Split Fiction
MSRP $50.00
“Split Fiction delivers awe-inspiring co-op action, but its weak narrative is another story.”
Pros
Sharp platforming
Tons of artistic gameplay twists
Genius co-op puzzling
Impressive efficiency
Cons
Very weak writing
Dull sci-fi world design
Levels drag a bit too lengthy
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Games on books
Co-op creativity
We care quite a bit
Okay, how do I begin this factor? I imply, there are going to be tons of of Split Fiction evaluations going stay on the similar time. If I’m going to get individuals to learn mine, I want a robust hook. I would like this to really feel just like the definitive overview of the factor! How a few humorous anecdote about my girlfriend getting me killed? It’s private, relatable to the individuals on the market planning to play this with their accomplice. No, too straightforward. Everyone goes to do this. Oh, what if I come out swinging? This sucker goes to get breathless reward and speedy “game of the year” buzz. I may lead with my criticism of its weak writing. A dissenting opinion! Actually, possibly that’s an excessive amount of. I imply, I nonetheless actually loved my time with it.
Oh, I’ve acquired it! It’s a sport about writers! I can do a complete meta factor! Like, I’m writing about writing the overview. I can mirror what the story says in regards to the artistic course of, whereas doing a kind of “co-op” overview shtick the place I’m arguing with myself. That’s intelligent! That’s distinctive!
No, wait, that’s so, so silly.
Split Fiction, the newest co-op journey from It Takes Two developer Hazelight, couldn’t be touchdown at a greater time. The story about Mio and Zoe, two writers who develop into victims of a publishing home’s exploitative new tech initiative, comes proper at a second the place artists are having their work mined by AI fashions and regurgitated into soulless drivel. Their journey isn’t only a enjoyable excuse for Hazelight to flex its design muscle tissues and create extra world class co-op puzzle platforming; it’s a a lot wanted reminder that creativity is inseparable from humanity.
Split Fiction | Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer
Great artwork can’t be generated from a collection of prompts. Everything from a ebook to a online game is born from significant selections that solely a human may make. The ache of dropping a beloved one can develop into evocative phrases on a web page. The heat reminiscence of enjoying Sonic the Hedgehog for the primary time can create the inspiration for a lovingly crafted platforming stage. Even the best way a narrative begins is formed by numerous artistic selections constructed to drag readers into a particular mindset. It doesn’t at all times work. Art will be as messy because the individuals making it. It will be thematically incoherent, self-indulgent, or in determined want of an editor. God is aware of Split Fiction isn’t good — removed from it, actually — however that simply implies that it has a pulse. That’s one thing that we’ve begun to take as a right in our present age of huge tech annihilation.
Okay, that every one sounds good. Probably. People adore it if you smack discuss AI, at the very least. Easy win. And hopefully that offers me sufficient leeway to tear this factor’s poor writing aside, whereas nonetheless leaving area to rejoice it as a sharply designed co-op journey created from a passionate studio of artists who put their complete coronary heart into their craft. Sure.
Games on books
Duplicating the profitable formulation of its 2021 Game of the Year winner It Takes Two, Split Fiction is one other Hazelight journey sport constructed with two-player break up display in thoughts. Though whereas its earlier sport was a playable rom com that made it an ideal thematic marriage of story and gameplay, Split Fiction has a harder time wedding ceremony these halves. The story right here is that Mio and Zoe are struggling writers who’re so determined to get printed that they take a shady provide from Rader, a company that has constructed a magical machine that brings tales to life. When Mio will get chilly toes in regards to the course of, she by accident winds up getting trapped within the machine alongside Zoe, the place their clashing concepts manifest as sci-fi and fantasy worlds.
It ought to be a straightforward slam dunk. Split Fiction positions itself as a sport for the second, with Rader standing in for giant tech corporations like Google. You can learn it as a searing takedown of AI, as Rader’s final purpose is to reap concepts from its unsuspecting take a look at topics and switch their significant artwork into hole immersive experiences. The story says all the suitable issues that its gamers will wish to hear, portray Mio and Zoe as true artists whose writing comes from actual private experiences {that a} machine may by no means perceive.
Should I point out VGC’s interview with director Josef Fares right here, the place he shrugged off the concept AI is an actual downside and appeared high quality with the concept it may result in layoffs? Is that related context that helps arrange my criticism? Or would that simply be a performative paragraph constructed for individuals to screenshot and share on social media? I imply, artwork ought to operate by itself, however absolutely the discrepancy between the story’s tackle tech and its director’s can begin to clarify why it doesn’t work. No, higher to give attention to the work in entrance of me.
In a merciless accident, the social commentary is trampled by confounding writing at each flip. Mio and Zoe are each offered as nice artists and whole hacks interchangeably all through the story. Their “novels” manifest as a collection of humdrum style setpieces that don’t have a lot plot behind them. There are excessive fantasy dragon battles, explosive bike chase sequences, and different skinny plots which are constructed totally on tropes. Few of them inform an precise story; they’re simply sequences of occasions largely impressed by scenes from nerdy media. Mio and Zoe even touch upon that all through the story, criticizing each other for writing such overplayed concepts. These are tales {that a} machine may actually provide you with, kneecapping Split Fiction’s message about originality.
Hazelight
In the identical breath, Hazelight needs gamers to imagine that the foolish tales it’s poking enjoyable at are additionally emotional and human. Most tales finish with some kind of sob story monologue about how all that leaping between flying automobiles is definitely about household drama. Surprise! It’s totally unearned each single time; the concepts are by no means instructed via stage design and gameplay, one thing that Psychonauts 2 so expertly nails. We’re anticipated to take Zoe and Mio at their phrase, however artwork has to operate by itself. Their tales by no means do and Split Fiction rings hole as a sport about intricate artistic choice making for it.
Split Fiction has a skinny relationship with artwork. This is a sport about books that would not be much less excited by precise literature. We’re alleged to be enjoying via visualizations of Zoe and Mio’s novels, however these ranges solely ever converse within the language of films and video video games. They are instructed via puzzles and motion set items completely. How many books have you ever learn the place the heroes should dance with a monkey king by doing a Simon Says minigame? Why am I continually seeing Dark Souls Easter eggs and Sonic the Hedgehog jokes of their story worlds? Split Fiction seems like a sport made by individuals who have by no means learn a ebook.
God, no, that’s so pithy. People are going to take that actually and drag me for it on Reddit. You’re alleged to be the nuanced critic! What do I really wish to say? Maybe it’s that it feels symptomatic of a bigger lack of literacy in tradition, one thing that’s tied to the very tech commentary Split Fiction is making. This is what some individuals suppose books are literally like. The complexity of the written phrase is misplaced on GoodReads evaluations and BookTok influencers that simply see them as style motion pictures made from paper. Isn’t it counterproductive to make a sport about books that’s really nearly video games? Are Zoe and Mio writers simply because books really feel extra aesthetically critical than video video games? Would it have killed Hazelight to reference Frankenstein as an alternative of Tron?
Oh, that’s form of humorous.
Would it have killed Hazelight to reference Frankenstein as an alternative of Tron?
Co-op creativity
Jeeze, that was extra searing than I anticipated it to be. It feels like I hate this factor! I don’t … proper? I had a good time enjoying it. Killer puzzles. Smooth platforming. Creative as heck. I’ve acquired to steadiness this again out earlier than individuals get the fallacious impression. Let’s get a very good transition line right here, actual slick like.
What Split Fiction lacks in story it makes up for in its gameplay. Moron.
Split Fiction extra successfully communicates its thesis on creativity the place it counts: via design. There’s a very good purpose that It Takes Two took dwelling the Game Award for Game of the Year; Hazelight is a studio that’s each loaded with concepts and cares sufficient about them to do them proper. The story is damaged up into two-hour chunks that swap gamers between Mio’s sci-fi tales and Zoe’s fantasy worlds. The two halves are linked collectively by robust platforming fundamentals, as Zoe and Mio magnetize to footholds and poles to maintain the journey manageable for inexperienced gamers who’re pulled into it by their gaming companions.
Well, I imply, other than the momentum-killing flying sections that function unwieldy controls to pilot floaty spaceships and wingsuits. But don’t pressure each nitpick into this. Save it for hour 5 of a deep dive podcast that’s longer than the sport, the place you may inform some boring anecdote about having to assist your accomplice via a couple of sections.
EA Originals
That dual-genre premise permits Hazelight to mess around with ever-changing gameplay hooks, dropping them earlier than they’ve run out of recent methods to make use of them. In one stage, my girlfriend and I begin out by transporting dragon eggs round and utilizing them to open doorways. Soon after, they evolve into greater lizards with distinctive powers. Mine can glide via the air and spit acid that melts metallic; hers can climb up vines and spin sprint into objects. Later, they develop to their full dimension and we’re despatched right into a cinematic aerial chase sequence. Part of the enjoyable comes from attempting to guess the place every unpredictable thought goes to go subsequent.
The finest ranges use these concepts to gasoline ingenious co-op puzzling that’s constructed for break up display play. My favourite part turned each my girlfriend and I into orbs. She may magnetize to some surfaces and repel from others, whereas I may flip right into a swarm of nanobots that would hack objects and rework. Some puzzles had me turning into a ship that she may leap into so I may safely transport her throughout water. Others had her unraveling a metallic walkway for me together with her magnets. Each puzzle required us to speak via precisely what we have been doing and coordinate with each other. It’s not about talent and timing a lot as cracking the execution collectively.
Don’t do it. Don’t you dare say it’s one of the best co-op sport since Portal 2. You already did that with It Takes Two, and Split Fiction isn’t at the same time as constant as that. I don’t care if there are some space-bending ranges right here that clearly name again to it. That sport got here out 14 years in the past. We as a society want to maneuver on from evaluating co-op video games to Portal 2.
It’s not that Split Fiction is doing something groundbreaking right here. These concepts have been current in It Takes Two and largely made extra thematic sense in that context. That is a sport about relationships that was designed to really feel like a pair’s remedy session. Teamwork isn’t as related to Split Fiction’s weaker story, however the artistic spirit is. Every stage is a home made design flex by builders who’re excited to indicate off. You can see that almost all in Split Fiction’s elective facet tales, which toss gamers into Mio and Zoe’s outdated, unfinished concepts. Some of these provide the journey’s finest ranges. A childhood story performs out in a 2D journey drawn in pencil, whereas one other casts the duo as strolling tooth in a hyperactive 5 yr outdated’s birthday story. More than something, it jogs my memory of Super Mario Bros. Wonder with its wealth of playful gameplay twists born from sticky notes.
That’s higher.
We care quite a bit
Split Fiction might not attain the identical heights as its predecessor, however … however it’s an acceptable follow-up that … that …
Oh no. No. Not author’s block. Not now. I’m proper on the finish right here. I’ve acquired a deadline to satisfy. Why did I make this so sophisticated? Why couldn’t I simply file a standard overview as an alternative of drawing up some high-concept bit? I may have been completed with this hours in the past.
“Its drab sci-fi visuals leave much to be desired, but it runs at a smooth framerate and I never encountered a single bug, even during its technically stunning finale.”
“Each level goes on 30 minutes too long for a casual session, ballooning up what should be a tight adventure with a few too many gimmicks.”
See? Easy. That’s all individuals actually wish to learn anyhow, proper? Nobody is trying to this overview to study one thing in regards to the human situation. It’s a guidelines hooked up to a reductive rating that individuals can argue about on-line. Fodder for YouTubers overreacting to out of context pull quotes in movies with sensationalized titles. An opinion to be unwillingly aggregated and incorrectly summarized by Google Gemini. Why ought to I put a lot time into every phrase, determined to speak one thing to readers with every selection I stress over, after we stay in a cultural local weather that’s outright hostile to unique thought?
Hazelight
Maybe that’s why Split Fiction nonetheless resonates with me even in its messiest moments. Its writing hardly lands, however the sheer craft on show is inspiring. Every time I leap right into a facet story and uncover a completely new artwork fashion or gameplay concept that lasts for a couple of brief minutes after which disappears, I’m left in awe of Hazelight’s dedication. This isn’t a quick meals worth menu merchandise generated from cautious focus group testing; it’s an outpouring of unique concepts from individuals who care about their craft. Who cares if it lives as much as It Takes Two’s excessive bar? Who cares if it’s “GOTY material?” Who cares if it’s one of the best co-op sport since Portal 2? What’s extra necessary is that we take the time to interact with what its creators wish to inform us, respecting the artwork individuals make for each other sufficient to each criticize it when it doesn’t work and rejoice it when it does.
Okay. Yeah, okay. So, how about one thing like this:
Split Fiction is hokey, muddled, and needlessly self-defeating. It’s additionally full of life, creative, and so earnest that it’s exhausting to be mad at it for lengthy. These aren’t opposing forces that tear Hazelight’s newest aside; the clumsiness is inseparable from the delight. Both are born from the formidable imaginative and prescient of artists who nonetheless imagine within the magic of creativity and are prepared to take massive swings in its honor. Sometimes it completely whiffs. We all do. Fail once more. Fail higher. But it’s these moments the place it connects, the place easy concepts flip into unforgettable spectacle, that remind us why artwork can’t be automated. Even probably the most superior machine can by no means dream greater than a human with a coronary heart.
Split Fiction was examined on PS5.