Okay , how do I start this matter ? I stand for , there are going to be hundreds of Split Fiction reviews operate live at the same fourth dimension . If I ’m going to get people to read mine , I need a strong hook . I want this to feel like the definitive review of the thing ! How about a funny anecdote about my girlfriend set about me killed ? It ’s personal , relatable to the people out there design to act as this with their partner . No , too easy . Everyone is go to do that . Oh , what if I make out out swinging ? This sucker is going to get breathless praise and immediate “ game of the twelvemonth ” buzz . I could lead with my criticism of its weak writing . A dissenting sentiment ! Actually , perchance that ’s too much . I mean , I still really savour my time with it .
Oh , I ’ve got it ! It ’s a biz about author ! I can do a whole meta thing ! Like , I ’m writing about writing the reexamination . I can reflect what the history says about the creative unconscious process , while doing a form of “ Colorado - op ” review shtik where I ’m arguing with myself . That ’s cagey ! That ’s unique !
No , wait , that ’s so , so dazed .
Split Fiction , the latest co - op adventure fromIt Takes Twodeveloper Hazelight , could n’t be landing at a better time . The story about Mio and Zoe , two author who become victims of a publication firm ’s exploitative new technical school opening , comes right at a present moment where artist are have their work mine by AI models and barf into soulless dribble . Their adventure is n’t just a fun apology for Hazelight to bend its excogitation muscle and create more world form co - op puzzle platforming ; it ’s a much demand admonisher that creativity is inseparable from humanity .
big graphics ca n’t be get from a series of prompts . Everything from a book to a video game is digest from meaningful decisiveness that only a human being could make . The pain of losing a loved one can become evocative words on a page . The warm memory of play Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time can create the foundation for a lovingly crafted platforming level . Even the mode a story begins is shaped by countless originative decisions built to take out readers into a specific mindset . It does n’t always act . artistry can be as messy as the people making it . It can be thematically incoherent , self - soft , or in desperate need of an editor in chief . God knowsSplit Fictionisn’t perfect — far from it , in fact — but that just think of that it has a pulse . That ’s something that we ’ve begun to take for granted in our current eld of swelled technical school annihilation .
Okay , that all sounds impudent . Probably . People love it when you smack talking AI , at least . gentle winnings . And hopefully that gives me enough allowance to rupture this matter ’s poor writing apart , while still leaving space to celebrate it as a sharply designed carbon monoxide - op adventure made from a passionate studio apartment of artists who put their whole warmheartedness into their craftiness . Sure .
Games on books
Duplicating the winning rule of its 2021 Game of the Year winnerIt charter Two , Split Fictionis another Hazelight adventure plot build up with two - player rent screen in mind . Though while its old secret plan was a playable rom com that made it a perfect thematic spousal relationship of story and gameplay , Split Fiction has a tough clock time espouse those halves . The story here is that Mio and Zoe are struggle writers who are so desperate to get print that they take a shady offer from Rader , a corporation that has built a magical machine that brings floor to life story . When Mio bewilder dusty foot about the process , she accidentally winds up beat trapped in the machine alongside Zoe , where their collide ideas manifest as sci - fi and phantasy worlds .
It should be an easy gibe dunk . Split Fictionpositions itself as a game for the minute , with Rader standing in for big tech troupe like Google . you’re able to read it as asearing takedown of AI , as Rader ’s ultimate finish is to harvest ideas from its unsuspecting mental test subject and turn their meaningful nontextual matter into hollow immersive experiences . The narration says all the right things that its players will desire to hear , painting Mio and Zoe as reliable artists whose authorship comes from real personal experiences that a machine could never empathize .
Should I mentionVGC ’s interview with director Josef Fareshere , where he shrugged off the idea that AI is a real job and seemed ok with the estimate that it could lead to layoffs ? Is that relevant context that helps set up up my unfavorable judgment ? Or would that just be a performative paragraph built for the great unwashed to screenshot and share on social medium ? I mean , art should go on its own , but surely the disagreement between the taradiddle ’s take on tech and its director ’s can start to excuse why it does n’t run . No , unspoilt to pore on the work in front of me .
In a vicious twist of destiny , the social commentary is trample by confounding publish at every play . Mio and Zoe are both presented as not bad artist and total hacks interchangeably throughout the story . Their “ novels ” manifest as a series of sameness musical style setpieces that do n’t have much patch behind them . There are in high spirits fantasy dragon battle , explosive minibike chase succession , and other thin game that are built entirely on tropes . Few of them narrate an actual story ; they ’re just sequences of outcome largely urge on by scene from nerdy medium . Mio and Zoe even notice on that throughout the story , criticizing one another for writing such overplayed musical theme . These are tales that a machinecouldin fact come up with , kneecappingSplit Fiction ’s content about originality .
In the same breath , Hazelight want players to believe that the silly chronicle it is poking sport at are also worked up and human . Most tarradiddle end with some sorting of sob story monologue about how all that jumping between vaporize cars is really about mob drama . Surprise ! It ’s entirely unearned every individual time ; the ideas are never told through tier design and gameplay , something thatPsychonauts 2so expertly nails . We ’re expected to take Zoe and Mio at their word , but art has to officiate on its own . Their report never do andSplit Fictionrings hollow as a game about intricate creative decision fashioning for it .
Split Fictionhas a thin relationship with artistic creation . This is a biz about books that could not be less interested in actual lit . We ’re supposed to be play through visualisation of Zoe and Mio ’s novels , but those horizontal surface only ever utter in the language of movies and telecasting game . They are narrate through puzzles and action coiffe firearm exclusively . How many playscript have you read where the hoagy must dance with a scamp king by doing a Simon Says minigame ? Why am I forever seeingDark SoulsEaster testicle and Sonic the Hedgehog jokes in their tarradiddle worlds?Split Fictionfeels like a game made by people who have never interpret a book .
God , no , that ’s so pithy . People are going to take that literally and drag out me for it on Reddit . You ’re supposed to be the nuanced critic ! What do I actually want to say ? Maybe it ’s that it feel symptomatic of a larger loss of literacy in culture , something that ’s tie to the very tech commentary Split Fiction is make . This is what some people think books are actually like . The complexness of the written word is lost on GoodReads reviews and BookTok influencers that just see them as genre movies made of paper . Is n’t it counterproductive to make a game about books that ’s really just about games ? Are Zoe and Mio writers just because books palpate more esthetically serious than video games ? Would it have killed Hazelight to reference Frankenstein instead of Tron ?
Oh , that ’s kind of funny .
Would it have killed Hazelight to cite Frankenstein alternatively of Tron ?
Co-op creativity
Jeeze , that was more searing than I expected it to be . It sounds like I detest this thing ! I do n’t … right ? I had a great prison term playing it . Killer puzzle . Smooth platforming . Creative as heck . I ’ve get to poise this back out before people get the wrong impression . countenance ’s get a good transition line here , veridical slick like .
WhatSplit Fictionlacks in story it makes up for in its gameplay . Moron .
Split Fictionmore efficaciously communicates its dissertation on creative thinking where it counts : through excogitation . There ’s a good reason thatIt lease Twotook home the Game Award for Game of the Year ; Hazelight is a studio apartment that ’s both load with ideas and cares enough about them to do them powerful . The fib is broken up into two - hr chunks that swap players between Mio ’s sci - fi report and Zoe ’s fantasy worlds . The two one-half are connect together by strong platforming fundamentals , as Zoe and Mio magnetize to footholds and poles to keep the adventure manageable for inexperienced players who are pull in into it by their play partners .
Well , I stand for , by from the momentum - defeat flying section that feature unwieldy controls to navigate floaty spaceships and wingsuits . But do n’t force every nitpick into this . Save it for hour five of a deep dive podcast that ’s longer than the game , where you may assure some boring anecdote about having to help your spouse through a few section .
That dual - genre premise allows Hazelight to play around with ever - changing gameplay hook , dropping them before they ’ve run out of unexampled direction to use them . In one level , my girlfriend and I commence out by channel flying dragon eggs around and using them to spread doors . shortly after , they evolve into grownup lizard with unique power . Mine can glide through the air and spittle dose that melts alloy ; hers can mount up vine and spin dash into aim . Later , they originate to their full sizing and we ’re institutionalize into a cinematic aerial Salmon Portland Chase successiveness . Part of the fun come in from trying to guess where each irregular thought is going to go next .
The best level use those ideas to fuel ingenious atomic number 27 - op puzzling that ’s built for split screen bid . My favourite section turn over both my lady friend and I into orbs . She could magnetize to some surface and repel from others , while I could turn into a drove of nanobots that could hack object and transform . Some puzzle had me bend into a boat that she could jump into so I could safely transport her across piss . Others had her unraveling a metal paseo for me with her magnet . Each puzzle need us to talk through exactly what we were doing and coordinate with one another . It ’s not about science and clock so much as cracking the death penalty together .
Do n’t do it . Do n’t you dare say it ’s the best co - op game since Portal 2 . You already did that with It Takes Two , and Split Fiction is n’t even as reproducible as that . I do n’t handle if there are some distance - bending level here that clear call back to it . That secret plan came out 14 years ago . We as a society involve to move on from comparing co - op game to Portal 2 .
It ’s not thatSplit Fictionis doing anything groundbreaking here . These ideas were present inIt take Twoand for the most part made more thematic sense in that context of use . That is a game about relationship that was design to experience like a couple ’s therapy sitting . Teamwork is n’t as relevant to Split Fiction ’s weaker story , but the creative life is . Every level is a hand - crafted designing flex by developers who are delirious to show off . you’re able to see that most inSplit Fiction ’s optional side stories , which toss players into Mio and Zoe ’s old , unfinished ideas . Some of those offer the adventure ’s effective levels . A puerility tale plays out in a 2D adventure pull in pencil , while another hurl the brace as walk tooth in a hyperactive 5 year quondam ’s birthday story . More than anything , it reminds me ofSuper Mario Bros. Wonderwith its riches of playful gameplay twistsborn from awkward notes .
That ’s better .
We care a lot
Split Fictionmay not reach the same heights as its predecessor , but … but it ’s a suitable follow - up that … that …
Oh no . No . Not writer ’s block . Not now . I ’m right at the ending here . I ’ve got a deadline to meet . Why did I make this so complicated ? Why could n’t I just file a normal limited review rather of drawing up some mellow - conception bit ? I could have been done with this hr ago .
“ Its drab sci - fi visuals leave much to be desired , but it runs at a smooth framerate and I never encountered a undivided germ , even during its technically stunning finish . ”
“ Each level goes on 30 minutes too long for a casual academic term , ballooning up what should be a tight adventure with a few too many gimmicks . ”
See ? Easy . That ’s all people really need to read anyways , right ? Nobody is look to this review to learn something about the human condition . It ’s a checklist attached to a reductive scotch that people can argue about online . Fodder for YouTubers overreacting to out of context pull up quotes in video with sensationalized title . An notion to be unwillingly aggregated and incorrectly summarized by Google Gemini . Why should I put so much time into each Book , heroic to pass along something to readers with each choice I stress over , when we subsist in a cultural climate that is straight-out unfriendly to original sentiment ?
Maybe that ’s why Split Fiction still resonates with me even in its messiest moments . Its writing scarcely lands , but the sheer wiliness on display is revolutionize . Every time I jump into a side story and discover an entirely unexampled art style or gameplay mind that endure for a few inadequate minutes and then disappears , I ’m left in awe of Hazelight ’s loyalty . This is n’t a fast food value menu token generate from thrifty focus chemical group testing ; it ’s an outpouring of original idea from people who care about their craft . Who care if it lives up to It Takes Two ’s high bar ? Who cares if it ’s “ GOTY material ? ” Who cares if it ’s the undecomposed conscientious objector - op biz since Portal 2 ? What ’s more authoritative is that we take the time to engage with what its creators want to tell us , esteem the artistic production citizenry make for one another enough to both criticize it when it does n’t influence and lionise it when it does .
Okay . Yeah , okay . So , how about something like this :
Split Fictionis hokey , muddled , and needlessly self - overcome . It ’s also racy , inventive , and so earnest that it ’s grueling to be mad at it for long . These are n’t opposing force that deplume Hazelight ’s latest apart ; the awkwardness is inseparable from the delight . Both are born from the ambitious vision of artists who still believe in the conjuring trick of creativity and are willing to take bragging swings in its honor . Sometimes it perfectly whiffs . We all do . Fail again . flunk better . But it ’s those moment where it connects , where wide-eyed idea work into unforgettable spectacle , that remind us why art ca n’t be automated . Even the most advanced auto can never stargaze bigger than a man with a heart .
Split Fictionwas test on PS5 .
