It Takes Two

It Takes Two is a 2021 cooperative action-adventure game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in March 2021, and was released for Nintendo Switch in November 2022. Like Hazelight’s debut game A Way Out, It Takes Two does not have a single-player option. It is playable only in either online or local split screen cooperative multiplayer between two players. The game follows a couple transformed into living dolls as they attempt to find a way out while trying to mend their relationship.

Cody (Joseph Balderrama) and May (Annabelle Dowler), a married couple, are planning on getting a divorce. After they tell their daughter Rose (Clare Corbett) the news, she takes her hand-made dolls, which look like her parents, into the family shed and tries to repair their relationship by play-acting. The parents find themselves trapped inside the dolls’ bodies as a consequence of Rose’s tears landing on the dolls. Dr. Hakim, who has assumed the anthropomorphic form of his relationship therapy book, tells May and Cody that he has been given the job of trying to fix their relationship as they try to reach Rose.

At first, Cody and May are more focused on trying to reach Rose, who they hope knows of a way to return them to their human bodies. However, Hakim continually interferes with their progress, often putting obstacles and tests in their way to force them to collaborate to progress. They also come across anthropomorphic versions of their old possessions, who criticize Cody and May for their mistreatment and negligence of both their possessions and Rose. As they travel all around their property, Cody and May are reminded of the positive memories they had together.

As well as what originally drew them together to become a couple, and learn to work together and collaborate to move forward in their journey. In a final series of obstacles, Hakim encourages Cody and May to rediscover their passions and support each other. This first takes them on an adventure through Cody’s overgrown, abandoned garden and greenhouse, which May helps him to restore. They then work together to help May rediscover her passion for music and singing. It Takes Two is an action-adventure video game with elements from platform games.

It is specifically designed for split-screen cooperative multiplayer, which means that it must be played with another player through either local or online play. The game features a large number of game mechanics from various video game genres. These gameplay mechanics are connected to the story and the theme of the level. For instance, in one level, Cody gains the ability to rewind time, whereas May can replicate herself. Players have to cooperate with each other and utilize these abilities in order to progress. The game also features a large number of minigames.