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It Takes Two review: A really fun way to tell a bit of a boring story"I mean, I don’t think we even get tax breaks anymore, so what’s the point?"
“I mean, I don’t think we even get tax breaks anymore, so what’s the point?”
At this stage in my life I am both a child of divorce and an owner of one, so the concept of a two-player co-op game that gamifies an about-to-be-divorced couple’s relationship was very intriguing to me. Obviously divorces aren’t fun when you’re in the midst of them, but they’re also incredibly common, and quite often (as was the case with my own) actually the best solution. At a very reductionist level, a divorce is just a breakup with more paperwork, and God knows we’ve made everything else into a game at this point. Normalise divorce.
It Takes Two And The Joy Of Play | My Favourite Thing In… (It Takes Two Review)Watch on YouTube
It Takes Two And The Joy Of Play | My Favourite Thing In… (It Takes Two Review)
Cody and May’s divorce is admittedly more complex than my own was, because they have both property and a child to divide up. The latter I found quite unsympathetic and annoying, if I’m honest, but if they weren’t parents then there would, in effect, be no jeopardy to Cody and May’s impending divorce. Who cares if two random losers break up? Nobody, that’s who. But their prepubescent daughter Rose does. It is her tears, plus intervention from a self-help book whose magical personification is inexplicably pervy, that precipitate Cody and May’s transformation / intense and athletic marriage counselling.
You and your co-op partner will get different abilities in every level, so there’s a sense of anticipation when you come to a new area. “What do I get to do this time?” you think to yourself, hoping it’s something cool like the explosive nectar gunk, or mini-bazooka that fires matches, which were your tools in the level set inside a tree. Some are a bit less fun than others (see: a water gun in the garden level, or a small cymbal as a shield in a music-themed attic), but they have a more interesting purpose in how you solve puzzles.
Here May is flying to magnetised pads while riding a magnet of the opposite polarity, and Cody is shooting the pads into place for her.
And there’s almost nothing in It Takes Two that you don’t need your co-op pal to help you with. It is, in fairness, a game with great nominative determinism. The water gun is needed to moisten bits of soil, so that Cody can use his own ability to turn into various helpful plants (like a cactus that spits spiky bullets); the cymbal shield allows Cody to walk in front of May and protect them both from aggressive blasts of sound. Both will, at times, have to move or operate platforms for the other player, calling for great patience and great communication. It remains the most co-operative co-op game I’ve ever played.
I think Dr. Hakim is meant to be weird and annoying, but that defense wouldn’t work in a court of law and it won’t on me, sir.
Almost everything in It Takes Two represents the humorous yet relatable discord in Cody and May’s relationship (he the dreamy, sensitive stay-at-home parent; she the no-nonsense practical scientist working overtime). So I suppose it’s fitting that the game itself feels like two slightly different concepts, mashed together in a somehwat mismatched way, when you look at it as a whole. You start off trying to make your way back to the main house, and your daughter. This is strong, understandable, and clear.
Part of the Moon Baboon boss fight: May is flying the spaceship, while Cody is working the targeting systems.
Most annoyingly, despite the inclusion of plot points that are surprisingly dark and very very funny because of it, It Takes Two is a bit disappointing in how conventional the story is, when thiis was surely an opportunity to do something a bit different. The way you explore Cody and May’s story is playful and imaginative, but their story itself isn’t that interesting. It doesn’t ruin the whole experience - It Takes Two is a tremendously fun game to play - but stacked up next to riding giant spiders, exploding wasps and surfing mic aux cables the actual relationship thing at the heart of it is a bit of a whimper compared to the bang of everything else. Much like my own divorce,WAHEY.
