Split Fiction review — It's dangerous to go alone, so don't

Hazelight Studios, creators of It Takes Two and A Way Out, drop another smashing buddy co-op game that steals the spotlight. Our editors, Cassie and Richard, were able to review the game, and share their thoughts.

Cassie’s thoughts:

Video games are fun, especially when you get to play them with a friend. Hazelight Studios, the creators of 2021’s Game of the Year It Take Two, have declared themselves the leaders of cooperative gaming, and rightfully so. Their latest endeavor, Split Fiction, takes it to a whole other level with juggling realities and uniting those who couldn’t be more different. Fellow editor Richard Allen and I were given the opportunity to dive into Split Fiction, he on the PlayStation 5 and myself on PC, giving us a chance to not only experience an epic story, but to also test out the crossplay functionality, a first for Hazelight’s games.

Everything about Split Fiction is top notch; the story, gameplay, and creativity come together to create one of the most riveting and immersive gaming experiences I’ve ever played. Zoe and Mio, a pair of aspiring writers, head to Rader Publishing to hash out a, well, publishing deal. When they arrive at the facility, they’re introduced to The Machine, the director’s life’s work that plunges the artists into their own creations. However, a mishap causes Zoe and Mio to end up in the same simulation, and they have to work together to break out and put a stop to Rader’s plot to steal everyone’s ideas.

Every chapter of this story had me in jaw-dropping awe. We jumped between Mio’s SciFi and Zoe’s fantasy settings, including a variety of side missions that gave us a brief reprieve from all of the chaos. We fought against robots, trolls, unpaid parking tickets, and more. We raised dragons, shredded snowy mountainsides, and even had a picnic, all in the name of justice. The further we continued, the more we learned about our heroines who each have their own deep and emotional stories outside of the ones they wrote. By the end, I had shed many a tear and laughed my heart out. My favorite part was all the homages to other great games, like Assassin’s Creed, Metroid, and Pinball. There are eight chapters, along with a handful of side missions. Most chapters take around an hour and a half to two hours to complete, however we managed to knock this one out in about 12 hours total.

This is easily one of Hazelight Studios most unique stories. There aren’t many out there who even try to pull off such a feat, though the Hazelight team makes sure the standards are set higher than the ceiling for any who dare. The cooperative aspects of the game enhance the whole experience. Like with previous games by Hazelight (It Takes Two and A Way Out), the game must be played with a friend, whether that’s online or via couch co-op, and only one person has to own the game thanks to the Friends Pass.

As mentioned previously, this game has cross-platform play as well. Matchmaking is as easy as it could get; as long as your EA accounts are friends, you can invite each other from any platform and hop right into the game wherever you left off. Of course, on consoles, you just invite each other through the usual systems, and Steam players can invite through Steam. The co-op was seamless and we never had to worry about lag or connection issues. With Discord now being an option on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles now, there’s always a trust method for communication.

You can choose to switch which character you play each time you launch into the game. If you started out as Mio, you can switch to playing as Zoe later. Each character has different abilities, gadgets, and such they use throughout the game, so it’s nice to have the option to switch sides every so often. The co-op gameplay is incredibly well done, even from chapter to chapter as things would change, sometimes even in the blink of an eye. Learning to time correctly, trusting that my duo would have my back at each step, and me having his in return, was equally challenging and rewarding.

Most of the game is played as split screen, giving each player a view of each perspective, but occasionally the game would switch to have both players in the same view. Gameplay consists of a lot of platforming, puzzle solving, and just figuring out how to navigate each world as a team. The controls are generally the same, the difference being what each control would relate to in each level, but you start to see a theme for each character’s skillsets the further you go along. We had a lot of fun figuring out each level and occasionally goofing around (I turned Richard into a wheel of cheese).

The last big part of the package is how visually stunning Split Fiction is. Whether we were dungeon crawling, swinging along vines, speeding through space rubble, or getting chased by a toxin spewing machine, everything was well-designed and detailed. Even with the recurring themes, no two chapters looked alike, each being even more remarkable and unique than the last.

The level of passion and creativity is rampantly evident throughout; everything from the animations to physics to cinematics showcases how hard the Hazelight crew worked to create another masterpiece. The game is so well polished, with only one bug, which we were easily able to resolve (a button prompt that didn’t show up, but if you restart the checkpoint it comes up). There was no stuttering, no frame drops, no de-sync, nothing to complain about. As a person who isn’t particularly good at platformers and doesn’t play co-op games often, this is an easy favorite that I can’t wait to share with more friends.

Richard’s Thoughts:

Couch co-op is unfortunately a slowly dying trend, but Hazelight Studios has been doing their best to stop the bleeding. Over the years Hazelight has garnered a reputation for releasing ridiculously entertaining and accessible co-op only experiences, and I’m happy to report that Split Fiction might just be their magnum opus. What’s so special about Hazelight Studios’ releases is that they are true co-op, and the failure of one is the failure of both, making communication key. Players are required to work together to progress, meaning no one player can push forward while the other merely watches or follows along. 

Like Hazelight’s previous releases, every level or scenario that Split Fiction thrusts players into will provide both players with unique abilities. From here, players must then quickly figure out how to utilize them together to progress. Just when you begin to get a grip on your newfound abilities, the game throws another at you, often switching up the play style countless times throughout a single level. 

Split Fiction is endlessly creative and unpredictable. One moment you might be riding dragons, or you might be a pig, or a tooth fighting a dentist, or a futuristic ninja with guns and bombs, or a pinball, or even a snowboarder. That’s not to mention the countless playstyles the game toggles between, including side scroller, ARPG top down view points, third person, and homages to so many popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Sonic the Hedgehog, Dark Souls, Battletoads, and Diablo. Also, Split Fiction has one of the coolest last levels I have ever experienced, which also serves as an astounding technical feat.

Split Fiction takes what worked from Hazelight’s previous releases and disregards what didn’t, creating a truly stunning piece of entertainment that is at once chaotic, creative, hilarious, stressful, thought provoking, and gorgeous. If there’s any downfall at all, it’s that the game may be a bit less accessible than Hazelight’s previous release It Takes Two, but only due to its plethora of boss fights and literally non-stop action. It’s never difficult per say, and there is no real penalty for death, but frustration may set in for those less familiar with modern control schemes as they are often tasked with acting near instantaneously to avoid death.

Split Fiction plays like a dream. At no point did I encounter any noticeable issues, the graphics consistently looked great, and the gameplay and action were both buttery smooth. Even during crossplay between the PS5 and PC, I only saw one or two moments of glitches or lag, none of which affected the experience. Overall, the crossplay is amazingly smooth, which is good because so much of the game requires players timing things perfectly. The fact that this entire game is available for free via Friend’s Pass if one player owns a copy is a ridiculously good deal. There is nearly 15 hours of playtime here, with more than enough reason to replay as the opposite character during a second run through.

Like It Takes Two before it, Split Fiction is surprisingly emotional, highlighting the unsaid sadness many of us hide away from others. But in turn, the game is also exceptionally poignant, showing how friendship can help fight off even the worst of our own demons. Speaking of friendship, watching the trust and friendship form between Mio and Zoe is incredibly satisfying and feels earned, rather than contrived. Most players are bound to find a little bit of Zoe and a little bit of Mio inside them, and Split Fiction shows that by letting others in and being open to new experiences we can, at the very least, begin to heal our pain.

Split Fiction is one of my favorite co-op experiences of the year. Scratch that, it’s one of my favorite experiences of the year PERIOD. Sure, the year is young, but for someone who adores couch co-op, I don’t see much else ripping the crown off of Split Fiction’s worthy head anytime soon.