Cooperation definitely seems to be the element that interests the Lebanese-Swedish director. Already, on Brothers A Tale of Two Sons. it took precedence at the center of the gameplay since it focused on two characters to be controlled simultaneously (but with a single player). A Way Out pushed the concept of mutual aid even further since the adventure was not playable in solo but only in pairs, locally or in multiplayer, the split screen appearing in any condition. It is this last formula that is used for It Takes Two, a completely new game out of the depths of the imagination of the developers: here, it is impossible to start the game alone since you necessarily need a teammate to interfere in your universe. . Like A Way Out, the ability to give the game to a friend to play with its owner is renewed, a decidedly laudable gesture these days. So much the better, because the software is tasted particularly well. 
HAKIM THE TOUR?
Cody and May are a couple in perdition: their romantic health is no longer good enough that divorce is obviously the only solution, to the chagrin of their somewhat confused little girl. This is the starting pitch of It Takes Two, which will encourage the fruit of their former love to cast a somewhat hazardous spell on their parents: here they are transformed into tiny clay dolls, left to fend for themselves in stockings. -funds of their own home within a fantasy world. The two will then have to cooperate to cross a lot of places: the cellar, the garden, the attic, the child's room and so on will then turn into levels with level designs and multiple gameplays. Throughout, the tone is deliberately whimsical, punctuated by a humanoid book, Dr. Hakim, who will act as a couple psychologist with the sole desire to reunite this lost and angry couple. A plot that focuses on reunification, understanding the other and their wrongs, but also childhood, at the risk of sometimes insisting a lot: fortunately, humor is also recurrent to lighten the words that should speak, alas, to a some part of us. 
INTERSTELLAR
Beyond an effective narration without being miraculous – let us underline all the same the successful dubbing of the two protagonists – it is especially the myriad of universes proposed which really seduces. Sometimes tinged with black humor (and not so suitable for the youngest), sometimes borrowing from a brilliant fairyland, It Takes Two is a game that takes you on a journey and manages to reconnect with our childhood desires. Some levels turn out to be totally lunar, even almost psychedelic, while others literally allow us to fulfill childhood dreams with a really appreciable lightness. At the end of the ten or so hours of play proposed to complete the campaign, we come out of it almost exhausted as the variety of scenery has proven to be wide and engaging. This polished artistic direction, at the risk of not being very homogeneous at times, ensures a certain pleasant atmospheric spectacle to share with another player. Especially since, let's not forget, the gameplay of It Takes Two is undoubtedly its other greatest strength. 
TWO IS ALWAYS BETTER
Unlike A Way Out, which bet everything on realism and interventionism, It Takes Two is a game that dares to make a big difference in terms of playability. If there is indeed a gameplay base - jumping, dodging or even the two combined - which will allow you to progress through the levels with classic platform phases, Hazelight Studios racked its brains to establish a plethora of cooperative concepts: in each level, one will have ephemeral tools - magnets, a nail and a hammer, flammable wax and matches, etc. - with many “puzzles” to solve in order to progress. There are also real action phases, sometimes even big tasty nods to the history of video games, always with the same watchword: cooperation. It Takes Two is not only extremely varied in its game phases, it also requires constant thinking for two, which leads to the resolution of the puzzles without too much length. We therefore find ourselves almost constantly in front of a new concept: it is sometimes even so much that we wonder if we do not have before our eyes a succession of mini-games rather than a whole and real title. To tell the truth, it doesn't matter since the software finally has multiple and unsuspected resources, both in its gameplay and in its environments. If all this noise is obviously welcome, some sections also lack a little control: we will notice some gameplay inaccuracies in the platform or small camera problems, but we will quickly ignore this thanks to this good-natured atmosphere and this unfailing desire for variety. In fact, we can't even imagine the number of creative people who had to work hard to write and design multiplayer ideas: fortunately, everything hit the mark and that's what we ask of Hazelight Studios. 
DREAM JOURNEY
Now that we know that It Takes Two is undeniably a good game, it remains to be seen if its technical aspect follows the trend in 2021. For this test, we were able to rely on a particularly clean PS5 version, without bugs or latency with some nice lighting effects and appreciable panoramas. The graphic design is therefore efficient without getting the jaws down: despite the unfailing support of Electronic Arts, we remind you that Hazelight Studios remains a “small” studio with 65 employees in full expansion, whose technical prowess has yet to be proven. Finally, we will mainly rely on the successful artistic direction - extremely varied, sometimes even experimental - as well as on a soundtrack which is just as varied to immerse body and soul in this 100% dreamy climate. In the end, our biggest disappointment is based on the use of the DualSense, totally out of the way when there was so much to do, consolidating us in the idea that it is more of a PS4 port a lazy hair than anything else. Moreover, note that the next-gen version is automatically included in the purchase of the PlayStation 4 / Xbox One version (and vice versa), another good point to take into account when you know that the title only costs one forty euros. Moreover, note that it is quite possible to restart the game by reversing the characters and therefore enjoying a different gameplay - Cody will master precision more while May will focus on action - which guarantees some replayability. And to tell the truth, It Takes Two allows so much to refresh oneself in the middle of what is currently being done that one plunges back into it with a certain pleasure.
