenge makes it a unique experience to live. While there are times when the pace drops a bit, It Takes Two is a must. If this is the path that Hazelight Studios and Josef Fares intend to take with the next titles, we can't wait for them to arrive!
► It Takes Two is a Platform-Adventure game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 26/03/2021
