Multiplayer games over the past two decades have mostly veered towards the PvP or PvPvE space. However, the split screen co-op type of multiplayer game has seen a resurgence in the past few years thanks to studios like Hazelight which has released high quality co-op games. Last month at Summer Game Fest, we got to go hands on with what looks to be another special co-op game in Orbitals. After playing it, this co-op game, lead by a former Hazelight designer, feels like it continues to bring what is so special about the co-op experience.
The first thing you notice about Orbitals is it has a stunning anime aesthetic that harkens back to anime of the 1980s and 1990s. The game even starts with a beautiful anime cutscene that intros the game. There are so many games that start with some amazing introductory cutscenes that never have these types of scenes throughout the game, thus, I had to ask if that would be the case for Orbitals. Luckily, the rep there reassured that the game will have plenty of anime cutscenes sprinkled throughout the entirety of the game. The anime aesthetic carries over to the game itself with the character models and environments looking like they’re pulled right of the anime cutscenes.
The game itself puts us in the shoes of dual protagonists of Maki and Omura who live on a space station. The demo we played was the start of the game and gave us a short little introduction to what the game is. Orbitals looks to be far more focused on puzzle solving and teamwork in solving them. For example, we needed to move an item through a machine with one of us moving the item and then the other player needing to clear the way for us to get the item through. After we completed all the prep work on the station, the demo ended with us getting to go into space on a ship and needing to clear out specific spots. This was the most complex thing we had to do as one player controlled the ship while the other was able to shoot the ship’s gun to target and eliminate the obstacles we had to.
Orbitals looks to be another lovely co-op game that anyone will enjoy. For those interested, the game will be here in just a couple months. Orbitals is planned to release exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 on September 3, 2026. Like most of these new co-op focused games, the game will also support the Switch 2’s GameShare feature to share a copy of the game with a friend to easily have someone to play with.