Twin Mirror Review — A Pale Imitation

Early on, I got a chance to preview Dontnod's latest chance game Twin Mirror. It certainly set up my expectations pretty high for the final release. While I understood some of my issues with the puzzle-solving aspects during the preview most likely wouldn't be stock-still by release, I hoped the story would continue to capture my attention much like Dontnod's previous titles have. Life Is Strange and Tell Me Why told vastly different stories. Still, both resonated with me on a human level and offered a series of characters and journeys that I even so call back well-nigh to this day. Meanwhile, Twin Mirror has a personality and story that I will struggle to recollect later on a month.

Twin Mirror, Dontnod

Twin Mirror's plot setup is the story of Sam Higgs coming back to his hometown later spending years abroad. Before he left, Sam wrote an article that shook up the small town. It ended up causing the mine'south closure, which put a ton of residents out of work. Equally y'all might imagine, Sam'due south relationship with everyone is understandably uneasy when he returns. On top of that, his closest friend Nick passed away nether suspicious circumstances while investigating something large happening within the town.

A Dontnod game is not complete unless one of the main characters has a unique ability to guide them through puzzles and story beats, and Twin Mirror is no dissimilar. Sam tin can enter what he calls his Mind Palace. It's a solitary oasis away from the outside world where he tin relive memories and experiences. Plus, he'due south able to reenact scenarios and crime scenes. If that wasn't enough, Sam also sees and hears a more social and sarcastic version of himself.

This other self guides yous to brand more empathic choices than overly analytical ones throughout the game. Unfortunately, this cornucopia of different ingredients starts Sam on a frustrating journey that'southward relatively uninteresting and undercuts any tense moments immediately after being introduced.

The presentation of Twin Mirror is its virtually immense saving grace. This is easily the best-looking take a chance game Dontnod has produced. They move away from the mode that gives Life Is Strange its amuse into a more realistic aesthetic. It's alike to more recent action games like Vampyr and Remember Me. Specifically, the Listen Palace looks stunning in the game's early moments, thanks to a glass-shattering motif they acquit throughout the story.

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Near the end, there's a section when the games start to go a piddling trippy. Encounters like these stand out because of all the picayune details Dontnod includes. It's also worth noting that the build of the game ran smoothly with very little to no hitches. Bluntly, I was a bit surprised given how modernistic adventure games often handle grapheme blitheness. The simply places where the impressive visuals are not great are in the random non-essential townspeople that only announced in the hub town area. Otherwise, the game looks fantastic.

"The presentation of Twin Mirror is its virtually immense saving grace"

In my preview, I likened the story to early Christopher Nolan films such as Post-obit, Memento, and Indisposition—with a bear upon of Inception thrown in with the high concept mechanics. At first, the story gears up to follow in those footsteps. Instead, the game paints a pretty substandard tale of a man defenseless between two worlds. He must choose between his doppelganger'southward opinions and his need to find the facts while trying to solve a trite murder mystery.

Dontnod sets you up thinking the story's main graphic symbol may or may non exist someone you could trust early on. This drives an exciting and compelling intro. Still, as the narrative continues, these nuances become thrown away for uncomplicated puzzle solving and side characters that barely contribute to the narrative— they are there merely to be suspects in the greater mystery.

With this being an "gamble" game, many of the player's choices are zippo more than than trophy and achievement allurement. No matter what yous choose, it does not affect the story whatsoever. It's not until one tardily department where your decision matters to earn ane of the five possible endings. The mystery and the supposed twist is completely worn territory. If I told yous the film information technology most resembles, you'd easily guess where they're going.

Having experienced all the game endings, you have no way yous tin side-pace the bad 1 unless you are deliberately trying to sabotage your playthrough. On top of that, this is also i of the shortest of Dontnod's games I accept e'er played. My first playthrough clocked in at simply near seven hours. When experiencing the multiple endings by replaying two sections, you're getting around nine hours of game. Run time doesn't equal quality. However, information technology does add to that sense that Twin Mirror doesn't alive up to the studio'south other output.

"Sam Higgs just isn't an interesting plenty character"

My major hangup virtually this game is that I want it to be meliorate than it actually is. The presentation to tell a well-crafted story is admittedly in this game. Plus, given Dontnod'due south previous titles, the studio has the capacity to tell an interesting psychological murder mystery. The use of Sam's double could have been fairly interesting if it was woven into the greater mystery. Instead, they seem like two concepts that are at odds with each other when they could have been something more compelling and less cookie cutter.

I really wanted to enjoy my time with Twin Mirror. However, also its beautiful presentation, the game lacks any of the substance that made all their previous adventure games cracking. Sam Higgs just isn't an interesting enough character to get backside when most of his dialogue choices are whether he should exist a dick or non. Dontnod and their games mean something to the people that love them, exist it because of their characters or the themes they inhabit. Where Life is Foreign and Tell Me Why soar, Twin Mirror but flutters in the wind. Information technology's not a bad game, it only feels like and so much wasted potential.

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