Twelve Minutes Review | A Time Loop Game That’s Too Restrictive And Super Weird
249Twelve Minutes has been in the works for a very, very long time. The top-down adventure game has been on most anticipated lists for years. But, finally, the wait for 12 Minutes is over, and you can now hear the Hollywood talent of Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, and James McAvoy in this interactive Groundhog Day. Myself and deputy editor Alice Bell recently played it, so I’ve asked her to chat to me about her thoughts on the latest time loop video game. Check out what we think of the game in this Twelve Minutes review! Also, there’s some Twelve Minutes gameplay here, too, obviously – spoilers are kept to an absolute minimum, so we don’t give away any puzzle solutions.
🎥: Want to hear about Alice’s favourite thing in Road 96? Have a look at this: https://youtu.be/vHtITW3OYwc
🔴 Subscribe and ring that bell to never miss a video or livestream: https://www.youtube.com/rockpapershot?sub_confirmation=1
💬: Chat to lovely people on the RPS Discord: https://discord.gg/rockpapershotgun
🍾 Support RPS by becoming a YouTube channel member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5bKSAZBvV9AKlBJPG0Py-A/join
🛒 Buy some RPS merch: https://store.reedpop.com/collections/rock-paper-shotgun
🐦: Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Colm_Ahern / https://twitter.com/rockpapershot
🌐 Check out our lovely website: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com
The biggest issue hindering this Twelve Minutes game is the 12 minutes time loop. It might be difficult to make out in the 12 Minutes gameplay, but we go into it in our 12 Minutes review. Unlike some other games of this ilk, the loop’s duration feels restrictive, because the margin of error is so small. You can spend four or so minutes setting up for a particular event, only to forget one little thing. Then, your only option is to hit the reset button and go through the process once more.
And, as you’ll be able to see in our Twelve Minutes gameplay, the entirety of the game takes place in three small rooms and a cupboard. Therefore, it’s far easier to get frustrated in this game than perhaps another more open loop-y game where success isn’t dependent on you doing certain actions at specific points. I’m trying to keep spoilers to a minimum here, which is why this description might read a little funny!
The idea of this 12 Minutes game is sound: a lot of time loop games have worked really well in recent years – only recently we had The Forgotten City, which was very good – but this falters is in how limiting it feels. There just isn’t enough freedom in the solutions of Twelve Minutes, so you end up repeating the same actions over and over again to the point of irritation.
This game has also generated some buzz because of its actors. Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley and James McAvoy: games are rarely as Hollywood. Alice enjoyed the work of the Twelve Minutes cast, with James McAvoy being her favourite. And, again, because we're keeping spoilers to minimum, we don't go into how weird this game gets... but it gets super weird.
If you've enjoyed this Twelve Minutes gameplay and our Twelve Minutes PC review chat (everything said here applies to the Twelve Minutes Xbox version, too, in case you were wondering), then why not have a read of Alice’s thoughts in her written Twelve Minutes review on RockPaperShotgun.com (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/twelve-minutes-review)
0:00 Intro
0:44 Twelve Minutes Review
6:42 Outro
#TwelveMinutes #12Minutes #RockPaperShotgun