Time and again, It Takes Two finds new ways to demonstrate how vital communication and effort are in getting two individuals on the same page. The game understands relationships as tapestries, and, in the same spirit, the numerous obstacles that May faces when attempting to rekindle her musical passions-snake-like microphones, darkened catwalks, imprisoned performers, and bouncers in glow-stick form-speak to the truth that a relationship rarely falls apart because of any single problem. Cody’s nervous marriage proposal at a ski resort is a crucial part of the glue that holds him and May together, but so is the time you spend ice-skating, making sloppy snow angels, and lobbing snowballs at each other during optional activities. In It Takes Two’s second half, Cody and May must wade through levels structured around their shared memories-levels so richly detailed that you’ll want to soak every inch of them in, rather than plow through them. There’s plenty to discover-25 minigames and a bevy of hidden nooks like an acorn-powered research lab and an insectoid health spa-but there’s not an inconsequential moment among them. But this, too, is in the spirit of scrutinizing every inch of Cody and May’s relationship. In the Garden level, for instance, you don’t just temporarily ride around on some friendly spiders, webbing yourself from floor to ceiling, but you also bum a ride off two enterprising, high-jumping frogs who run a taxi stand.

It may occasionally seem like It Takes Two is overstuffed. We’ve all likely had something in our childhood that we loved as much as Rose cares for Cutie, so it’s intensely agonizing to be forced to rip apart this adorable, defenseless elephant, ignoring its pained pleas of friendship. And you’ll feel more than a little guilt during a showdown with the elephant Queen Cutie III, whom you’ve selfishly decided to harm, all in the hopes of making Rose cry curse-reversing tears. Moon Baboon is a ridiculous-looking stuffed monkey in a spacesuit, but the data he shares about how much anxiety and sadness Cody and May have neglectfully inflicted on their daughter really hits home. In the world of the game, each section of Cody and May’s home is designed to force them to work past their issues, such as the way they have to use magnets in order to revive the attraction that once brought them together.įor all of It Takes Two’s wackiness-such as a Street Fighter-esque battle between May and a military-minded squirrel atop a glider piloted by Cody-the game has a remarkably solid emotional through line. Hakim, an anthropomorphized self-help book, to collaborate with one another if they want to return to human form.

In a sort of Honey I Shrunk the Kids-meets- Toy Story twist, Cody and May find themselves trapped within the bodies of their daughter’s tiny dolls, and are forced by Dr. Cody, a stay-at-home father and jack-of-all-trades, and his wife, May, a talented, workaholic engineer, are getting a divorce, and their desperate young daughter, Rose, makes a tearful wish for them to work out their problems. It Takes Two isn’t subtle, but that’s by design, as its narrative is willed into being by a child’s imagination. In short, this genre-bending co-op platformer from Hazelight Studios uses a smorgasbord of gameplay techniques, buttressed by a lot of attentive small touches, to set us adrift in the field of couples therapy. After all, a good relationship isn’t something you can “beat,” but rather a feat that requires constant care.Įach of the metaphorical levels in It Takes Two offers players the opportunity to practice the different ways-among them communication, collaboration, and respect-in which two people can work together to sustain a friendship, let alone a romance. The trophies earned in-game tend to be rewards for completing optional activities, a subtle bit of reconditioning that will have you focusing less on big-picture “winning” and more on the journey itself. Though It Takes Two focuses on two people trying to repair a broken relationship, there’s no unlockable achievement for doing so.

It takes two elephant