Written by Cece
“It Takes Two” has a straightforward motif: a couple on the verge of breaking up experiences a dream in which their fading love returns through shared responsibilities, friendship, and love for their daughter. “It’s important to remember that only passionate love fades,” Dr. Lieberman says. “Companionate love, the kind of love that established couples feel, generally grows with time.
This game can be divided into two parts. The couple moves from the toolroom to Rose’s room in the first part. Transformed into Rose’s two little toys, they escape their real-life constraints and embark on the adventure without hesitation, beginning to rediscover each other. May and Cody start to see the world from a lower perspective, entering a new world brimming with fantasy and adventure.
In this new world, there is no danger, only angry vacuum machines and toolboxes. There are no villains, only squirrels, bees, and toys. You can cry and laugh purely based on instinct. Cody and May return to their childhood, free from the complexities of the adult world.
In the second part, the dream starts to come back to life. As the adventure progresses, May and Cody’s real lives also begin to transform. The withered garden starts to sprout new buds, the cuckoo clock is repaired, and snowflakes drift inside the snow globe again. They begin to understand the meaning of their actions. In the garden, Joy tells Cody that it’s not important whether your lover encourages your dream; in fact, your dream has nothing to do with love. It solely depends on yourself. From this point, our main characters realize that maintaining passion in a relationship requires mutual giving, keeping one’s integrity, and pursuing personal fulfillment. This almost steps outside the theme of cooperation, suggesting that replacing the passion for love with a passion for life can improve your life.
Josef Fares, the producer of this game, believes that games are the future of storytelling. Games are like movies since the player can be a part of the narrative. Through the gameplay and choices made within the game, players can craft their own stories and experiences. By discussing relationships between two people through the game, where each character has its personality and abilities, they must cooperate to progress. Fares believes we shouldn’t escape from real life by becoming engrossed in our gaming worlds. Instead, we should play games with our friends and family, as the love and romance expressed in games are beautiful reflections of the real world.