In a recent Creator’s Voice video discussing Split Fiction on Nintendo’s YouTube, Josef Fares, Founder and Creative Director, and Oskar Wolontis, Chief Operating Officer of Hazelight Studios, discuss some surprising influences for their new game, and how the new additions to the Switch 2 enhance the game.
Hazelight Studios is the name behind huge co-op games It Takes Two and A Way Out, featuring split-screen gameplay that requires you and a friend to work through puzzles together. Split Fiction is a similar type of game with quite a few settings. In it, you go through fantasy, sci-fi, cyberpunk, medieval, whimsical farm-based worlds, and so much more.
In the video, Josef states that Nintendo is part of where his passion for video games started, saying that a lot of the features we see in games come from Nintendo itself. He specifically mentions one of the Wii’s best Mario games – “Mario Galaxy 2, definitely one of my favorite games ever”, he says. “I just love the level design, I love the creativity”. He even 100%-ed the game, so you know he’s serious.
Oskar chimes in saying that that’s the beauty of it, where you get sucked in and you “just lose track of time and you’re in a different place”. You can clearly see the inspiration of titles like Mario Galaxy if you play Split Fiction with gameplay that has you visiting plenty of different planets, worlds, and sticking to different surfaces with different centres of gravity.
Split Fiction can only be played in co-op with another player – as Josef says, the game is “a good way to test your relationship”, and we agree as it requires communication and working together. It’s not quite as intense as Overcooked 2, though, and has some humorous bits in it to soften any particularly puzzling levels.
The duo goes on to talk about how the Switch 2’s latest features, like GameChat, its built-in chat feature with optional video, and GameShare, are a necessity for Split Fiction, and helped them bring it to the platform as it means players can easily play online, not just in the same room.
We actually got to play the game at the recent Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on experience in London, playing it in docked mode with Pro controllers. While we took a moment to figure out the controls, as I’d been playing too much Xbox and forgot where X was, we appreciated how good the game looks and how well it runs on the new console. In our humble opinion, this will be an excellent addition to the Switch’s library.
We have a list of Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders here if you’re itching to get your hands on one, some more picks of multiplayer games here, and games for couples if you need something to pass the time together.