Twin Mirror Reviews
It's a shame that Twin Mirror manages to create such a compelling and interesting opening but just doesn't manage to stick the landing. It definitely didn't take me on the same kind of emotional journey as some of DONTNOD's previous games, and unfortunately I found myself not really caring too much about Sam or the residents of Basswood.
It might not be as groundbreaking as some of DONTNOD Entertainment’s other games, but Twin Mirror really holds up as a replayable adventure. Its Mind Palace mechanics are a lot of fun and each ending was a delightful revelation that made me question my own sense of truth. Overall, the game is an excellent addition to this company’s library of high-quality narrative-driven games. My only complaint is that it’s a tad steep in price for its length, so I’d probably wait for a sale.
Twin Mirror is the inferior Dontnod offering of 2020, and probably one of their most disappointing games yet. It is mediocre in every sense, failing to live up to the potential of its concept and the reputation of its developer.
For every absolutely fantastic game DONTOND Entertainment gives us, we receive another one which unfortunately is not as good. Although Twin Mirror is not utterly bad and it offers a couple if interesting ideas, it also feels rushed and unpolished. Especially in the narration department as the story fails to grasp the player’s attention, boring them with rather dull dialogues between underdeveloped characters.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Twin Mirror is an interesting experiment, I like the idea of a shorter narrative driven adventure but found this largely forgettable.
A narrative game that doesn't have enough time to tell the story it's trying to tell, leaving characters and plot lines feeling unfinished. Whilst it has a lot of interesting ideas and some nice mechanics, none of them feel fully realised. Twin Mirror is bursting with potential, which is why it feels so disappointing.
Whilst not a true tragedy, Twin Mirror didn’t live up to expectations in my book. The visual and auditory style of DONTNOD is fantastic, and the way it ties into the gameplay is nice. However, it doesn’t stack up to its peers both inside and outside the developer’s library. The magical realism is a bit confusing and lacking in context and the eleventh hour save doesn’t pull it above criticism. A mystery existed but there just wasn’t enough meat on that bone. I can see this game aging well for me, as I remember only the nice parts and filter out the bad stuff. But as it stands, as I write this review, there is just too much of a gap between me and unqualified praise to be able to give it a proper stamp of approval.
Twin Mirror has an intriguing premise but ultimately fails to do anything remarkable with it. While it's DONTNOD's most impressive game technically, Twin Mirror is a by-the-book thriller that only just manages to scrape through to solve its core mystery that's unfortunately lacking thrills.
It’s really a pity, as I believe if Twin Mirror had a lot more development time and a bigger budget to refine and flesh out its story, it would have been a great narrative murder mystery to rival Life is Strange. This isn’t to say I hated my time with the game. I still enjoyed the world, characters, and especially its overall central premise, which I found to be less grandiose and more grounded. Unfortunately, the short length, rushed plot, and presentation issues bring it down a bit.
Twin Mirror has some elements of it that can't help but be admirable; its concept is intriguing, its voice cast is compelling, and it could have easily been the next buzzworthy photorealistic video game. But, in execution, it comes across as a dated, surface-level experience, one that isn't sure whether to be a complex character study or an open-world mystery, and is nowhere near as rewarding as the time and effort it asks you to put into it. Twin Mirror will undoubtedly find an audience of some who want to dive into its ambiguous mystery, but it's far from the most engrossing or well-executed title that video game fans could pick up right now.
Twin Mirror is a shallow, dour few hours of adventure, with only a few moments that would make it worth a curious gamer's time. Every time you find yourself trying to fall under its narrative spell, one problem or another causes the whole illusion to shatter.
Poorly written and dreary directed Twin Mirror doesn't worth a second of your time.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Twin Mirror is a beautiful-looking game but doesn't have the same narrative punch that made previous games from Dontnod so memorable.
Twin Mirror is a game with a very strong narrative component, so much so that it eclipses any mechanics or section of the game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Twin Mirror ditches the episodic format and lasts roughly five hours or so. This may sound oxymoronic but it simultaneously feels too short and too long. Too short because there’s some interesting characters that feel underdeveloped. Too long because of how predictable the mystery is.
Twin Mirror delivers what it promises: a great investigation story that shows the journey for change and the acceptance of the past. Fans of the genre will appreciate the story, but will be disappointed by an arrogant protagonist, forgettable characters and the undeveloped unique gameplay mechanic.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dontnod proves he's in top form, which is fantastic news for a studio that has the talent to become one of the biggest in Europe. Twin Mirror is a remarkable game in all its sections, where perhaps its short duration or some slightly conservative playable mechanics are the small, tiny flaws that this work has. If you liked the previous work of the studio, especially Life Is Strange, buy it, you will not be disappointed.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Between the lack of marketing leading up to its release, its poor pacing, and the thin writing and investigation mechanics, Twin Mirror smacks of a game that just wasn't given enough time. With some polish on the game's earlier moments and more thoughtful dialogue, it could have stood a real chance. Unfortunately, between the stilted narrative development, cheerless puzzles, and wooden, small-town cliches, there's less here than whatever remains of Sam's journalistic career.
Twin Mirror is Dontnods first collaboration with Bandai Namco and was developed by a separate team of senior developers. It may seem unreasonable to cast blame on this diversion from its previous team, but Twin Mirror stands as a far cry from other Dontnod titles, failing in almost every degree by its unwillingness to fully commit to anything. It wants to be a classic mystery but never offers up any questions that truly need answering. Twin Mirror wants you to care about its characters but never gives you any reason to even like them. It wants so much to be about its setting but fails to even conjure up a fraction of the sense of place that Arcadia Bay achieved. Ultimately, Twin Mirror is an amalgamation of lots of half-baked ideas that become bruised and battered as they fall from the promising heights of Basswood’s nature trail. Maybe from up there, I can spot a better mystery to play through.