It’s almost impossible to avoid comparing 12 Minutes to the classic existential horror movie, Groundhog Day. It’s the same basic premise, after all; famous actor goes into house, eats cake, gets assaulted by policeman, chokes to death, wakes up in the time loop. Okay, maybe they’re not exactly the same. In fact, it’s only really the famous actor and the time loop that it has in common. Also, Groundhog Day is good.
As a game – that is, as a puzzle for the player to solve – 12 Minutes is profoundly unengaging. Yes, that first loop raises many questions (among them, How much was James McAvoy paid to be in something even worse than X-Men Apocalypse? Does Nintendo have a refund policy?) but getting to the answers is going to require an enormous amount of repetition, arbitrary guessing and the ability to overcome incredible amounts of ennui.
It’s a point-and-click adventure, more or less, that plays out in real time. A novel gimmick, for sure – The Last Express did it, but not a whole lot else did. Not in this genre; it’s a bit of a clash of styles. See, fiddly inventory management, complete with dragging objects using the left analogue stick and buttons, never feels good. Ever, ever, ever. And when you're under time pressure? Forget about it. Touch screen input might have helped in handheld mode, but it's not present here.
Many of the most notorious puzzles in adventure gaming are timing-based. Think of Broken Sword’s goat encounter. It’s memorable for the wrong reason; the puzzle exhibits the fundamental disconnect between a control scheme and pace designed for thought and an obstacle made for dexterity. 12 Minutes effectively trades on this design mistake. It’s like trying to play Punch-Out while wearing real boxing gloves.
Essentially, you’re tasked with repeating the loop over and over again, hearing banal dialogue you’ve already heard dozens of times, looking for that one little thing you could do differently that may result in the slightest crumb of new information. Fail, loop. Fail, loop. You’ll get bored. You’ll stop caring. You could just look at a guide, but then the game really will last twelve minutes. Small favours.
That way, perhaps you’ll enjoy the story — we thought it was stupid. Not the fun kind of incredulous stupid, like No More Heroes, say. We're talking about Hang on, that makes no sense stupid. A lame, shock-value twist that doesn’t explain anything to any satisfaction, instead trading in ambiguity. Nothing wrong with ambiguity, if it's in service of something. It can be haunting, not knowing the answers. Not caring, though? That’s something of a different matter.
12 Minutes on Switch is not a bad port by any means. Solid 30fps and strong visuals. Gamers of a certain school may get a kick out of the demanding, repetitive gameplay – perhaps masochists who favoured Sierra adventures over LucasArts. Though having said that, this writer has a soft spot for text parser-era Sierra and still got very, very little out of this.
Ultimately, we found 12 Minutes to be a trite adventure that squanders its initial intrigue almost instantly. We can see how someone else might get a kick out of its star-studded silliness, but in a gaming landscape littered with time loop games, we found this one extremely tedious at best.
Comments 53
My least favourite game of all time. My go to is normally that I’d rather play Night At The Museum 2 on DS instead but this doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Night At The Museum 2 on DS.
This probably depends on the person but I've always found this to be a "so bad it's good" kind of game. The story is ridiculous enough but the dialogue glitches just tip it over the line into hysterical for me.
Damn I played in on Gamepass and thought it was decent. Atleast around a 7 I'd say. 4 is hitting it real harsh. Though I don't know if my opinion would have changed if I had to pay for it. I'm not as harsh on gamepass games.
I was pretty surprised when the reviews started pouring in for this one. Annapurna's list of games is incredibly strong, and I'm surprised this one slipped through the cracks.
I could not disagree more with a review. I mean, the game does deliver what it sets out to be. It is not a perfect game, of course, but I wouldn't say it is 4/10 bad. .____.
For me it feels like the person reviewing simply is not into this type of game.
Yea I quite enjoyed it (but played it on Gamepass).
Will check it out. Interested in the ground hog day-ish concept. And that the woke crowd seems to dislike the story from what I have seen also makes me interested
Yeah it's not that bad of a game but it certainly is no Majora's Mask either. I may get it on a sale though.
"masochists who favoured Sierra adventures over LucasArts", LOL!
It's a pity that both the mechanics and writing are so bad. It was a cool concept.
I have to say this is a very poorly written Review. To the point some of the points on the pros and cons not being properly developed in the Review. Yes, the true ending is Bad, there is no way around it but I actually enjoyed my way to it and things like managing to have a perfect day is very nice. The puzzles are not that obtuse but definitely you'll need to go through the loop many times because you never know the results of your acts on the plot, however another thing the reviewer did not mention is that you can skip parts you have done before at some points as long as you do the puzzles required to go to the Next main plot point. In the end I feel this is 6/7 game
@Balta666 I have to say this is a finely written review. It gets across exactly what the reviewer thought about the game in a well-structured fashion.
You don't agree with the author's opinion? That's fine, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the review.
Disagree with the review, though I see where it's coming. I found looping and trying out different options really engaging, since there was so much to try out and the game allows for a surprising amount of experimentation. The VA's did a decent job, as did the story until the final twist. This was on the PC, mind you, so perhaps it's more tedious on the Switch.
I was super excited for this one and couldn’t never play for very long. 4/10 seems low but at the same time I rarely enjoyed the moment to moment. Sooo.
@ClockworkMario Yeah that final story did put a damper on things but I will say it was memorable. I absolutely loved this game, the slow piecing together of what happened (and then finally the reveal of what really really happened). I love the Voice actors to. not every line was hit perfectly but I watched a making of and they talked about the difficulty of setting up the dialogue to make it fit for every story path.
This was one of my favorite games from last year. I found it so creative and inventive and you never knew what was coming next. I can see why people dislike it, but it will stay as one of my favorite games from 2021
I too played it via Game Pass and enjoyed it. Was great to play on dark moody evenings. Certainly, it isn't a game for everyone. I'd give it a 7 or 8 tbh.
I ended up looking up a guide just to figure out if the story was worth it, it wasn't, so I happily did not waste my time or money (tried it on game pass)
And here I was thinking that a time loop puzzle game, published by Annapurna with Dafoe as himself, "da foe" (pause for laughter) couldn't be bad... No seriously, I'm not kidding, I thought this was a recipe for an instant underrated gem. So maybe the rating IS actually underrating it... Ah well, I'm waiting for a huge sale anyways.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
Played it for a time on Game Pass. While it didn’t cost me any money, I’ll never get that time back. At this point in my life, it wasn’t worth the price.
@nessisonett Your least favourite game of all time? Come on, its just out.
@PessitheMystic I played it on Game Pass last year. It’s not ‘just out’.
I played on Game Pass and loved it. It’s definitely not for everyone. But if you have any interest I wouldn’t let this review kill your curiosity. I put 11 hours into it (no guides) and had a blast. One of those games that had me thinking about what I could do in it when I wasn’t playing.
@munstahunta Nope, the game really is that bad. So try to understand the opinion before just calling it "garbage".
nearly every response from people i know who have played it is either "it was good until they dropped the biggest plot contrivance i've ever seen right at the end" or "it wasn't that good and THEN they dropped the biggest plot contrivance right at the end" so at least one thing remains consistent
@DeathUriel they literally make a comparison to a genre of games and go "I like that type of game but didn't like this, which reminded me of that" so...?
@ArchRex you don’t understand like the people here : example I don’t like super smash bros, if I do a review of that game I won’t give it a 4 because I don’t like this type of game and I am not in the mood to play this game I can recognize it’s qualities and will give it at least an 8 but it’s not my type of game
@nessisonett 4 months is nothing in the grand scheme of things, considering how many games are released these days. Instead of nitpicking at my definition of timescales, I was more interested in hearing why it was your least favourite ever, but 🤷♂️
In the spirit of Time Loop VNs, shout out to last year's Gnosia. Fantastic little game that I think came out just a month late to be featured in the linked time loop article.
The reviewer: does 3 different specific references to other point and click adventures only understandable by fan of the genre. It's a review made by a fan of the genre for other fans of the genre.
Some comments: "They just don't like this type of game".
WTF, dudes? ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
@Kochambra I gave you 2 examples of things that imo are not well done with the review itself (I could mention others). It has nothing to do with my own opinion of the game.
Worst game I have played on Game Pass. The story wasn't great which for a game where the main selling point after the cast is the narrative. I can forgive a game if the narrative isn't good as long as the gameplay is fun. This didn't tick either box for me. Reviews are subjective and no-one will ever agree with every review as you can't please all of the people all of the time.
@Gwynbleidd Oh it's BAD bad, like, eye/ear bleachingly so. Funny to watch others play, but very bad regardless.
But it got nominated for best indie game at TGA? How could it be bad?
😂
Removed - unconstructive feedback
@PessitheMystic It just seems like a strange thing to jump on. It’s been out long enough for me to play, digest and decide it was the worst thing I’d played in a long time, possibly ever. It would be a boring 5/10 without the insanely bad story, especially that twist. It’s absolutely ok to make games about abusive themes and such but the devs need to treat those themes with sensitivity and care. This felt like it was made by somebody who watches compilations of sex scenes from Lars Von Trier movies.
@westman98 Well, TGA should not mean much, TLoU2 won after all 🤷♂️ Its more a marketing gimmick, like the Oscars.
@nessisonett This has absolutely nothing to do with the conversation you're having but that Lars Von Trier comment made me snort my cup of tea through my nose laughing, and I wanted to share.
If I recall the plot is immensely contrived, self-serious and deeply silly. Not worth a look.
@nessisonett so the game is basically edgy and controversial for the sake of being edgy and controversial? Maybe the developers also sympathise with Hitler? (I don’t care how many more films Von Trier makes, I’ll always associate him with that now)
Disappointed in Annapurna though. Usually their games are onto something. Will file 12 Minutes under the ‘needs to be 90% off before buying’ group.
Interesting premise, abysmal execution. Watch a playthrough if it's your cup of tea. Truly awful design and gameplay, and that's a shoot brother
@Tobiaku Without spoiling things, I promise you that the people who dislike the story or twist arent doing so because it's "politically incorrect" or whatever you're hoping it is.
It's more like, "I thought they warned not to do this stuff in Creative Writing 102..."
4/10? I'm surprised it scored so high. Review reads like a 1.
It's a shame you didn't enjoy your time with this Stuart, I look the look of it so will be picking it up anyway, but I might go PC if the controls don't translate well.
@Balta666 When you start your message by calling this "a very poorly written review" (quite a strong opinion) and then proceed to devote most of the rest of it to explaining how you disagree with the reviewer's opinion of the game, it definitely gives the impression that your own opinion of the game is coloring your opinion of the reviewer's writing.
Specially when the two points you mention against the review ("some of the points on the pros and cons not being properly developed in the review" and the reviewer not mentioning a secondary aspect of the gameplay ) has little to do with the quality of the writing, and everything to do with what aspects of the experience the reviewer considered more relevant, and so, worthy of devoting words to them in the limited length of a "mini review". Again, a matter of opinion, not of the quality of the writing.
Alright, show us on the doll where 12 Minutes touched you.
In all seriousness though this review does come off as a tad bit hyperbolic. "Playing the game is like playing punchout with actual boxing gloves". No, no it's not. It's not like that at all. I'm not really sure what the point in a comment like this is. It's not constructive criticism. It's just criticism for the sake of criticism. I understand the reviewer didn't enjoy the game but what I don't really understand is WHY the reviewer didn't enjoy the game. This reads more like an incoherent rant than a well constructed opinion
"classic existential horror movie, Groundhog Day"
That's like saying "item management game, Resident Evil 4". Technically true and an important part of it, but inexplicably ignoring what the main part of it actually is.
@Tchunga That quote is not a quote. He didn't say "playing the game is" he said "it's" clearly referring to bad controls and puzzles that were not fun because of an artificial time constraint. I've not played the game as a friend of mine who's a much bigger gamer than I am, made essentially all the same criticisms.
@kkslider5552000 I believe that was wry humour?
I really didn’t enjoy it. But I liked the gameplay loop. Story was terrible though. I’m glad I played on gamepass. I would have been mad had I bought it.
What I did like however was the details as the loop changes. If it had a better story and tighter controls the gameplay idea could shine. But the story was horrible even without the twist (that might not be a twist). The implication of where it really takes place was contrived as well.
@Tchunga "I understand the reviewer didn't enjoy the game but what I don't really understand is WHY the reviewer didn't enjoy the game"
You seriously don't understand why? Give the paragraph you're quoting another read:
"Many of the most notorious puzzles in adventure gaming are timing-based. Think of Broken Sword’s goat encounter. It’s memorable for the wrong reason; the puzzle exhibits the fundamental disconnect between a control scheme and pace designed for thought and an obstacle made for dexterity. 12 Minutes effectively trades on this design mistake. It’s like trying to play Punch-Out while wearing real boxing gloves."
He first explains a design mistake found in some memorable puzzles in adventure games (puzzles that become memorable for their bad design) and why it is indeed a mistake. And then he says that fundamentally flawed design is all over this game. I'd say that's explaining WHY he didn't like this game in a pretty eloquent fashion.
I played it on Game Pass, fortunately. The gameplay is purely trial and error and even some things that you guess right don't work if you don't do it like the game expects you to do it. The most brilliant thing that the game does is when you call the insurance company and they keep you holding the line for over 12 minutes (the gameplay cycle).
This is what I wrote on Pure Xbox about it:
I played Twelve Minutes on Game Pass. Actually, I got all the achievements and it's not as easy as you might think because there are tons of little details involved in getting them and the game is so repetitive that you might forget one detail and have to restart everything.
I was surprised to know the relatively high price and the "Series X" tag because the game it's technically very simple. Animations are clunky although they did motion capture and it affects gameplay a little bit. Also, I found a glitch where the present (in the inventory) was stuck on the middle of the screen and I couldn't present it as "evidence" and had to restart that part. The controls and the inventory are clunky, too. It's a very rough game, technically. The story is all about the twists, the voice acting is good. There's barely any music, not that it's needed, just a fact. The gameplay loop is addictive but frustrating. It's not a game that I would recommend buying because I don't really liked it but worth trying on Game Pass.
I really enjoyed reading the review. Thought I'd say that, idk why!
Quick reminder to people who don't understand the low score: This is a Nintendo website. The reviewer is reviewing a game which he played on a Nintendo Switch with the switch controller. Not a keyboard and mouse.
Many of you here may be too young to remember when companies thought it was okay to just port Point & Click games directly to consoles with no concessions for controllers. But I do, and let me tell you. With that 4 out 10, he is, if anything too lenient simply on the grounds that we must never EVER let people think that practice can EVER return.
The fact that this game in particular is based entirely on a timer makes it even MORE egregious. I've never enjoyed that sort of thing even on PC.
Agreed. Probably my least favorite game I played this past year which for me was very disappointing since I really thought the concept was exciting. My complaints are: controls felt clunky, a lot of actions/ reactions didn’t seem to be the most logical or felt unimportant in the grand scheme of things, many times I felt incredibly rushed to perform actions/ dialogue that may change the story in meaningful ways ( this may or may not be a direct result of clunky controls). Once the “twist” was revealed it was a major cringe for me and I thought it severely limited the scope of the story. This made the second half of the story tedious to get through. Then the ending… it was just a bad ending that cheapened the entire experience and I’m not sure what the point was. This could have been so cool. Now every time I think of this game I get mad all over again. I played this game via Gamepass so I’m glad I only invested time and not additional money but it’s still time I could’ve played something else.
Tap here to load 53 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...