Ever since It Takes Two swept up Game of the Year back in 2021, developer Hazelight Studios were seen as a lot more than just the underdogs. Despite director Josef Fares’ (second) shot into stardom that didn’t involve cursing the Oscars, Hazelight continued to develop games with the exact same, consumer-friendly, absurdly imaginative mindset. That’s all exemplified with this year’s Split Fiction, another world-hopping co-op adventure that splices genres and unique, refreshing gameplay mechanics to create what is arguably not just one of the best games of the year, but one of the most creatively rich titles you’ll play all decade.

This review is spoiler-free.



The story of Split Fiction follows two aspiring writers, Mio and Zoe, who both get invited to a corporation called Rader Publishing in order to test out a strange new experimental simulation device. Through this process, the writers can explore their written stories and ideas virtually in “bubbles”, but in actuality, it’s all just a ruse for Rader Publishing to steal their ideas. After a mishap, Mio stumbles into Zoe’s bubble and the two have to work together to explore each other’s stories and find... a way out (no pun intended).



Immediately, Mio and Zoe are set up as writers with distinct writing styles and vastly different outlooks on life. Mio’s stories lean more into sci-fi, usually taking on hard-boiled tones with grim, human narrative themes while Zoe’s stories are set in inspiring fantasy, where uplifting tales of wonder, magic and heroism are abundant. In short, Mio and Zoe's personalities clash, making for some interesting drama and conflict, and it's great to see their growth through learning to understand one another along the way. We’ve never really seen this kind of premise done in a video game before, and arguably this is where Fares’ filmmaking expertise comes in play because it’s a wildly original idea that feels like it could’ve easily been a movie.

In short, Mio and Zoe's personalities clash, making for some interesting drama and conflict, and it's great to see their growth through learning to understand one another along the way.

Instead, through harnessing the interactive power of a video game, Fares and Hazelight Studios are able to repurpose this world-jumping adventure into a 10-12 hour campaign that takes complete advantage of its format. Like the wonderful, imaginative level design of It Takes Two, Split Fiction is absolutely brimming with originality and smart creative choices.



Since Mio and Zoe’s storied worlds are explored, Hazelight Studios is able to constantly change the design and gameplay mechanics between each new story to keep the game consistently fresh and exciting. While there are some basic repeated mechanics, most worlds present new challenges, new puzzles, or completely new gameplay perspectives, blending a variety of gameplay styles and genres into one satisfying, wholesome package. If you’ve played It Takes Two, you sort of already know what to expect out of the worlds of Split Fiction, from platforming to puzzle-solving to side-scrolling shooters and so much more, it’s a game that never stops surprising – and delighting – you from one moment to the next.

Split Fiction is entirely co-op which might be a make or break deal for single-player enjoyers, but the developers once again allow you to share the game with another person by only purchasing it once. To sweeten the deal even more, Split Fiction supports crossplay so it can be played with others regardless of platform. If you can’t find someone to play with you, Hazelight Studios set up a Discord where you can invite others to join you – even if someone else never bought the game since you’ll be sharing your copy with them. I know this isn’t entirely relevant to the game itself, but I just wanted to highlight how incredibly consumer-friendly this move is from EA and Hazelight. Great job.



Getting back to the game, Split Fiction’s strengths lie in its dazzling world designs and sheer creativity on display. Booting up the game with my partner, we struggled, solved puzzles together, and had to even think out of the box in some cases to progress. In fact, it often seems like Split Fiction actively encourages players to think out of the box since its ever-shifting gameplay accommodates a wide variety of creative solutions to problems, leaving a lot of agency in the player’s hands. Since two minds are better than one, there was never a moment where we were left scratching our heads as the answers, more often than not, required a little bit of mental flexibility and creative thinking.

It’s a game that never stops surprising – and delighting – you from one moment to the next.

For the most part, though, Split Fiction is a straight-forward adventure game with all of the ingenuity of Hazelight’s past titles, feeling like a true culmination of their efforts to create the perfect co-op experience – and they’ve come very close. Apart from progressing the story together, there are scenarios where players can simply let loose and explore. There’s plenty of downtime to veer off the beaten path and soak in the finer details, led only by your curiosity. When the story does roll from one world to the next, it takes you on a whirlwind adventure that never failed to put a smile on my face or make me laugh.



Since Mio is all about her gritty sci-fi writing, we get to visit her story ideas filled with worlds clearly taking its aesthetics from futuristic synth-wave or cyberpunk styles – towering buildings, motorcycles lifted straight out of Tron, and eye-catching neon cityscapes pressed against the night sky. It all reminded me of Blade Runner or Akira. On the flip side, Zoe’s worlds take on the properties of high fantasy; think fairy tales, lush vistas, and serene atmospheres with a homey sort of feel. Most importantly, the game successfully merges these styles together to create unpredictability as we hop between stories.

Most importantly, both Mio and Zoe inject a bit of their own personalities and struggles into their stories, so through visiting and exploring these worlds, we also learn a lot about them as characters. Whether it’s addressing the actions of certain characters in their stories or some feeling an intense amount of guilt over their past, there’s always a piece of each writer deeply embedded within their tales, making it all feel very personal and grounded amidst its big concepts and darker undertones. It’s relatable, very real emotions that come out of their shared experiences, and I think Split Fiction does a tremendous job of investing players in their plights, even if the writing stumbles at times with dialogue that doesn’t cut as deep as it should have.



The biggest problem with Split Fiction is also its greatest strength: Mio and Zoe’s relationship. On their own, they’re excellent characters with a lot of potential to be explored on a deeper emotional level. Yet, Hazelight Studios struggles to convey these emotions through dialogue that can feel a bit stilted at times. It’s almost like we’re always on the cusp of a major emotional breakthrough or powerful character growth moment before the writing hits the brakes. This is strange considering It Takes Two never really had this issue as it had no restraint exploring the tumultuous failing marriage of a couple. Split Fiction gets us invested in Mio and Zoe’s friendship but through better dialogue, I feel like its big emotional payoffs, while they do hit hard, could’ve hit a lot harder.

There’s always a piece of each writer deeply embedded within their tales, making it all feel very personal and grounded amidst its big concepts and darker undertones.

Moving onto the technical stuff, Split Fiction looks fantastic on PS5 (mainly reviewed on PS5 Pro) with stunning environments and detailed worlds. I didn’t encounter many issues, if at all – it’s extremely polished and runs well on console (mileage may vary depending on platform, of course). The voice acting also deserves a special mention. Elsie Bennett as Zoe and Kaja Chan as Mio are phenomenal and bounce off of each other very well, hitting all the right notes to shape believable characters.



Whenever the discussion of “video games as art” is brought up, we usually have our usual suspects locked and loaded to prove that point: Shadow of the Colossus, Journey, The Last of Us, Gris, etc. Split Fiction has now, deservedly, entered that discussion too. Despite some of its shortcomings in the writing department, it’s admirable that Hazelight Studios continues to knock it out of the park when it comes to harnessing the full potential of co-op games. It’s a creatively rich, rewarding and utterly riveting adventure from beginning to end with the sole goal of uniting people through shared hardships, celebrations and the sensitive topics in-between. If that isn’t beautiful, I don’t know what is.

*PS5 Review code provided by Electronic Arts