Split Fiction

Played this with my wife (PC + PS5) and since it was our first game together, it ended up being way more emotional and wholesome than I expected. She was nervous at first, hoping she’d be “good enough to play alongside her hubby,” but within minutes we were laughing, messing around, and having the best time. The sausage and pig parts had us absolutely losing it, she was still giggling about them the next day. Some levels were frustrating, but even the chaos felt fun. I was Tinkerbell, she bullied me for it, and in one level she kept whipping me with the in‑game laser whip like it was her new favorite hobby. I was suffering. She was thriving. We were both laughing. And the flying hoops? Yeah… she was the one struggling there. I was silently judging her like, “what is my wife doing,” while she was raging at the screen. Peak comedy. Peak bonding. What really surprised me was how meaningful it felt. She told me afterward that playing together felt like a tiny window into our future, the way we help each other, laugh through the chaos, and figure things out side by side. And honestly, that’s exactly what it felt like. Her verdict: [b]“8.5/10, would be 9 if the levels didn’t frustrate me 🤣😂🤭”[/b] [b]Recommended[/b] if you want a heartfelt, funny, slightly chaotic co‑op game that’s even better when you’re playing with someone who makes everything feel exciting just by being there.

I thoroughly enjoyed It Takes Two. Playing it with my partner was a memorable experience in our relationship and so it became one of my favorite games. So the announcement of Split Fiction, especially with its themes of scifi and fantasy, genres we both love, was really exciting. Shortly after its release, my partner bought a copy for us to play, and off we went on our fantastical adventure! But it didn't take long for us to feel this game couldn't hold a candle to its predecessor, both in characters, plot, and game design. The main characters are two up-and-coming authors. One who specializes in scifi and is antisocial while the other specializes in fantasy and is social. Throughout the game, their personalities and genres clash. There is a lot of potential here that was so mishandled. There could've been some real interesting conversations about the condescension that authors/readers have for other genres, tropes and problems within those genres, and the writing industry as a whole. Instead what we get is Fantasy Girl taken aback over and over about how shocking scifi is, and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief that an author would be so sheltered from the scifi genre that content such as car chases, moody futuristic cities, and violent robots would be so mind-boggling. Scifi Girl had slightly more believable commentary but it was the same repeated "this is so childish" message over and over. Most of these characters for most of the game made me feel nothing but cringe with their reactions and story beats. The antagonist of this story was also just incredibly corny. I won't even bother talking about him since he's such a backseat character anyway. I think there were only a couple scenes that made me feel some emotion for these characters and their struggles. The levels themselves played fine but I found the settings and lack of interesting designs monotonous. There are several gameplay mixup moments that kept things from becoming boring but I felt there were so many homages and genre exploration that were missed here. Everything in this game feels "safe". It feels like a pre-teen CW TV show. A lukewarm experience that I had some mild fun with but overall was forgettable. I'd only recommend this one if it was on sale for like $20.

PEAK FICTION If you don't have friend than go and find one just for this game. And maybe for Way Out and It Takes Two either, they worth it