You don’t win Game of the Year by being anything less than fantastic. I’m going to be honest: this is going to be a hard review to write, simply because you already know this game is fantastic. Each of these games are meant to be played with a friend, and seek to offer a unique experience you can’t get on your own. Fares would later take that same team on to found Hazelight, which, to this date, only has two projects to their name: 2018’s A Way Out and 2021’s It Takes Two. Josef Fares, the founder of Hazelight, wrote and directed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons at Starbreeze Studios. If you’re familiar with Hazelight Studios’ previous work, then you’ll know that they’re no newbies when it comes to making co-op experiences. Some of Rose’s toys are fiercely protective of her, fighting to keep her safe from anyone they deem as trying to harm her in any way. While that may not be realistic in every scenario, it’s refreshing to see a game take marriage so seriously, and push back against a “throwaway” attitude towards it. Hakim seems to suggest that any relationship can be repaired through collaboration. Positive Themes: The entire point of the game is that divorce should be an absolute last resort. They’re never reprimanded at all for this. As mentioned before, Cody and May decide it’s a good idea to murder Cutie the elephant in a scene that turns out more disturbing than the cute art style would suggest. Hakim veers dangerously toward Hispanic stereotypes, with an overdone personality and aforementioned suggestive body language. *SPOILER* Cody and May kiss at the end of the game.
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Hakim, despite being a book, tends to gyrate his hips suggestively. (No blood is shed, only stuffing.) At one point, Cody and May skate inside a whale carcass, and blood spurts from where their skates touch the inside of the whale.ĭrug/Alcohol Use: Cody mentions wanting a cold beer.
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Cody and May perform various violent actions, like sucking the eyes out of a vacuum cleaner, igniting sap to explode on wasps, hacking away at evil sentient plants, and, perhaps most disturbingly, throwing an innocent elephant toy off a bookshelf as it pleads for its life in a childlike voice, tearing off a leg and ear in the process. Violent Content: Wasp soldiers wield spears, squirrel soldiers fire machine guns. Throughout the game, Cody and May are able to affect things around Rose, though she can’t see them herself, meaning that there is some sort of mysticism at play here. The castle in Rose’s room is called the Magic Castle. Spiritual Content: It’s never explicitly explained how Cody and May are transformed into their doll forms, but Cody speculates that it’s some kind of spell, and suggests that, since Rose’s tears caused the spell, they need her tears to break it.
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Language: D***, sometimes paired with God’s name, p***, a**, s***, some censored uses of f***, and God’s name used in vain.Ĭrude Content: One level features a “pull my finger” game. So…what exactly was it about this release that so captivated the Game Awards that they gave it such a prestigious honor? (Besides making me burst out into Into the Woods songs every time I think of the title.) Content Guide:
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And that word is going to come up a lot: love, since this is a game all about rekindling the love between Cody and May, your two characters. So when Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two took the Game of the Year award at this year’s Game Awards, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to not only cover one of the most high-profile games of the year, but to do it with someone I love. Ergo, I’m always looking for co-op games to play with her, especially since she’s so obliging about learning about my gaming hobby.