Twelve Minutes Review: A Stitch In Time

Twelve Minutes delivers a product grounded inside of a time loop that is far beyond the concept of Groundhog Day. Developer Luis Antonio utilizes this concept to its fullest potential to near perfection, surrounding it with complimentary aspects throughout the entirety of his vision. Whether it be the game’s simplistic, but relative art style, a rewarding sensing of difficulty, or well written character pieces across the board, Twelve Minutes is a complex artistic experience that I could not put down until I was completely floored upon completion.

Presentation

Twelve Minutes features a modern minimal art style from the top down perspective dripping in ardent monotony. Initially, the only thing in terms of style I found impressive was the lighting and overall polish. Simple aspects, including lighting, truly stand out. Whether it is a street light bleeding in from outside or a light fixture in the neighboring room, the lighting absolutely shines. That being said, it didn’t seem to really enamor me or even attempt to. It’s clearly more than enjoyable to the eye, but doesn’t thrill in style alone. However, the more I played I realized its true purpose. This ardent monotony added a sense of realism that enhanced the narrative and allowed moment to moment interactions to excel. It made the choices heavy, dare I say real, especially when blood is involved. The blood doesn’t really pop on screen like in other games, but these moments felt intensely powerful.

The most compelling aspect in terms of presentation was the sense of realism. A few subtle yet deliberate choices exemplify this. I only saw my character’s face in detail once when laying down in bed. This assisted in my choices and allowed me to choose as if I was really the one deciding. It felt like an intentional decision and a correct one at that. Another is the change of someone’s title to you, the player. Once you uncover particular distinctive information, your character expresses their altered view of them this way.

While the sound design wasn’t groundbreaking, it was more than serviceable. Rain hitting windows, electrical sockets short circuiting, passing cars on the street below are all prime examples that jumped out as I played. The game also has specific sound cues that assist the player such as the ding of an elevator indicating someone's arrival; key for specific gameplay elements.

A detail that did manage to wow me came in the form of a gesture. Gestures and character model’s movements felt real up to one point, but hadn’t really jumped out. At this particular moment, a character is heartbroken. The moment this realization hits them, they slowly lift their hands up to their mouth and cover it in a sort of diamond shape; something I have seen countless times. Yet, here it stood out in a moment of terror.

The performances from Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy, or Willem Dafoe, when nailed, are quite superb and truly enhance the overall experience. Dramatic scenes never once felt cringe worthy. However, some leaps in escalation did take me out of the experience from time to time. Responses to certain questions would be delivered in ways that simply felt rushed or unnatural. In other words, some responses went from zero to sixty real quick. This seems to be due to where and when these line deliveries are placed in relation to the story and not the fault of the actors themselves.

Overall, the presentation might be the icing on this proverbial cake. Initially it didn’t seem like much, but the more I played, I realized my error. Nearly every aspect compliments the overall vision of Twelve Minutes; its sense of monotony, fantastic lighting, heavy realism, the utilization of blood, superb performances, or a simple gesture. Twelve Minutes strikes a balance in presentation that enhances the trepidation that is a single evening.

Gameplay

After a quick blurry shot of your character riding the elevator up to his apartment floor, you are thrust into the top down point and click environment of Twelve Minutes. You exit the elevator and walk to your apartment via moving your cursor and pressing where you’d like to move to. The approach to gameplay in terms of the point and click nature immediately feels familiar and doesn’t take long to settle in.

You learn that a cop will arrive at your door this evening after a certain interval of time. Despite your best efforts, this cop will break into your home, accuse your wife of murder, and assault you usually resulting in death. After your death the loop will reset and you will have to endure it all again and again. Your goal is to break the loop, but to do so, you need to gather information. You must repeat the loop an innumerable amount of times. In doing, so you will die several times. But if done correctly, you will gather small snippets of information that will aid in breaking the loop. On top of that, some information learned will be exceptionally personal and add an element of drama to your play. Lastly, the choices you are given feel genuine and the consequences feel right. It never feels like you are being led to any particular ending. You are truly choosing your path.

Twelve Minutes doesn’t really involve a lot of technical skill. It's more of an exploratory mind game. It’s a thinker’s game about gathering information rather than gathering items which you also do. These items can become crucial to breaking loops, but once you figure out where and how to get them, the novelty is gone.

An odd and unexpected facet I didn’t expect out of my time playing was the fact that, at times, I would simply want to please my wife. Even though I knew the cop was soon to arrive, some of my efforts would be spent wanting to be a good husband. It’s made very clear that your wife loves you and it was convincing.

Considering the smallest of missteps can spoil a loop or run, I found myself compelled to grab a notepad and jot down my next moves as well as some notes. Some clues can be very intricate until you have a full understanding. Fortunately, there are ways you can speed up or cancel loops if you so desire. This is extremely helpful once you figure it out as it does not detail how to do so. Also, like the title portrays, the loop is only twelve minutes max. So, even if you don’t wish to cancel a loop, you’re left not wasting much time. In the time left over, why not see what kind of shenanigans you can cause? What do you have to lose?

In terms of difficulty, Twelve Minutes never contains anything genuinely involving technical skill, yet it can be difficult. This difficulty comes in deciphering what clues the environment gives you. While challenging at times, it always feels earned and genuinely intriguing. It’s fun to play and experiment, thanks to exceptional writing and indirect choices. Not to mention, once you successfully uncover the golden goose of a particular loop the payoff is incredible.

The cop’s AI also appears very intelligent. For example; when walking into a dark room, he will turn on the light before doing much else. When walking into a lit room, he will not. If you open the front door in the midst of him doing something else outside your apartment, he will become distracted and end it early. It’s all about the player interacting with the world setting a chain of events into motion. The cop simply reacts to your actions and does so in intelligent ways.

Even though Twelve Minutes doesn’t demand any genuine technical skill, the challenge is very real but feels completely earned thanks to superb writing. The mind game you are playing is truly captivating and feels glorious once you manage to break a loop. Its top down point and click nature paired with a smart AI isn’t revolutionary, but here they don’t have to be. The gameplay, while simple, never fails to hold the player’s attention.

Story (Spoiler-Free)

As mentioned above, you quickly find out that this evening isn’t what it appears to be as your wife is accused of murder eight years ago. However, without even stepping into your apartment, it’s possible to gather a few details; you have forgotten your keys, there's a hidden spare, the neighbors have a baby, and the apartment to the left is vacant. This is all information you can gather without even genuinely playing the game; a measly thirty or so seconds into getting to your apartment. Environmental storytelling, some crucial some not, is in full effect throughout as you progress.

This type of narrative focus in terms of gameplay allows a certain aspect of storytelling to absolutely glisten, and that aspect being character writing. This type of story showcases so many different angles of a character from so many different perspectives. The range on display for each of the main characters is a whole lot. You get to see how far they will go for what they want after heartbreak, desperation, disappointment, bliss, etc. The variations are endless and serve as a writer’s creative dream of expression in a singular project.

The plot is gripping in every direction it may take, but some paths cover morbid topics. Even so, I didn't want to stop. I was hooked. Twelve Minutes feels like an artistic television drama that dropped all its episodes at once, but you are at the wheel. I was compelled beyond comparison to see it through.

It’s a tad difficult to go into detail about Twelve Minutes’ story without spoiling anything. With so many possible variations, any subtle piece of information can lead to an angle in ways you would never expect. That in itself is a compliment to the game. The game is a compelling mystery drama that you won't want to stop playing until you solve it. Character writing is simply set up to succeed, and succeed it does.

Breakdown

Game: Twelve Minutes

Developer: Luis Antonio, Annapurna Interactive

Availability: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Game Pass, PC

Reviewed on Xbox Series S

Pros:

+ Complimentary art style

+ Earned difficulty

+ Excellent character writing

+ Genuine choice

Cons:

- Some unrealistic leaps in dialogue and character interaction

Conclusion

Twelve Minutes is something entirely unique in the gaming space. Not only unique, it’s really damn good. The game’s cogs all turn in unison and compliment each other throughout. A simplistic but beautifully relative presentation brings an intricate narrative bustling with superb character writing to life. The story goes places, but that didn’t stop me. It couldn’t. While challenging, it always feels more than doable as what you are attempting are mind game choices rather than technical skill based inputs. Twelve Minutes presents a terrifying evening filled with murder, horrible truths, twists, and a time loop. I could not recommend Twelve Minutes enough.

Reviewed by Austin Ernst