The Longest Five Minutes Reviews
The Longest 5 Minutes suffers from a lack of originality and from a lack of a sense of progression due to questionable choices made by the developers. For these reasons, the game is hardly recommendable even for die-hard fans of the genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Longest Five Minutes is a love letter to the genre that wants you to remember that you're meant to enjoy the journey in a JRPG, too, and I certainly walked away from this game with a renewed appreciation for the spirit of adventure in these games itself.
The Longest Five Minutes features a beautiful story, although its gameplay mechanics are too simple for a game of the RPG genre. Definitely worth a try if you own a Switch and love the RPG games that have good stories.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An entire JRPG trimmed down to the length of a single afternoon, The Longest Five Minutes brings a Memento-esque experience that plays around with the plays with the concept of time and the fallibility of our own memories.
Unfortunately for all the minor smiles and well-orchestrated music that accompanies one's travels, The Longest Five Minutes feels mostly like a sterile assembly of classic JRPG's least-appealing necessities.
The Longest Five Minutes is almost the standard definition of an RPG, brought to life with one of the most exciting storytelling techniques for any Switch game. It's a good entry point for those looking to try out NIS America games or RPGs, and interesting enough to keep the attention of more hardcore fans. But without leaning too heavily into the novel flashback dynamic, The Longest Five Minutes doesn't bring much more to the RPG table.
The Longest Five Minutes is among the more creative and engaging RPGs in a very deep-pocketed genre, though does feel limited at times
The Longest Five Minutes uses a truly gripping concept, throwing the classic RPG formula on its head by having you put the pieces of an already existing story together as you go. While the combat and general gameplay are almost too easy-going, the story, characters, and overall aesthetic had us always wanting more, never wanting to put the game down. The asking price is perhaps a little steep for the amount of content available, and the strange take on a usually well-understood genre may throw some players off, but there is an indescribable charm that is worth exploring here.
Given the Switch's propensity for roguelikes and exceedingly long, story-driven games, this is a minor miracle. Not every game has to be a seven-course meal; sometimes you just want a light snack. On that front, Longest Five Minutes delivers.
The Longest Five Minutes delivers an interesting concept with an equally pleasant soundtrack, unfortunately at the end of the day it’s a very simple game that will only appeal to a very niche group of people, boiling down JRPG mechanics down to a very standard and unoriginal experience, especially with a steep price of £40 making the buying decision even harder to justify.
The Longest Five Minutes is a very fun release from NIS America that is perfect for the Nintendo Switch since you can play the game in short burst at home or on the go and put the console in sleep mode to quickly carry on as soon as you have some free time, or you can play for longer sessions if you feel like it. The game's art style and music are great, and the gameplay mechanics and interesting story will keep you busy until the end. I'm very happy about what NIS America has done with this release, and I look forward to seeing what else they bring to the Nintendo Switch this year.
The Longest 5 Minutes takes some big risks by changing the basic design elements of JRPGs. This is not a traditional JRPG even though it looks like one. To get the most out of this game, you have to do away with your preconceptions of what a JRPG should be. The story is the main focus of this game and literally, everything else is secondary. It is one of the most linear RPGs I have ever played. The equipment, magic and battles are solely there to propel you along as you piece together your history in the middle of an epic final battle. Just remember that your equipment and magic are predetermined at the start of each chapter so you can jump back and forth between them quickly and easily. If you play the game with this mentality and just focus on the storytelling, then it is very enjoyable. If you want an RPG exactly like the RPGs of old in which you had full control over the growth of your characters, then you will come away from TL5M disappointed. My key thoughts at the moment are that I am needing to alter my expectations of a JRPG to enjoy it. If I try playing it with the mentality that all of my actions such as buying equipment or finding things should carry over as it would in a normal RPG, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. But, if I do away with those preconceived notions, don't bother with going out of my way to look for things and just play it by going straight from point A to point B, then I am enjoying it a lot more.
Calling The Longest Five Minutes a deconstruction of 8- and 16-bit RPG tropes is only half-true, as it turns around and reconstructs those same tropes by journey's end. Still, it's a brisk and amusing adventure that knows how to play to its strengths.
The Longest Five Minutes looks and plays like an RPG from yesteryear. However, it’s superb soundtrack, entertaining writing, and unique plot progression makes it a great game to check out. It is on the very easy side though – you won’t find much depth or strategy in the combat system. It’s great for RPG beginners.
The Longest Five Minutes throws you back to your first RPG experience, and toys with what you remember. Pushing you through the same trials as its hero, you come to feel a great sense of empathy with its characters; and come to appreciate the joy memories bring.
It's fun, but there's little depth to the gameplay and story, and it relies too heavily on making jokes.
The game plays to its strengths and mitigates its weaknesses well, providing an enjoyable experience that feels more involving as the timer ticks along.
The Longest Five Minutes is a promising JRPG with endearing characters that'll make you happy to experience their tale yet it simply doesn't offer enough fruitful gameplay to satisfy genre fans' gaming sensibilities.
The Longest Five Minutes has the allure of a JRPG, yet hiding an interesting and quick visual novel experience that might entertain some players. An interesting gaming experience, but not deep enough for JRPG fans.
The Longest Five Minutes condenses the overall JRPG experience into bite-sized chapters that are a joy to play. Going over your memories leading up to the final boss fight is a very interesting way of framing the way a JRPG would usually play while turning the whole thing upside-down and then turning it round and around, giving us a game that is a must-play on Nintendo Switch. This is a great game from NIS America, and I look forward to seeing what other quirky games they give us this year on Nintendo's hybrid console.