Chapter 146: Gameplay Experience
As time passed, many players who had been following It Takes Two were eagerly awaiting its launch. During this time, Nebula Games also conducted a pre-release promotion for It Takes Two. After all, in terms of scale, it is currently Nebula Games' second-largest game, surpassed only by Dark Souls.
While players, industry experts, and media were skeptical at the time, the necessary publicity and promotion were still needed.
In addition, the cost of promoting It Takes Two was significantly less than that of last year's Dark Souls. This was mainly due to the recent lack of outstanding games in the video game world, which left players in a game drought. Any seemingly good game would get significant attention. A year ago, Alex collected numerous awards at the annual game awards ceremony, naturally attracting significant attention for his new work.
All these factors combined led the game It Takes Two, despite its demanding requirements, to attract considerable attention. This was undoubtedly the right time and place.
As for the right people, they were, naturally, the loyal followers of Nebula Games. Unlike ordinary players, who were doubtful of the quality of It Takes Two, these fans of Nebula Games and Alex had only one word to describe it: buy it!
In a residential complex in the capital, Sarah was already prepared. Two computers were already connected to the Nebula Games platform, waiting for the game to unlock for purchase. Mike, standing next to her, watched his girlfriend's anticipation with a subtle expression. He remembered the unfair treaty signed a year earlier. He had been washing dishes for a year because of a game called Overcooked. Despite that, he could not resist Nebula Games. Whether it was Mirror, known only to Nebula fans for two years, or Dark Souls, which truly captivated him last year, he loved them both.
Frankly, he was quite excited about the upcoming unlock of It Takes Two. The trailer suggested a large amount of playable content.
"Unlocked, unlocked! This game is huge! Almost as big as Dark Souls!" Sarah bought the game as soon as it unlocked, surprised by the download screen that appeared.
While a larger size is not always better for games, and compression technology is a factor, both It Takes Two and Dark Souls are produced by Nebula Games, so, naturally, there are no compression issues.
This left only one conclusion: "It Takes Two" was definitely not smaller than Dark Souls.
Sarah's anticipation was immediately piqued. Mike, standing next to her, calmed down after a brief moment of anticipation. Looking at the screen, he silently repeated:
'Impulsiveness is the devil! Don't be impulsive. Don't get carried away when you play this game later. If not, he will not only have to wash the dishes, but also the laundry!'
Although all the content so far suggested that It Takes Two was a completely different genre from last year's Overcooked, despite Alex's fame and the official blog's hype, It Takes Two was still a cooperative two-player game.
Every time Mike thought about this, he remembered how addicted he was to Overcooked at the time.
How he had loudly promised to be a good dishwasher.
Mike repeated his slogan to himself three times before Sarah, next to him, reminded him: "Hurry up, the game is already downloaded! Go in! I'll invite you right away."
"Okay, I'm coming right away," Mike nodded and entered the game.
After a brief flash of the Nebula Games logo, the game screen appeared.
The scene took place in a farm-like courtyard. Cody, who was taking out the trash, was talking to May, who was driving with a briefcase.
The couple's relationship had broken down and they were on the verge of divorce. Even over trivial matters, they both complained and argued, feeling that the other did not understand them, did not understand the depth of their inner pressures.
They argued in the courtyard. Meanwhile, on the windowsill, their daughter, Rose, watched them sadly, holding two dolls in her hands and expressing her wishes, with the clear hope that her parents would stop arguing.
At that moment, the scene froze.
Looking at the frozen image, Rose was holding two dolls, one male and one female. Cody was made of clay, while May was made of wood.
After watching the trailer, Mike and Sarah knew these two characters well.
The selection interface that appeared on the frozen screen allowed them to clearly choose their respective characters.
"Is there any difference between these two characters?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Of course there is!" Mike interjected.
"What's the difference?" Sarah asked.
"Didn't you notice? A man, a woman, one of clay, one of wood," Mike said with a chuckle.
Sarah looked at Mike speechless.
'How was it possible that she didn't know?'
Seeing Sarah's expression, Mike stopped playing and offered his own guess: "Didn't they show a demo on Alex's official blog and the trailer? The two characters have special abilities in the game that require cooperation. It seems that the male and female special abilities are different."
"Really?" Sarah suddenly realized.
However, she was not sure about the special abilities of the two characters, so she chose them according to their gender.
Sarah chose May, while Mike chose Cody.
After confirming the choice of their characters, the game screen went black.
After a couple of seconds, the screen and audio appeared.
However, the game did not start immediately. Instead, a scene played.
At the dining table, in front of their daughter, Rose, Cody and May finally told her about their impending divorce.
Hearing this, Rose remained impassive, took her stuffed elephant, and returned to her room.
But an instant later, she took the dolls that represented her father and mother, went out the window, and headed to the washroom.
Under the washroom table was a red book titled "The Book of Love."
"Dr. Hagin, you have to help me... They have to be together."
"Look, it says here: 'Love takes effort.' Do you see?"
"You have to work hard. You can't just give up."
"Mom, Dad, I hope you can be friends again." Looking at the dolls that represented May and Cody in her hands, Rose's eyes filled with tears.
After a brief blackout, the screen returned to show the two figures.
Cody and May, upon waking up, were horrified to discover that they had been turned into puppets and clay figures.
Then, the anthropomorphic Book of Love, Dr. Hagin, appeared and offered a brief description.
While he seemed to be explaining the situation to May and Cody, he was clearly explaining the game to the players sitting in front of the monitor.
"It looks like an animated film!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Yes, and the setting is exquisite," Mike nodded.
Upon entering the game, he observed the environment with awe. If we only talk about graphic performance, It Takes Two would not be considered top-tier. However, unlike realistic games, It Takes Two employs a cartoon art style. Combined with refined modeling, the environment looks fantastic.
Especially since players control clay and puppet characters, the sense of miniaturization creates a unique visual experience. The wooden floor, the table legs, and the cardboard boxes became huge. The contrast and novelty that this change of scenic space brought made all It Takes Two players feel very interesting.
- - - - - - - - -
Hello everyone!
Thanks for reading this chapter.
This week, we'll have 3 daily chapters for you to enjoy. This is possible thanks to all your support with Power Stones.
To keep increasing our chapters, I'm asking for your support. For every 150 Power Stones we collect across all novels this week, I'll add an extra daily chapter for next week.
If you want to catch up and read even more, you can find over 150 advanced chapters of my novels on my Patreon.
Your comments and Power Stones are what make this possible. Thanks!
@Patreon/iLikeeMikee