Twin Mirror is the first attempt by DONTNOD (Life is Strange, Remember Me, …) to fly solo. All the laurels earned with Life is Strange, have made heads turn as to what the studio might attempt next. Twin Mirror feels familiar but by deliberately choosing a non-paranormal path this time, Twin Mirror turned out as a fresh take.
Going back to town
Sam Higgs is a former investigating reporter, who returns to the town of Basswood for the funeral of his best friend Nick. Sam’s not particularly thrilled to be back because the small rural town of Basswood isn’t fond of him anymore. It turns out Sam wrote a piece on the Mine of Basswood which eventually led to it being closed. Since the town is a real Miners town, many people lost their job and are looking for a scapegoat in the personification of Sam. On a more personal level, there’s also the confrontation with his ex-girlfriend Anna he’s dreading. Their relationship went haywire after Sam proposed but Anna declined.
The double
Twin Mirror introduces the Mind Palace feature pretty early in the game. As a former investigating reporter, Sam has an extraordinary mind which he literary visits under the moniker Mind Palace. Memories are relieved through visualizations in his mind pausing reality for a moment. Besides memories, the Mind Palace is also a great place to go to when Sam has to use deductive reasoning. Going in his mind helps to untangle the mysteries that’ll ensue when going further in the story. When interacting with people, Sam also gets help from “the double”. The Double or Him as he’s often called is a better version of himself represented as an imaginary friend. A friend who’s advice for social interactions might help you make more friends than Sam’s used to.
As the story progresses Sam gets involved in a murder mystery that will uncover way more than he’s bargained for. As these story elements get revealed, Sam’s experiencing many insecurities that lead to panic attacks. These scenes are nicely presented as episodes spent in a darkened maze-like version of his Mind Palace. These side steps in the physiological world of Sam’s mind are what make Twin Mirror unique. Sadly this path is kept a bit too vague throughout the game. It’s clear Sam suffers from some sort of condition but the game never fully develops this path. I would’ve loved some more emphasis on this part of the game.
Let go of my hand
Twin Mirror is an adventure that focuses more on social interactions as opposed to problem-solving. The way you interact with people has an influence on the story and ultimately lead you to different endings. The many conversations/interactions you’ll have made for a slow-building story. Beefing out the background in the first part of the game seems absolutely necessary but takes quite a long time. After a few hours, the story finally picked up some pace and was actually enjoyable. The ending redeemed the fact I had to get through the bore-fest that was the beginning. A bit more problem solving would’ve made things interesting but even then the game felt sluggish.
The parts in which you’ll have to figure things out in the real world and with some help of your own Mind Palace, the game never stops holding you by the hand. As such you can’t do anything wrong in Twin Mirror which makes the game feel like an interactive movie instead of a real game. Areas can’t be freely accessed and once in a certain scene, you can’t leave until you’ve found every clue or spoke to every key person. All these things made me feel like I wasn’t fully in control. I understand this choice is made to benefit the story but these extremes make me think you should make a movie instead of a game if this is what you came up with.
Finish
The biggest redeeming factor Twin Mirror has is its story. Although I wasn’t always enjoying the gameplay, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The relationships are well worked out, the occasional trips in Sam’s psyche all seemed fitting, and the ending was unexpected but awesome. It took me 7/8 hours to get through Twin Mirror and left me with a sense of satisfaction afterward. If it wasn’t for the story I would’ve already given up on the game. The number of bugs I encountered during my playthrough wasn’t helping either. Floating heads with unrendered bodies really took away from the seriousness of the story and were laughable. I hope a patch will soon fix these so Twin Mirror can keep the immersion it deserves.
Conclusion
Twin Mirror has many great ideas but suffers from a lack of direction. Exploring more of the special game elements could’ve made this a much better game. The story might be the only redeeming factor if you’re willing to get through the slow start. Twin Mirror was made for Xbox One, PS4 and PC but is also playable on Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
