Split Fiction (Xbox Series X|S)

Game description:

Split Fiction is a 2025 action-adventure game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts. As a cooperative multiplayer-only game. Split Fiction was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 6, 2025. Upon release, the game received critical acclaim.

Gameplay:

As with Hazelight's previous game, It Takes Two, Split Fiction was specifically designed for split screen cooperative multiplayer, which means that it must be played with another player through either local or online play. In the game, players assume control of either Zoe or Mio, two authors who both become trapped inside their own stories. The two strangers must work together to escape and overcome numerous challenges along the way, as Mio's science fiction story interweaves with Zoe's fantasy story, putting both characters in grave danger. The game is an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective, requiring players to complete platforming challenges and occasionally combating against hostile enemies. Stages are often accompanied with a unique one-off gameplay mechanic. For instance, the two may be commanding dragons in one stage, while wielding a laser sword in another stage. The ability for both characters within each stage is also different, meaning that the two must collaborate with each other and utilize the respective abilities of their playable characters in order to progress. There are also side content in each stage named Side Stories, which can be accessed by entering a portal. Side Stories are based on unfinished ideas and stories written by both Zoe and Mio when they are younger. As with the main level, each side story also features an accompanying gameplay mechanic.

Game review:

An expertly crafted and absorbing co-op adventure that pinballs from one genre extreme to another, Split Fiction is a rollercoaster of gameplay ideas and styles that are usually discarded as quickly as they’re introduced. This keeps it fabulously fresh for its full, 14-hour duration. With no idea sticking around long enough to get stale before making way for the next, it’s a victory of imagination and restraint in equal measure. Hazelight may have been rewriting the co-op rule book for a decade now, but Split Fiction is a new chapter that you (and a partner) cannot miss.