Our Verdict
Hazelight Studios has outdone itself with Cut up Fiction by innovating and increasing upon its earlier work. Mio and Zoe’s worlds are totally realized locales that pay loving homage to their real-life inspirations, and the non-compulsory Facet Tales immediate many a smile. It is an impactful have a look at the artistic writing course of and an important co-op journey.
“Rainbow farts are the perfect!” Zoe informs us. Our twin protagonists have been reworked into cute little pigs, one with the power to show right into a slinky, whereas the opposite, effectively, rainbow farts for pace boosts. We start feeding apples to ravenous door locks and rolling round within the mud, then slowly however certainly make our approach towards the tip of this wild and great journey. We dive into the darkness, anticipating to reappear in Mio’s cyberpunk-inspired dystopia. As a substitute, blood covers the display screen and the cute little piggies are became a pair of sausages and tasked with cooking themselves. I’d say this alone sums up the chaos that’s Cut up Fiction, nevertheless it’s solely actually scratching the floor.
Hazelight’s newest co-op sport revolves round creativeness; creating worlds the place something is feasible. You’re solid as Zoe and Mio, two unpublished authors chosen for a brand new undertaking on the Rader Company. It shortly turns into clear that one thing sinister is afoot, prompting Mio to attempt to flee the constructing. Sadly, she falls into Zoe’s ‘bubble,’ a singular, remoted dreamscape the place Zoe’s fantasies run wild. It turns into clear that Rader is planning to siphon these concepts for revenue and that you simply’ll must cease him.
However the place Zoe prefers the drama of excessive fantasy, Mio writes about gritty cyberpunk worlds and interstellar struggles between robots and humanity. This creates a ‘glitch’ that gives entry to each Zoe and Mio’s fictional worlds – therefore Cut up Fiction. My Warhammer 40k and Dune-obsessed companion, Ross, chooses to play as Mio, and I, somebody who’s very a lot in her Dungeons and Dragons period, go along with Zoe. The phases are set, and all that’s left is to lock in.
Cut up Fiction is instantly Hazelight’s fastest-paced sport. We seem on an alien planet embroiled in a very nasty conflict, then are whisked away to a whimsical fantasy village overrun by orcs. We’re launched to some slick platform sport parkour, which flows as properly as It Takes Two’s.
Our first predominant degree, nevertheless, is Neon Revenge. Tasked with taking up a tyrannical, Arasaka-esque megacorp, Zoe and Mio rework into ‘cyber ninjas’ geared up with a sword, anti-gravity boots, and a strong whip. Ross’ fast urge is to hack me to dying with the katana, prompting a disgruntled response from Zoe. Don’t fear, I shortly Indiana Jonesed his ass, and it seems I’m maybe a bit of bit faster than he anticipated.
Usually, Mio is provided with extra aggressive instruments, whereas Zoe’s playstyle skews extra towards puzzles (at one level I rework right into a Groot-like tree that may reshape the surroundings), that means there’s some selection between their playstyles. You’ll be able to swap characters at any time in the primary menu, letting you check out all the things on supply.
As we emerge out onto the rooftops, I can really feel my breath hitch. Mio’s cyberpunk dream is instantly paying homage to The Grid from Tron. It’s suitably bathed in neon, billboards flicker within the background, and futuristic automobiles zip by means of the skies on anti-gravity highways. As somebody who grew up watching Tron, it’s a fairytale dream come true – the place Cyberpunk 2077’s Night time Metropolis feels hostile, there’s an odd coziness to Neon Revenge, nearly as if it’s imagined to be a house away from house.
However then the motion begins. There are high-speed bike chases, a battle towards an offended parking robotic that shifts you to a side-scrolling perspective, and enemies that require dispatching along with your new weapons. The ultimate battle sees you tackle a tank whereas driving your (positively not stolen) bikes, and because the corpo collapses, its chief battered and defeated, I’m wondering if Cut up Fiction can get any higher than this. Its relentless tempo and high-octane fight set such a excessive bar that the continuing ranges can’t fairly match, however that’s to not say the remainder of the sport is a disappointment.
Different highlights embrace a zone – which Ross informs me is impressed by Alita Battle Angel – the place you’re geared up with blue and pink Portal-style weapons that blow holes in forcefields of the corresponding colour. Whereas that in itself is enjoyable, you then tackle robots whose color-changing shields additionally want bursting. It’s paying homage to It Takes Two’s sap gun and matches, nevertheless it’s slicker and a bit of tougher.
Then, in one of many ultimate zones, you befriend spectral creatures whose skills chain collectively that will help you seamlessly traverse an eerie, ruined metropolis swarming with ghosts. Mio’s owl illuminates golden objects, whereas Zoe’s fish-like acquainted magnetizes gold. The shimmering, nearly angelic mild cuts by means of the darkness so spectacularly that I as soon as once more really feel my jaw drop. Because the galaxy sparkles beneath me, pulled each which approach by my significantly grasping companion, I can’t assist however stare. I’d even be remiss to not point out Cut up Fiction’s ultimate mission, which I can solely say is likely one of the most revolutionary and spectacular sections of any sport in latest reminiscence.
As you progress, the initially restrictive split-screen perspective opens as much as provide you with a extra full view of the degrees and their complexity. I grew to understand that Zoe and Mio’s worlds aren’t easy reskins of each other however full reimaginings in two wildly totally different kinds.
Because the split-screen boundary begins to shift, mirroring the collapsing veil between each writers, you’ll be able to finally bounce backwards and forwards. The motion is seamless, and there’s not a stutter in sight, regardless of my PC being a bit of rusty. I skilled one progress-halting bug in my complete playthrough, which was simply mounted by a restart. Aside from that, it was all clean crusing.
Whereas the core missions definitely shine, the Facet Tales are simply one of many sport’s greatest additions. Not like It Takes Two, the place facet content material largely targeted on mini-games, Facet Tales are portals that result in Zoe and Mio’s long-forgotten concepts. These take 5 to 10 minutes to finish however all play out in distinctive worlds. The aforementioned pig incident (I don’t wish to discuss it) happens in a single, whereas one other sees you driving gigantic skeletal shark creatures by means of the desert.
My private favourite is a hand-drawn fantasy narrative narrated by Zoe. You run by means of the pages of her journal as she modifies your weapons, rewrites main story beats, and pits you towards a ‘Big Enemy Crab’ (I see what you probably did there). It’s enjoyable, it’s cute, and most of all, it sells Zoe as a plausible author.
As you’ve seemingly observed, a number of Facet Tales are enjoyable nods to outstanding videogame and popular culture franchises. I additionally noticed references to Darkish Souls, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Murderer’s Creed scattered all through the primary sport.
Cut up Fiction proudly wears its inspirations on its sleeve and lovingly honors its cultural touchpoints. An early It Takes Two reference has me reminiscing about that one time I’ll or might not have ripped the legs off of a stuffed elephant (not responsible, your honor), whereas Ross constantly caught extra obscure sci-fi callbacks I’d have missed. As two individuals who grew up immersed in barely totally different popular culture, I really feel our bond grew even stronger as we excitedly educated each other on Cut up Fiction’s many references.
It’s, in any case, a sport about friendship. Whereas A Manner Out’s central focus was brotherhood and It Takes Two’s was relationships, Mio and Zoe begin their journey as two seemingly disparate elements. Mio’s the disillusioned metropolis woman, whereas Zoe’s the excitable nation bumpkin; what might they presumably have in frequent? Because the story unfolds and the pair draw nearer collectively, we start to study what plagues them. I received’t spoil the main points right here, however as a author who’s skilled related conditions, I can say their tales definitely tug at my heartstrings and mirror my very own urges to translate internalized trauma into fantastical tales of victory and glory.
Hazelight has outdone itself with Cut up Fiction by concurrently innovating and increasing upon its earlier work. Its worlds are convincing and a pleasure to discover in co-op, whether or not you’re feeding a dragon or taking part in hopscotch down a again alley in a cyberpunk metropolis. They’re universes which might be so removed from our personal but really feel so intrinsically linked, very similar to Zoe and Mio’s traumas are to their writing.
Cut up Fiction is definitely the perfect iteration of Hazelight’s split-screen system so far, and whereas I’m intrigued to see what comes subsequent, it prompts questions on the way it can increase the bar any increased. Within the meantime, nevertheless, you’ll discover me driving dragons and tearing down the institution whereas concurrently curling up right into a scorching canine bun and questioning the place my life went very, very fallacious – or proper; I’m undecided.
