Sharp Response on the Stick
The first thing I check in any third-person game is how fast my character turns on a dime and how clean the jump arc feels. Hazelight made its name on clever two-player puzzles, but the second you take control of Mio or Zoe, the inputs register with immediate snap. There is no heavy deadzone drag or floaty inertia holding your steps back. When you flick the stick, you move right away.
That clean handling matters because Split Fiction switches gears constantly. One character writes hard sci-fi while the other writes high fantasy, and a shady memory-stealing rig traps both writers inside their own messy drafts. The game splits its screen and tasks you with working together, yet it never lets the co-op requirements slow down basic physical execution. The jump arcs land where you aim them, and the ground dash cuts your recovery short without locking you into clumsy slide animations.
Full English voice acting and text interface run out of the box on Steam, and the audio cues sync tightly with enemy windups. You can read attacks coming by ear just as easily as watching the silhouette movements.
Cyber Ninjas and Crisp Hitboxes
Whenever Split Fiction dives into Mio's sci-fi world, the combat tempo spikes hard. A standout stretch turns both players into cyber ninjas slicing through security drones and automated defense lines. Melee combat in narrative co-op games is usually soft and forgiving to a fault, but here the strikes carry actual bite. Slashes clip clean through enemy collision boxes without snagging, and your dodge has actual invulnerability you can rely on under pressure.
One brawl pits you against a robotic parking attendant that hurls flying hover cars directly across the arena. The incoming vehicles have clear, honest physical hitboxes. If you duck underneath a chassis or slide beneath the rear bumper at the peak of its arc, you clear it cleanly. There is no invisible air cushion swatting you down when the car visual clearly clears your head.
You get into a real rhythm alternating parries, dashes, and melee strings. My partner took high ground while I locked down ground targets, and the camera tracked the split action without getting snagged behind arena geometry. That kind of camera discipline is rare when two players share screen real estate during fast melee encounters.
Trolls, Dragons, and Dodging Hazards
Zoe's fantasy drafts swing the pacing back toward environmental hazards and beast encounters. You run from towering forest trolls whose sweeping club swings demand well-timed rolls under the armpit rather than lazy backward sprinting. The hurtboxes on these giant swings match the wooden clubs down to the splinters, so keeping your footing close to the troll's back foot actually rewards aggressive positioning.
Later on, the campaign asks you to tame dragons to cross broken mountain ridges. Flying creatures in adventure games often steer like wet shopping carts, but these mounts respond cleanly to bank and dive inputs. Managing high-speed flight maneuvers while coordinating with your partner on the ground keeps your hands working without feeling like cheap trial-and-error.
What keeps the campaign fresh across its running time is that Hazelight throws away mechanics before they wear out their welcome. You rarely spend more than half an hour on a single gimmick before the writers get thrown into an entirely different genre setup with its own dedicated moveset.
A Few Uneven Beats
Not every sequence hits the same high mechanical mark. A few narrative puzzle rooms slow the pacing down to a crawl, forcing you to carry objects or stand on switches while the characters trade banter about their writing insecurities. After a blazing combat sequence against armed robots, creeping through a slow puzzle corridor makes the movement feel momentarily restrained.
The $49.99 price tag asks for a serious upfront buy-in, and you absolutely need a reliable human partner since there is no solo bot substitute. When your partner mistimes a synchronized jump or fumbles a switch, you both reset to the nearest checkpoint. Checkpoints are generous enough that failure never stings for long, but a dropped jump from the other player still cuts into your flow.
Still, running this on Steam gave me rock-solid performance with zero dropped inputs during heated multi-enemy waves. For an action game built around dual-genre variety and cooperative mechanics, the physical feel of running, jumping, and swinging blades stays remarkably tight from start to finish.
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Sold me on the word honest yall but i tested the same hitboxes pretty deep into the fantasy half and the geometry behind them felt loose to me, though performance on Steam stayed surprisingly stable even during chaotic fights with a ton of targets on screen.
Those carrying puzzle rooms really do hit the brakes after an intense fight, hate when pacing just grinds to a halt like that. Still glad to hear the dodge windows and collision hitboxes actually feel crisp on Steam when the screen gets messy with enemies. Definitely grabbing it once my co-op buddy is free.
Proper brilliant that mate. Only twenty minutes in and already having a laugh with the other half. Those carrying-puzzle rooms give us a chance to catch our breath, reckon they're a feature not a bug.
was so ready for this... me and my buddy took turns buying games and this was my pick... the fantasy half is amazing but then the sci-fi bits completely lost us... man... maybe were just too old for quick genre flips... still worth it for the dodge combat alone though.....
@tpr84tbh games just felt more complete back then lol. 50 bucks for co op only and your buddy checked out on the sci fi half thats rough lol.
@crumpetFighting feels really solid, hope the devs keep at it. That dodge timing sounds fair, even if the co-op requirement is a big ask.
Sounds like a good one for my granddaughter and me, she is quicker on teh buttons than I am. Dont worry about the puzzles slowing you down, that just gives us old folks a chance to catch our breath! - Harold
Great review, @parryframe! That bit about honest hitboxes sold me. My kid had to explain the dodge timing to me twice, but once it clicked, I was zooming through the fantasy half like a champ. Looks like I finally earned my gaming license, right?
@mehSold me on the word honest yall but i tested the same hitboxes pretty deep into the fantasy half and the geometry behind them felt loose to me, though performance on Steam stayed surprisingly stable even during chaotic fights with a ton of targets on screen.
@hjt76Havent felt those hitboxes loose myself. If you keep getting clipped, input the dodge on the sound cue instead of the visual one. Hit the beat on the upbeat not the downbeat.
@flintCheers for the timing tip! I still fumble the sci-fi half, but the dodge trails look so clean there. Any chance they add more levels later? I'm already thinking about a photo mode.
@hjt76Fair pushback. I ran the same fights twice and the geometry held up, but the dodge has a recovery period, so if you input during a swing you'll eat the hit. Try dodging on the audio cue instead of the visual. It clicks after a few tries.
Those carrying puzzle rooms really do hit the brakes after an intense fight, hate when pacing just grinds to a halt like that. Still glad to hear the dodge windows and collision hitboxes actually feel crisp on Steam when the screen gets messy with enemies. Definitely grabbing it once my co-op buddy is free.
@Tariq_100pctMe too on the pace grinding, the fantasy then sci-fi switch definitely set my brain spinning halfway through even though i recovered once my partner had the rhythm, and honestly i suspect that split keeps casual players guessing whether they are looking at a platformer or an action thriller. Demo level done and the platforming here is tighter than nearly anything i played last year mate.
Dont hte dodge timing yet either, get both players aligned on the first move beat on the fantasy side before jumping out. The two genre shifts feel like rapid hits but the rhythm section keeps you locked in, and if you match your sword swing to the idle light animation it comes out cleaner. Runs great on PC during the bigger brawls, just watch out because hte pickups can clump so spread them out.
At $49.99, I'd need a solid amount of playtime to justify the cost, and the lack of a single-player mode makes that a risk with my schedule. Probably gonna wait for a sale.
Sounds like the co-op version of a relay race where both runners have to be awake. Stoked about the crisp dodge windows, but those carrying-puzzle rooms after an intense fight are a dog's breakfast, mate. Honestly I'd need someone who doesn't spam the jump button in the sci-fi half. Runs well on Steam though, so I'll take it.
Did anyone else see how smooth the dodge animations look in the fantasy half? How do they make the genre jumps feel so natural? Hope the sci-fi side gets extra levels later, but I won't hold my breath.
Proper brilliant that mate. Only twenty minutes in and already having a laugh with the other half. Those carrying-puzzle rooms give us a chance to catch our breath, reckon they're a feature not a bug.
tbh 50 quid for two player and no solo is a rip off lol... still the dodge stuff looks fun but i miss when games had more unlockables lol
Total letdown. Bought it for the sci-fi half, refunded by the first puzzle.
How many hours does it take to roll credits? I have maybe four hours a week for games, and I don't want to get stuck ten hours in with no ending in sight. The co-op only part already feels like a risk.
Split Fiction? More like split my sides and my heart. I bounced between the fantasy and sci-fi halves with my buddy and we never once had a bad hitbox argument. No spoilers, but that ending genuinely wrecked me. Shame about those carrying puzzles though. The vegetable course before dessert.
Did anyone else notice how clean the dodge looks in the sci-fi half? The genre shifts feel so snappy. Any chance they add a photo mode down the road? I keep losing screenshots to the steam overlay.