Any game with Co-op is a win for the love of gaming, and while Split Fiction might not be Hazelight’s strongest outing, it still shines in bringing people together.
After two successful games, and a GOTY award season for It Takes Two, Hazelight clearly had a lot of ideas on where to go next. So the logical place to go is to simply make a game about all the possibilities of storytelling, and the push and pull of creative differences.
Split Fiction takes place as two young women, Zoe and Mio, are offered a publishing deal for their respective stories. Upon arriving at the publishing office, and a very poorly paced story introduction, Mio discovers the deal is actually not what it seems. Instead of publishing their ideas, the company is out to steal them for a new program. Being a very relatable fear for any young writer, Mio disagrees with the program and decides not to take part in it. While everyone else is apparently okay with the bubble technology, Mio gets into a scuffle and traps herself in Zoe’s world.
Split Fiction wastes no time introducing the core component of the game, a mixed reality of science fiction and fantasy, which is symbolic of the two characters themselves being polar opposites. Almost immediately these differences allow the game to let two players have two entirely different experiences while sharing the same screen. The power to entwine their worlds, and bring the characters to life, which gives each player a personality, is done really well. You might even discover that after starting the game you might want to switch characters with whoever you’re playing with because you might connect with one character over the other.
The characters discover that by working together they can disrupt glitches in the system by exploring their own memories and worlds. The glitches then open a hole in the simulation that allows them to hear the discussions in the real world, which slowly gets Zoe on board with Mia, since the whole publishing deal debacle is on full display. The further they go into their own memories, the more sociable each character becomes.
The entire premise of the story can be taken as either a middle finger to major publishers, or more realistically the use of AI generation. Personally, I don’t mind either option since stealing creators ideas and making them your own, no matter the outlet, is a horrendous idea. But more importantly it’s fun as a creator myself because they talk about ideas they partially finished, and they get excited when remembering them, making the characters really relatable.
The story itself does have a lot of pacing issues, and glaring holes, which honestly makes it feel more authentic in a way. The introduction segments of the game are extremely poorly paced, but a few chapters in and you already really enjoy the two main characters. Which is great because they carry the whole show, but the story itself felt lacking in terms of not knowing exactly where it wanted to go, while having one of the most bland “villains” it could think of. It’s because of these two characters, and their dialogue between each other, that makes the ending really impactful, but outside of that this is the game’s one glaring weakness.
However, a major issue I found with the story is that there are also missable missions within each chapter called side stories, and if you somehow miss or decide not to do one, you actually lose pieces of the story itself. I’m not sure why the game didn’t “push” you into these a little more. Most of the fun came from the side stories anyway as this is where you get farting pigs, co-op sports games, and so many more creative ideas that were just never finished by the main characters. But to shove these off as “optional stories” doesn’t entirely make sense when each one holds very important character progression and major story elements.
The gameplay, however, lives up to the hype of the studio, and is extremely accessible for even the most casual gamers in the world. I found this super important considering the game needs you to find a partner to play the game with, and not everyone may have gaming spouses ready to finish complex challenges. So the ease of platforming, and heavy handed assistance (like platforms being basically magnetic), were actually a welcome addition. Very rarely did I, or my partner, come across anything that was too complex for us to play, and overall the game felt fairly easy for us as we are both gamers. (That is unless you found the super secret laser mission) I do wish the game had some more complex side quests, or maybe a difficulty bar, but again I’m more okay with the idea of getting non-gamers into the game.
Split Fiction never takes itself seriously, which is what allows it to never really become too complex. There is an abundance of “checkpoints” through every level, so you don’t feel afraid to fail at something. Falling off a ledge almost always puts you back at the top of the ledge to try again, and failing together isn’t some painful punishment of restarting entire levels. That’s because Split Fiction is entirely built on couples working together and potentially leans on the idea of maybe one spouse not being completely dexterous with jumping. It’s fun watching your spouse fail a jump that you cleared easily, or how you miss a shot when they are doing a run cleanly. It’s also fun when your platforming fate relies heavily on the opposing player timing something correctly, and getting distracted.
The fact the game is fairly easy made having fun possible. If the game had any sense of a punishment system, then these failures would easily become frustrating. Instead it was fun for my partner to run back to a ledge and watch me fall repeatedly and tease me about it.
This game has made us laugh and simply enjoy gaming more than any other game in a while. At the end of the day, Split Fiction is what gaming is all about. It does a terrific job of simply making you have fun, but it also does a good job of celebrating where gaming has come from. Each level tosses 2D, 3D, side scrolling, and whatever else you can imagine right at you. It does a phenomenal job of going from cutting edge to 1980’s and back. It does an amazing job of making you traverse a science fiction world that easily translates into a fantasy one on the other side of the screen. You never really knew where Split Fiction was going to take you next, and that was the true glory of the whole experience. One minute you’re in a very serious game of catch the bomb, the next you’re a farting pig.
One interesting note is that a lot of the smaller sequences of events would make for great full games. I mean, who wouldn’t play Pig Simulator?
The entire game is played via a split screen, but it makes you focus so hard on what you’re doing that you forget the player sitting right next to you is potentially having a whole different experience. There were times where I was hitting buttons, wondering what the heck they do, and my spouse was shouting at me because she was having some chaotic experience caused by my actions. There were other moments where one of us had a somewhat relaxing experience, while the other was frantically jumping through lasers and enemies trying to stay alive. The game also does a good job of blending in timing sequences, where within the chaos you have to tell the other player “on 3, hit the enemy!”
The game is chalk full of these moments, but it never really slowed down either side of the screen. In some other co-op games you get held up waiting for other players, or tethered to the furthest along player, but Split Fiction does a good job of keeping the players together. Either side of the screen almost always has something to do, and the systems in place keep you at mostly equal lengths, with quick one off actions that keep the pace moving. Very rarely did one of us complete a task and have to sit around and wait for the other to catch up. In fact it led to the exact opposite because one player could fall behind, or die, and the game will focus on the other player still moving. It leads to you cheering them on and hoping they make it to the next checkpoint for the both of you.
Like I said earlier though, I do wish there were features that made things slightly more complex. For example the two characters have no collision with one another. So there are levels where each player is hopping across platforms, and it would have made sense if they accidentally bumped each other off, forcing some more coordination with each player. It might even open the ability to have more instances of needing each other to get through platforming areas, instead of constantly splitting up and doing your own thing.
This was my major issue with Split Fiction. In past titles by the studio, the co-op aspects were incredibly infused between the two players. Your fate literally depended on the other player doing something WITH you. In Split Fiction it feels a lot more like each player needs to do their own thing in order for the both of you to progress. Very rarely are there instances where you are directly connected with the other player and heavily relying on their actions. While you may be a small piece of the other players puzzle, it felt like the game split up the characters a little too much.
However Split Fiction does the split so well that whatever preference you have will have you leaning towards one character over another. My spouse and I both have vastly different tastes when it comes to Sci-fi and Fantasy. She hates sci-fi, I’m “meh” with fantasy, and because of this blend you could see either of us being totally astonished when our version of a level appeared. And you could also see one of us slightly “ugh, again” when the opposite appeared, but by mid game this changed to “okay, your side is actually cool.”
Luckily Split Fiction has arguably the best final sequences in all of gaming, or digital media for that matter. The entire game leads up to literally blending the two worlds together, and when it finally reaches this point it doesn’t disappoint at all. I’ve never witnessed a visual spectacle as well done as this game accomplished. I don’t want to spoil any of the epic boss battles, or the big sequence events, but watching the two worlds finally come together, and two players sharing the experience, it’s an unmatched feeling in all of gaming.
It’s these big spectacle pieces, and funny quirky mid levels, that give Split Fiction the must play attribute. It’s a game that keeps a couple laughing and enjoying being together, and never really frustrated with each other for failing. To me, that means everything.
Split Fiction review: Overall
Split Fiction is a celebration of creative ideas that probably all were floated around the creative room when making the game. These ideas bring to life two worlds in a spectacular fashion. Easy to enter gameplay opens up the possibilities for anyone looking for a casual co-op partner, and the split screen worlds will keep you interested down to the end. Having one of the most spectacular ending sequences in gaming, while celebrating the general idea of just having an imagination and fun with someone you love, makes Split Fiction a must play.
About the author
My name is Dustin Spino. For the past 15 years I’ve been within the gaming journalism industry. I currently work at Cinelinx where I’ve moved up to an editor role and assist in leading a great team of writers with a passion for entertainment. On my off days I’m a comic book creator and fan, and get excited when someone mentions Metal Gear!
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