I have already scratched the surface of this delicate topic in our review of It Takes Two, but the topic is so important that in my opinion it deserves an in-depth study dedicated to it. As unfortunately we have all had the opportunity to see, the period we are experiencing is anything but rosy: I am not referring only to the terrible situation created in the last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and everything that followed, but even to what has seen a drastic one in the past decade increase in divorces or separations at home, a common topic and often treated lightly, which unfortunately in most cases sees children as silent victims of the couples "blown up".
It is natural to say that the entirety of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 were periods of detachment (obligatory, but not only), and it is equally natural to recognize the consequent need of people for a contact of any kind, physical, mental, or emotional. Hugging with friends, enjoying a carefree chat in a pub, spending those two days a week with a partner who lives in another region, are all actions that are so common to us and that now seem light years away. And the children themselves? Divided between a few outdoor activities and a distance learning that limits their interactions with friends. Video games have been a lifeline for all ages, and also for all those people who previously had not come too close to it.
Living in the age of the Internet we have been "lucky" in bad luck, and still keeping in touch with loved ones has been somewhat easier. But how many long-distance experiences have really made us feel close to someone? Those experiences that we will remember indelibly almost as if the person we shared them with was sitting right next to us? Certainly less than we would have liked.
It Takes Two he arrived in our homes like Gandalf at dawn on the fifth day, to raise an unpleasant situation. We are talking about a game of incredible potential, capable of uniting despite being distant from the other person, an unexpected link. The topic dealt with is precisely that of ties, where that of a couple relationship now close to collapse is closely linked to that of love for a daughter, with the risk that this divorce will drag the affection of a family that the little one definitely needs into the abyss. This title wants to help us learn, to solve all those seemingly insurmountable problems that simply have to be faced from another perspective, to find that extra something that seemed obvious and that we have lost who knows where.
The ring that unites
In the more than twelve hours you spend with your sweetheart (or anyone else), you will find yourself doing just about anything that has been in the minds of game developers in recent years, with gender changes contextualized each time and with simplified mechanics for each type of user: a disarming lightness with a level of challenge within everyone's reach and not prohibitive. And if you want to play with each other, just for the fun of challenging yourself, there are twenty-five minigames scattered throughout the adventure, which you can replay whenever you want individually. All downright fun, with one comic charge, a perfect rhythm and alternation, an explosion of imagination where will you ever find yourself doing the same thing twice.
Even so, It Takes Two might not seem like anything out of the ordinary. So what is it that makes it "essential"? The context. While it featured more standard mechanics and a more realistic story, A Way Out by the same developer also enjoyed many of these factors, but It Takes Two has one strength that elevates it decisively: it delivers exactly what we need TODAY, union, bond, closeness, and all by collaborating with a loved one and sharing an adventure capable of awakening the most genuine of emotions. It Takes Two could be the symbol of rebirth, of resistance, of the never too abused “we will make it”. An experience that unites in a period of division. The right game at the right time.
As I write this article, the votes for the game by the specialized press are skyrocketing (even my vote was not far behind), to the convinced applause of the users who bought it. My hope is that this value will be taken into consideration in the future, that serve as an example for future video games and above all for all those people who demonize video games, labeling them only as pretexts to waste time, or worse to instigate violence. Video games can be so much more. They can be love, affection, complicity. They may be what we need most right now.
