Twelve Minutes Review (Wandering Cavalry)
Caught Between Repetition and Reversal: Time Loop in a Confined Space
7/10
Opening
The background setting of Twelve Minutes has a unique, eye-catching charm, coupled with excellent publicity and promotion, so that this work once became a hot topic when it came out in 2021. As a point-and-click adventure game, this one places players in a confined space with a time loop. The plot, which revolves around an unreliable, stream-of-consciousness narrative, is full of ups and downs and twists and turns, presenting a story that leaves players wanting more in just a few hours. However, the game's simple graphics, a plot with too many blanks and extremely unexpected trends, as well as an over-emphasis on exploration and highly repetitive content, may be contrary to the expectations of many players, and has also attracted a lot of criticism.
Strength
Although the game lasts for several hours, Twelve Minutes is well-designed and has a tight pace. The game goes straight to the point from the beginning. Players are placed in a strange time loop and need to find a way out of it, unraveling the mystery layer by layer. With the exploration method using pointing and clicking as the core interaction, the available actions in each loop are fairly diverse. Not only will they produce various consequences and affect the plot, but as the loop processes, the player will also undergo corresponding changes when performing such repetitive actions. The responsiveness of this kind of detail is done very well in Twelve Minutes. As for the plot, it is concise but unambiguous, and also constantly reverses in unexpected ways. There are also numerous branches for players to explore. When the truth is understood, it leads people to feel suddenly enlightened, full of emotion, and wanting more.
Weakness
It is undeniable that the time loop in the secret room is an excellent and expressive idea, whether in a movie or a novel, but at least in Twelve Minutes, its implementation is by no means up to standard. The player's actions are severely limited in both time and space, and they often need to conduct repetitive conversations and actions. The game does not have a save function either, so players may quickly become tired and bored. During the game process, players can only interact with the game via mouse input; the probability of misoperation is somewhat high, and the game UI and graphics are also somewhat crude.
The ending of Twelve Minutes has too many branching options, and overall, the game offers minimal direction. Without a guide, it would likely take a long time to explore. The game will also permanently reset the game progress at certain endings. Though the overall idea is appropriate, it has still been criticized by many players. In addition, the plot of Twelve Minutes can be described as starting strong but falling flat. Many of the reversals are slightly abrupt and deliberate, the plot leaves too much suspense and room for imagination, without an official explanation.
Conclusion
Regardless, as a low-cost suspense puzzle, Twelve Minutes is full of ups and downs and constant reversals, and this game is unquestionably qualified. The short game duration, attractive settings, and easy-to-grasp gameplay have also expanded the audience. Despite this, the operations that players can perform are fairly limited, the game's story is self-consistent, but the viewing experience is by no means perfect. Even if Twelve Minutes could attract all kinds of players, it is difficult to make them all feel satisfied. The slightly poor game experience makes it almost impossible to attract players to play multiple times.
Since the plot is the core of Twelve Minutes, please try your best to avoid any form of spoilers, as they will bring devastating damage to the gaming experience.
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