Wives Play: It Takes Two

 

My wife and I spend time together in practically every single passing moment. That is, in large part, due to our mutual adoration for gaming. If we're going to play something, we will often opt to backseat for one another instead of playing separately. So as you can imagine, every time we are offered the opportunity to play a co-op game, we take it in a heartbeat. 

We love gaming, we love writing, and we love sharing information with others. So here is our overview for It Takes Two, and whether or not it's a good co-op game.

It Takes Two

Nominated for GOTY at The Game Awards, it feels like It Takes Two shook the world to its core with how famous it was a while after release. My wife and I were struggling monetarily due to the pandemic, so we couldn't purchase it on launch. However, after it was added to the Xbox Game Pass catalogue through EA Play, I knew it was time to give it a shot.

The game takes place throughout eight different levels, all with their own unique mechanics. You and your partner-in-crime will need to collaborate in order to advance through them. 

It Takes Two is a mandatory co-op experience, which means that for it to be considered good, it must do well in this particular area. The game has you playing May and Cody, a husband and wife that are going through a divorce. When they tell their daughter Rose about it, she curses them into being two dolls that she has of them. You and your partner become tiny and must face several obstacles while the Book of Love, Dr Hakim, takes you through many trials.

Currently, the game has received Overwhelmingly Positive reviews, with 96% positive out of 46,351 reviews on Steam.

What's good about it?

The game is hilarious in many aspects. You and your partner are often given unique abilities throughout the eight different levels and will have to work together to make it work; some of these are incredibly fun.

Aside from working together at every turn and trying your hardest not to screw up your partner, you get these challenges that have you fighting against them. These mini-games range from being hilarious to rather simple and easy to understand.

It never felt like neither my wife nor I drew the short end of the stick with this game and the characters. I played as May and she as Cody, and not once did I look towards her screen and desire that I had been Cody for any particular section of the game nor did I ever feel like I was glad I was May. I was happy being either-or, and she was too. It's nice to see the game incorporating this properly, as neither character felt lacking.

We laughed a lot throughout the game. The first PvP mini-game had us laughing until we cried; this is something that hadn't happened in a while.

What's bad about it?

Some of the parts in the game in general felt a bit too easy.

Although a lot of the puzzles were engaging and fast-paced, there were times when it felt the game slowed to a crawl and didn't really offer fun gameplay. At one part, I just controlled a dinosaur while she controlled the other and everything was straightforward and rather bland.

Later on in the levels we began noticing that — although the game doesn't have any bad levels that we particularly dreaded — some sections were extremely lacking. It didn't offer for laughing, or quick-paced action nor a lot of co-operation. Although yes, both characters felt they were equal in fun in every world, it didn't feel like the fun was particularly engaging.

Once the gameplay began falling short, it felt that everything crumbled down for my wife and me. Without enjoyable and engaging gameplay, or oftentimes having to bid farewell to a fun mechanic a tinge bit too early, it slowly fell apart.

How good is it overall?

The co-op aspect of the game can be incredibly fun, however, it falters in some parts.

The unique mechanics that force both players to collaborate is extremely engaging at certain aspects, with no two worlds feeling particularly alike. However, all of this innovation swiftly feels like it falls flat on its face when each section feels cut short at its prime.

We laughed a lot throughout several sections, but as the game went on, it began feeling elongated needlessly. Each new coming level wasn't fun or exciting, it was just another hurdle between us and the ending.

It felt like the game was only centred around the co-op aspect, which then led to every other area in the game falling short. Although it is great to see a game having cooperative play as the main viewpoint, this led to both my wife and I growing increasingly bored with the elongated story. This wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't because it felt like the only focus was the co-op. It just felt like the game turned into a "do this" and "do that" format. No incentive to explore, a predictable and straightforward story, and mechanics that lasted way too little for me to care for too much.

It Takes Two is a phenomenal co-op experience, but it truly falls short once that starts feeling lacking.