"It Takes Two" is vile
Lately me and my girlfriend have picked up “It Takes Two”, a game about a couple going through divorce, that got magically turned into clay dolls and forced to rebuild their relationship.
I’ve noticed my girlfriend’s tendency to pick depressing games for us to play but this one really blows it out of the water.
The thing is - the game is not really what you initially believe it to be. The point of “cooperation” emphasized very heavily by this game is expressed by forcing you to kill innocent (yet still, imaginary) beings. The majority of the game was spent by us going about our day picking a random being and being forced to kill it in very unpleasant ways.
At first I thought it was a one-off. Some
Seemed weird. A game, a very colorful one at that, with some vile murder thrown in right at the start. But as I said, I thought it was a one-off. Then you get to meet more characters. Slowly you get to realize that if you see somebody new, it’s a guaranteed kill. Even if someone miraculously doesn’t get killed by the main characters, they die anyway, without clear purpose. It’s like the game just likes killing off the only likable characters.
Well, who cares? It’s just pixels, why are you offended by this? - you may say.
And I get you, nothing I said here sounds dramatic enough not to give the game a shot. Maybe the murders serve a narrative purpose? Well, maybe they do. Probably, yes. Maybe this is symbolism, showing how fucked up the main characters are? No idea, take your best shot.
Ok, but why should you care? (Now the “spoilers” start.)
Up to this point you might not, but the tables turn really quickly. The game introduces a character - a plushie elephant named Cutie. A favorite toy of the main characters’ daughter. Her name is not a coincidence. It is truly the most sweet, caring, innocent character in the whole game. (Oh is this going to be a rant about a cute elephant getting killed? - yes, but bear with me. Please.)
Not hard to guess what happens next. The main piece of shit characters decide to kill it. You have to jump through some hoops to get to see Cutie, as she’s a queen of a castle - crowned by no one else, but MCs’ daughter. If you somehow didn’t get it yet they have to break their daughter’s favorite toy. Let it sink in.
Then you get to her - she offers you cookies. Then gives one of the main characters a hug and tries to help him as he’s clearly in a kinda fucked up state of mind.
And then it slips out - Cutie is destined to be killed. They are not here to chat, but to commit yet another cold-blooded murder.
Thankfully, Cutie has an escape pod ready for situations like these. She gets in - and this is the first time when I thought they actually won’t be able to carry out a murder - then gets shot down and falls right inside a claw crane machine. The main characters need to get it out. They manage to grab the elephant using the crane, but as it falls out of the machine ready to be collected as a prize, its leg gets stuck in the dispenser.
And here’s the part that the whole article was building up to. This is the biggest, most awful, most tragic event I’ve experienced in my many years of gaming. The vilest murder and torture case that I can’t believe someone mentally sane wrote this scene.
The elephant’s leg gets stuck in the dispenser hanging upside down by its leg. While she begs you for mercy, offers to play, and wants to be friends, you are made to forcibly take her out - She loses a limb. Then “bleeds” plush all over the place while screaming tragically, begging you to stop. However, you can’t back down. You grab it by its other leg and drag on the floor kicking and screaming. Then an event that I would expect to see in Happy Tree Friends unfolds. I shit you not. By some random chance, a pencil gets flung into the air and lands right inside the elephant’s ear, pinning it to the ground. While the cute, innocent elephant begs you to stop and tries to direct your attention to the fact that it literally can not be moved, you continue. You pull on it until her ear is torn off as well. All that while listening to pleading, agonal screams and talk about wanting to become friends.
This is where I gave up. By saying the scene looks like straight out of Happy Tree Friends, I wasn’t joking. The part about Cutie’s random misfortune to be pinned to the ground and then dragged across it anyway was emphasized so much I couldn’t believe it.
I turned the game’s sound off, then mashed buttons while not looking at the screen until it was over. Then told my girlfriend we are taking a break from playing.
Call me a pussy if you want. I can watch videos of beheading and real torture and not flinch at all. But this was so malicious, clearly directed to shock YOU and make you suffer in a game where nothing like that is needed. You proved your point already.
Or did they? Maybe this actually played a part in telling the story and I’m exaggerating? This is what I wanted to think.
All you get after witnessing this horror is for one character to say “I’m going to need therapy after this 🤪”. Well I’d like to know what CUTIE, THE ELEPHANT WILL NEED AFTER YOU DID THIS SHIT. This sounds funny as it was supposed to be. Yes, I care about a fictional character that much. But that’s for a reason.
Maybe I am the stupid one and I missed the meaning of the scene? Well, let’s consult someone who actually knows what this was all about!
Josef Fares - the game’s director actually spoke about this!
Read the full article here - I’m taking the quotes from here (and also repeating myself)
The first thing he speaks about is the link between this scene to dark humour:
Josef: Actually it is, in a sense, inspired from British humour. Dark humour is very popular in England, obviously, so there’s definitely a link there. But the whole thing — I mean maybe you want to ask the question first.
I’m not going to spend much time about this but in what world is this shit funny? Dark comedy is exactly what it sounds like: a mix of both comedy and darkness. There was nothing humorous about this. Not a single joke thrown in. Just a completely unprompted murder. Pure darkness.
PushSquare: […] Cutie scene. From what I’ve seen online, there’s been quite a big reaction to it, and I knew there would be. When I was playing the game with my girlfriend, her reaction to the scene… Her mouth was agape as we dragged the elephant kicking and screaming. I knew this would get a reaction online, so I just wanted your view on this scene that’s quite tonally different from the rest of the game.
Guess the reply. Well it’s long and pretty much unguessable so take this as a rhetorical question.
Josef: Yeah. In a sense, it is [tonally different], but in a sense it’s not, I would say. Because something we’re trying to do at Hazelight is always make sure that whatever happens in the story will be reflected in the gameplay. So I keep saying that. Obviously I’m super happy about the reactions, but one has to remember that every mechanic itself is tied to the gameplay. So the whole idea is, you’re in a tree, you meet those squirrels, you use their weapons. And when you find a fidget spinner, you use that. Everything you see, it happens in the environment you’re playing. Which is another big reason; because of the story, that you have to kill Cutie, then you actually have to play it. So in a sense it’s not very different in tone, it’s something that happens in the story, but you’re actually playing. However, it might be a different kind of scene, obviously!
That’s a lot of words. A barrage of words to just say: It’s there so the story can progress. But I think I’m giving this too much credit. This looks like evading the question. I think the real takeaway is: “The scene is just there”. Nothing less, nothing more.
Josef: We kind of knew that this scene was gonna be a bit harsh. I still today really love that scene, I think it’s very important for the characters. The whole idea is having [Rose’s] super cute stuffed animal that you have to kill, and the reason is this. The parents have become so egoistic and totally forgot about what’s important for them, that they are ready to go this far to actually do something like this.
Oh, alright, didn’t the point get across right at the start of the game, and wasn’t it enforced through the rest of it? Surely there’s a way to present this without mentally scarring the kids that will play this game?
But I don’t think it needed to be presented at all. Again, the point was made. Me and my girlfriend were constantly thinking “who innocent are we going to murder next”? This was a vile scene for the purpose of being vile. Shock “value” without actual value. This kind of stuff passes in horror films. You expect cheap gore. You expect to get shocked. The value is here as it complements the genre. Here… it’s damaging to the game.
Josef: I’ve seen some streamers when they’re playing it, they’re screaming so high and loud when they’re playing, so they’re missing all the details in what the characters are saying. [The parents] are literally saying, “We’re gonna need therapy after this, this is so horrible”, so they are aware that they’re actually hurting this little stuffed cute elephant, but it’s still something they have to do. They have no choice. They truly believe that, to make her cry, they have to kill that elephant. Actually, it’s a good thing people are reacting to this. I think it’s something that creates an impact.
Alright I’m convinced this guy is mentally ill. “I am gonna need therapy” isn’t enough acknowledgement of torturing someone and cold-bloodily murdering them. It’s not about missing it. It’s just how fucking stupid it is nobody considers it remorse or apology. You have to be a fucking psychopath to think so.
They have no choice
They had but anyone with a functioning brain knows this.
Actually, it’s a good thing people are reacting to this. I think it’s something that creates an impact.
Well there’s a colossal difference between “this is so cool” and “what the fuck is this shit they didn’t need to torture and kill someone”. If you just wanted to get a reaction, you succeeded. But is your art really valuable if you don’t know what it’s for? (It might be. But definitely not in this context.)
Josef: I would still have to say that, we knew there was gonna be a reaction, but not this kind of reaction. But I love that scene, and you clearly see the people that get the dark humour of that, they really understand it. But I think it’s a beautiful scene. When people get upset, in a sense we’ve succeeded to make an impact of what we wanted with the parents. You have to understand, when you’re playing a game, you have feelings. People mix up that, if it’s a good feeling, then it’s good. They don’t accept that, if it’s a bad feeling, that is also [good] storytelling in gameplay.
Is it just me or nothing this guy says makes any sense? It’s like a markov chain producing some random words that resemble a sentence and falls apart after scrutiny. I would dissect what he said here but I lack the nerves to argue with idiots. Surely you can see everything that’s wrong about this if you have reached this far into the article.
Conclusion
I’m notoriously bad at conclusions but today I actually have something to say here. I don’t know if I got my point across well - if not, let me fix it: the scene was unnecessary. I can’t shake down the feeling that it was thrown in the game just because, and doesn’t have any value in itself. Especially when no character ever mentions it, even the one that’s supposed to oversee the parents. You kill, you are done, next one.
Imagine playing the game with your child not knowing what to expect. If I were 12 and saw this, I would be mortified for weeks. I’m a grown ass adult and I am mortified now, and even went crying about this on my blog so others can see.
Throwing this VILE shit in a colorful game about hope is not a coincidence. But I don’t think it was calculated either. It seems like the director actually enjoyed it just because someone in the game suffers, and you suffer, and is smug about it.
The worst part is that I actually liked the game up to this point. Gameplay-wise and fun-wise. It’s cool to play a game about couples as a couple and feel some kind of connection to the characters. When the game is not murdering, it’s fun, especially its timed challenges. It also shows that I can’t admit when I’m worse than my GF and I need countless excuses why the game screwed me. (I don’t actually think that, I know I am better)
I’d love to recommend the game but I can’t. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that just won’t go away. I don’t want to make someone else playing it feel like I did.
Oh, and fuck you, Josef! You insensitive fucking piece of shit!
And rest in pieces, Cutie.