It Takes Two Reviews

It Takes Two is one of the best games I've had the pleasure to experience in my life.

Gameplay wise this game feels alive and fresh in ways other games fail to achieve.

Every level has a different approach, design, and message.

Story wise this game is a MASTERPIECE, I was charmed by the core message of the story. But be warned, if you happen to have lived through a separation/divorce you might not like the conclusion of this game.

Most people seem to be upset by the ending in which Cody and May

But that's literally the point the director and writers wanted to make, sometimes people on a relationship forget that marriage is about TEAM WORK. And when you stop supporting your partner and/or receiving support from your loved one the relationship starts to wither. To keep a marriage alive you have to give and receive, care for what your loved one cares the most and receive the same healthy attention.
The game goes further into fortifying a relationship by noticing the good moments lived instead of blaming each other for what is missing. To motivate your partner accomplish their dreams instead of demotivating them.

If you happen to have gone through a hard separation don't Confuse this game's message with your own life

If you happen to have broken up from an abusive and horrible relationship this game has nothing to do with what you have lived.

Not all couples are meant to stay together, and not all relationships are meant to end up in a divorce.
Don't mistake your own life with a story from a videogame and learn to differentiate between yourself and the people you know from the characters from this videogame.
Otherwise you'll be missing on a MAGNIFICENT GAME.

May and Cody where neither violent or abusive to each other, so don't compare it with your toxic ex
Rate the game based on what it tells, how it is presented and what offers both story and gameplaywisr.
Don't rate a game based on the frustrations of your past or current relationships.

*Some minor spoilers throughout*

When we first got playing this game there was no doubt that it was of a high quality but, as Game of the Year 2021, I did have very high expectations. Forgive me if this review is a bit critical.

The game has a lot of very random things you can do and interact with that have no relation to the game in any way. No XP, no hidden narrative, just a fun little random thing you can do. Like eat all the sweets in the snow globe... why can I do that? what did it do? Nothing at all is the answer, but it's cool that I can. It's kind of like a digital playground in a way.

Each chapter is set in a very unique area and each one displays its own sense of beauty. There's a lot of nostalgia and art derived from what I suspect is personal adolescent experiences from the developers and designers. It's unfortunate that the beauty is somewhat hindered by the split screen, but I suppose they didn't really have much choice.

What baffled me slightly is that, despite all the effort that went into designing these levels and coming up with unique challenges for each chapter, there's no real incentive to experience the game more than once. There are only 20 achievements, there's no NG+, there's not even any collectables if you don't count the mini games. I love exploring areas exactly like the ones in It Takes Two but again, I'm not really given a good reason to do so. I personally think adding some sort of collectable per level would have been much more fun for me.

It Takes Two is actually much longer than I thought it would be. Just to beat, not even to fully complete. Just as you think you might be in the second half of the game, you're given a new objective that takes even longer than the original one. So there is a slight commitment you and your gaming partner have to accept before playing this game, especially if you plan on beating it.

The game is heftily narrative driven and, of course, incredibly predictable. I'll be honest, in the first sort of 30% of the game, I was a little tired of it based on its narrative. I understand the characters are in a childlike alternate fantasy world so nothing is realistic, but sometimes the characters just sort of know exactly what to do with no prior warning or information. They'll just say something like "ooh, I know, we'll do this", and then it just works. Again, I know it's fantasy, but it's also a little lazy coming from the writers. But... as the game draws nearer to its end, I started getting much more into the story and the ending was actually quite emotional. I really like how the game ended. It was wholesome to say the least.

Each chapter gives you a unique set of skills that you have to learn, and then a unique set of challenges that you've not faced before. When it comes to variety throughout, this game gets an absolute 10/10. Not once did the challenges feel even familiar let alone dull.

The characters were... alright. Definitely didn't hate them but I wouldn't use the word 'loveable' either.

I enjoyed playing this game with my partner. It does take genuine teamwork to get past some parts. We must have high fived 20+ times throughout our whole experience on it. The story was wholesome, the challenges were innovative and unique from one another, and the message they portrayed was powerful at that.

(Bynski, 20/20 Achievements, 24h 19m on completion)

It Takes Two showed up with a lot of promise. It was a cute looking story that attempted to tackle the very real issue of "what happens when you fall out of love with your partner, especially when there is a child involved". However, it was heavy handed in its approach and seemed to gloss over a lot of important issues.


Story: 1.5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Message: 2/5
Overall:2

So. I just finished playing this game with my wife, and we are both severely disappointed by it.

Let me be clear. The gameplay is great - the game requires a partner to go through it, and the mechanics never quite became dull... even if that is largely because the major mechanics kept changing every 20 minutes.

The collectible setup isn't bad either - with chapter select, you're able to get where you need to go to find all your missing mini games. The achievements aren't terrible, and there are some amazing Easter eggs. I'm quite fond of the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time one myself.

The big gripe my wife and I have with this is the story. I'll do my best not to spoil everything, but here are the key things to keep in mind.



So. Let me sum it up. Gameplay: 5/5. Amazing co-op, great graphics, controls are smooth, quirky and fun to play. Story: 0/5 because the game's premise was utterly betrayed. The target audience is clearly supposed to be adults, given the extremely relatable adult issues, but then it handles the themes with kid gloves?

My final score is a 1.5, just because I'm so angry at it.