The vast majority of video games are built so that they can be played by a single player, with co-op sometimes added as an optional part of the experience. However, the games by Josef Fares and Hazelight Studios have made co-op a requirement, allowing for unique gameplay that truly takes advantage of the co-op setup. The studios' first shared screen co-op effort, 2018's A Way Out, did some clever things with the concept, but it was a bit rough around the edges. Hazelight's latest game, It Takes Two, builds on what worked in A Way Out, polishes everything to near-perfection, and delivers what will go down as one of the absolute best co-op video games ever made.

In It Takes Two, players take on the roles of Cody and May, a married couple who are on the brink of divorce. Their daughter Rose catches wind of this and understandably becomes upset. The next thing Cody and May know, they find themselves in the bodies of two dolls that Rose made, their physical human forms "sleeping," and them at the mercy of a magical talking book written by Dr. Hakim, The Book of Love.

Dr. Hakim's goal is to have Cody and May rebuild their relationship by going through an ordeal together that sees the couple explore their home in microform. This Honey, I Shrunk the Kids-style concept has been done many times in the past, but It Takes Two adds an extra twist on the formula by making a lot of the objects and animals that Cody and May encounter anthropomorphic. This includes talking animals like squirrels and beetles, but also talking inanimate objects like hammers and toolboxes.

It's a bizarre premise, but it works thanks to some great writing, incredible voice acting, and a sharp sense of humor. It Takes Two's story is incredibly strange, but it also has some heartfelt scenes as well. The way it all plays out by the end is pretty predictable, but the journey to get to that point is full of surprises and should keep players entertained.

It Takes Two's story is entertaining enough, but the gameplay is what makes it truly remarkable. Each chapter introduces brand new gameplay mechanics that completely change the way players approach exploring the environment and completing platforming challenges. The core platforming gameplay is kept intact throughout most of the chapters, but there's always a gimmick to shake things up and ensure that players are constantly doing something new. And while this approach means It Takes Two runs the risk of being a "jack of all trades, master of none" game, there's not a single mechanic that's boring or frustrating in the slightest. It squeezes as much as it can out of each idea and then moves on to the next gimmick before the previous one wears out its welcome.

To go into too much detail about It Takes Two's different gameplay mechanics would be to venture into spoiler territory. Part of the fun of the game is seeing what new abilities Cody and May will have for that stage and discovering how they change the gameplay. But for an example, in one of the first chapters, Cody and May get some nails and a hammer, respectively. Cody is able to use the nails to create beams that May can grip with the hammer to swing across gaps. These abilities are used in platforming puzzles, with virtually all of the puzzles in the game requiring Cody and May to work cooperatively to solve them.

Each chapter is built around Cody and May's new abilities, though players rarely repeat the same challenge twice. The developers at Hazelight consistently add new ways for the abilities to be utilized, plus the chapters themselves sometimes branch off to completely different styles of gameplay. One notable level that does this is the Snow Globe chapter, which sees Cody and May using opposite ends of a magnet to solve puzzles and ultimately make their way to a town.

When It Takes Two players reach the Snow Globe town, the game shifts from being a linear puzzle-platformer to being an open world of sorts, with different objectives that players can complete in any order they wish. The town also has bonus objectives for players to complete, as well as mini-games where Cody and May can compete with one another. It's one of the best levels in It Takes Two and further highlights the game's incredible variety.

It Takes Two is, at different times, a linear puzzle-platformer, an open world Super Mario 64-esque platformer, a racing game, a mini-game compilation, a side-scroller, a third-person shooter, and many other genres. Players are going to be surprised and impressed when they see everything that It Takes Two brings to the table.

There is no wasted space in It Takes Two. The game will likely last for eight to 10 hours, so it's a lean experience with zero filler, padding, or time-wasting objectives. Some may criticize It Takes Two as having a lack of replay value, but Cody and May's abilities differ so greatly that one could play through the entire game again as the other character and have a decidedly different experience than they did the first time.

It Takes Two has no traditional collectibles for players to find, which is not surprising as game director Josef Fares has made it clear that he doesn't think very highly of them. But that doesn't mean that the game world doesn't have secrets to discover. On the contrary, It Takes Two's world is full of hidden areas and Easter eggs to find. And while there aren't traditional collectibles, the chapters have mini-games to find where Cody and May can compete with one another for bragging rights. Some of the mini-games are pretty shallow, but others can be a lot of fun and players may find themselves going back to play them. There's everything from whack-a-mole to a completely functional chess board, and with 25 mini-games, players are bound to find something they enjoy.

What's more is that It Takes Two's mini-games can be accessed quickly through the menu, and some of them even have extra options that players can tweak to tailor them to their needs. Using the chess board as an example, It Takes Two players can pop in and choose between games with quick or long timers, or they can play with an infinite clock so Cody and May can take as long as they want with their turns.

Chapter select makes going back and finding the mini-games one missed much easier, and players can use it to hunt down the other secrets to unlock It Takes Two's Platinum trophy. It's not a game that players are going to spend dozens of hours playing, but it's also not a game that's going to waste anyone's time with filler to pad out its length. It Takes Two is exactly as long as it needs to be, but the game is fun enough that it's something co-op gamers will likely want to revisit every once in awhile - there's nothing else quite like it.

It Takes Two is co-op gaming genius and is going to go down as both a classic of the genre and a Game of the Year contender. There's not a single dull moment in the entire game, and we didn't run into any glitches or technical issues of any kind either. It Takes Two is polished to near-perfection, and an absolute must-play for co-op gaming fans.

It Takes Two launches March 26 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant was provided with a PS5 code for this review.