It's Dangerous to Go Alone: A Hand In Hand Review

By Al

Players: 1-2
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Puzzle platformers are nothing new, nor are ones that are multiplayer, but Hand In Hand changes up the formula by adding in simultaneous, split-screen action. We'll get into exactly what I mean by all that in a bit, but let's continue with the intro first. Hand In Hand comes to us by way of developer MaxMedia and publisher OverGamez, and it’s currently available on all major platforms. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today, and hopefully seeing what exactly makes this title unique. We have a lot of ground to cover here, so let's get right into it!

Hand In Hand opens with two soulmates living happily in their fairytale world. A random evil decides to drop in on their harmonious existence, and splits them up. Their love knows no separation though, and they still manage to maintain a connection even though they are far apart from each other. This link is what drives much of the game forward, and their goal is obviously to be reunited with each other. This all might sound very vague, and that's because it is. Very little is told to the player about what is going on, and every single scene is open to interpretation. There's no dialogue, and there's not even anything in the way of written text. This is atmospheric storytelling in its most pure form, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it can be quite a bit cryptic at times. Nothing is every explained to you directly in-game, and even tutorials are done in picture form. The latter can often be extremely unhelpful, with trial and error often being the quicker option over trying to interpret whatever the pictures are trying to convey. Part of me wanted to appreciate the beautifully simplistic way Hand In Hand delivers its story, but I never was totally convinced that it was a good thing. Conflicted as I may be, I guess it's fair to point out that puzzle platformers don't necessarily need strong stories to give players reasons to pick them up. We've all played many games with stories just as barebones as this one offers, and even some that barely bother with a story at all. I guess we can't go too hard on the game in this respect, but I have a feeling that isn't going to hold up for long.

Even though I was rather lenient when talking about the game's story, I don't think I can do quite the same thing when it comes to Hand In Hand gameplay. I plan on going more in-depth regarding controls later, but I wanted to go over the briefly here since just about every issue I had with the game seemed to stem from them. When I said the game was split-screen and simultaneous, I also mean that it's like that in all modes, including single player. In single player mode you control both the male and female characters using a single controller. You move the guy with the left analog stick, and jump and attack using the left shoulder buttons. To control the girl, you use the right analog stick to move and use the right shoulder buttons to jump and use her magic. You can actually swap those sides in-game, but you get the point. Controlling both characters takes quite a bit of getting used to, but it's made all the more problematic once you realize that you often have to control both characters at once. Not just control them both at once either, but do so while taking on some of the wonkiest platforming I've seen in a long while. I truly hope that everyone who plans on picking this game up has the ability to pat their head and rub their belly at the same time, because that's what playing Hand In Hand feels like most of the time. I can't explain the frustration of having to run and jump with two different characters, who move at two different speeds, and perform their actions on two separate parts of the screen. Maybe I'm not cut out for this sort of gameplay, but this one aspect alone made the entire single player experience borderline unplayable at times. I honestly wanted to end the review after only the second level, but I eventually found the game's saving grace: its multiplayer mode.

I'm going to cover multiplayer in a bit, but let me discuss the rest of gameplay first. Hand In Hand is a puzzle platformer in the purest sense of the word. There isn't much focus on fighting enemies, and when enemies do pop up, it's only the male character who does any direct fighting. The male character can use his non-jump button to attack, and this attack takes out enemies and barriers in his way. The female character has magic instead of an attack, and this magic actually does a lot of different things when used. Its main function is to render the girl invincible for a short period of time, but it also reveals new platforms, and even makes obstacles disappear on the male character's part of the screen. She's also a bit faster than the male character, so having to run with both of them is a bit like that meme regarding an escort character's walking speed, except here they're both controlled by the player. Things get interesting whenever a puzzle pops up, and these often involve a series of switches. Sometimes the switches need to be flipped, powered on, or simply stepped on, but they often have to be activated at the same time on both halves of the screen. These switches often lead to timed platforming sections that have all the annoyances I mentioned above, but I actually like the way the game handles its non-platforming puzzle sections. Seeing one action affect something on the other side of the screen is a nice touch, even though it always seems to be the girl's magic that is far more useful than the male character's attack. There were a lot of puzzle sections I enjoyed, and I think that a good game could've been pulled out of all this if more focus had been placed on environmental puzzles as opposed to timed platforming sections.

The only reason my review wasn't cut short early was because I eventually was able to find a friend who was available to come over and try out the game's multiplayer mode. This one action literally saved the game for me, and it made me seriously wonder why the game wasn't released as a multiplayer-only title. Just about every issue I had with the game was either lessened, or suddenly became a non-issue. Those platforming sections were suddenly quite easy once you didn't have to control two characters at once, and even the more esoteric puzzles are easier solved when two sets of eyes are looking at them. Not only does multiplayer make the game actually playable, but it also made it fun too. I suddenly appreciated the way the game crafted its puzzles, and I got to learn the ins and outs of what each of the characters was truly capable of. That's not to say that multiplayer isn't without its own set of problems. Playing in multiplayer means that each player has a totally different experience with the game depending on which character they are currently playing as. The girl doesn't do any fighting, and is far better at platforming, while the guy pretty much takes on every boss encounter as a one-on-one fight. Some puzzles also require a switch to be hit, and one character to wait until the other completes a section that flips another switch that opens the path for them to move forward next. This means that there are several times when one of the players will be sitting around doing nothing, and a lot of times that will be whoever is controlling the girl. I guess this can't really be helped, but it did make for an uneven experience all around. Multiplayer is also local only, so you'll need a player two who is physically with you in order to get the most out of the game.

Issues with gameplay aside, I have to say that Hand In Hand really excels when it comes to its visuals. The world has several layers of depth to it, there's lots of small details placed throughout, and everything feels like it’s full of life. The environments are a bit on the limited side, and there is something of a muted color palette to everything, but this is a beautiful game to look at. Maybe it's the two-character gameplay, and the silent action, but I got lots of Ico vibes during my time with the game, and I can't really explain why. Clearly this is no 3D adventure, but I'm pretty sure fans of Ico will know what I'm talking about. Even though I found the levels to be a bit same-y after a while, the same can't be said about the boss encounters. These are all big, epic affairs, and calling them anything short of "impressive" does them a disservice. Everything just looks great here, and runs perfectly fine, even on the Nintendo Switch. I do wish there was a bit more variety in the locales you visit, but I guess there's nothing wrong with a game that has a limited scope when it comes to areas a player visits. It's also worth noting that I'm only using screens from the earlier section of the game, as taking screenshots during my multiplayer session wasn't something either of us remembered to do.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I'm supposed to talk about sound in Hand In Hand, and that's because there really isn't a whole lot to say about it. This is by no means a silent game, but if I had to describe its sound design in one word, it would be "silently atmospheric". Most music plays softly and slowly in the background, and there were several times I wasn't even sure that it was playing at all. You do get some nice sound effects that give every action some weight behind it, but it makes for an experience that can either be melancholic or boring depending on how well you're currently vibing with the game. There are some nice flourishes that play when certain collaborative tasks are achieved, but these only made me wish that more of the game featured music as good as those brief bits. I guess that encompasses my entire issue with sound, it's not that it's bad, it's just that there's not enough for me to even examine.

I know I already talked about controls earlier when I was discussing gameplay, but there are a few more things I wanted to cover before wrapping this review up. While I don't think anything can be done to make the single player experience better, I do wish that the game had button mapping options. Admittedly you are able to switch around a few things, and Switch owners can force button changes through the console menus, but you're always stuck with having to use the shoulder buttons to control your character's actions. I know that I can't be the only one who thinks that jumping with a shoulder button just feels wrong in any context. To make matters worse, the controls still aren't switched to the completely unused face buttons when you're playing in multiplayer. You're also able to switch to a single camera view with a press of the L3/R3 buttons. I never once felt like I needed to use this feature, but I activated it several times by pressing the analog stick a bit too hard when running in-game. If you do that, then I hope you're ready to see one character just cut off the screen entirely. This messed me up more times than I can count, and I can't fathom why the developers didn't also simply assign this function to the unused face buttons. Then there's probably my other giant issue with the game: the lack of "coyote timing" when it comes to jumping. "Coyote timing" refers to the extra frames developers put in when players attempt to perform a jump while close to the edge of a platform. Most games let you still jump even though you may technically already be off the platform, but Hand In Hand will just call that a miss and let you fall to your doom. It's a really hard thing to describe if you're not playing a game that does it, but it probably won't take long to notice that the jumping here seems all sorts of off. Seeing as each character runs at a slightly different speed, the lack of those extra frames will definitely result in lots of missed jumps. This is also something that you'll experience in multiplayer too, but it's far more manageable there since you're only controlling one character.

Before I end this review, I have to admit that I was not able to clear Hand In Hand. I could never wrap my head around controlling two characters who operate at different speeds at the same time in single player, and that multiplayer session was a one-off, scheduled occurrence. I just didn't have it in me to keep trying it in single player. Even though I realize that making this game a two-player only experience may have been a bit restrictive, but going that route would eliminate about half of my issues with the game. Even an AI-controlled partner would've been better than what we got in this final released version. With all that in mind, I must say that I still don't think Hand In Hand is a bad game. It has a lot of issues, but it's a beautiful game that has a great concept. It fails in that concept's execution (in my opinion at least), but still have to give credit where credit is due. This is the kind of game that has "hidden gem" written all over it, and I'm sure many others are already adding it to game of the year lists. While it won't place anywhere on mine, I don't know how much of that has to do with my lack of being able to adjust to the odd control scheme this game employs.

Though I don't think I can give Hand In Hand a full recommendation if you plan on playing it single player, I do think it's worth picking up if you're going to attempt completing it as a multiplayer-only experience. You can probably make some fun gaming memories here if you have a family member, friend, or roommate who is readily available for multiple sessions. It's a fun, quirky game, and its current $12.00 price tag means that it's also quite affordable. Just make sure you know what you're getting into, and you'll be fine. I hope the developers give this concept another go though, as I do think there's something to it, but I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Check Out Hand In Hand on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/hand-in-hand-switch/

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Story: B
Gameplay: C
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: C
Value: B

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ A unique take on the puzzle platformer formula.
+ Amazing visuals and animation make this game a feast for the eyes.
+ Very fun to play in multiplayer mode, with each player having a pretty unique experience depending on which character they play as.
+ Some of the puzzles are well-thought out, and there's a lot of potential in the dual-character system.
+ Boss fights are quite impressive, and a nice change to the gameplay formula.

Cons:
- Single player mode is practically unplayable at times due to the many sections that require precision platforming from two characters who control very differently from each other.
- Having to use the shoulder buttons to jump just feels wrong.
- Should buttons aside, the lack of coyote timing makes jumping in general feel somewhat broken.
- Most of the game features only the lightest of music to accompany the game, making the entire experience a rather silent one.
- Even though the game is best played in multiplayer, your player two has to be physically with you. Hand In Hand features no online multiplayer options.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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