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Split Fiction (Gaming)

by cheapLEY @, Saturday, March 15, 2025, 14:48 (14 days ago)

Cody and I finished Split Fiction a few days ago, and I'm just here to recommend it. Like It Takes Two before it, Split Fiction is a mandatory cooperative game. It's very similar to It Takes Two, but I feel like it's a bit more action focused. I'd have a really hard time picking which is better. I think Split Fiction has the better gameplay overall and is better paced. By the end of It Takes Two, I was ready for it be over, whereas with Split Fiction, I was left wanting more.

The last hour or so of Split Fiction is maybe the coolest, most fun thing I've ever experienced in a video game, and that's after a complete video game full of stuff that really impressed me for how inventive and just fun it is. There's a section in the middle of the game that could definitely support a full video game on its own, I think, but ever section of the game is really fun, and nothing overstays its welcome. Throughout each level are one or two Side Stories, as the game calls them, that give you a small break and about five minutes of doing something else. It really is impeccable.

It's a game where a lot of the joy comes from just playing it and figuring out the mechanics and fooling around, so I don't want to go into too much depth, but I really cannot recommend it highly enough.

It's better if you play with someone who is completely blind, I think, but if you want to play and don't have a partner, hit me up, and I'd definitely play through it again as the other character and just keep my mouth shut as much as possible. With the Friend Pass system, you wouldn't even have to buy it! I think that even supports cross play, so even if you're on Xbox, I think we can do it, although I'd need to verify that to make sure.

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Split Fiction

by ZackDark @, Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 02:51 (11 days ago) @ cheapLEY

That last stretch really was something else

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Split Fiction

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 08:51 (11 days ago) @ ZackDark

That last stretch really was something else

In a way it does the opposite of what most games do, in that I saw so much more they could have done with sections. Most games streeeeetch out concepts and ideas, while this one constantly moves you on to something else after giving you a decent taste. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as it's the definition of leaving you wanting more and not overstaying its welcome. I also get it's not designed to be a hardcore experience, so this was a sensible approach. I was imagining crazy setups in that last section that would involve wildly different visuals for each, that would require precise communication. While that would be cool, it also would be hardcore and not the vibe of the game.

I'm genuinely baffled though at the people who don't like the writing in this. Maybe most video game stories with tons of plot elements and overly complication mechanisms have just rotted gamers' brains. There was some shit here that was pretty emotional, and you absolutely got and understood the characters. Is it Shakespeare? Of course not. But I found it quite effective. These characters were more alive for me than most AAA experiences. Heaven forbid a game be about self discovery and not saving the planet.

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Split Fiction

by cheapLEY @, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 09:22 (11 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I can understand writing complaints about It Takes Two, even if I don’t necessarily agree. I don’t get it at all with Split Fiction. It doesn’t start out as the most interesting story, but it builds into something that I found to be pretty emotionally resonant and affecting, and I also thought it was quite funny throughout when it wanted to be. Nearly every joke landed for me.

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Split Fiction

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 10:48 (11 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I can understand writing complaints about It Takes Two, even if I don’t necessarily agree.

My only real two problems with that one are:

1. It's not realistic, nor even really a good message for the parents to get back together in the end. It would have been better if they were to rekindle their relationship enough to know why they were together in the first place, and have a divorce where they were both closer and a bigger part of their child's life. So instead of a mess split, they'd be cool.

2. After the Elephant, it just needed a moment of reflection where they realized how selfish they'd been, and how they made their daughter cry by thinking about themselves and not her.

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Split Fiction

by ManKitten, The Stugotz is strong in me., Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 05:57 (11 days ago) @ cheapLEY

This game looks fun! Going to pick this up to play with my son. Thanks for the rec!

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