Gaming Hosts Ryan and Josh are back to talk about Split Fiction! We’ve played it, we hinted at our thoughts, but now it’s time to spill the beans. We’re joined by special guest Ririe from The Co-Op Company to chat why this game is one surprise after another! It’s another awesome video game review episode from your favorite gaming podcast! Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Ol’ Jake, Disratory and Gaius Check out the Co-Op Company: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCo-opCompany And for 20 more games like Split Fiction: https://youtu.be/Q5H2WTANYOs Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/ Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Split Fiction in couch co-op gaming?
Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. Couch co-op is a dying genre, they say, but it takes two, one game of the year in 2021? Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but what about the recent release of Split Fiction? Is it the spiritual successor to It Takes Two, or is this game something else entirely? Can it single-handedly revive couch co-op?
Chapter 2: Who are the hosts and what are their backgrounds?
Well, on today's episode, we're going to find out. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh. And joining me, he can solve captions and decline calls while riding on the back of a futuristic motorcycle, all while laughing maniacally. It's Ryan.
And I went off the side and I'm dead. And I went off the side and I'm dead. Over and over and over. Oh, man. I don't know. I didn't die on that part, Ryan. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
and joining us good friend of the show and the talent behind the co-op company this man knows his co-op games and he's here to give his esteemed and professional opinion on split fiction it's ryrie so glad to be here guys i gotta say i drove off the side of the edge on that so many times
over and over and over again my wife and i both i made a a full gameplay video of the entire game i cut out so many clips of us falling off one of us one of us well apparently some of us are better motorcycle drivers than others so you know whatever
Oh, man. Well, welcome in, everybody. We are super excited to talk about Split Fiction today. We have our good friend Ryrie joining us for this one. Ryrie, you actually got an advanced copy of Split Fiction. So you kind of knew about this game before any of the rest of us did. And I remember being extremely jealous when you told me that.
Yeah, rub it in. Rub it in some more. Yeah.
You know, I did. It was very exciting to be playing it a little early. I'll tell you what. I spent like a week trying to research the proper people at EA to contact about getting a review code of this game because I was excited for it.
Yeah, I reached out to the person that you sent to message, and yeah, they just ghosted us. People don't like the word podcast, apparently. Yeah, podcast. We're video games, man.
so you know we did we went fine we'll start doing video then so all right well listen we're gonna get into the show in just a minute um i do want to you know just say thank you ryrie for joining us on this we have been uh friends for a while now um you know you run an amazing youtube channel that focuses on co-op gaming um i have actually checked out your channel many a time for games to look at but what what
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Chapter 3: What were the hype levels for Split Fiction?
but yeah she's pretty good with most games so that's good yeah i i it's it's tough man my wife did try to play uh overcooked with me at one point and i think that was the last time that we played yeah exactly and i think that was the last time we actually played a co-op i was gonna say it's pretty good too because you're still around so she's she's kept you hanging on so uh you know she hasn't put you out into the dead zone yet either so yeah you're good to go
So, Ryrie, apart from Split Fiction, if it would qualify for this, you know, just so the listeners can get to know you a little bit better, what are some of your favorite games that you've played in the last few years? Ooh, last few years.
Ooh. probably one of my favorite games. Uh, Michael would have enjoyed this, uh, horizon zero dawn. Absolutely loved it. Uh, recently for Christmas, I got, uh, Prince of Persia, the lost crown. Oh, John's playing that right now. I actually love in that one. Had a lot of fun with it. Uh, otherwise recently Nintendo sponsored us to play Pikmin four.
And like, I got to play like an hour of that for a sponsored video, but, uh, I have played like 12 more hours of that game cause I just been really enjoying it. Uh, yeah. So those are off the top of my head. A couple of the games been playing recently, definitely split fiction. Um, and if we're talking co-op games, it takes two 2021. That was the start of our channel. Absolutely love that.
Oh, that's when you started your channel. Yeah. We started our channel February. Oh, wow. It Takes Two came out March 2021. Oh, wow. So it came out like right after we started. Something like that. Happy anniversary.
Not to put you on the spot, but is It Takes Two a game of the year? Or did it only win because there was nothing else to compete against it?
Okay, well, here's the thing that sets me apart, and we've already talked about this. I play co-op games. I don't play a lot of solo games. I listen to your guys' podcasts because I love hearing about them, but I don't play a lot of solo games. So on the scale of co-op games, absolutely, it takes two. Game of the year.
On the scale of solo games, I have no clue because I just don't play that many of them.
That's a fair answer, man. Fair and tactful at the same time. these guys are professional i'll tell you all right all right awesome well i'll tell you what we have a little bit of housekeeping that we have to do before we get into talking about split fiction so let's just go ahead and get to that uh we have a couple reviews to read so ryan why don't you start us off with a review
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Chapter 4: What makes Split Fiction a unique gaming experience?
we've come a long way since then man so hope you stick with us j willis i listened to your it takes two episode yesterday just in preparation for this episode okay and man you guys you guys have definitely come a long way so basically enjoyable but just a little bit different a little bit more hyped up a little bit more quality so yeah you used to suck is what he's saying you used to you were horrible before is all i want
I can't remember what we said about It Takes Two. I think we said it was fine, and that was about it.
Oh, I remember, Josh. No, no, no, no, no, no. We're just talking about split fiction today.
But listen, we also have a very important thank you to give to a slew of new supporters of the show. Oh, my goodness. So listen up, people, because these are the fantastic humans on the planet that make this podcast possible for your ears. we are giving a huge thank you to Keith O.D., Backward Shorts, and Big Green Smurf for all signing up for rare status to support the show.
Also, Backward Shorts, I don't know if you're in the Discord. If you are, it's a different name. But Keith O.D. and Big Green Smurf have been very active in the Discord community already, which I absolutely love to see. And then, you know, this one, we're a little late on this one, Ryan, so I'm going to I'm going to give them the moment here, man. This person has played Marvel Rivals with us.
They are an active member of the community. And that is a fine, fine person by the name of People Wonder who signed up for Epic status. Epic. To support the show, people wonder. It has been a blast to have you in the community nights and as part of the Discord server as well. So thank you so much for the support. And to everybody that supports this show, thank you for making this possible.
Without that, we would not be here right now about to talk about Split Fiction. So if you want to support the show, you can do that over at MultiplayerSquad.com, just like all these other amazing people.
All right, boys.
We got to get to it, man. Let's talk about some split fiction. Okay. Now, we're going to...
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Chapter 5: How does the gameplay variety enhance player engagement?
If I'm interested in a game, I'm going to play the game and reviews are not going to sway me on whether I am going to play a game or not. And I know that we kind of do the same thing But when a game comes out like split fiction and it's getting nothing but nines or tens across the board, there's a part of you.
I mean, at least for me, and I'm pretty sure most gamers that go, Oh my gosh, like, okay, this game's now at the top of my height meter, nines and tens. This is going to be great. You know? And so yes, when split fiction came out and it was nines and tens, I got really excited because,
And on the flip side, when we get a game that maybe is on our radar and then it releases and we see sixes and maybe a seven, we kind of go like, is that really worth playing at this point? So I know people say that they don't care about reviews, but I think as gamers, we absolutely do see the reviews for a game when it launches and we can't help but ignore those. So Ryrie,
This is where the catch is, because... You got to play the game and you made your own review without any knowledge of what other people were going to think about this game. And is that like, is there a little bit of like nervousness with that where you're like, dude, I might've loved this game, but what if like, what if other people are like, nah, this game was trash, man.
And then I look like a fool or something like that. So was there like that concern? What was it like playing the game ahead of like all the reviews and stuff like that?
So occasionally we'll get codes a little early, but it tends to be for smaller indie games, right? We'll get a week or two weeks or something for a smaller indie game. This is EA. This is big. And it was big for us. You guys say, and you guys weren't hyped, but I was hyped. I knew it was going to be big. Now, here's the thing.
If I know I'm going to be playing a game and reviewing it on our channel, I avoid any reviews to begin with until after I have scripted my review. I was a little nervous, but I have my wife to give me that feedback of what she thinks about it, right? I've got two people who've played this game and have an opinion on it, and we've played a lot of co-op games.
So again, we're writing this specifically from a cooperative perspective, which isn't a view that a lot of the other people have. So I wouldn't have even been surprised if... our review varied from other people's reviews, right? Somebody that just played, um, whatever kingdom come deliverance, right? You guys are single players.
You might have a completely different opinion than somebody who majored in The major amount of the time plays co-op games. So I was pretty confident in our own score just because we sit in our own little niche of reviewing from a co-op perspective. But yeah, there was a little bit of nervousness that maybe I'm wrong about what I'm saying.
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Chapter 6: What are the standout moments in Split Fiction?
Inability to know what's coming. There you go. There's, there's a hook. I know what you're talking about though. Because it sounds so stupid and we're like, what's the hook? And it's like, I don't know, but I know exactly what Ryan's talking about right now. It's hard to describe, but this is what it is. All right, let's see if Ryrie can vocalize this any better for us.
What's the hook for you on this, Ryrie? I think for a lot of people, the hook's going to be the co-op. It takes two hooked a lot of people on the co-op. But for me, who plays a lot of co-op games already, I think the word I'm going to use, maybe Ryan will agree with this, is variation. You are never going to get bored of a game mechanic because it is never there long enough to get bored of. Yes!
Yes, that's perfect! You're constantly getting new game mechanics to play around with, new gameplay styles. This is a 3D platformer at its heart, but it's also a 2D platformer, and it's a top-down game, and... whatever else it might be, there is always some kind of variation, some kind of change that makes it. So you're not going to get bored of playing split fiction, dude. All right.
This is hilarious guys, because my answer is a hundred percent variety. That is my answer, and I was picking on Ryan because Ryan's saying the variety of the game, and then it's like, if only there was a word for this. So, I mean, okay, so three different gamers all saying that the variety aspect of this game is the hook, and I am absolutely with you guys. I... I am a self-professed ADHD gamer.
It's very rare that I ever finish a game, no matter how much I love a game. I mean, I can absolutely think this game is one of the best ever made, and there's still a good chance I didn't play it through to the end credits kind of thing. I just get, you know, I get, oh, what's that game over there? And then, oh, what's that game? And my brain wants to try it. And then it goes, cool, I tried it.
What's the next thing up? So for this game, for Split Fiction, the variety in this game was just incredible to somebody like me, where it legitimately felt like this was 20 different games packed into one game in a cohesive way that actually made sense. The other aspect of the variety is you had some nostalgia variety.
And I'll spoil one of those levels that was a throwback to an old Nintendo game. But when that level started to happen and my buddy and I were playing it, we both went... Oh my gosh, dude, like this is a throwback, you know, and this game does it so well. Like it is a nod to so many great video games of the past. It has fantastic like current day technology.
There's some mind blowing stuff in this game, dude, like mind blowing. I can't tell you how many times my buddy and I were just like, What is this? Like, what is happening right now? You know, that kind of thing. So if you like a game that has variety to it, this is absolutely the game for you. And Ryrie, you touched on it.
And I saw this in a couple like previews and even some of the reviews where the people were saying, like, it doesn't overstay its welcome. Just when you think you're starting to get tired of like a certain gameplay mechanic, it just moves on. And oh, baby, does it ever like I cannot remember.
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Chapter 7: How does Split Fiction compare to other co-op games?
The thing, Ryra, you touched on this earlier. So one of the things that I absolutely love is if you are in a sci-fi level, you find these side quests. There's these little portals. And let me tell you, do not, do not ever, ever pass up a side quest in this game. Should not be skipped. They are. I mean, they give you the options to skip them.
But they're some of my favorite parts of the game, like, honestly. And not only are they some of the coolest levels in the game, they are these standalone levels that really they kind of flesh out the story a little bit. But it's more just this like, oh, you've been in this fantasy world for the last like 30 minutes here. Have a sci fi episode for like 10 or 15 minutes. And it's something crazy.
Yeah.
really adds to that like just variety so that again nothing overstays its welcome in this game you know and the same thing you're in a sci-fi level and you're tired of laser bikes and you know uh like ninja katanas like oh have this little level of you know pigs flying around and things like that so it's it's really really neat how they kind of balance that out now one of the things that absolutely caught me off guard with this game were the insane visuals dude
This might be one of the best looking games I have seen in a while, dude. And I cannot tell you how many times I literally said, Oh my gosh, that's freaking cool looking man. Like while I was playing this game, like Ryan, you sent me a screenshot.
That was stupid. Sitting on the benches when the benches popped up. Oh, every time.
Every time we sat on the bench and would just listen. And I was like, I'm not sitting on no bench in any other game, man. But it was like, it would give you visuals and then the characters would talk. But like, Ryan, you sent me a screenshot last night of a, it's just a hand-drawn level. I'll leave it at that as a spoiler. And you were just like, dude, this game's incredible.
And I remember getting into that level and being like, there's no way. There's no way this is the, this is the level.
Oh my God. You get in and I'm like, wait, this is more of this game? We have all these other crazy sci-fi worlds with planets and then these fantasy lands with giant trees and all these crazy animals and beasts. And then we have just this hand-drawn, beautiful, kind of super simple, but so...
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Chapter 8: What are the overall impressions of Split Fiction from the hosts?
Yeah, the story is certainly not phenomenal, but not bad. My wife famously hates stories in games. She pulls out her phone during cut scenes.
Oh, no.
Oh, no. She did not do that in Split Fiction. So that says something. for the story that she paid a little bit more attention to it it does it was a little bit predictable to us i don't know if you guys felt the same way we were constantly saying oh this is gonna happen two hours later that happened yeah yeah um so a little bit predictable i
I think it really helps to tie the story to, to tie the game together. Like Ryan, I'm glad that it was there, but it's not necessarily, it's, it's not a story that you're going to be like, Oh, the story and split fiction is so good. And again, if we're looking at couch co-op games, a lot of couch co-op games tend to be just gameplay, not a whole lot of story.
So it is a little bit different for that genre as well, that they're incorporating more of an in-depth story.
This isn't Arthur Morgan looking at the sunset or sunrise or whatever at the end of Red Dead or anything like that. But like you said, I'm glad it's there.
Yeah, I will say for me, the characters were interesting. I mean, they did a good job of kind of fleshing out their personalities. And then the levels are always tied to because they're writers and they're basically living like through the stories that they invented or something like that.
It does give you a reason that you are in this level or why you were going through this kind of gameplay element or something like that. So, I mean, I don't know that the game needed it, but it was there and it wasn't bad or distracting in any way.
I did enjoy the parts where it kind of explained the stories that you were walking through. Yes, exactly. Why that specific thing. I did enjoy that part a little bit, but like the overall arcing story, overarching, whatever that word is. Yeah, overarching. Some words.
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