History VideoGame / ItTakesTwo2021

** One part of the game where Cody and May become Ice knights and Fire Mages is very reminiscent to games from the Dungeon Crawler genre such as VideoGame/{{Diablo}} or VideoGame/{{Magicka}}, complete with bird perspective and life bars on the heroes' and their enemies' heads.

** One part of the game where Cody and May become Ice knights and Fire Mages is very reminiscent to games from the Dungeon Crawler genre such as VideoGame/Diablo or VideoGame/Magicka, complete with bird perspective and life bars on the heroes' and their enemies' heads.

** There's a stage late in the game that is very reminiscent of [[Videogame/MarioKart Rainbow Road]]. Even better, should one of the players fall off the track as they slide down, Dr. Hakim will hold that player in the air for a short time after they respawn in the same manner as Lakitu would, and Cody even uses Mario's catchphrase in the process.

** May and Cody often get tools and/or abilities that reflect how they are opposites, such as May getting a hammer and Cody a nail, or May becoming a fire knight while Cody becomes an ice wizard. Inside their family cuckoo clock, Dr. Hakim applies this to the two in order to help them fix their relationship. He bestows May the ability to clone herself so she can be in two places at once, and gifts Cody the ability to control time so he has a better sense of time.

''It Takes Two'' is a [[GenreMashup genre-busting]] action-adventure video game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third game by writer and director Creator/JosefFares, who previously made ''VideoGame/BrothersATaleOfTwoSons'' and ''VideoGame/AWayOut''. Just like ''A Way Out'', ''It Takes Two'' has no single-player option: It is playable only in either online or local split-screen co-op between two players.

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Dr. Hakim's advice on love may be flowery at best and raunchy at worst. But every now and again, there are pearls of wisdom in his words. It's like he says, part of having a good relationship is to support one another's passion. And according to Rose, his book reads that forgiveness is key to make a relationship work.

** May and Cody often get tools and/or abilities that reflect how they are opposites, such as May getting a hammer and Cody a nail, or May becoming a fire knight while Cody becomes an ice wizard. Inside their family cuckoo clock, Dr. Hakim applies this the two in order to help them fix their relationship. He bestows May the ability to clone herself so she can be in two places at once, and gifts Cody the ability to control time so he has a better sense of time.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the Cuckoo Clock chapter, May and Cody discuss the nature of the former's work habits. May justifies that she needs her job in order to maintain their home and lifestyle. Cody then points out that if she completely throw herself into her work, she can't hope to maintain her relationship with her family.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: Rose's letter begins with "I'm sorry that I did this to you", seemingly in reference to the spell her parents are under.[[spoiler: When it's revisited at the end, it's revealed Rose is actually she's blaming herself for her parent's marital problems, and that she plans to run away.]]

* TheRunaway: [[spoiler:The very inciting incident is a little girl finding out that her parents are planning to divorce, and this is after witnessing the two of them arguing. Cody and May endure an instance of this at the end when they find out that Rose has run away from home, believing that it was her fault they were planning to divorce]].

* TheRunaway: The very inciting incident is a little girl finding out that her parents are planning to divorce, and this is after witnessing the two of them arguing. [[spoiler:Cody and May endure an instance of this at the end when they find out that Rose has run away from home, believing that it was her fault they were planning to divorce]].

* AdultFear: The very inciting incident is a little girl finding out that her parents are planning to divorce, and this is after witnessing the two of them arguing. [[spoiler:Cody and May endure an instance of this at the end when they find out that Rose has run away from home, believing that it was her fault they were planning to divorce]].

A feature film adaptation of the game was [[https://deadline.com/2022/04/it-takes-two-video-game-film-lands-at-amazon-seven-bucks-productions-boards-1235006592/ announced]] in April 2022 for Creator/AmazonStudios. Pat Casey and Josh Miller (Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020) will write the screenplay and Creator/DwayneJohnson will produce through his Seven Bucks Productions label.

A feature film adaptation of the game was announced in April 2022 for Creator/AmazonStudios.

* BandLand: [[spoiler:The final chapter of the game takes place in the attic and every level portion is based on some different genre of music while Cody and May try to put on a concert. Part 1 takes place in a rock-based environment with areas like a recording studio and the inside of a jukebox. Part 2 takes place largely in the game's version of heaven in which Cody and May have to find an orchestra. Part 3 sees the duo make their way through a neon-lit disco to find their audience.]]

* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:At the end of the final level, after May's singing performance, she and Cody are slowly levitated towards each other, before going in for a long kiss that only ends when they return to their old bodies.]]
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the cuckoo clock chapter, May and Cody discuss the nature of the former's work habits. May justifies that she needs her job in order to maintain their home and lifestyle. Cody then points out that if she completely throw herself into her work, she can't hope to maintain her relationship with her family.
* ClockworkCreature: The cuckoo clock chapter has a pair of clockwork birds which Cody and May can ride. [[spoiler:A much larger bird attacks them near the end of the chapter for disturbing its nest.]]

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The letter that Rose left begins with "Sorry I did this to you" seemingly refencing the spell on her parents. [[spoiler:When it's revisited at the end, it's Rose stating that she's blaming ''herself'' for why her parents can't get along, and she plans to run away.]]

''It Takes Two'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is directed and written by Creator/JosefFares, who was responsible ''VideoGame/BrothersATaleOfTwoSons'' and ''VideoGame/AWayOut''. Just like ''A Way Out'', ''It Takes Two'' has no single-player option: It is playable only in either online or local split-screen co-op between two players. The game was released on March 26, 2021.

The story follows Cody and May, an estranged couple whose souls[=/=]minds have been transferred into dolls by their daughter Rose. The two must work together with assistance from a magical book character named Dr. Hakim in order to fix their relationship and return to the real world.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The letter that Rose left seems to be a cute and comedic at the beginning. [[spoiler:When it's revisited at the end, it's Rose stating that she's blaming ''herself'' for why her parents can't get along, and she plans to run away.]]

* ShoutOut:

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: Though Cody and May do reconcile, it's left up in the air if they've truly decided to stay together or if they'll go through with the divorce but remain [[AmicableExes on amicable terms]]. All they assure Rose is that their divorce is not her fault and that they'll always be there for her.]]

* BandLand: [[spoiler: The final chapter of the game takes place in the attic and every level portion is based on some different genre of music while Cody and May try to put on a concert. Part 1 takes place in a rock-based environment with areas like a recording studio and the inside of a jukebox. Part 2 takes place largely in the game's version of heaven in which Cody and May have to find an orchestra. Part 3 sees the duo make their way through a neon-lit disco to find their audience.]]

** He also has May and Cody pegged when he accuses them of treating Rose like a possession, saying "Can you really own the people you ''love''?" [[spoiler: As we later see, they treat their daughter's crying again as a vehicle to making them human once more, rather than a troubling sign of [[MyGodWhatHaveWeDone how they've done Rose a great disservice]].]]
* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: A few moments stand out, especially [[spoiler: the murder of Cutie the elephant. Yes, you ''literally'' KillTheCutie]].
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Cody and May theorize that if they make Rose cry on their doll forms again, they can reverse the 'spell'. The trope comes into play when (through Moon Baboon's surveillance system) they see first-hand that their daughter has been anxious for a while. Instead of recognizing this anomaly correlates with their fighting and announcing their divorce, Cody brushes off, wholly believing their daughter is still a happy child. It goes as far as Cody and May having a sudden realization that "they can affect the world around Rose", but completely fail to realize the implications. [[spoiler: It comes to a head when they go through with breaking Rose's favorite toy Cutie, truly believing that making Rose cry will make things normal again.]]

* LighterAndSofter: The premise itself is this compared to the last two games, which were [[VideoGame/BrothersATaleOfTwoSons a somewhat harrowing journey to save a dying parent]] and a [[VideoGame/AWayOut gritty jailbreak drama]], respectively. [[spoiler: It's also the first game to have a [[SurprisinglyHappyEnding completely happy ending]].]] Despite this, there are still some ''really'' dark moments.

* MoodWhiplash: The scene where May and Cody meet Cutie is adorable... and then it becomes dark within seconds after May states that [[spoiler:Cutie has to die.]]

* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: Cutie the elephant warmly welcomes May and Cody into her home, even giving Cody a hug when she notices he's depressed - [[spoiler: part of that depression is caused by the fact that they're there to KillTheCutie - ''literally'']].
* OnceMoreWithClarity: The letter that Rose left seems to be a cute and comedic at the beginning. [[spoiler:When it's revisited at the end, it's Rose stating that she's blaming ''herself'' for why her parents can't get along, and she plans to runaway.]]

** [[spoiler: May and Cody destroying Rose's favorite toy elephant Cutie [[MakesSenseInContext in order to make their own daughter cry]] is supposed to represent that their wish to separate goes ''[[ItsAllAboutMe beyond]]'' doing it for their own good or even Rose's well-being. Later in the end credits, we see Cutie has been mended, indicating they're now taking steps to mend their relationship and/or do what's best for Rose.]]

** When May [[spoiler: takes on the squirrel chief as she and Cody attempt to make a getaway using the squirrels' airplane]], the gameplay shifts to a FightingGame format strongly resembling ''Videogame/StreetFighter'' and/or ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', right down to having health bars with names and thumbnails, moves such as a [[KamehameHadoken Hadouken attack]], and its own take on fatalities.

** [[spoiler: The squirrels ask Cody and May to destroy their enemies, the wasps, which they end up doing. How do the squirrels reward them? They turn on the main characters and go out of their way to kill them ''despite the fact the two just won the war for them'', simply because they decided to spare [[{{Turncoat}} the squirrels' agent that had sided with the wasps while posing as a fake wasp queen]] [[IJustWantToBeSpecial because she wanted to feel special]]. And not long after the squirrels open fire, the agent also [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere proceeds to ditch the two]] after having just been saved from the angry wasps infuriated by the ruse.]]
* TheWonderland: Courtesy of Dr. Hakim’s Magic most likely, Cody and May in addition to being turned into dolls, have to go through various fantastical locales based around things around their family home. Places that would be way too big to all fit into that house of theirs without magic. For example, they opt to get to the toy castle in Rose’s room. First, they go under her bed but when they come out the other side they don’t find Rose’s small bedroom but a veritable canyon of building blocks with a ball pit spanning the entire floor, a block fort with a brief segment in a classroom, an inflatable obstacle course, a bizarre dimension inside a kaleidoscope, a land of dinosaurs, a pirate fortress on a river complete with a giant octopus, a circus, a toy village, and finally the toy castle which is clearly bigger on the inside. And before all that? A pillow fort and a space station. And all this in a single chapter!

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: A few moments stand out, especially the murder of Cutie the elephant. Yes, you ''literally'' KillTheCutie.

* EldritchLocation: At first it looks like May and Cody may simply travel through locations around the house but they quickly find themselves in strange worlds heavily based on significant things around their home. Worlds that would clearly not fit within the confines of said house without some ''serious'' remodelling.

** After the Moon Baboon tells the two that they're trapped in the pillow fort forever, Cody panicks and lets out the ''Film/{{Alien}}'' {{Tagline}}:

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example with May and Cody. May is noticeably much more confrontational and hotheaded compared to her husband, who more prefers to attempt to talk down whatever threat they end up facing.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The letter that Rose left seems to be a cute and comedic at the beginning. When it's revisited at the end, it's Rose stating that she's blaming ''herself'' for why her parents can't get along, and she plans to runaway.