Nerds of a Feather - Split Fiction Review
Developer: Hazelight Studios | Platform: PS5 |
Playtime: 12:55 | Platinum: 14:10
A new co-op adventure from Hazelight is something to look forward to – they burst onto the scene with their first title It Takes Two and director Josef Fares’ infamous “Fuck the Oscars” speech. The studios second game, It Takes Two went on to win Game of the Year in 2021’s Video Game Awards. Now in 2025 we have Split Fiction, which didn’t even get a nod for Game of the Year. What happened this time around?
Minor to Moderate STORY and GAMEPLAY spoilers follow.
Reader discretion is advised.
The story follows Mio and Zoe, authors of Sci-Fi and Fantasy respectively who accept an offer to get their books published by RADER Publishing. When they arrive, they find that Mr Rader has a machine he wants the pair (and other unnamed authors) to try, to really visualise and experience their creativity. Zoe plays along but the sceptical Mio tries to get away. A struggle ensues leading to Mio falling into Zoe’s pod, leading to the merging of creative minds.
Zoe and Mio are fairly one dimensional as characters, Zoe is bubbly and sweet reflected by her love of high fantasy whereas Mio is cynical and closed off, which explains her gritty Sci-Fi tales. I won’t say there isn’t any depth there but the the two penultimate chapters that intend to explore the characters a little more are fun levels but fall flat as the characters just aren’t very interesting. I can’t remember the names of the pair in It Takes Two but their moment-to-moment interactions were more interesting thanks to their Husband/Wife status. Mio and Zoe being complete strangers was an interesting start, but I don’t feel like there was any real development. I’m indifferent on the somewhat cringey dialogue, it’s whatever.
Gameplay follows the usual formula that this ‘series’ has used since A Way Out. Each of the two characters have a unique weapon or power in each stage but things do feel a little more involved this time – the game requires a lot more concentration and co-operation to make things work and progress. The powers each character get are more interesting than seen before but don’t vary too much per character from level to level. I will say that I think the game sometimes stumbles by trying to be more traditional than the gimmicky nature of It Takes Two or the grounded nature of A Way Out. It doesn’t fully commit to the ideas at times.
The levels alternate between the two styles – Sci Fi and Fantasy. To put it bluntly, the Sci-Fi levels are more mechanically interesting, often swapping visual perspectives and gameplay styles. Conversely, the Fantasy levels more visually interesting – offering more of a distinct range than different colours of Sci-Fi. These fantasy levels tend to have more consistent mechanics, expanding on what they offer rather than throwing away toys in favour of the new ones. Both styles have their highlights, getting better as the game goes on. Some of the earlier stages do outstay their welcome a little.
Replacing the side activities and minigames of previous titles, ach world has a selection of ‘Side Stories’ that the player can engage with. Always in the opposite genre to the main style of the level, these Side Stories are some of the best bits of content the game has to offer thanks to condensed setting and unique ideas. My two favourites are from each of the two genres – a midnight market ran by moles and snails or the mad rush to stop a sun going supernova. Very different vibes to be sure but that’s what's so good about these side stories
I’ve got two main criticisms of the game - the main antagonist is not very interesting (but he has a really cool final fight – the breakdown of expectations about the world and the game itself is really cool to experience. Jade and I were hooting and hollering) and more pressingly, I think the game misses a trick by not having more overlap between the two genres – a mecha dragon flying through the fantasy land or a cyberpunk giant in the sci-fi world. As it stands, the strict rotation of Fantasy then Sci-Fi on repeat gets a little routine.
I think of the Hazelight games I’ve played, this one is my least favourite but that’s not to say it’s a bad game because it’s not – it's a really good game that I enjoyed a fair bit (even if the criticisms do seem a little harsh) and being the least good of some absolutely banger titles is still worthy of commendation.
