Why you possibly can belief TechRadar
We spend hours testing each services or products we evaluation, so that you will be positive you’re shopping for the most effective. Find out more about how we test.
A {couples} counselling puzzle platformer may sound like a wierd elevator pitch. But, this quizzical pairing is the spine of Hazelight Studios’ co-op game. Following the studio’s success with its prison-breaking simulator A Manner Out, It Takes Two inspects a brand new form of high-stakes relationship… marriage.
Overview data
Platform reviewed: PlayStation 5
Out there on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox X, Xbox Collection S, Nintendo Swap
Launch date: March 25, 2021
Right here, you play as a separated couple, Cody and Could, whose consciousness is magically transported into doll variations of themselves after their daughter makes an unorthodox want to a secret magic romance ebook. From this sudden transformation, the duo are compelled to navigate a jumbo-sized model of their house, the place inanimate objects and carelessly tossed junk have gained sassy omnipotence. As they decide bric-a-brac buddy from foe, their points steadily rear their head, providing you with an impression of how their marriage slid in direction of breakdown not by one incident however quite a collection of gradual nudges.
In co-op, gamers break up management, working by way of the couple’s points in a literal and metaphorical sense by speaking their manner throughout more and more advanced platforming ranges. To navigate this danger-filled toy field, you possibly can dash, leap, sprint and equip your self with level-contextual instruments that complement one another. Platforming throughout the sport has a fluid and floaty really feel, hammering house the plaything nature of the pair’s new doll our bodies.
What’s your love language?
Regardless of ranges being so stuffed with element, Hazelight manages a way of development and circulation nicely. Factors of curiosity like breakable glass bottles draw your consideration, naturally calling you in direction of the subsequent checkpoint. Whereas it isn’t all the time the case, the obstacles usually require you to make use of your particular assault to work together with them, which additionally helps set the tone for future boss battles and teases puzzle options inside the degree.
Bouts of platforming are bookended with multi-stage boss battles primarily based on the encircling litter of the world. The connection between every explicit boss and the extent made the world really feel cohesive and considerate and helped to immerse me in Cody and Could’s tragic love story. The grumbling, rusted toolbox that marks the tip of the primary zone requires gamers to work collectively utilizing their respective hammer and nail instruments to deal harm because it cuts away at your fragile metallic stage one assault at a time.
This casually instructive fashion is particularly noticeable as puzzles grew in complexity. Regardless of stopping and beginning play classes, my accomplice and I maintained stable momentum all through It Takes Two. That’s to not say we had been with out arguments or errors when navigating the degrees, although.
Finest bit
There’s nothing extra hilariously irritating than making an attempt to time and execute a selected transfer along with your co-op accomplice, particularly when it retains going improper. It Takes Two steadily requires you to synchronise rigorously, whether or not or not it’s one participant throwing a nail for an additional to swing on or grinding throughout electrical wires to show off switches. Regardless of how usually my co-op accomplice and I ready for a sequence, we all the time fell into the identical disorganised traps, laughing or accosting one another as we hit the reset button.
What did trigger irreparable harm to my co-op relationship, nevertheless, had been the PVP minigames that permit you and your accomplice to tackle challenges head-to-head. Discovered throughout the map, the parlour video games will let you vent frustrations and brutally thwart your bestie.
Early within the marketing campaign, my accomplice and I occurred upon a sport referred to as ‘Flip the Swap’, which concerned one participant hammering buttons whereas the opposite shoots them with nails from an aerial perspective. The participant who shoots probably the most inside the timer wins – easy, proper? Unsuitable. What ensued was a collection of upsets that resulted in a solemn vow to not interact with these distractions ever once more — till the subsequent one arrived, and it was simply as difficult and fascinating. Toys-out-of-the-pram second apart, It Takes Two does nicely to shock you with these distinctive offshoots all through its story.
Belief fall
The considerate set dressing and character designs are a standout characteristic throughout It Takes Two, with treasured tidbits of lore hidden all through the degrees. For instance, if you happen to flip up a pathway of their daughter’s room, you’ll find motion figures that pay homage to the protagonists of Hazelight’s earlier co-op prison-breaking sport, A Manner Out. Different hidden areas reveal extra tender references to video games from the previous, reminiscent of Tremendous Mario and The Legend of Zelda. As I explored every micro world, I used to be usually reminded of The Debtors or Stuart Little, gawking at how on a regular basis objects might be repurposed as obstacles or idiosyncratic decor.
The look after world-building applies to Cody and Could’s doll designs, too, which had been clearly handmade by their inventive daughter, Rose. Could’s fuzzy picket tendrils and Cody’s rope belt really feel haphazardly artful in a manner that represents Rose’s endearing affection for them. The softened, comforting nature of the dolls additionally looks like a pointy distinction to the couple’s real-world angle, which is usually barbed and biting. The longer they spend exterior their bitter, bickering our bodies and of their patchwork personas, the extra they resemble Rose’s view of them, which looks like a heat visible metaphor for the overarching themes.
Hazelight has constructed its latest puzzler with loads of care, permitting you to immerse yourselves in beautiful fantasy worlds with appreciable depth. In exploring Cody and Could’s household house and interpersonal hassle, It Takes Two is a surprisingly grounded sport, and I adored flipping and dashing by way of the household’s tough lives.
Ought to I play It Takes Two?
Play it if…
Don’t play it if…
Accessibility
Within the accessibility menu, you possibly can modify each the distinction and brightness. From right here, there are additionally three coloration blindness choices to decide on between (Tritanopia-Blue Weak, Protanopia-Crimson Weak, and Deuteranopia-Inexperienced Weak). You’ll be able to toggle on Textual content-To-Speech and toggle the choice to transform voice chat to textual content. Subtitles and vibrations can moreover be toggled on for both Could or Cody.
The place digital camera settings are involved, you possibly can toggle settings per character. You’ll be able to invert the vertical and horizontal cameras and select how sturdy the automated digital camera rotation is (None, Weak, or Robust). You can even modify the digital camera and purpose sensitivity for each the horizontal and vertical digital camera from 1 to 100.
How I reviewed It Takes Two
In anticipation of the launch of Spit Fiction, I performed by way of the whole lot of It Takes Two in native co-op on a PlayStation 5. I used an AOC CQ27G2 27-inch QHD VA 144Hz gaming monitor with my PS5, and for audio, I used my exterior Artistic Pebble V2 computer speakers.
First reviewed February-March 2025