What parents need to know
Split Fiction is the brand new game from Josef Fares and his studio Hazelight, known in particular for the game of the year 2021, It Takes Two.
Largely based on the formula that has made Hazelight Studio successful since A Way Out, Split Fiction is an imaginative platform game played only in co-op. We repeat: if you want to play Split Fiction, you will NECESSARILY need a friend to share the adventure with. (However, we reassure you: the second player can play for free with the Friend’s Pass, so only one copy is required per duo).
In Split Fiction, you play as two young aspiring novelists, Mio Hudson and Zoe Foster (inspired by the daughters of the director, Josef Fares, isn’t that cute?).
The two authors are invited to the headquarters of a mega-publishing house, Rader Publications, which offers the two young women a unique experience: a simulation that will bring to life the stories hidden in their heads. However, there is something wrong with it: the purpose of the machine is not so much to bring their stories to life, but to steal the ideas that are hidden in the heads of the guest authors.
Mio and Zoe accidentally find themselves in the same machine, and soon, all their stories become intertwined, making the system unstable. The two young women with opposing personalities (Mio, a science fiction author is cynical while Zoé, a fantasy writer, is rather naïve and cheerful) must therefore collaborate to get to the end of their stories, hoping to destabilize the machine and free themselves from it.
Throughout the adventure, interspersed with cutscenes that develop the relationship between our two protagonists, players will have to fight formidable enemies and solve ingenious puzzles.
Details
Level of experience required
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Evaluation
There is sometimes mild violence and bloodshed, especially when firearms are used. However, the enemies are fictional even in the game world.
The game is humorous rather than scary.
Nothing to report.
Characters can use some very minor coronations like “shit”.
Humor can sometimes be juvenile; We are offered in a level to control pigs propelled by their flatulence.
Split Fiction preaches the power of friendship and the importance of making efforts to understand the other.
Some platforming sequences may require a certain speed of execution, but generally, Split Fiction is within everyone’s reach.
We only give compliments here:
-The game is cheaper than a usual release of the same ilk ($65 CAD instead of $80 CAD).
– The second player can play for free without having to buy their own copy.
– No additional monetization practices.
Local game modes
Local co-op story mode.
Online Game Modes
You can also complete the story mode in online co-op.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
None at this time.
Our opinion
The theme of creativity and imagination is well chosen, because Split Fiction is full of them. At all times, we are offered new platforming mechanics and new mini-games set in the worlds of Zoe and Mio.
Split Fiction presents us with such a rolling fire of constantly renewed ideas that it becomes extremely difficult to stop playing. You can feel the enthusiasm of the developers, and we have to admit that this craze is even more contagious than the avian flu.
The danger, by introducing such a number of game mechanics, is to end up with a title full of ideas that are only half exploited.
Hazelight Studio have avoided this trap with breathtaking elegance. We quickly understand the ideas presented to us, and the execution is always intuitive and enjoyable.
The difficulty adjustment is also impressive. Split Fiction is made to be played as a couple or as a family, sometimes with duos with unequal strengths. Fortunately, Split Fiction punishes failure very little, while offering such a pleasant handling that even more experienced players will not get bored.
The comparisons with It Takes Two will be numerous, and that’s right; Split Fiction is in every way a spiritual sequel to its predecessor.
But we would dare to say that Split Fiction surpasses it. It Takes Two had, in the opinion of the author of these lines, a great flaw: the script offered a questionable moral, presented by sometimes annoying characters.
None of that in Split Fiction. Despite the fiction between Zoé and Mio that takes some time to resolve, I became attached to them as well as to the horde of secondary characters they meet.
We can only salute the tour de force that Split Fiction represents. If you have a partner or family member with whom you want to have a good time, run and buy it!
Note: a code has been given to us by the publisher for review purposes, but this does not influence our final rating.
