Overview
It Takes Two is an action-adventure platformer developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts, released in 2021. I played it on PC. Its distinctive feature: it can only be played by two people, locally or online.
Story and world
You follow Cody and May, a couple on the verge of divorce, who get turned into dolls by their daughter Rose. To get their bodies back, they have to cross a whole range of environments together, guided by a talking book about love.
The story is very predictable.
Gameplay
Being playable only in pairs is exactly its strength. Each player controls one of the two characters, and every chapter reinvents its mechanics by giving Cody and May different, complementary abilities designed to force cooperation: one cannot progress without the other.
The variety is impressive: from one chapter to the next the mechanics change completely, and you never do the same thing twice.
Verdict
The story is very predictable, but the game design more than makes up for it, with mandatory cooperation that is its whole strength and impressive variety.