It Takes Two | Xbox Review

ZACK: Well, Scott, it’s fair to say we both loved the hell out of this game, right?

SCOTT: I think that goes without saying, Zack, considering we raved about it on Episode 339 of the podcast.

ZACK: Which was interesting for me, because I wasn’t as smitten with A Way Out as everyone else seemed to be. It was a good game, don’t get me wrong, but Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was the vastly superior Josef Fares game to me.

SCOTT: See, I really enjoyed A Way Out, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t as invested in the story there as I was with Cody and May’s.

ZACK: I liked the story here, but what really caught me was Hazelight Studio’s continuing evolution of their dedicated co-op games. The story is all well and good, but the unique gameplay is what I was here for. Usually in games, I’m getting through the gameplay to be rewarded with the next story beat. This game flipped it for me, in that I was getting through the story to see what wacky gameplay came next.

SCOTT: That’s not to say that the story wasn’t interesting. We were definitely given a unique narrative here with a story about a married couple going through a divorce. The added dynamic of their daughter also added an interesting angle. As sad as it was to watch her crying over the breakup of her parents, her tears are what started the whimsical nature of this adventure. As soon as Cody and May transformed into the dolls she created of them, I knew we were in for a wild ride.

ZACK: And a wild ride it is, man. It’s ostensibly a 3D platformer, but that’s honestly barely scratching the surface.

SCOTT: Very true. Almost every game genre I could think of was represented somewhere in It Takes Two. But the core gameplay resolved around. Shall we say it together?

ZACK & SCOTT: COLLABORATION!

ZACK: Oh man! We didn’t even mention Dr. Hakim!

SCOTT: I’ll admit, I was a bit worried at first when that character showed up.

ZACK: I was straight up annoyed at his every appearance early on, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t grow to love that talking self-help book.

SCOTT: Same here. I just hope others don’t give up on this gem for fear of it being too much of a “kiddie” game. Because it was surely far from that.

ZACK: I can’t imagine them giving up. The ideas just never stop coming, which is absolutely insane for a game that’s 13-15 hours long. Seriously, it’s gotta be every 10 minutes that you’re doing something entirely new. And then the game just disposes of the ideas and moves on. It’s very Nintendo in that way. I was constantly impressed.

SCOTT: Totally agree. I haven’t played a game in quite a while that put a smile on my face as much and as often as this one did. 

ZACK: Even I smiled!

SCOTT: Each new novelty reminded me so much of how I enjoyed playing games as a kid. I’m pretty certain you could hear the elation in my voice when we played, right?

ZACK: Dude, we were both giddy as kids on the playground with this game. It Takes Two just allows you to play with it, if you know what I mean.

SCOTT: Remember the moment when we both realized that we could mount spiders and cling to the ceiling? I think both of us squealed in delight at the exact same time.

ZACK: That moment alone just about knocked it up a full numerical grade. That’s the thing about this game, though. It’s constantly doing this sort of thing. It has the imagination of a child running in its DNA. Anything you could think to do in a garden is something you will end up doing, for instance. Like, I couldn’t even imagine a sequel to this game because it feels like every co-op idea has been used up.

SCOTT: Don’t say that, Zack. I definitely want more.

ZACK: As any great game should. You should be left wanting more. It’s just wild that a game this long left us both feeling that way. But one of the many clever tricks of the game is that you can replay it as the other character.

SCOTT: That’s a really good point. Since each of us were doing entirely different things while playing, a second playthrough could still feel very fresh. You might not get the same surprises as you do on your first run, but it’s a great way to enjoy a game a second time.

ZACK: Yes, I do recall you being very jealous of my rocket launcher.

SCOTT: Not as jealous as you were of my shield that resembled a certain Captain you’re pretty fond of.

ZACK: Ha! They even make that joke in the game. No stone is left unturned.

SCOTT: Which reminds me, there are several hidden Easter eggs in this game that I think are worth mentioning.

ZACK: I don’t want to give anything away, but fans of Josef Fares will find a lot of rewards in that regard. Especially if you’re fond of his opinion on the Oscars…

SCOTT: How do you feel about the look and feel of this game? It definitely wasn’t going for realism.

ZACK: Great thing to bring up, actually. I think It Takes Two is a textbook argument for why developers need to stop chasing technical fidelity so hard. Look at what they accomplished by putting that money into more interesting things.

SCOTT: Yeah, I was never bothered by the cartoony nature. In fact, I think it shone a light on just how charming this title really is. It’s been a while since gameplay took center stage over frame rates and ray tracing.

ZACK: Exactly! Games don’t have to be photorealistic to be compelling.

SCOTT: Is there really anything negative we can say about this one?

ZACK: The only thing I can think of is that I found the ending to be a little unsatisfying. I was left waiting for that one more…moment, I guess you could say. Was just underwhelmed by it.

SCOTT: I know what you mean. I was so blown away by the rest of the gameplay and setup, I might have oversold myself on what I expected for the finale. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it definitely left me wishing for a bigger punch.

ZACK: No, definitely not bad. The suddenness of the ending also threw me off a bit. But it’s really so minor in the grand scheme of the game.

SCOTT: Totally. So needless to say, we both would highly recommend It Takes Two to anyone reading this, correct?

ZACK: Without question. It’s the first truly must-play title of the year.

SCOTT: I couldn’t agree more. I felt completely blown away by it, and was thinking about it pretty much every minute I wasn’t playing. As we’ve said before, that’s the true mark of a great game in our book.

ZACK: Thanks for being my partner in this thing, Scott. It really did take two.

SCOTT: No, thank you, Zack. I literally couldn’t have played it without you. 

ZACK: I guess you could say we learned an awful lot about…

ZACK & SCOTT: COLLABORATION!

To hear us talk more about It Takes Two, be sure to listen to Episode 339 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 24:20 time stamp.

This review is based on an Xbox One copy of It Takes Two provided by fortyseven for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation and PC.