It Takes Two is the winner of The Game Award for Game of the Year in 2021 and has a surprisingly controversial reputation thanks to sequences that were rather violent and shocking, a changed-ending, and comments made by the director of the game. Beyond all that is a game that has an innocently cute exterior, but quickly dives into mature themes dealing with marriage, divorce, and the psychological effects it can have on children. Believe it or not, these qualities might make it the perfect title for Nintendo Switch because instead of being a game designed for kids, it’s a game that should be played by parents specifically, especially since it’s not meant for a single-player experience.
With this game’s prior release on other more powerful platforms, the Nintendo Switch’s portability factor makes it more enticing, especially if you haven’t purchased it yet. The biggest strength of the Nintendo Switch is the ability to play this game on the go, and that might be a nice option for some who want to bring this title along during an extended trip, or who find themselves out of the house most of the time, even when they’re with their kids. Either way, being ported onto the Nintendo Switch will only help boost the already impressive sales of It Takes Two.
The port does deliver a pleasant experience for gaming on the go, but keep in mind the size of your Nintendo Switch, since the screen will be split in half during gameplay, and each player will be left with only half of their normal viewing area on an already smaller screen. As a result, the expansive environment might start to look like a mess in its diminutive form and your tiny character might prove difficult to see at times. After playing through a good amount of the game, it makes me wonder how the game would have turned out if both players shared the same larger screen view while being in close proximity to one another, and then the screen would split as they wandered farther apart.
Graphically, the Switch port has been downgraded, but not in any way that hinders or ruins the overall experience. If you compare footage side by side, the most obvious differences are the decreased shading, rendering, lighting, and detail loss in the Nintendo Switch version. Thankfully, the framerate seems to hold up steadily on the Nintendo version, even when undocked in handheld mode and it adheres to the developer’s promise to maintain a healthy 30FPS in both 720 and 1080p resolutions. The only time I felt disappointed with the graphics was during the cutscenes that showed the parents or their daughter. The characters in these scenes looked outdated with lower polygon counts and other noticeable flaws, but the cutscenes were still narratively well-done.
The soundscape doesn’t break new ground, but the minimal music and dominant sound effects are all that this game needs. Most of the music supports the cutscenes in a cinematic way and almost convinces you that you’re watching a movie. During the game, there was no standard background music I came across in the early levels, and since this was my first time playing it, I was expecting more melodic tunes. As I played the game more, I ended up preferring the more atmospheric style of the background; it added just enough to keep the mood from going stale, was never overbearing, and allowed you to focus on the puzzles and seamless expansion of level between cutscenes. If you ever find yourself stuck, be sure to check out one of our helpful guides to get you through.
Gameplay-wise, two players will find this platformer right up there with any good example of the genre while offering original mechanics and level designs. Cooperation is a must, all the way down to how both players have to hold down the A button to fill up half of a circle that skips cutscenes. The basic pattern of the game puts both players in a small area that they can freely explore until they find an obstacle preventing them from progressing. At this point, both players have no option other than to solve it together or defeat the enemy to get into the next area.
Playing this game is good fun, and after the saddening start to the story, my partner and I immediately felt a sense of hope as soon as we started playing. As someone who can be rather optimistic in general, I tend to shy away from games that might have unhappy endings to shatter people’s expectations. Without knowing what the new ending might be, this game quickly convinced me to stick with it. The balance of the game’s difficulty feels spot on, with challenges increasing steadily over time, but never feeling overwhelmingly frustrating. Being able to respawn immediately after falling off the map or being eliminated is quick and seamless, keeping both players in the flow of things. These are positives because the whole point of this game is experiencing it to the end of the story, and that would be ruined if playing the game was painstakingly difficult.
The basic premise here is nothing new; it’s a cooperative puzzle-platformer that allows both players their own split-screen experience, but they must ultimately stick together to progress through the levels. On top of that, it’s part of a new wave of games that offer cute and cartoony graphics that deceptively mask a more serious, and sometimes darker story. This contrast has a polarizing effect but runs the risk of soon becoming cliche.
With that aside, story-driven coop platform games are not being produced fast enough, and that makes this a welcome addition to any game library. With its significant awards and impressive sales, fans will be pleased to know that television and movie adaptations are in the works. The only factor you’ll need to consider when getting this game is how it’s easier to understand and relate to for couples, especially married couples with kids, and hopefully, after they play through it, it’ll be an experience that brings them closer together and deeper in love.
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