The upcoming co-op adventure It Takes Two doesn’t contain collectibles as gamers “don’t even finish games,” according to Hazelight Studios’ co-founder.
Hazelight Studios’ Josef Fares commented on the game’s replayability during a recent Q&A session [via GameRevolution]. The question prompted Fares to provide some player habit analysis, where he suggested that people don’t actually finish games, let alone replay them:
“We should be very careful about this, because the issue with replayability is that the statistics show that people don’t even finish games. Who’s replaying games? People don’t even finish games.
“We always get this question. Why, I don’t understand. People don’t replay games.”
Check out GameByte playing It Takes Two below!
While Fares clarified that you CAN replay Takes Two if you wish, he also stated that the game wouldn’t contain any collectibles, something that would typically facilitate replayability in a game:
“Yes, you can replay It Takes Two … but you don’t have any collectibles in It Takes Two. It’s something we’re very proud of.”
Fares also refers to collectibles as “shiny sh*t”, while suggesting that they aren’t necessary. The director acknowledged that collectibles could serve to guide players in-game but also stated that there are alternatives:
“I know shiny sh*t is there to guide the player, but you can do that with other things.”
Having previously worked on A Way Out and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Fares seems to know how to avoid using collectibles as a game mechanic. Both games feature interactive environments and puzzle-based tasks, which serve to progress the game’s narrative while keeping the player on the right path.
As for Fares’ claims about game completion, it appears that the director’s opinion is based on some fact. According to a report by Ungeek, even the likes of The Last of Us Part 2 only has a completion rate of around 58 per cent. Games are getting longer with each generation, so perhaps getting through a game is more than enough for the average modern-day gamer.
It Takes Two is set to release on 26th March 2021 for Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Featured Image Credit: EA