What a weirdo.

Nullity wrote on Mar 13, 2025, 09:02:

Eldaron Imotholin wrote on Mar 13, 2025, 08:53:
Well, I enjoyed the game. Comments about wokeness abound on Steam, calling the positive reviews a conspiracy. Now THAT, my lads, is pure insanity.

I saw this post before the ninja edit. FYI, it looks like Scallywag Sally and Eldaron Imotholin are the same person and they accidentally posted under the wrong account. The original post was replying to Beamer and continuing Scallywag Sally's rant about how bad the split-screen is.

Eldaron Imotholin wrote on Mar 13, 2025, 08:53:
double post

And this post originally just said "lolz". Looks like they noticed their mistake before realizing it could just be edited.

Busted trollbro.

Shit! Goddamn old browser cookie.

You got me. Did you have to reveal it, tattletail? The reason I did this is because I was sick and tired of a handful of trolls digging up ancient old shit, turning every fucking comment section I posted in into a warzone where those fuckers never got off my back. Now I'm off for good. There's the saying "Three times' the charm" for a reason.

Ciao,
Quinn / Eldaron / Scallywag Sally

Eldaron Imotholin wrote on Mar 13, 2025, 08:53:
Well, I enjoyed the game. Comments about wokeness abound on Steam, calling the positive reviews a conspiracy. Now THAT, my lads, is pure insanity.

I saw this post before the ninja edit. FYI, it looks like Scallywag Sally and Eldaron Imotholin are the same person and they accidentally posted under the wrong account. The original post was replying to Beamer and continuing Scallywag Sally's rant about how bad the split-screen is.

Eldaron Imotholin wrote on Mar 13, 2025, 08:53:
double post

And this post originally just said "lolz". Looks like they noticed their mistake before realizing it could just be edited.

Busted trollbro.

Fuck, triple post it seemed. Goddamn browser or internet went mad. Sorry folks.

double post

Well, I enjoyed the game. Comments about wokeness abound on Steam, calling the positive reviews a conspiracy. Now THAT, my lads, is pure insanity.

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 12, 2025, 14:13:

Beamer's rant makes no sense. I hope you wasted a few good minutes of your day writing it 🤗

It makes perfect sense. You're whining about the single defining gameplay choice. You're also saying that games should appeal to you, specifically, and not take risks that make them distinct and stand out.

It's an odd mix of entitlement, being afraid of something new, and demanding everything be familiar. No one would even know what this game was if they hadn't made this decision. But come on, next whine to me that Balatro is too obsessed with poker hands. Maybe you think you die too often in Rogue-likes.

Nullity wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 13:26:
This game is incredible. My brother and I have been having more fun with this than any other game in years (getting close to the end, but not quite finished yet).

Dying on the "forced split-screen" hill is really robbing yourself of a wonderful experience. It only take a few minutes to get used to, it was designed with that perspective in mind, and you're not "missing" anything by not having the normal full width. And it makes the sequences where it does shift to a full width (which happens fairly frequently), seem all the more stunning.

But to each his/her own I suppose

These fullscreen scenes seem all the more stunning, why? Because you allowed yourself to settle for less? It's like forcing a game on 30fps and then saying the scenes that do have unlocked fps feel that much more fluid, making the 30fps lock actually great. It just blows my mind nobody has an actual argument for this arrow in the knee except "it's by design". Just allow the player the option not to be visually crippled.

Beamer's rant makes no sense. I hope you wasted a few good minutes of your day writing it 🤗

Let me tell you guys, Memento would have been a great film had it not been told out of chronology.

Those Game of Thrones books would be killer if they didn't jump perspective all the time. No one in their right mind wants that! I want to stick with one character!

Why is Pulp Fiction all out of order, too? Who asked for that? And why couldn't they have told us that Bruce Willis was the dead people being seen all along!?

Why is Quake in first person? I like third person games! Who is this even made for!?!?

This game is incredible. My brother and I have been having more fun with this than any other game in years (getting close to the end, but not quite finished yet).

Dying on the "forced split-screen" hill is really robbing yourself of a wonderful experience. It only take a few minutes to get used to, it was designed with that perspective in mind, and you're not "missing" anything by not having the normal full width. And it makes the sequences where it does shift to a full width (which happens fairly frequently), seem all the more stunning.

But to each his/her own I suppose

Jaysen wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 11:02:

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 09:15:

Beamer wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 09:06:

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 07:55:
WHY are people fine with playing on half their goddamn screen? I just can't do it. The forced split-screen is such a hard no for me, the fact literally tons of people are fine with it just blows my mind. I'm passionate about it because I think I'd love this game otherwise. Even with the occasional "Mel, I have no clue wtf you're doing right now and we need to do this puzzle in sync ffs." that would come with no split-screen.

I am surprised it's hard for you to understand. It gives you information on where the other person is and what they're doing at all times. That becomes part of the gameplay.
Did you play GoldenEye as a kid? It was a very different game than Quake. Not because the gameplay was dramatically different, but because you always knew where the other people where, what they were up to, what weapons they had, etc. It is a dramatic gameplay difference.

It blows my mind that people don't understand gameplay choices and decide to be angry at those that do.

I'll ignore the unnecessary snark.

No one has yet managed to properly defend the devs on this, because the real question isn't why split-screen exists but why they don’t let players choose. Care to take another shot at it?

I've watched nearly 40 minutes of Split Fiction gameplay on YouTube, and I haven’t seen a single scene or puzzle that couldn’t have worked without split-screen. Not one. And if I were playing with a friend, we’d be on Discord anyway. We communicate well, so split-screen wouldn’t just be redundant -- it would be distracting. I’m 99% sure I wouldn’t even look at her side of the screen.

It's their design hook that differentiates them from nearly every other game. It would be against their main design pillar. Any stream or advertising material that didn't include examples of what makes them special would take away from it. Any development time invested away from that core aspect would make the game weaker and distract from it. You're right that they could choose to design a different game and experience. Choosing to add something like that post launch might be a valid way to expand their audience, but I doubt it would be worth their investment time.

The split-screen in and of itself is what differentiates them? Why? For the love of all that is holy, why? Would this game really be less unique and/or succesful if there was an option to disable it!?

Jaysen wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 11:02:
For my play experience I found that back and forth of talking through problems and seeing the other characters enhanced the experience. It even made it fun to do another play through playing as the other character. I wouldn't have gotten that experience without splitscreen.

Isn't the exact opposite the case, logically speaking? I can imagine replayability would make way more sense if you were not able to see the other character's perspective.

I'm amazed a game that requires 2 players that can't be played by one is so popular.

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 09:15:

Beamer wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 09:06:

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 07:55:
WHY are people fine with playing on half their goddamn screen? I just can't do it. The forced split-screen is such a hard no for me, the fact literally tons of people are fine with it just blows my mind. I'm passionate about it because I think I'd love this game otherwise. Even with the occasional "Mel, I have no clue wtf you're doing right now and we need to do this puzzle in sync ffs." that would come with no split-screen.

I am surprised it's hard for you to understand. It gives you information on where the other person is and what they're doing at all times. That becomes part of the gameplay.
Did you play GoldenEye as a kid? It was a very different game than Quake. Not because the gameplay was dramatically different, but because you always knew where the other people where, what they were up to, what weapons they had, etc. It is a dramatic gameplay difference.

It blows my mind that people don't understand gameplay choices and decide to be angry at those that do.

I'll ignore the unnecessary snark.

No one has yet managed to properly defend the devs on this, because the real question isn't why split-screen exists but why they don’t let players choose. Care to take another shot at it?

I've watched nearly 40 minutes of Split Fiction gameplay on YouTube, and I haven’t seen a single scene or puzzle that couldn’t have worked without split-screen. Not one. And if I were playing with a friend, we’d be on Discord anyway. We communicate well, so split-screen wouldn’t just be redundant -- it would be distracting. I’m 99% sure I wouldn’t even look at her side of the screen.

It's their design hook that differentiates them from nearly every other game. It would be against their main design pillar. Any stream or advertising material that didn't include examples of what makes them special would take away from it. Any development time invested away from that core aspect would make the game weaker and distract from it. You're right that they could choose to design a different game and experience. Choosing to add something like that post launch might be a valid way to expand their audience, but I doubt it would be worth their investment time.

For my play experience I found that back and forth of talking through problems and seeing the other characters enhanced the experience. It even made it fun to do another play through playing as the other character. I wouldn't have gotten that experience without splitscreen.

Beamer wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 09:06:

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 07:55:
WHY are people fine with playing on half their goddamn screen? I just can't do it. The forced split-screen is such a hard no for me, the fact literally tons of people are fine with it just blows my mind. I'm passionate about it because I think I'd love this game otherwise. Even with the occasional "Mel, I have no clue wtf you're doing right now and we need to do this puzzle in sync ffs." that would come with no split-screen.

I am surprised it's hard for you to understand. It gives you information on where the other person is and what they're doing at all times. That becomes part of the gameplay.
Did you play GoldenEye as a kid? It was a very different game than Quake. Not because the gameplay was dramatically different, but because you always knew where the other people where, what they were up to, what weapons they had, etc. It is a dramatic gameplay difference.

It blows my mind that people don't understand gameplay choices and decide to be angry at those that do.

I'll ignore the unnecessary snark.

No one has yet managed to properly defend the devs on this, because the real question isn't why split-screen exists but why they don’t let players choose. Care to take another shot at it?

I've watched nearly 40 minutes of Split Fiction gameplay on YouTube, and I haven’t seen a single scene or puzzle that couldn’t have worked without split-screen. Not one. And if I were playing with a friend, we’d be on Discord anyway. We communicate well, so split-screen wouldn’t just be redundant -- it would be distracting. I’m 99% sure I wouldn’t even look at her side of the screen.

Scallywag Sally wrote on Mar 11, 2025, 07:55:
WHY are people fine with playing on half their goddamn screen? I just can't do it. The forced split-screen is such a hard no for me, the fact literally tons of people are fine with it just blows my mind. I'm passionate about it because I think I'd love this game otherwise. Even with the occasional "Mel, I have no clue wtf you're doing right now and we need to do this puzzle in sync ffs." that would come with no split-screen.

I am surprised it's hard for you to understand. It gives you information on where the other person is and what they're doing at all times. That becomes part of the gameplay.
Did you play GoldenEye as a kid? It was a very different game than Quake. Not because the gameplay was dramatically different, but because you always knew where the other people where, what they were up to, what weapons they had, etc. It is a dramatic gameplay difference.

It blows my mind that people don't understand gameplay choices and decide to be angry at those that do.

WHY are people fine with playing on half their goddamn screen? I just can't do it. The forced split-screen is such a hard no for me, the fact literally tons of people are fine with it just blows my mind. I'm passionate about it because I think I'd love this game otherwise. Even with the occasional "Mel, I have no clue wtf you're doing right now and we need to do this puzzle in sync ffs." that would come with no split-screen.

If you liked It Takes Two or were even curious, this takes that inventive action co-op vibe and expands and improves on it in every way. There's more to do, the movement and camera are refined and feel like a real action game, you respawn instantly outside of combat where some mobs and bosses are challenging enough to have health bars. The many references to other games and fiction (went from Titanfall/Gears of War to Assassins Creed: Persia early on) both in actual gameplay and referential shout-outs go over well. Writing's generally solid as is the voice acting, a few lines didn't match up with the previous emotion and were a touch jarring, but like the game itself, any little moments of frustration are quickly swept up in the prevailing bouncy pace and humor. Also has a cross-platform Friend Pass so if you've got one copy you can always get an online friend for the 100% required second player, but this is ideal for couch co-op.

Dreyerdaughter and her BF are playing through It Takes Two right now. I recommended this if they're looking for the next thing.