You’re sitting there, controller in hand, looking at your partner or your best friend, and you’re about to lose your mind because a giant toolbox is throwing nails at you. That is the magic of It Takes Two Xbox Series X. It isn't just a game; it is a test of your relationship, your patience, and your ability to jump at the exact same time as someone else. Honestly, it’s one of the few games that actually justifies why we spend all this money on high-end consoles.
Hazelight Studios, led by the perpetually energetic Josef Fares, didn't just make a platformer. They made a genre-bending machine. When you play it on the Series X, everything feels snappier. The loading screens—which used to give you time to go grab a snack on the older hardware—are basically gone. You’re just in it.
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The premise is weird. Let’s be real. You play as Cody and May, a couple on the brink of divorce who get turned into dolls by their daughter’s tears and a sentient book of love named Dr. Hakim. It sounds like a fever dream. But it works. It works because the game refuses to let you get bored. Every twenty minutes, the mechanics change. One minute you're playing a third-person shooter with sap and matches, and the next, you're in a top-down dungeon crawler or a rhythm game.
The Xbox Series X Advantage is Real
People ask if the upgrade matters for a game that looks like a Pixar movie. It does. On the Xbox Series X, the game runs at a crisp 4K resolution targeting 60 frames per second. That fluidity is vital. When you’re swinging through a giant tree or navigating a space-themed bedroom, that high frame rate makes the platforming feel tight. You can't blame the hardware when you miss a jump; you can only blame your co-op partner.
The Quick Resume feature on the Series X is a lifesaver here. Since It Takes Two Xbox Series X is a strictly co-op experience, you're usually playing with someone else's schedule. Being able to jump right back into the exact spot where you left off—without sitting through five minutes of logos and menu screens—is a massive quality-of-life improvement.
Then there's the Smart Delivery. If you bought the game on Xbox One years ago, you get the Series X version for free. No "Director's Cut" fee. No "Next-Gen Upgrade" tax. It’s just there. Microsoft and Hazelight handled this the right way.
Friend’s Pass: The Best Deal in Gaming
We need to talk about the Friend’s Pass because people still get confused by it. If you own the game, your friend doesn't have to. Period. They just download the "Friend's Pass" version from the Xbox Store, you invite them, and you play the whole thing together. It’s a bold move that more developers should copy. It removes the "I don't want to spend $40" barrier that kills so many multiplayer games.
One person buys, two people play. It's that simple.
Why the Gameplay Never Gets Stale
Most games find a "loop" and stick to it. Not this one. Hazelight has this philosophy where if a mechanic doesn't fit the story anymore, they toss it. You’ll use a magnet for one level, and then you’ll never see that magnet again. It’s brave. It’s also expensive to develop, which is why most studios don't do it.
The level design is dense. You aren't just running through empty hallways. In the "Cuckoo Clock" level, the sheer amount of detail in the gears and the brass textures is stunning on the Series X hardware. You can see the scratches on the metal and the fuzz on Cody’s clay body. It adds a sense of tactility that helps ground the ridiculousness of the plot.
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It’s also surprisingly difficult. Don't let the "dolls" aesthetic fool you. Some of the boss fights, like the Beetle or the rampaging vacuum cleaner, require genuine coordination. You will argue. You will probably yell "Jump now!" at least fifty times. But when you finally nail a sequence after ten tries, the rush is better than any loot box or XP grind.
A Story That Actually Bites
A lot of people criticize the story for being a bit "on the nose," and yeah, Dr. Hakim is an acquired taste. He’s loud, he’s annoying, and he thrusts his hips way too much for a self-help book. But underneath the cheese, there’s a surprisingly dark streak.
There is a specific scene involving a plush elephant named Cutie that has become infamous in the gaming community. It is harrowing. It is traumatic. It is also a brilliant piece of dark comedy that forces the players to be complicit in the characters' desperation. It’s moments like that where It Takes Two Xbox Series X separates itself from being "just a kids' game." It’s a game about messy, flawed adults making terrible decisions while trying to find their way back to some semblance of a family.
Technical Performance and Visuals
When you're running this on the Series X, the Auto HDR kicks in and makes the colors pop in a way that the SDR version just can't match. The "Rose’s Room" chapter is a neon-soaked wonderland that looks incredible on an OLED screen.
- Resolution: Native 4K (3840 x 2160)
- Frame Rate: Rock-solid 60 FPS
- Loading: Near-instant thanks to the Velocity Architecture
- Audio: Spatial sound support makes it easier to hear where your partner is located when you get separated
The game uses a split-screen view 90% of the time, even when you're playing online. This was a deliberate choice by Josef Fares. He wants you to see what your partner is seeing. On older consoles, rendering two viewpoints at once often led to muddy textures or frame drops. The Series X eats this for breakfast. Even with two distinct "cameras" running, the level of detail doesn't dip.
Addressing the Common Gripes
It’s not perfect. No game is. Some people find Cody and May to be unlikable at the start. That’s sort of the point—they’re in the middle of a divorce—but it can be grating for the first hour. If you can push past the initial bickering, the character growth is actually quite rewarding.
Also, if you’re a solo player, you’re out of luck. There is no AI partner. There is no single-player mode. You must have a second person. While that might seem like a limitation, it’s actually the game’s greatest strength. It forces a shared experience in an era where most "multiplayer" games involve sitting in a lobby with thirty strangers you’ll never talk to again.
How to Get the Most Out of It
If you’re about to start your journey in It Takes Two Xbox Series X, do yourself a favor: play it on the same couch if possible. While the online play is smooth, nothing beats the physical energy of sitting next to your co-op partner.
- Check your storage: The game isn't a massive hog, but ensure you have about 45GB free on your internal SSD to take advantage of those fast load times.
- Toggle the settings: Make sure your Xbox is set to "Allow 4K" and "HDR10" in the display settings. The contrast in the darker "Basement" levels is much better with HDR engaged.
- Talk to everything: There are no "collectibles" in the traditional sense. No feathers to find or hidden packages. Instead, the world is filled with interactive mini-games and toys. Spend time playing with the snow globes or the photography equipment. It’s where half the charm lives.
- Communicate: This sounds cheesy, but literally talk through what you see. The puzzles are designed so that Cody sees one half of the solution and May sees the other.
The game won Game of the Year at The Game Awards in 2021 for a reason. It wasn't a fluke. It beat out massive big-budget titles because it remembered that games are supposed to be fun and inventive.
Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or you’re trying to convince a non-gamer partner to pick up a controller, this is the gold standard. It’s accessible but challenging. It’s beautiful but occasionally grotesque. It’s a masterpiece of cooperative design that feels right at home on the Xbox Series X.
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Actionable Next Steps
- Verify your subscription: If you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or EA Play, you already own this game. Don't buy it separately; just go to the library and hit download.
- Invite a friend: If playing remotely, have your partner search for the "It Takes Two Friend's Pass" in the Xbox Store. They do not need a paid subscription to the game itself, only an Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly Live Gold) membership for online play.
- Clear your weekend: The game takes roughly 12 to 15 hours to complete. It’s best experienced in 2-3 hour chunks to avoid "puzzle fatigue."
- Calibration: Use the Xbox "HDR Calibration" app before starting. This ensures the bright highlights in the magic-themed levels don't wash out the fine details of the character models.