Split Fiction Review
Split Fiction from Publisher Electronic Arts and Developer Hazelight Studios
Fantastic story and characters. Immaculate game mechanics and some of the best co-op game play we’ve seen.
A co-op game which blends the sci-fi and fantasy worlds into one. You play as one of two aspiring writers Mio, the Sci-fi writer, and Zoe, the Fantasy writer, who are invited to come to a publisher’s offices to get published. Upon arrival at the publisher’s offices, Mio, Zoe, and the other aspiring writers are connected to a virtual reality machine that simulates and records their stories directly from the writer’s imagination. As you might have guessed, something goes wrong. Two writers accidentally get connected to the same pod. This starts to blend the stories from both writers’ imaginations together. You two must work together to escape from the machine.
Each of the levels alternate between a Sci-fi or Fantasy theme based on one of the writer’s stories. They have their own unique locations, visually impressive backgrounds, mechanics, and abilities. There are also side missions/mini-stories that you can encounter in many of the levels. Some of the mini-stories feature more unique mechanics, extra exposition, and character development as well as help build the relationship between Zoe and Mio.
The levels start out a little simpler and more comedic (in one level you get to play as magic pigs) but as you start learning about the characters and their back stories, the levels become a little more personal and challenging. While there are core game mechanics that carry over between the different levels, there are also many mechanics that are specific to the level and the story being played out in it. The game features a variety of puzzles, some of which require a little more timing and coordination between players than others. Each chapter in the game has a boss fight at the end based on the story being played out in that chapter. All of the boss battles help progress the main story perfectly. In the later parts of the game the boss battles become more than just a simple boss fight, it’s a fight through their personal traumas for the characters.
There are references to previous Hazelight games here and there. They’re done very nicely and add a fun little Easter Egg for people who get the references.
The game really shines when it comes to the writing. It’s fantastic. All of the characters feel real and engaging. As you start to care and become invested in these people the story really has emotional impact. The trauma that each of the characters overcomes feels so real like it might have happened to one of the game writers.
Even though the game is split screen co-op, we found that we were so focused on our own character and everything that was happening in our own part of the screen that we missed what was happening to the other. This added another reason to replay the story as you can choose the other character just to catch everything you missed.
The game has a couch co-op option, which is how we played the game, but it also has online co-op. One great bonus with this game is that it comes with a friend pass which means only 1 person needs to own the game for both to play. The developer has done this with previous co-op games they’ve released which makes it a lot easier to convince a friend to play with you.
Overall, we loved this game. The story was great, the characters felt real, the locations were beautiful, and the game mechanics with the flow back and forth between sci-fi and fantasy were incredible. Hazelight really does co-op right and sets a standard that other co-op games should strive for.
Split Fiction is available on Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, Playstation 5 and Steam