I'm not the biggest fan of platformers and definitely not a into games that require you to play with others in order to experience it, but It Takes Two became a high exception.
This game screams creativity and charm, excelling expectations when it comes to gameplay and variety! It's incredible!
Every level throws something surprising at you and it hardly ever makes it repetitive. Each new mechanic is simple to master, clever in its co-op execution and perfected by very well done level designs. You never know what to expect and once you discover something different, it always manages to feel fresh and imaginative.
Technically, It Takes Two is wonderful. Not only it plays great, with comfortable and responsive platforming controls, but it also looks beautiful. It's definitely not "net-gen-graphics", but it delighted me with nice textures, beautiful environments, good-looking monsters/characters models and high levels of charm.
As for the story, it's fine. It's not GREAT and most of the times it sounds quite silly, but it's sweet enough to keep you curious to see the end. I also love how the tale's pace transforms it into many other types of genres. For example, there's a boss fight mimicking Street Fighter and a Diablo-like level. Even the mini-games and the way you compete with your co-op partner ties into May and Cody's ordeal.
But I have to say that the writing could have been a lot better. It's fine, but it's just not remarkable and I blame the way it was told. I also felt like the game tried too hard to be funny and just failed. That annoying Book of Love, for example, is horrible. The worst thing about him is that he is crucial to the story and you're tied to him.
The ending is also quite hollow, in my opinion. It left me wanting more. Which is weird to say, because around the final two levels I felt like It Takes Two started to drag a little. Don't get me wrong, the fun-factor and entertaining mechanics were still there, but it started to get a little bit stale. And maybe one of the main reasons for that is the boss fights. Very few of them are actually cool. They are very gimmicky, lack any type of challenge and only end up breaking the pacing of the game's fantastic level design.
And one last thing that may come off as negative is the fact that you NEED to play this game with somebody. And not just anybody, you need to communicate and work well together to reach the ending. And I know that It Takes Two's entire foundation is built around playing co-op - and that's alright - but it sucks to know that many people won't play this game as it should be experienced or may never even touch it.
I didn't think I'd get to have time to finish any other game in 2021, but I'm happy that I finished It Takes Two. It was without a doubt one of the greatest co-op experiences I've ever had and definitely one of the smartest platformers I've ever played.
Just find the right person to play it with.
This game screams creativity and charm, excelling expectations when it comes to gameplay and variety! It's incredible!
Every level throws something surprising at you and it hardly ever makes it repetitive. Each new mechanic is simple to master, clever in its co-op execution and perfected by very well done level designs. You never know what to expect and once you discover something different, it always manages to feel fresh and imaginative.
Technically, It Takes Two is wonderful. Not only it plays great, with comfortable and responsive platforming controls, but it also looks beautiful. It's definitely not "net-gen-graphics", but it delighted me with nice textures, beautiful environments, good-looking monsters/characters models and high levels of charm.
As for the story, it's fine. It's not GREAT and most of the times it sounds quite silly, but it's sweet enough to keep you curious to see the end. I also love how the tale's pace transforms it into many other types of genres. For example, there's a boss fight mimicking Street Fighter and a Diablo-like level. Even the mini-games and the way you compete with your co-op partner ties into May and Cody's ordeal.
But I have to say that the writing could have been a lot better. It's fine, but it's just not remarkable and I blame the way it was told. I also felt like the game tried too hard to be funny and just failed. That annoying Book of Love, for example, is horrible. The worst thing about him is that he is crucial to the story and you're tied to him.
The ending is also quite hollow, in my opinion. It left me wanting more. Which is weird to say, because around the final two levels I felt like It Takes Two started to drag a little. Don't get me wrong, the fun-factor and entertaining mechanics were still there, but it started to get a little bit stale. And maybe one of the main reasons for that is the boss fights. Very few of them are actually cool. They are very gimmicky, lack any type of challenge and only end up breaking the pacing of the game's fantastic level design.
And one last thing that may come off as negative is the fact that you NEED to play this game with somebody. And not just anybody, you need to communicate and work well together to reach the ending. And I know that It Takes Two's entire foundation is built around playing co-op - and that's alright - but it sucks to know that many people won't play this game as it should be experienced or may never even touch it.
I didn't think I'd get to have time to finish any other game in 2021, but I'm happy that I finished It Takes Two. It was without a doubt one of the greatest co-op experiences I've ever had and definitely one of the smartest platformers I've ever played.
Just find the right person to play it with.