A glitch in the system.
Co-op experiences have often been designed solely around multiple players occupying what is usually an experience built for a solo player. Sure, you can cover your partner’s flank or open a door they are locked on the other side of, but few games embrace the co-op experience better than the catalog of titles produced by Hazelight Studios. After securing the VGA’s Game of the Year in 2021 with It Takes Two, the follow-up to that experience needed to be great, a title that would show that Hazelight wasn’t just a one-trick pony.
Now, ‘one-trick pony’ might be a bit harsh, especially since they have not delivered a bad game since their inception in 2018. No Way Out was fairly impressive, but it was It Takes Two that certainly put them on the map. However, for as great as It Takes Two was, Split Fiction is the evolution of what Hazelight was building towards: a tour de force of creative ideas, stellar co-op mechanics, and a story that satisfies with characters you’ll actually care about.
It Takes Two had a lot of fun and engaging mechanics, but its story was the only major element that rarely impressed me, especially as Cody and May were seldom engaging characters; that and a certain book made me wince each time they made an appearance. Split Fiction; however, is the exact opposite, as Mio and Zoe are almost immediately entertaining, especially as they don’t get off to the best start and it allows their differences to shine a light on what they do have in common, especially as their pairing is forced upon them.
Invited out to get their individual works published, Mio, Zoe, and a handful of other potential authors are invited to Radar Publishing for a quick payday and a publishing deal. However, they are instructed to enter into an elaborate virtual reality machine to experience their own personal works firsthand, a technology that is designed to push storytelling to the next frontier. However, Mio is suspicious of this gift, and during a brief fight with Radar and his staff, she is pushed into the pod occupied by Zoe, entering into her story. As the pods were not designed for dual occupants, this causes the machine to begin to break down and glitches appearing in both Zoe and Mio’s worlds.
While the premise is a bit rushed to get you to the action, it does allow for the remainder of the game to be far more creative and unique than what was present in It Takes Two. This is due to the game not being confined solely to its homestead setting and instead being based on the worlds created by both Mio and Zoe. With the entirety of Science Fiction and Fantasy to rely on, this opens up Split Fiction to have a greater degree of depth to not only the worlds you’ll visit, but the objectives, conflict, and mechanics as well.
As Mio enters into Zoe’s world of Fantasy, so too will Zoe enter into Mio’s realm of Science Fiction. These worlds are based on their personal works, but more importantly, on their previous work not submitted to Radar. In fact, even short stories called Side Stories are involved as well, small glimpses of larger things that act as diversions from the main story. From a natural fear of the dentist to a race through the air, these short episodes can have some impressive mechanics for as brief as they are.
At the end of each level, Mio and Zoe will encounter a glitch. As they interact with them, it causes the machine to break down further, but also provides the duo with a glimpse of what is occurring in the real world. Their first foray into peaking behind the curtain allows the pair to discover Radar’s true intentions with this whole scenario: an act of plagiarism. Radar and his team are intent on siphoning the ideas out of these authors, and Mio’s push into Zoe’s pod is a damaged cog in a machine that Radar will do anything to fix. That said, Radar is the only sour spot in an otherwise perfect game. His over-the-top villainous role here causes him to go to extremes that makes him very one-dimensional, especially in the game's final few hours.
Mio’s love of Sci-Fi and Zoe's appreciation for Fantasy allows Split Fiction to explore a wealth of ideas with almost unlimited creativity. While I adored It Takes Two, the limits of where the story could take place isn't felt here. From high-speed chases to piloting a pair of massive dragons, Split Fiction does a lot with its dual narrative conceit in ways that flavor the gameplay with unique mechanics that entertain as much as they are a delight to control.
The real strength of this adventure is through how frequently you are using gameplay mechanics to solve puzzles together. Whether it is removing obstacles to allow your partner’s power to flourish, each and every weapon, gadget, or ability, has some element to cross over with your companions' own abilities. Combine this with double jumping, platforming, and wall-running, and you start to see where abilities like shifting a wall to be vertical or being able to glide with your dragon can result in some truly unique encounters and some vastly impressive boss encounters.
What I really appreciate about the game design here is very few mechanics are actually explained to you. You’ll get a new ability or find a location where you’ll need to use it, and the game allows you to figure it out on your own. That said, you are usually spending maybe five to ten seconds before it clicks and you fully understand what the game is asking of you. It’s rare to find a game so confident in allowing the player to figure something out while also making that mechanic immediately readable in what it wants from you.
One moment in the game legitimately made me laugh out loud. You are in a high-speed bike chase with Mio and Zoe, with the latter using a laser whip to deal with other bikers. Mio can warp perspectives by anchoring the bike to pink panels that rotate her perspective. This allows for some clever level design as walls become roads, and the impressive visuals, color, and music help sell this whole scenario quite well. However, the bike they are riding is stolen, and the self-destruct protocol kicks in, causing the pair to freak out while in pursuit. Mio’s plan to solve this is handing Zoe her phone, making her go through an authentication app that scans her face and requires her to solve one of those “are you a human” tests where you need to click all the boxes where a giraffe or a firetruck appear. And if you think it ends there, well, there are a few more obstacles Zoe must solve before they are done with this particular section.
While I am very high on the game due to its wonderful design, I do have a few complaints. It is that a few moments in the game feel like they go on far too long. A pinball scenario, for example, simply felt much longer than it should have been, given its very basic premise. Lastly, similar to It Takes Two, the final leg of the adventure is easily its least impressive location, complete with mechanics that are shared between the two, something that the rest of the game goes to great lengths to prevent. Up until that point, every mechanic wielded by Mio and Zoe was unique to them, but in this encounter, you both use the same tools. With both titles having lacklustre finales, I do hope that their next title can bring it home and allow the final area to be a celebration of what came before, and not just a means to wrap it up.
While It Takes Two was a visual delight, Split Fiction excels with some great character modeling, facial capture, and some very engaging environments, pulling inspiration from numerous games. One area in particular feels literally pulled out of Elden Ring, making my co-op partner and I audibly laugh out loud when we started to realize the similarities to the aesthetic and design that was revealed to us. Granted, the game takes a few touches from numerous other properties, but this was something else, especially for a story about taking one’s ideas for themself.
Split Fiction also has the benefit of the Friend Pass. Since co-op is a forced mechanic, a second player can join in via a special free version of the game, regardless of the platform of the host. While you can play the game in local split-screen, you can also take the adventure online, complete with that same split-screen effect, something that is better used this time around. This allows you to see what your co-op partner is doing, especially as their perspective is essential to understanding what you yourself have to do. Regardless, allowing a second player to play alongside the host for free is a feather in this game’s cap to be sure.
While both Split Fiction and It Takes Two don’t quite nail the landing in their final acts, the journey is nonetheless a stellar example of how to do a co-op game justice. Split Fiction’s spin of sci-fi and fantasy works extremely well here with a captivating pair in Mio and Zoe, two writers who push through their own personal traumas to heal alongside one another. Split Fiction is the definitive co-op experience with engaging mechanics that constantly impress with their creativity and design. With unique mechanics around every turn, Split Fiction constantly keeps you on your toes and rewards you with a truly sensational adventure.
Developer - Hazelight Studios.
Publisher - EA/EA Originals. Released - March 6th, 2025. Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC. Rated - (T) - Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Language, and Violence. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.