Zorya: The Celestial Sisters is an upcoming cooperative puzzle platformer that should be of interest to fans of It Takes Two, an action-adventure puzzle-platformer that's currently up for the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2021. Both titles require players to work in harmony and find solutions but with vastly different controls.
Zorya is an admittedly different experience than It Takes Two, though the EA-published title's positive reception might actually bode well for the indie game, developed by Madlife. Both games must be played cooperatively between two players and don't feature any kind of single-player campaign or AI to fill in as a second player. This is because the goal of the game is to force players to work together and communicate, and like It Takes Two, the cooperative element could make or break how Zorya: The Celestial Sisters' pans out.
Communication as Both a Theme and a Mechanic
Both literally and thematically, communication was important in progressing through It Takes Two. The story followed a pair of parents on the cusp of a failing marriage, but when their daughter turns them into dolls by play-acting a resolution for their relationship, Cody and May must navigate the world in their tiny new bodies in an attempt to return themselves to normal. However, Dr. Hakim, personified as their self-help relationship book, continuously pits them against obstacles as a means of forcing them to work and solve problems together.
Co-operative games don't normally make as big of a splash as It Takes Two, but it's possible that the forced new perspectives brought by the Covid-19 pandemic have caused players to gravitate toward titles that require togetherness, either through online or split-screen play. This was also observed last year with Animal Crossing: New Horizons' nomination for Game of the Year. While not published by a AAA developer, it's possible that Zorya: The Celestial Sisters could breach the same success, or at the very least, be of interest to the same realm of gamers.
The somewhat odd thing about Zorya: The Celestial Sisters is that even following the hands-off gameplay preview, not a whole lot has been revealed about its overarching story. The two sisters have been separated, with Aysu stranded on Earth, on a quest to be reunited. But it's a bit unclear how influential that story will be - if it'll neatly tie gameplay and narrative together like in It Takes Two - or if it will more so take the shape of Super Mario games, where there is a setup and some story but is otherwise simply fun platforming mechanics.
But there is a lot to observe about how communication will have a major role here just as it did in It Takes Two, even if it's unclear how it might affect the plot.
Zorya: The Celestial Sister's Simple Elegance
Zorya: The Celestial Sisters will be a far more relaxed experience than It Takes Two's wild action-platforming. The gameplay is also a lot more simplistic, but this is also what should make it more enticing, especially in the indie sphere where chill and atmospheric games such as Unpacking are all the rage right now. It's less action and more strategizing. In Zorya, players will assume the role of two sisters, Aysu and Solveig, the former being symbolic of the moon and the latter of the sun, in more ways than just her name.
As Aysu, the third-person camera will rest over her shoulder. Together, players must complete levels named after constellations such as Aries 2, Pisces 1, or Whale 3, but Aysu can only traverse on the ground while Solveig helps her in the sky. Aysu must move through the shadows or players must restart the level, and Solveig can help her by manipulating the sunlight, which can also unlock a series of puzzles such as pathways, and her sunbeam can stun enemies.
Zorya may be a bit imbalanced in this way, especially early on when Aysu doesn't have many abilities. Aysu must travel to the end of the level by shadows, which shift with the sun, meaning that Aysu's abilities are dependant on Solveig's, who can also hit switches to open doorways or raise pillars, providing more shade and opening up new paths.
But as the game progresses, Zorya will introduce new systems like the mirror, which can reflect light in different directions. Players will need the mirror to create new pathways, and new puzzle elements will require finding options to get the reflection further. In this way, The Celestial Sisters is really about bouncing ideas off one another to find the correct route to the end goal.
And while Solveig oversees the entire layout of a given level from the sky, Aysu can also encounter problems that only exist on the ground. For example, there are enemies known as the Aries in Zorya: The Celestial Sisters, who patrol some of the levels. This means there is some stealth involved on Aysu's part, but the sisters can work together to "defeat" them, though they can never actually die. Aysu can use her power of the wind to push the Aries into the sunlight, which then allows Solveig to burn and temporarily stun them with her sunbeam. In many ways, communication between players will make or break how they experience Zorya: The Celestial Sisters.
In this way, co-op games like Zorya and It Takes Two are calling back to the Portal era. Whereas many cooperative games tend to support communication, more recent titles like the Overcooked games practically require it. Players might even be able to work together on purchasing Zorya as well. Much like It Takes Two which provided a Friend Pass for free, Zorya: The Celestial Sisters will also have this option, meaning friends, roommates, and significant others can split the $24.99 cost if they prefer.
Zorya: The Celestial Sisters launches on February 8, 2022 for PC and Switch.