From a conceptual standpoint, Cut up Fiction is an absolute dwelling run. A co-op sport that adjustments genres and types based mostly on the protagonist’s personal tales – tales that presumably delve into mentioned character’s psyche? Sure, please. And coming from the developer that gained many Recreation of the 12 months awards in 2021 with It Takes Two, it’s subsequent to inconceivable to name Cut up Fiction a dropping proposition. Nicely, after ending it with my co-op accomplice, we will say it’s definitely not dangerous or something, nevertheless it’s not fairly the GOTY-contender we had been hoping it to be.
The plot of Cut up Fiction begins when our two unpublished authors, Mio and Zoe, head to Raider Publishing in hopes of lastly getting their tales acknowledged. Issues don’t go as deliberate, as Mr. Raider, the CEO and titular villain of the sport, lures them right into a simulation of the duo’s quite a few tales. If you happen to’ve seen any isekai plot, this one gained’t blow your socks off. My co-op accomplice and I managed to guess all the plot in addition to the character’s motivations and developments from a mile away. However I can ignore a predictable plot if the narrative factor of the sport , one thing that Hazelight is understood for, nails it.
The studio’s earlier video games featured attention-grabbing relationship hooks that few different video games explored throughout the co-op house. A Means Out adopted the journey of two prisoners as they carry out a jailbreak, and It Takes Two famously portrayed a married couple contemplating divorce as they get transported into storybook dolls. Each intriguing setups that handle to hook and compel us, at the very least initially. In the meantime, Cut up Fiction provides us a state of affairs that has been performed out time and time once more: two younger rivals compelled to work collectively regardless of being polar opposites. There’s nothing incorrect with a extra formulaic premise, however Cut up Fiction does little to heat the participant as much as these characters and the acquainted state of affairs they discover themselves in.
“My co-op accomplice and I managed to guess all the plot in addition to the character’s motivations and developments from a mile away.”
So, at the very least the characters and villains are filled with persona and appeal, proper? Nicely, that’s what I hoped, however the sport falls flat in that facet too. Raider is such a one-dimensional villain, and an incompetent one at that. The sport would’ve been higher off and not using a villain in any respect, merely throwing the 2 protagonists into the weird state of affairs like It Takes Two did. Mio and Zoe aren’t precisely all that attention-grabbing both, however at the very least they undergo arcs and develop all through the sport a bit, even whether it is as predictable because the plot.
The duo discover themselves trapped collectively of their distinct tales with an preliminary distaste for each other’s firm. Mio is extra reserved and introverted, whereas the extroverted Zoe can’t assist however pry some private information whereas divulging her personal tastes in literature. The proper match, proper? As you play the sport, you’ll be barraged with a relentless stream of chatter from the pair. The duo’s banter is crammed with drained cliches, Marvel-esque quips, and your typical exaggerated reactions (and plenty of screaming) to each little factor taking place within the sport. If you happen to don’t take care of these characters, the sport will put on on you exponentially, as their presence inescapably envelopes all the expertise.
In fact, the upside of the duo’s distinct personalities and distinct tastes in tales is we get some neat selection in gameplay. Cut up Fiction, because the title implies, is structured by way of chapters based mostly on Mio’s sci-fi worlds and Zoe’s wild fantasy escapades. Fortunately, on this entrance I used to be impressed. The sport makes good on this basis with oodles of distinct mechanics, views, themes, and gameplay gimmicks. In contrast to the story and characters, you’ll not often anticipate the place or what you’ll be doing subsequent.
Mio’s sci-fi setting lends itself nicely to bullet hell shoot-em-up sequences, stealth infiltrations, and a few enjoyable third particular person shooter action-platforming. I discovered the controls for Mio’s ranges to be a tad extra intuitive and snappier than Zoe’s fantasy sequences. One fantasy chapter has the pair elevating some child dragons in an effort to protect them from the devastating dragon eater (itself an enormous stone dragon). Lugging round dragon eggs by way of puzzle-laden swamps and ruined fortresses is enjoyable and all, however the dragon flight doesn’t management in addition to different features of the sport resulting from its floaty and imprecise nature.
We bumped into some small glitches and snags by way of Mio and Zoe’s varied worlds too. Objects often clip by way of characters and getting caught on terrain isn’t that uncommon. The most important gripe we had had been the quite a few invisible partitions. The sport emphasizes platforming and curiosity, so it feels incongruent simply how a lot punishment there may be for leaping to that far-off platform or seeing what’s off to the space. It’s not game-breaking or something, however nonetheless value mentioning. As an entire, the gameplay of Cut up Fiction feels responsive and intuitive and the platforming and taking pictures is about what you’d anticipate from the respective genres the sport continuously shifts between.
“Cut up Fiction, because the title implies, is structured by way of chapters based mostly on Mio’s sci-fi worlds and Zoe’s wild fantasy escapades.”
Some gameplay sequences, although, went above and past the norm. One chapter places the duo in command of some rolling energy balls harking back to Samus’ morph ball in Metroid Prime. Tunnelling by way of tight intricate floorboards and snapping from wall to wall is an absolute blast. I gained’t spoil it, however my ball remodeled into one thing that assisted my accomplice by way of some actually cool environmental puzzles, forming what I’d think about the height of Hazelight’s artistic and enjoyable opus by way of the years.
After which there’s the seamless perspective shifts from top-down, side-scrolling, to the aforementioned ball tunnelling seen in video games like Metroid Prime and the like. There’s a degree of Nintendo-esque high quality to some puzzles, which deeply impressed me regardless of my misgivings with the characters and plot. Navigating by way of the mazelike labyrinths in ball-form using every character’s distinctive skills to help the opposite ahead was addictive. Actually, the big assortment of assorted playstyles and mechanics parody or outright rip-off different widespread video games. You’re sure to see dozens of references to different sport franchises right here, typically prompting one to say “Ah! That is like that dungeon in such and such Zelda sport!”
Moreover the number of puzzle-platforming sequences, there’s additionally some vital boss fights awaiting the duo on the finish of ranges and chapters. These fights require teamwork and quick reflexes (image a boss from the Ratchet and Clank collection). The pacing of those battles kind of echoes the remainder of the sport with its regular rapidity of fixed movement. There’s little or no downtime in Cut up Fiction, and on these uncommon events when there may be, the sport enables you to discover a tiny bit with little interactable props within the surroundings. Strolling as much as some chalk on the bottom as Zoe performs hopscotch is usually a enjoyable little diversion, however these moments usually don’t reward or progress your character in any approach (though, you might get some obscure trophies). Cut up Fiction is above all, a linear co-op expertise. So linear, actually, that there’s nary a collectable, no rating tallies to maintain monitor of, or talent/levelling development in anyway.
It’s considerably of a reduction to have a sport in 2025 not succumb to the RPG-ification of every part like different titles, however there’s additionally no denying that with nothing to gather or customise, most gamers could view Cut up Fiction as a one-and-done sport. One solution to squeeze that further quantity of replayability is by enjoying as the opposite character. Mio and Zoe have distinct abilities and playstyles by way of their different tales, so two playthroughs can really feel remarkably completely different. And what’s extra, enjoying with a special buddy doesn’t require two copies of the sport. Like Hazelight’s earlier video games, Buddy’s Cross provides entry to your on-line pals to allow them to expertise the complete sport with you.
“Yhe gameplay of Cut up Fiction feels responsive and intuitive. The platforming and taking pictures is about what you’d anticipate from the respective genres the sport continuously shifts between.”
Cut up Fiction comprises at the very least some missable content material within the type of Facet Tales. These pocket worlds comprise among the most artistic concepts in all the sport. Three to 4 Facet Tales permeate every chapter, offering incentive to return and revisit prior checkpoints, of which the sport has many, and all accessible from the menu. These aspect tales are crammed with quirky moments that may put a smile on my face in a approach the characters of the sport did not. The place the primary plot typically takes itself too critical with dramatic pauses and cliched melodrama between the duo, the Facet Tales exhibit true appeal and outlandish eventualities value going out of your approach for.
Regardless of the superb gameplay, my predominant gripe all through the expertise is one which simply can’t be ignored. Mio and Zoe spout gallons of cliched quips and uninspired anecdotes, and their very own tales’ plots aren’t something attention-grabbing. It’s arduous to take these characters significantly when each single story they provide you with immediately displays a key second of their life or a tragic state of affairs they needed to cope with. At one level, Mio remarks that fiction is supposed to function an escape from actuality. A sentiment I’d take extra significantly if each single facet of her (and Zoe’s) fiction wasn’t a direct allegory to an earthly reminiscence or an occasion they skilled in their very own previous. I do know why this sort of framing was carried out – to determine Mio and Zoe’s backstory and create rapport between them – nevertheless it doesn’t make it any much less formulaic, uninspired, and maybe most unlucky of all, cringe.
The presentation of those character and story moments don’t improve issues both. The musical rating is extra ambient than thematic, however I can’t keep in mind any of it. As we had been enjoying, we’d constantly ask the place the music was and whether or not we simply had the sound too low to listen to it. Likewise, the voice performing didn’t notably impress. Mio and Zoe’s strains are delivered competently sufficient by the actors, nevertheless it’s all so generic and rote with out the flexibility to raise the characters past how their written.
“If you may get previous the bonding between Mio and Zoe and the incongruous isekai plot, you’re in for a good time.”
The writing usually feels amateurish at instances. Take the generic isekai plot and Raider Publishing’s position inside it. The CEO is an incompetent buffoon, an evil grasping man with no motivation past “metal thought, generate profits”. But, the very tales he desires to steal are threadbare and half-finished. Mio and Zoe are usually not good writers, not as a result of they haven’t been revealed up so far, however as a result of the tales you go to inside their simulations whittle right down to easy elementary image guide eventualities. Why the large dangerous genius CEO dangers his firm and livelihood on a few unpublished works is past me.
If you may get previous the bonding between Mio and Zoe and the incongruous isekai plot, you’re in for a good time. The breakneck pacing of the sport’s continuously shifting genres and gimmicks actually make for prime co-op gaming. The puzzles are often artistic, whereas the motion usually controls nicely, and the fixed reliance on the opposite participant’s enter actually drives dwelling what the essence of cooperative play is all about. Cut up Fiction doesn’t rise to the heights of It Takes Two, nevertheless it’s a stable co-op journey with enjoyable, extremely different gameplay.
This sport was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
