Video Gamers Podcast - Sublime Split Fiction - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Gaming Hosts Ryan and Josh are back to talk about Split Fiction! We’ve played it, we hinted at our thoughts, but now it’s time to spill the beans. We’re joined by special guest Ririe from The Co-Op Company to chat why this game is one surprise after another! It’s another awesome video game review episode from your favorite gaming podcast! Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Ol’ Jake, Disratory and Gaius Check out the Co-Op Company: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCo-opCompany And for 20 more games like Split Fiction: https://youtu.be/Q5H2WTANYOs Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/  Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q   Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"] Hello fellow gamers and welcome to the video gamers podcast. Couch Co-op is a dying genre, they say, but it takes two one game of the year in 2021. Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but what about the recent release of split fiction? Is it the spiritual successor to it takes Two or is this game something else entirely? Can it single-handedly revive couch co-op? Well on today's episode we're gonna find out, but first some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me he can solve captures and decline calls while riding on the back of a futuristic motorcycle all while laughing maniacally, it's Ryan.

And I went off the side and I'm dead. And I went off the side and I'm dead. Over and over and over. Oh man, I don't know, I didn't die on that part Ryan. And joining us, good friend of the show and the talent behind the co-op company, this man knows his co-op games and he's here to give his esteemed and professional opinion on Split Fiction, it's Ryrie. So glad to be here guys.

I gotta say I drove off the side of the edge on that so many times over and over and over again, my wife and I both, I made a, a full gameplay video of the entire game. I cut out so many clips of us falling off. One of us, one of us. Apparently some of us are better motorcycle drivers than others. Oh man. Well, welcome in everybody. We are super excited to talk about split fiction today. We have our good friend, Ryri joining us for this one. Ryri, you actually got an

advanced copy of split fiction. Um, so you kind of knew about this game before any of the rest of us did. And I remember being extremely jealous. Yeah, rub it in, rub it in some more. You know, I did. I, it was very exciting to, to be playing it a little early. I'll tell you what I spent like a week trying to research the proper people at EA to contact about getting her view code of this game. So, cause I was, I was excited for it.

Yeah. I reached out to the person that you said to message. And yeah, they just ghosted us. People don't like the word podcast, apparently. Yeah, podcast. Who? We're video games, man. So we went fine.

We'll start doing video then. So all right, well, listen, we're going to get into the show in just a minute. I do want to just say thank you, all right, well, listen, we're going to get into the show in just a minute. Um, I do want to, you know, just say thank you, Ryree for joining us on this. We have been, uh, friends for a while now. Um, you know, you run an amazing YouTube channel that focuses on co-op gaming. Um, I have actually checked out your channel many a time for games to look at, but what, what kind of got you started on this?

Now you do this channel with your wife, is that correct? Yeah, I do. I'd say it's probably like 75 25. You know, my wife is there. She'll record videos with me now and then, but she plays all the games. So, you know, maybe 50 50 just because she has to be there to play the game. If she wasn't there, that wouldn't exist. But yeah, I do all the video editing, finding the games, downloading games, managing everything, um, and posting the videos and she plays with me and she'll record scripts that I give. And one of the most beneficial things, you know, she gives me her opinion. Um, that's one of the things that really got us into it is we were looking for

co-op games to play together and nobody was talking about them. And people that were hadn't actually played the games themselves. Uh, so we thought, make a channel, talk about games from a perspective of people that have actually played the co-op games rather than somebody's like, I found out that this game has co-op. I haven't played it, but there's a co-op game for you. So yeah, that's kind of where we're at. I love the fact that you play all of the games. That is one of the things.

That's like us. We don't cover a game if we have not played the game. I mean, we talk about news stories, and we'll say, hey, we just saw this amazing trailer or something like that. But I think there is a vast difference between somebody that has actually played the game and then somebody that either has just seen videos of it or is only going

by what other people are saying. And I think part of the problem with the internet nowadays is you get a lot of people that want to comment on stuff that they haven't played. And we've seen this with games like avowed, right? Or, um, you know, any kind of game where starfield was another one that comes to mind where there was the internet's just kind of at war. I can't keep running. I just can't keep running. What's this invisible wall after 10 minutes, guys?

I can't believe it. And then there just comes this part where you're playing it and you go like, dude, have you played this? So I love the fact that you guys play all of the games that you cover on your channel. And the fact that you get to play it with your wife is pretty awesome as well. My wife would kill me. The only game my wife will play with me is

Mario Golf and that's because she can beat me at it and then that's it. I love it. Oh yeah I have a pretty special wife I'm happy she plays the games with me all the time you know that she has a pretty short leash if she doesn't like a game she quits it pretty fast you know I can understand that. The backlog of games where we played for like 45 minutes and never touched it again is huge because once she turns off the game, if she did not like it, she is not picking it up again. Um, but yeah, she's pretty good with most games. So that's good. Yeah. I, I, it's,

it's tough, man. My wife did try to play, uh, overcooked with me at one point. And I think that was the last time that we played. Yeah, exactly point and I think that was the last time that we played. You mean Divorce Simulated? Yeah, exactly. And I think that was the last time we actually played a co-op game together. I was gonna say it's pretty good too because you're still around so she's kept you hanging on so you know she hasn't put you out into the dead zone yet either so yeah you're good to go. So Ryrie, apart from Split Fiction, if it would qualify for this, you know just so the listeners can get to know you a little bit better, what are some of your favorite games

that you've played in the last few years? Ooh, last few years. Ooh, probably one of my favorite games. Michael would have enjoyed this. Horizon. Oh, yep, yep. Zero Dawn. Absolutely loved it.

Recently for Christmas, I, Prince of Persia, the last crown. Oh, John's playing that right now. I actually love in that one. Had a lot of fun with it. Uh, otherwise recently Nintendo sponsored us to play Pikmin 4 and like, I got to play like an hour of that for a sponsored video, but I have played like 12 more hours of that game because I've just been

really enjoying it. Yeah, so those are off the top of my head. A couple of the games been playing recently, definitely split fiction. And if we're talking co-op games, it takes to 2021. That was the start of our channel. Absolutely loved that. Oh, that's when you started your channel. Yeah, we started our channel February of 2020. Oh, wow. Okay. started your channel? Yeah, we started our channel. February of 2020. Oh wow, OK, two came out March 2021. So it came out like right after we started something. Happy anniversary. Not to put you on the spot, but is it takes to a game of the year?

Or did it only win because there was nothing else to compete against it? OK, well, here's here's the thing that sets me apart apart and we've already talked about this. I play co-op games I don't play a lot of solo games You know, I listen to your guys's podcast because I love hearing about him, but I don't play a lot of solo games So on the scale of co-op games, absolutely it takes to game of the year on the scale of solo games I have no clue because I don't play that many of them. You know? That's a fair answer, man.

Fair and tactful at the same time. These guys are professional. I'll tell you what. All right. Awesome. Well, I'll tell you what, we have a little bit of housekeeping that we have to do before we get into talking about split fiction. So let's just go ahead and get to that. We have a couple of reviews to read. So Ryan, why don't you start us off with a review?

I love these so much. Anytime we're like, oh, we got to read a couple of reviews. It is a happy day for me on recording. This one comes to us from Frostbite970. And it says, thank you so much for giving me something to listen to while I'm doing boring stuff. It makes everything so much more enjoyable. I agree. It really does. I do. I agree. I think that's just, you know, that's what we're here for. Yeah. You know, and then there's this one that comes in from jwillisly76 that's

titled the good, the bad, and The Gamer. And it says, how can any true gamer not love this show? It's like hanging out with your buddies and talking about your favorite games. Love the fact there's different opinions on games sometimes. You get a great idea of how people will like them. I've been listening to the show on my commute and while at work.

I'm currently on the November 2021 2021 show. So I'm still behind. Keep up the good work. Well, you're in roller coaster ride, but that's, that's, that's talk about behind. I'm gonna, gonna lose some hosts. Gonna gain some. Yeah. Yeah. We're like, we're like that, you know, that really, uh, the Sopranos, like, you know, the HBO special, like Breaking Bad or something like that, where there's gonna be like, what's going on around this place, man? So, well, listen, if you're liking the November, 2021 episodes, we've come a long way since then, man.

So hope you stick with us, Jay Willis. See, I listened to your, it takes two episode yesterday, just in preparation episode. And man, you guys, you guys have definitely come a long way. Yeah. So basically. Enjoyable, but just a little bit different, a little bit more hyped up, a little bit more quality. So yeah.

You used to suck. That's what he's saying. You used to, you were horrible before is all I want. I can't remember what we said about it takes two. I think we said it was fine. And that was about it. Oh, I remember Josh. Oh no, no, no, it. So, I remember Josh. We're just talking about split fiction today, but listen, we also have a very important thank you to give to a slew of

new supporters. Oh my goodness. So listen up people because these are the fantastic humans on the planet that make this podcast possible for your ears. humans on the planet that make this podcast possible for your ears. We are giving a huge thank you to Keith O'De, BackwardShorts, and Big Green Smurf for all signing up for Rare Status to support the show. Also, BackwardShorts, I don't know if you're in the Discord, if you are, it's a different name, But KeithOD and Big Green Smurf have been very active in the Discord community already, which I absolutely love to see.

And then this one, we're a little late on this one, Ryan. So I'm going to give them the moment here, man. This person has played Marvel Rivals with us. They are an active member of the community. And that is a fine, fine person by the name of people wonder who signed up for Epic status to support the show. People wonder, it has been a blast to have you in the community nights and as part of the

discord server as well. So thank you so much for the support and to everybody that supports this show. Thank you for making this possible. Without that, we would not be here right now about to talk about split fiction. So if you want to support the show, you can do that over at multiplayer squad.com, just like all these other amazing people. All right, boys. We got to get to it, man. Let's talk about some split fiction. OK. Now, we're going to spoil this now.

We're going to get to our thoughts very quickly on this one. But we got to tease it just a little bit, man. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. So I want to start off because this is kind of a unique kind of thing for this game too, where our hype leading up to Split Fiction, right? I always like to say, hey, you know, we talked about this game. We've covered it on Twigs and things like that, you know,

but like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, for instance, mega hyped for the release of that game. Split Fiction, I feel like it flew a little bit under the hype radar like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, for instance, mega hyped for the release of that game. Split fiction. I feel like it flew a little bit under the hype radar for for excitable people like us, you know, right up until like the week or two before it released. And then we were kind of like, oh, I can't wait for split fiction, man. This game's going to be great. But that's like a week or two before launch is is late for the hype train to get rolling, man. So I, and listen, we are honest people.

We did not mention this game in our most anticipated games of 2025 Ryan. And you reminded me of this the other day. I was looking through, I'm like, wait, where did this even go in our draft? I'm like, somebody had to pick it up. I was like, I wonder how much. And I looked and I'm like scrolling through mine. I'm scrolling through yours. I'm scrolling through Paul's. I'm like, Oh my gosh, nobody even drafted it. I'm like, how did we, we were doing throwaways at the end for like $2 and we could have got split fiction and nobody even picked it at all. That's how under the radar it was, man. Yes. And Ryrie's over here going, it wasn't under my radar. Boys. I spent all 200 of my bucks on that draft.

There you go. He's like, and I'm feeling pretty good about my chances right now too. I pulled the game of the year. I don't know. So what's funny is I think we didn't know what to expect with this game. Like we knew that it was from Hayes light Studios, Joseph Farris, the creator of, you know, uh, brothers, a tale of a tale of two brothers, uh, two sons, two sons. There you go. Uh, which I played and beat, which is amazing. Uh, a way out, which I played and beat, which was amazing. Uh, it takes two, which I played and beat,

which I never do. And now split fiction. Ryan's looking at me like, It takes two, which I played and beat, which I never do. And now Split Fiction. Ryan's looking at me like I'm about to say something else. Okay, that's like 80% of the games you've ever beaten in your life. Are those games right there? I think I might like this guy's games, man. I think so. So here's the thing though.

So the first gameplay trailer for Split Fiction actually dropped in mid December. And I remember us looking at it and we went, Whoa, it's it takes two, but better. Right. And, you know, then we, we, it just kind of fell off the hype meter again. And then we got a story trailer at the, I think it was the state of play in February. And we kind of went, cool, this game's looking really neat guys. Like I'm excited. Oh, wait, here comes Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Here comes Avowed. You know, that kind of thing. And so I want to just, like, talk about the kind of, I don't want to say lack of hype,

but like the lack of lead up to this game. So Ryrie, as a couch co-op game and as somebody that got their start with their YouTube channel with It Takes Two and all that, what was your hype level like for split fiction before you ever touched it? Oh, we were, we were high. Both my wife and I absolutely loved it takes two. Uh, we played brothers, a tale of two sons twice cause we played the original on the switch where they added co-op and then we played it when they remade it and loved it both times. So we were really excited for this one. We didn't play a way out just cause we don't really play rated M games, uh, for just personal reasons.

Yep. Um, but yeah, we were incredibly hyped and I'll tell you what you guys may not have talked about it a whole lot. My audience is sick of it. That's why I'm here talking on your channel rather than on my channel. He's like, I need another outlet, guys. I need to talk about this somewhere else so all of my subscribers don't leave me.

So Ryan, what was your hype level like? Because I mean, I know mine, but I feel like for you, this may have been a little under the radar for you as well. Like, what was yours leading up to this? It was, and I'm just, I haven't really, I'm a big, so I'm almost the opposite of Riree. I am a almost exclusively like a single player guy. I'll play multiplayer rivals with you guys and we'll get on rust that we've been playing recently and stuff like that but single player games are my

bread and butter action RPGs uh an involved world that I can just lose myself in. That's what I love the most. I do love multiplayer games I do love couch co-ops in those so this one was like man. This game looks really cool. I love the way this looks I love What I'm seeing well anyways, and then I just go you know off to something else And so it was one of those where it pop up and I was excited in the moment But it didn't grip me enough to hold on to make me remember. And that might just be my crazy brain. No, I'm with you.

I'm with you on that. I remember getting excited for the gameplay trailers. Oh, it's sci-fi. It's fantasy. Those are right up my alley. And then it would just kind of just fall away again. And I don't know if this was a, we'll have to see when the game comes out.

But I'm here to say like, maybe we should have made a bigger deal about this. So maybe a little bit. So, okay. So in, in a little bit more of a tease, I promise we're going to get to our thoughts on this game and we're just going to let our, we're just going to let everybody know what we think before we actually dive into the game itself. But I got to bring up the fact that when this game released,

and Ryrie, this is where, again, I'm jealous because you got an advanced copy. So you were able to play the game and put your thoughts together and have a video review ready for when the review embargo was up. And I think that was up on March 4, and the game came out the 9th, if I remember right, something like that.

So what I want to do, though, is I want to talk about review scores and how they affect a gamer's approach to a game. Because this is something we see everywhere, dude. And we are guilty of it and also kind of not guilty of it at the same time. But you are seeing more and more of this, like the gamer saying, I don't believe reviews.

If I'm interested in a game, I'm gonna play the game and reviews are not going to sway me on whether I am going to play a game or not. And I know that we kind of do the same thing, but when a game comes out like split fiction and it's getting nothing but nines or tens across the board, there's a part of you, I mean, at least for me, and I'm pretty sure most gamers that go, Oh my gosh, like, okay, this game's now at the top of

my height meter, nines and tens. This is going to be great. You know? And so yes, when split fiction came out, it was nines and tens, I got really excited, you know, and on the flip side, when we get a game that we maybe is on our radar and then it releases and we see sixes and maybe a seven, we kind of go like, is that really worth playing at this point? So I know people say that they don't care about reviews, but I think as gamers, we absolutely do see the reviews for a game when it launches, and we can't help but ignore those.

So Ryrie, this is where the catch is, because you got to play the game, and you made your own review without any knowledge of what other people were gonna think about this game. And is that like, is there a little bit of like nervousness with that where you're like, dude, I might've loved this game, but what if ever like, what if other people are like, nah, this game was trash, man. And then I look like a fool or something like that. So was there like that concern? What was it like playing the game ahead of like all the reviews

and stuff like that? So occasionally we'll get codes a little early but it tends to be for smaller indie games, right? We'll get a week or two weeks or something for a smaller indie game. This is this is EA This is big and it was big for us. You guys saying you guys weren't hyped, but I was hyped I knew it was gonna be big Now here's the thing if I know I'm gonna be playing a game and reviewing it on our channel, I avoid any reviews to begin with until after I have scripted my review. I was a little nervous, but I have my wife to give me that feedback of what she thinks about it.

Right. I've got two people who've played this game and have an opinion on it. And we've played a lot of co-op games. So again, we're writing this specifically from a cooperative perspective, which isn't a view that a lot of the other people have. So I wouldn't have even been surprised if our review varied from other people's reviews, right? Somebody that just played whatever kingdom come deliverance right you guys are single players you might have a completely different opinion than somebody who majority the major amount of the time plays co-op games so I was pretty confident in our own score just because we sit in our own little niche of

reviewing from a co-op perspective but yeah there was a little bit of nervousness that maybe I'm wrong about what I'm saying. But again, with all my reviews, I try to avoid anybody, any other reviews before I script mine. That makes sense. And I mean, I, you know, I absolutely, like I said, we've always said we're just gamers at heart.

We're not experts, any of that stuff. I will absolutely go like the day a game releases, I am very excited to see what the review scores are. If we decide we're going to play a game for the podcast, we'll play it regardless, because we're excited to play that game. But all that to say that I do think that even though gamers will say that reviews don't matter,

it does affect our outlook on a game or that hype meter, if nothing else. If we were excited for something and it comes out and it's a five, I kind of go like, oh man. But if it gets a nine or a 10, I go like, oh man. So, all right, so like, let's do this. Let's get to it. But before we get to it, you know,

Ryrie, can you describe split fiction for somebody that's never played? It takes two or split fiction. Like, how would you summarize what this game is? Okay. This is a couch co-op game. And I mean that in the sense that you could play it online, but the entire game is all on one screen, right? Whether you're playing online or playing on the couch, you're gonna see the exact same thing. Both characters are gonna be on the screen the whole time.

It follows the story of Zoe and Mio, who are two authors that get stuck in a simulation of their own stories and they're mixing it up. So Zoe writes fantasy stories, Mio writes sci-fi stories, and you're gonna play through these crazy stories that they have written and enjoy the action adventure of it all. All right, I love it, I love it.

Okay, that's a good summary and I agree completely on that. All right, now we're gonna spoil our thoughts on this because we've teased this long enough. We're 24 minutes into this episode. Chaos and death. We promised an early reveal, but we're gonna do that right after this break. All right, we're back.

Man, that was such a teaser. I'm sorry, everybody. You know, sometimes it's fun to just tease stuff to people. All right, let's do this. OK, so we teased our thoughts on this game during our Steam Next Fest episode. We mentioned astrobot levels of fun. And I know that there were people that were like, whoa.

Astrobot, you say? So now I know that that's a bold claim. But after playing the game and beating the game, I personally am doubling down and we're just going to go ahead and spoil it. Split fiction for me, maybe one of the funnest game experiences I have had in like since Astrobot or Helldivers 2. Like I know we hyped up Kingdom Come come deliverance too. That's a fantastic game, but it's nothing like this. I mean, you can't compare apples and oranges when we are

talking about games that are just plain sheer fun to enjoy. Oh my goodness for me split fiction was an absolute banger. Ryan dude. Am I crazy? You, you are the farthest thing from crazy. This was, I haven't, it was almost, um, I know we talk a lot, we're old gamer dads. Uh, we talk a lot about nostalgia and part of that is going back to just your youth of playing games and just having fun where you just laugh, joke you you are enjoying yourself the whole way through no matter what happens as this playthrough kind of progresses and that's that's the entirety of this game you you log in and you are just you have no clue what's gonna happen you have no idea where

you're gonna go and you're just amped up and excited and ready for whatever comes your way. I have not had this. It may not be one of the best games I've played in the last few years, but it may be definitely, like you said, up there with the most fun I've had in the last few years. It was just an absolute blast. few years. It was just an absolute blast. Uh, Ryrie, are we crazy? No, I absolutely agree. This game is fantastic, especially from somebody who focuses. I've played hundreds of couch co-op games and this one is, is a beat above many of them there. So I'm excited to talk more about it because it's

absolutely fantastic. And I want to get into what makes it so good. Yes Yeah, well we're about to do that But I mean I I just we had to preface this whole episode by just saying there this game is incredible, man I mean I had so much fun playing it and Ryan you kind of mentioned it where So I played this with a co-worker of mine a good buddy that I actually work with I sit right next to And and then Ryan you got to play with your daughter and your son because they both wanted to play with you. So you ditched me for your family.

I mean, wow, man. Uh, I can't believe it. So, but no, but this is the kind of game where, you know, the first night playing, I think I got a really good play session of like four hours in and me and my buddy, Matt were just like, dude, I cannot wait to play tomorrow. And then at work, right? Like, you know, I'm always the first one there. He walks in and we look at each other.

We're like split fiction tonight and he's like, oh, you know it, man. And then we just sat there and talked about the game for like the next 30 minutes, you know? And it's like, this is that kind of game. Like it is literally the game that you're thinking about while you're at work. I could not wait to go home and see what the next level was gonna be.

The next gameplay element was gonna be what sort of crazy fantastical like setting. Cause we're gonna talk about some of the worlds that this game has that were honestly pretty darn mind blowing to me. You know, crazy moments, some of the off the wall humor like the pig level, you know, I mean, there is so much to talk about

on this. So I want to preface everything because we will give a spoiler warning when we get into some of the specific levels and some of the specific memorable moments. Until that point, we're going to talk about some generalizations like, you know, there is a pig level, but they showed that in some of the trailers and stuff like that. So you may get a little bit of a spoilery thing, but it's kind of equivalent to what you would see in a trailer. And then when we really start to dive into some of the very specific stuff, we'll give

you a spoiler warning as well. Because I think this is the kind of game that the natural discovery of a level is part of the joy of the game. So you know, this is one where I would say, don't spoil it. I know people like to listen to the episode. That's why we said, dude, go, go buy this game, play this game. We are telling you right now, three gentlemen who very likely have different tastes in games that are all saying, go play Split Fiction. Absolutely. You need to experience this game. So if that's what you were looking for, there you go.

But let's get into a little bit more about what makes this game so great. OK, so we always like to talk about the hook that a game has. What is that special sauce, man, that little something that sets this apart? And I love this because it's different for a lot of people, but also at the same time, it's very common.

You and I are pretty locked in on some of this stuff as far as what the hook is. So for you, Ryan, what is that hook? What is that aspect that stands above all other aspects of this game for you? Man, this one was, it's hard because it's almost like there's a bunch that's there. There's, there's so many different directions you can go like on cheese. This, you got to pick one thing. I know you got to pick one thing. And so this is, this is the thing is the, uh, the, um, it's like, how do you

describe it? Basically the, the inability to have expectations. You don't know what the heck is going to happen on the next level you go. The next little side shoot on a side mission portal or the next world you go into. The thing that I think is so brilliant that they were able to achieve with this game is the way it's set up and the way the story unfolds is the possibilities are genuinely endless like you really don't know what is gonna happen next so you always are anticipating something crazy and it

makes you want to keep playing the game it makes you want to keep going around that next corner going around the next bed to see what else is there. And you're going to, all right, 30 minutes more. All right, 30 minutes more. And you do the next one and the next one. And so it's like, one more level, one more level, one more level. Let me just check this out. And so I think there's just, there's something to be said about a game that as crazy as sounds just makes you want to keep playing it. And, and I me, it was just it was I never knew what was going to happen. I couldn't anticipate it. And so I wanted to keep going to see what else there was there.

OK. I don't know how to like sense of discovery. I guess. Yeah. Inability to know what's coming. There you go. There's there's a hook. I know what you're talking about, though. There's, there's a hook. I know what you're talking about though. Because it sounds so stupid. And we're like, what's the hook? And it's like, I don't know, but I know exactly what Ryan's talking about right now. It's hard to describe, but this is what it is. All right. Let's see a Ryrie can vocalize this any better for us. What's the hook for you on this Ryrie? I think for a lot of people, the hook's going to be the co-op. It takes two hooked a lot of people on the co-op.

But for me, who plays a lot of co-op games already, I think the word I'm going to use, maybe Ryan will agree with this, is variation. You are never going to get bored of a game mechanic because it is never there long enough to get bored. Yes. Yes, that's perfect. You're constantly getting new game mechanics to play around with new gameplay styles. This is a 3D platformer at its heart,

but it's also a 2D platformer and it's a top down game and whatever else it might be. There is always some kind of variation, some kind of change that makes it so you're not going to get bored of playing split fiction. Dude. All right. This is hilarious guys, because my answer is a hundred percent variety. Yeah, that is my answer. And I was picking on Ryan because Ryan's saying the variety of the game.

And then it's like, if only there was a word for this. So I mean, OK, so three different gamers all saying that the variety aspect of this game is the hook. And I am absolutely with you guys. I am a self-professed ADHD gamer. It's very rare that I ever finish a game, no matter how much I love a game. I mean, I can absolutely think this game is one of the best

ever made. And there's still a good chance I didn't play it through to the end credits kind of thing. I just get, you know, I get, Ooh, what's that game over there? And then, Ooh, what's that game? And my brain wants to try it. And then it goes, cool, I tried it. What's the next thing up? So for this game, for Split Fiction,

the variety in this game was just incredible to somebody like me, where it was, it legitimately felt like this was 20 different games packed into one game in a cohesive way that actually made sense. The other aspect of the variety is you had some nostalgia variety and I'll spoil one of those levels that was a throwback to an old Nintendo game. But when, when that level started to happen and my buddy and I were playing it, we both went, Oh my gosh, dude, like, like this is a throwback, you know, and this game does it so well.

Like it is a nod to so many great video games of the past. It has fantastic like current day technology. There's some mind blowing stuff in this game, dude, like mind blowing. I can't tell you how many times my buddy and I were just like, what is this? Like what is happening right now? You know, that kind of thing. So if you like a game that has variety to it, this is absolutely the game for you. And Riley, you touched on it, and I saw this in a couple of previews and even some of the reviews where people were saying, it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Just when you think you're starting to get tired of a certain gameplay mechanic, it just moves on. And oh baby, does it ever? I cannot remember, there was not a single time in all of my, I think it took me 13 hours to beat, where I had an inkling of like, ah, this is starting to get old, man. Like, did that happen for any of you guys?

There was a little bit for my wife, maybe not for me necessarily. The game has side stories interspersed in there. I love the side stories. The last three chapters don't have any side stories. That's very true. So when we were missing those side stories interspersed in there. I love the side stories. The last three chapters don't have any side stories. That's very true. So when we were missing those side stories, we felt a little bit like things were going on for long because there wasn't a break.

But like, is it really a complaint if we were still having fun? Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes sense. I, for me, it was just, um, it's you, you, you are doing this section and you have this ability, or you have this thing you're using, some sort of craft or something, and then you move on to the next stage and you're like, aww. Because you're just at that level where you're almost fulfilled

by it, so it leaves you wanting just a little bit more. And then within 10 seconds, you're already doing something else and you totally forgot about what happened 15, 20 seconds ago and you're onto the next thing. You're like, Oh, this is awesome, man. Look what I'm, and you're, you're going off and, and you know, dying or this, it, it just, it, it gives you just enough to give that taste. And then it moves on to the next course. You know, it's just like this never ending, just buffet of fun. And, uh, it was, I had an absolute blast. Plus it certainly helped that I was playing with an eight year old child that he's very good at video games.

And, and, and so that helped, um, that we weren't constantly dying. The only time I died was when he purposely made me die, which made it even more fun. But yeah, it just, that never ending just buffet of fun just kept coming down the road, man. It was awesome. Yeah, I loved the variety. I mean, again, and we'll talk about, let's just actually talk about it a little bit, right?

So we talk about the gameplay variety in this. This is a top-down shooter, a side-scroller, a 3D platformer, like a racing game. I mean, you know, boss fights. Snowboarding. Yeah, like snowboarding, SSX tricky level. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, it just goes on and on and on.

And it is incredible how they knew what is fun. And that was part of what blew my mind, is they took so many games that were famous games, and they freaking just put it in split fiction for like 10 or 15 minutes. You know what I mean? And then it was like, I can't believe I'm playing this right now.

So not only is there the gameplay variety, but there's the level variety. So for every one of these, like, hey, here hey, here's a, you know, a snowboarding level, you're playing in the snow. You know, you've got this futuristic Tron, you're riding these motorcycles and you're doing this racing game. That's like, you know, like, and then all of a sudden

it's like you're in this futuristic sci-fi world racing these Tron, like light cycles around and going over jumps and things like that. You know, there's a few levels that absolutely blew my mind. We'll talk about those in the spoiler section. Then not only do you have the gameplay variety and the visual level variety, you also have the variety of the fact that there's half this game is sci-fi and the other half of this game is fantasy.

Yeah. So there's two wildly different visual styles alone. Now I gotta ask you guys, did you like the sci-fi levels or did you like the fantasy levels better? What do you got? I'm torn. In general, I tend to like fantasy more. I'm with you. But I think they had their own little variations.

The sci-fi levels had more boss fights. Yep. I don't know if you guys noticed that. So if you like the boss fights, the sci-fi, I enjoyed the fantasy stuff just because I lean a little bit more fantasy in the things I like to consume in my life. Yeah, I am very much a fan of both genres,

but if I had to say what's my favorite fantasy by far is is right up my alley Give me the magic give me all the different races and the the lore and stuff like that But Ryrie I'm kind of with you in that. I think I found these sci-fi levels to actually be a little bit more fun. I Don't understand why that is but it's like I did like the visuals like every time we got into a fantasy level I was like, I did like the visuals. Like every time we got into a fantasy level, I was like, ah, so pretty, man. Yeah. It's, it's Zoe writes calm stuff. Yes.

And Neo has that. There's war and conflict and all these things going on. And we're being chased by this murderous person and all that kind of stuff. Which is. I think it's happy go lucky and gringy. Yeah. For sure.

And I, and I'm, um, I'm probably more of always just, I've always been a more of a sci-fi guy. I love, I I'm a huge astronomy nerd, a big space guy. And so if it's out there in the stars, that's what I gravitate towards. But I found the different, um, abilities and stuff. And we'll get into that more a little bit later with the spoilers and stuff, but the things you could do in the fantasy aspect, I found myself having more fun doing that and I'm like, okay, this is really cool too. So it gives it just there's so many options and so many kind of paths to go in this realm to have fun. And that's the thing I think they did so well is that there's just no matter what direction you take, no matter what you like, sci-fi or fantasy, you know, you're going to have

fun. The thing, Ryver, you touched on this earlier. So one of the things that I absolutely love is if you are in a sci-fi level, you find these side quests, there's these little portals. And let me tell you, do not, do not ever, ever pass up a side quest in this game. Should not be skipped. They are, I mean, they give you the options to skip them,

but there's some of my favorite parts of the game. Like honestly, and not only are they some of the coolest levels in the game, they are these standalone levels that really, they kind of flesh out the story a little bit, but it's more just this like, Oh, you've been in this fantasy world for the last like 30 minutes here, have a sci-fi episode for like 10 or 15 minutes. And it's something crazy. So it really adds to that, like just variety. So that again,

nothing overstays its welcome in this game, you know, and the same thing, you're in a sci-fi level and you're tired of laser bikes and you know, uh, like Ninja Katana is like, Oh, tired of laser bikes and, you know, like Ninja Katana is like, Oh, have this little level of, you know, pigs flying around and things like that. So it's, it's really, really neat how they kind of balance that out. Now, one of the things that absolutely caught me off guard with this game were the insane visuals. Dude, this might be one of the best looking games I have seen in a while, dude. And I cannot tell you how many times I literally said,

Oh my gosh, that's freaking cool looking man. Like while I was playing this game, like Ryan, you sent me a screenshot. I was sitting on the benches when the benches popped up. Oh, every time. Yeah. Every time we sat on the bench and would just listen and I it's like, I'm not sitting on no bench in any other game, man, but it was like, it would give you visuals. And then the characters would talk.

But like, Ryan, you sent me a screenshot last night of a, it's just a hand drawn level, I'll leave it at that as a, as a spoiler and you were just like, dude, this game's incredible. And I remember getting into that level and being like, there's no way. Yeah. There's no way this is the, this is the level. Oh my gosh, man. getting into that level of being like, there's no way there's no way this is the, this is the level. Oh my gosh, man.

You get in and I'm like, wait, this is more, more of this game. Like we have all these other crazy, uh, sci-fi worlds with planets and, and then these fantasy lands with, with giant trees and, and, uh, all these crazy animals and beasts, and then we have just this hand drawn, beautiful kind of super simple, but so. Beautiful and so neat. Like it was so, I was just, that's why I was like, I got to send this to Josh. I'm like, really? Like, really? Yeah.

It there's, there's another level, uh, you know, where it's a futuristic, uh, you're kind of, you see this star, right? And this, uh, star is exploding a little bit. We'll get a little bit more into that. And I think that might be one of my favorite levels in a game ever. Like that thing was just insane. We've talked about the pig level.

I mean, you're a flying farting pig and the visuals go to the super colorful thing. You know, your buddy is like a spring loaded pig kind of thing. One guy's flying around farting everywhere. The other one's like a giant pig, slinky thing. You're trying to get to the end of this thing. Uh, I mean the, the Vistas where the game would just pan down the camera. And then all of a sudden you'd see this giant futuristic city that looked like

it was something out of star wars or like Coruscant from star wars, where there's just 1,000 cars flying through the sky, zipping around. I mean, I cannot tell you how many times I literally was just like, oh my gosh, that looks amazing. So that, I think, is one of the things that caught me off guard with this. Not only that, but the perspective.

So this game goes from being a three-dimensional game to a two-dimensional game to a top-down perspective to sometimes Your perspectives are mixed like one guy's running on the ceiling while you're running on the floor You know, I mean just at every turn this game was throwing insane visuals at you that just completely caught me off guard, man I'll just throw in here. It's fantastic Fantastic to hear you guys talking about that because I don't play a lot of solo games. Couch co-op games never look this. Yeah. Yeah. There's nothing that looks this good in the couch co-op world.

So this is a major step up and, and a calling card to a lot of people out there that are, are making couch co-op games. Why, why can't your games look kind of better? Look more like this. You know, I always think it's too hard for them to, to run all of this in a split screen view, but then haze light goes in and does it. So it can happen. They've proven it right here. It's a major jump up for my genre. Yeah. It, they really, really upped the game on this one.

All right, listen, we're going to talk a little bit briefly about the story. There's really not a whole lot to talk about about the story. And then I really just want to spend maybe 10 minutes talking about some of the really incredible aspects of this game. We'll get into spoiler territory there. For the people that don't care about spoilers, you're going to understand why we're so hyped for this. But we're going to take one more quick break and we'll be back in just a second.

All right, we are back. All right. So in regards to the story, Ryrie at the top of the episode, you mentioned that you play as Mio and Zoe. They are two authors that get sucked into the simulation. There's a guy that is trying to say, hey, I will publish your writing and stuff. One of the things about these two characters is that they are very different from each other. Mio is an introvert.

She is kind of, I wanna say grouchy. She's kind of the, I kept calling her the fun sponge because my buddy was playing as Mio and I kept going like, Matt, why do you gotta ruin everything, man? Like we're just here trying to have a good time. Yeah, and then Zoe is your carefree fantasy author that is just wants to live in these fantastical worlds and you know, nothing is scary and nothing is bad. And she's very much

an extrovert and an optimist. And so these two characters are pretty opposite of each other, not only in their kind of writing styles, but like the things that they like and their personalities as well. What characters did each of you play as? I played as Mio. You played as Mio? Okay. Did you, did you choose her intentionally or was this like your wife always chooses the characters? Okay. So Zoe looks remarkably similar to my wife. Congratulations. to my wife as congratulations. And then Ryan, who did you play as?

I actually played a Zoe. Uh, I did not choose. Um, I just, we just kind of booted it up and I'm like, all right, I'll take this one, you take that one and let's roll. But I was, I was immensely happy that I had Zoe cause I'm this kind of with me. I'm just like fun and crazy. And that's how she was. And I'm like, let's go. I played a Zoe as well. I mean, if extroverted optimist sounds, you know, that's pretty,

pretty on par for me. So I was like, well, I've got to play this person. And then my buddy, Matt played as me as well. And it was funny because we actually would troll each other, like as the characters, like I said, I'd keep saying like, dude, why are you taking all the fun out of this man? You know, and he'd be like, I don't know, man. I'm sorry. So a little bit of a weird role play thing going on there, maybe. Um, so there is story. Does the story really do anything to this game? Is it just the thread that kind of ties everything together for you guys? Like was, were you interested in the story and the, the, like, I mean, the characters kind of go through this evolution and they have issues that come to light through the different levels and stuff like that.

But for me, the story was just the thread that said this is why you're playing this game. But I might be jaded or, you know, maybe there was more to it that I just didn't pick up on. So what did you guys think about the story? I, I, I did think that, you know, I was happy happy it was there I think that the way they set it up it fits and it is appropriate for you know the gameplay and how the kind of the whole thing kind of melts together it's not what made this game for me but I did appreciate it I did see like oh okay that's why she's that way that's why you know she's know, behaving like this or making these comments.

So it, it does tie a lot of things together. Um, it's not what makes the game, uh, which at the end of the day, when you're playing a couch co-op, you don't want the story to make them, you want the gameplay to make the game cause you're playing together. So that's, that's what you want to do. You want to have fun. And, and it, this did the, you know, tenfold. So, um, the story was great.

I thought it tied everything together, but it wasn't anything, you know, super outstanding. Yeah. The story is certainly not phenomenal, but not, uh, bad. My wife famously hates, uh, stories in games. She pulls out her phone during cut scenes. Oh no. Games. No. Um, cutscenes. Oh no. Oh no. Um, she did not do that in Split Fiction. So that says something for the story that

she paid a little bit more attention to it. It does, it was a little bit predictable to us. I don't know if you guys felt the same way. We were constantly saying, oh, this is going to happen. Two hours later that happened. Oh, this is going to happen two hours later that happened. Yeah. Yeah so a little bit predictable, I think it really helps to tie the story to tie the game together and Like Ryan, I'm glad that it was there, but it's not necessarily It's it's not a story that you're gonna be like all the story and split fiction is so good And again if we're looking at couch co-op games a lot of couch co-op games tend to be just gameplay, not a whole lot of stories. So it is a little bit different for that genre as well,

that they're incorporating more of an in-depth story. Yeah, this isn't, this isn't Arthur Morgan looking at this, you know, the sunset, you know, or sunrise or whatever at the end, you know, of red dead or anything like that. So, uh, but, but like you said, I'm glad it's there. Yeah. I will say for me, the characters were interesting. I mean, they did a good job of kind of fleshing out their personalities and then the levels are always tied to because they're writers and they're basically living like through the stories that they invented or something like that.

It does give you a reason that you are in this level or, you know, why you were going through this kind of gameplay element or something like that. So, I mean, I don't know that the game needed it, but it was there and it wasn't bad or distracting in any way. I did enjoy the parts where it kind of explained the stories that you were walking through. Yes, exactly. Why that specific thing. the stories that you were walking through. Yes. Exactly.

Why that specific thing. I do, I, I did enjoy that part a little bit, but like the overall arching story over overarching, whatever that word. Yeah. Over some words were words. Yeah. Now you got me wondering the over-arc. The connection. Like, okay, that's why that's where this world that I'm in came about, you know,

because Zoe as a kid with her sister, blah, blah, blah, you know, and didn't like the dentist. Yeah. And so, or their animal or whatever happened, you know, it's so, it is cool to, to know why you are where you were within that world. But, um, yeah, man, it was no matter what, it was just fun. All right. Let's do this.

Let's get into some spoilers cause we're running low on time already. And we've got to talk about some of these just insane moments of the game. So this is your spoiler warning. If you don't want anything else revealed to you, we are going to talk about some specific levels or some specific gameplay elements. Again, my recommendation is if you were going to play this, you should skip this part, the natural discovery of this and those wow moments I think are better. If you just experienced them versus being told them.

So that's your warning. All right, let's do this boys. I mean, there's so much that there was so many wow moments in this game. Oh my goodness, dude. I am going to start off with the star level. This was a sci-fi level that was of Mio's design. You were in this futuristic world where there is a star that is supernova-ing,

like kind of over and over. It kind of gets contained, I guess. This was one of the coolest visual levels I have seen. The gist in this level is that you have to be behind these barriers every time the star explodes. The audio for that star explosion was freaking cool as anything. So good. The tension of having to run and then be behind this like barrier when the star

exploded, the visuals of this like super advanced sci-fi like universe that's about to end was just incredible, dude. I mean, this is one of my favorite levels in a game that I have experienced in a while for me. I just thought the sound, the design, the memorableness of this was top notch. I mean, oh my goodness, man. Dude, it was, to me, it almost was akin to like,

and I know this is wild and way out there and crazy, but. Halo three war hog level. Like, I know I'm kind of with you, dude. It was, it was that just that, cause it was a constant. It wasn't, um, there was no like luller or dead time. It was just, you just kept having that pulse and you're like, it's sped up and you're like, I got to get there and I got to go and I got to move and I got to get to this one. And then, you know, my son, he would jump up and then I'm like, no, no, you don't jump down here.

And then he gets just roasted and just melted and nothing. And, uh, he's made into particles and then he's got to reboot and go back up over the top and stuff. So that one, uh, to me was definitely one of the best levels I have played in a game in, in years, like it was, um, it was something that I, I, I wanted to finish, but I didn't want it to end. Right. Yeah. No, absolutely. I was sad when that level ended.

Yeah. And you, and you get out of it and you're like, man, you like, got to like, take a breath and then, you know, you feel like the Avengers after the, you know, the end where they're all in the diner and they're just like sitting there, you know, you're just like, that was crazy, you know, but, but you're, you're so happy it's done. But you know, like it was just, there was something about that level that, that I haven't played in a long time.

And, and I just kept yelling out loud. This is game of the year. This is game of the year, you know, as I'm playing it. So it's man, there's just something about a level that, that makes you feel that connection and that feels that enjoyment and excitement that, uh, I haven't felt in a long time. Yeah. Yeah.

Riley, was there a level for you that stood out? I enjoyed the majority of the side stories. Yeah. Yes. Oh yeah. I have one that's in my head, but I want to talk about it when we get to boss fights. So I think instead I'll mention there was a game show level where-

Yes. Oh yeah. I remember this one, man. You play on this game show where basically they're just trying to kill you. You have to throw a bomb back and forth like hot potato. If you don't throw it soon enough, it's going to explode and you have to go through an obstacle course to get it all the way to the end. And we had a ton of fun with that one. I remember how excited my wife was when that booted up. She was like, no way. This is a game show. They made a game show level. And it was,

it was really entertaining. And honestly, probably one of the times that we died the most. Yeah, that was, that one was tricky, man, but it made it feel even better when you got to the end of the level and you're throwing that bomb back and forth. And yeah, the timing, you're like, put it in, put it in, put the and forth. And yeah, the timing you're like, Oh man. Ryan, was there one that stood out for you above any of the others? I mean, honestly, dude, my answer would probably be the star level. I also, I mean, I know we're in spoiler territory. So, um, a lot of the fantasy worlds where, uh, you could do as Zoe, you could

be the tree. I kept calling them Groot and shape, shape, shape shift. And then like the ability throughout this, I mean, you're, you're just playing this level and I have my normal human state. I can go be a tree or I can be a fairy and that's just me. And you know, Jackson, my son, he's over there. He's able to change into a fish. And that's just me. And you know, Jackson, my son, he's over there. He's able to change into a fish. And then, uh, I forget what the other thing was that he could be. It's an ape. Yeah, the ape. Yeah, the ape. So then I'm like, Oh, I gotta, you know, hit this, uh, branch and then bring this down and then he can climb across. And like, there's just, there's so much there

that you just, you, you never got bored or into a low or into kind of a zone where you just kind of were just going through the game and, and those, those worlds just, I just got lost in them. And so we had so much fun. So I mean, my, the star one is, is number one for me too. It was just like you, Josh, but some of the other fantasy stuff where you could shape shift was so cool. Yeah, there was, there was another level. It's one of the other fantasy stuff where you could shape shift was so cool.

Yeah, there was, there was another level. It's one of the sci-fi levels. It's fairly early on where you are piloting like a car and you're having to jump from these like tubes from like one tube to another, like these kind of teleportation to things almost. And there was something about just ripping out of one tube. And then the controls in this game are top notch, by the way. That's one thing we didn't talk about. It's like this is the most intuitive control system for a game that is 20 different games

that I think I've ever seen, dude. The controls just behaved like your brain automatically assumed that they would. So even for that level, and I think maybe that's where it kind of set in for me is I was piloting the car, but to leap out of one of these tubes and then just go coasting through the air and then just splashing into another tube, like just with precision. Yeah. And it felt so good, dude. I was just like, oh my gosh, man.

And then you have to kind of jump back and forth because the tubes are going to crash into a wall. And I just remember it was, it was insane, man. All right, right. You mentioned one of the side quests, uh, you know, like on this, again, I think these are phenomenal, but you said one kind of stood out above the others to you. What was that one? Um, are we talking about the one with the boss fight? Yeah. That I mentioned, um, there's a dentist, uh, you play as, as little teeth.

I thought it was our candy land at first. Yeah. You're, you're jumping from one cake to another, walking along honeycombs or whatever. And the joy that we had playing through this and, and even again, we predicted this. My wife was like, something bad is going to happen. This is not happy. Go. Yeah. Something is going to go wrong and you get to the end of this level where you've

been jumping around as this happy little tooth on all this cake and candy. And you blow out all the candles on the cake. And then this big old robot dentist appears and he's scary man. Yeah. And he'll, he'll take his drill and he'll cut you in half. You become two different parts of a tooth. It's, uh, it's insane. It's crazy. And probably one of my favorite most memorable levels of the game and my favorite boss fight for sure.

That boss fight was top notch too, man. It really was an epic, epic boss fight on that. But that's the whole game, insane. Every time. It really is. That's the game. I mean, there's probably, I mean, off the top of my head, there's probably six different mega boss fights

in this game on top of, I mean, maybe more, but I mean, there's so- I think there's more. I was gonna say, I feel like there's some also like some smaller bosses. The one or the level, cause we are running, we're running out of time here. The other level, and I mentioned this,

I teased this early on was the Contra level. Like you're literally running around and then the camera, you know, the perspective just changes. And that's when my buddy and I were like, dude, it's Contra. It was really happening. And you even get like the spread shot thing and all this stuff. And I was like, dude, it's contra. It was really happening. And you even get like the spread shot and all this stuff. And I was like, dude, we're playing contra right now. You know?

And I'm playing with an eight year old. And I'm like, I'm like, Jackson, you don't know what we're about to do right now. It's like, I was like, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. We're damaging him. Come on. Do you see his blinking? That's damage.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that the SSX tricky level with the snowboarding where you're actually like, you're literally like rail grinding and trying to put together this combo of tricks and stuff like that while you're skiing down this mountain. I mean, just so many good memories like that. I mean, oh my goodness, this game is so good. So, so good. Okay. So we've talked and we've gushed over this for a little while.

Were there, was there anything that didn't work for you on this game? You know, I mean we've been kind of praising it for you know, the gameplay the the visuals the the co-op aspects But is there anything where you kind of went? Yeah, this could have been better I'm a I'm gonna pass it on to the expert. I want to hear what he has to say. All right There wasn't anything particularly that we didn't like. There was a couple of things that we felt were missing. When I asked my wife what she did not like about the game, the only thing she would say is that the Monkey should have been a rhythm based game.

She just wished they'd. She loves rhythm based games. I mean, there's nothing that we didn't like. Um, I felt like if you compare this to it takes two, it takes two had a lot of really fun small things to interact with throughout the game. And I felt like this one had less things that were put in just as like many little interactibles. Um, but that's comparing to it takes two, which is like the other great game in the co-op.

Yeah. So, you know, just as a game on its own, there's nothing we had an issue with. I, this is going to sound kind of cliche, but really the, the only thing for me was I beat this game. I checked my play time, 12.8 hours. Uh, now my buddy and I are both pretty good gamers, so we did not fail very often. So I, we didn't speed run it necessarily, but I mean, we definitely died and had to kind of,

both died at the same time, which means you kind of start at a checkpoint, but I just want more, man. I mean, I would have loved it, loved it if this was like a 20 hour game. Perfect gameplay time. I don't think you guys died at all. Cause like I said, I made a full gameplay video of this and I cut out all of our mistakes and stuff.

And I think it was like 11 hours, 45 minutes or something after cutting all of our faces. Yeah. Yeah. We're, I mean we did, we even said we're like, you know, this is pretty good. And we joked about Ryan, you having to play with your kids. And we're like, Ryan's going to not get through this level. Like there were a few times where we're like, dude, this was pretty tough. The bomb level, like the game show level, like learning to time, tossing that back and forth.

We definitely died a bunch there, but it was funny cause we actually did bring up like the, man, we're so good at this game, man. But like some people are going to struggle on this stuff too. And then it's funny cause Ryan, the next day is like, dude, my son just keeps killing me over and over again. The problem is he's just like me. And so like, I, I, you know, I, my first just keeps killing me over and over again. The problem is he's just like me. And so like, I, I, you know, I, my first thought is like, I'm going to not open this

portal for him and he's going to die. And he does it before I do it. And so he, he knows, so he, he's already ahead of the game. But, uh, so I, yeah, I'm, I'm, uh, up there. I'm probably going to be a little bit more on my time gameplay, you know, than you were. But as far as, you know, what I would change, honestly, like, man, I think I do think if there was a little bit more in the world, uh, there was just the way, the way it was set up where the possibilities were almost endless. Cause you were in this, this kind of a computer system to where this is all thoughts and theories and everything else. It's an open, it's an open slate. You can, you can do whatever you want to do.

So if they were to put a little bit more, it would have been cool. Some of this come a little side pieces. And then like you said, near the end, they, there wasn't as many a side missions, you know? So if there was just some more of that extra stuff, extra flair, it would have been nice, but you know, that's really one of those things. Like you're nitpicking that Gordon Ramsey's, you know, steak house.

Like you're, you're taking something that's a 9.5 or whatever and making it a 9.4 point, you know, like decimal, decimal, decimal type thing. So you're just, you're, you're, you're nitpicking and trying to find a reason to not like it or, or to make an issue. So to me, it was just, there's not too much to pick on this game. It was, it was just so dang good. All right. One spoiler that I am going to leave as a spoiler, but I have to mention it is this. I saw somebody, it might've been the IGN review. The guy was like, this has one of the coolest ending levels I think I've ever seen in my life. And I went, dude, come on, Halo 3 Warthog run. Ryan, you said it earlier, right? Dude, the end level on this game

is truly one of the coolest end levels I have seen in a video game. Ryrie, do you agree? Yeah, it's phenomenal. I wish we had more time to talk about it. I know. Yeah. We're going to leave that one for the people, because I know there are people that will listen and then still play the game, but I want them to kind of discover that final level.

It's a lot of fun. It is insane. It's unique. I will say that. It is insane. My jaw hit the floor, and I remember going, this is what it is insane. I, I, my jaw hit the floor and I remember going, this is what the guy was talking about. And oh my goodness, I think he understated it like legitimately it was, it was that cool. So,

all right. I saw it listed on, uh, when I got the review key, they gave me this review guide of all the chapters and I saw that as the last chapter and I was like, Ooh, that's going to be just, Oh man. Okay. So before we close the show, is this a must play game for people? I mean, like my answer is absolutely yes. I think that everybody should play this game. You only have to buy one copy. That's the beauty of this game is if you buy a copy, your friend can play for free. They download the friend pass and they can join you. You just invite them.

So only one person has to actually purchase a copy of this game. Shout out to Joseph Ferris and Hayes light studios, cause they have done this with every game that they have ever made. And I freaking love you guys for that. Thank you for being true to gamers. In my opinion, this is an absolute must play game. Ryan. Yeah, dude, this, um, this is one that, that is top tier within the last decade.

Uh, I am not the huge couch co-op type guy, but this makes me want to play more couch co-ops, like I'm going to actively search them out now so I can try and come even a little bit close to recreating this experience. So this game did its job and it served its purpose and it was just to have fun and it did it tenfold. Yeah, Ryrie? Absolutely, this one is a must play. It's worth finding somebody to play with. If you don't normally play couch co-op, you mentioned that it's a little bit difficult at times, but honestly, it's not a hard game. I agree with that. I think it's fairly beginner friendly

as well. If you want to try to get somebody that doesn't really play games to play with you, it's, it's worth it. Yeah. All right. Last question before we close. Is this in contention for game of the year? Ooh, for me it is, but you guys are the solo gamers. What else? I mean, I, I personally, I think that it is in contention. I, like I said, I kept yelling, um, as I was playing like this is my game of the year. This is my game of the year, you know? And I had loved kingdom come deliverance too. Like I had more fun than I can even imagine playing that game, but there's just something to be said about that, that co-op nature and playing with someone, especially that's sitting

right next to you, that you can laugh and have that kind of enjoyment with in the moment, you know, IRL, but, but I don't think it'll win. Unfortunately, but I do think it should absolutely be nominated and it should be up there, you know, no holds barred. Absolutely. I have no doubts that it will be nominated. Yeah. Yeah.

I just, that's my answer is I think if this game doesn't get nominated for game of the year, something is wrong. Travesty like honestly, now I will say this game doesn't get nominated for game of the year something is wrong travesty like honestly No, I will say this. It's March. It's I mean we're recording this on March 14th guys Yeah, we have two games that we have like said I mean King to come deliverance to we said game of the year contender and now we have split fiction that we're saying game Of the year contender. Yeah, I mean unless you know eight more games this year come out that are game of the year contenders, then I absolutely do think Split Fiction should be in contention. I don't think it will win game of the year, but I think it

needs to be nominated for game of the year because there is something special about this game. Again, you know, I have to give all the credit in the world to Hazelight Studios. They respect gamers. They have always done the, you only have to buy one copy. They are trying to keep couch co-op alive, which is something that a lot of developers don't do anymore. I mean, mad respect to this studio as gamers

reward this studio for what they do because this is one of the good ones. You know, you only have to purchase one copy as well, but I cannot recommend enough that people give this game a try. Find somebody to play with. If you don't have somebody to play with, come join our Discord server. I mean, we have seen multiple people say, hey,

I'm looking to play split fiction with somebody. And people have chimed in and things like that too. So it is the best gaming community that exists out there. And you will absolutely be able to find somebody to play with as well. So speaking of playing games with people, we're late for our community night. We're all playing Marvel rivals together. So we are going to go ahead and wrap up this episode. Ryrie, thank you so much, man. This has been awesome to have you on the show. I know we've talked behind the scenes a lot, but it's been really, really cool to have you on as like, you know, the co-op expert.

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It was, it was fun to be here with you. What did you rate this game by the way? I gave it a 10 out of 10. My wife gave it a nine out of 10, but for the pure fact that you can't, you can't, there, you can't, there's no room for wiggle is what she was, is what she was saying. So basically in my head, that's a 10 out of 10, but I got in trouble with her cause in our video I had it scripted where she

said it's a 10 out of 10. She said, I'm not doing that to the camera. So I had to put gameplay footage over that rating. Uh, but it's the only game. I think that we've rated a number. We don't normally give our games a number, but we did give this one a 9.5 out of 10 when we split it between my lines. That should tell people everything they need to know. Yeah, absolutely. So, Ryrie, thank you again for joining us.

This has been a blast, man. That is it for this episode. If you have not done so already, please click the follow button, the plus button in your podcast app so you get all our episodes the day that they release. And if you want to be like the fine people at the beginning of the episode that support this podcast and make all of this possible, remember you can head over to multiplayer squad.com.

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