Twin Mirror Review A Pale Reflection The Nerd Stash

DONTNOD has become something of a spectacle in the eyes of mainstream and critics alike. The team shook up the narrative adventure scene when they created Life is Strange, a title that truly offered some in-depth choices that had a lasting impact throughout the experience. Even though their following works aren’t as well revered, they’re still making great titles such as last year’s Tell Me Why, which was revolutionary in bringing transgender voices into the mainstream (even if not the first to do so). Their latest title though is December’s Twin Mirror, a story that seeks to explore the depths of depression and other mental illnesses. Does it truly live up to the studio’s signature name? Find out in our review below.

Twin Mirror is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

A Mystery in Both Story and Design

Twin Mirror puts us into the role of Sam Higgs, an investigative journalist returning to his hometown of Basswood, West Virginia. Following the untimely death of his ex-best friend Nick, Sam returns for the funeral only to find that all is not as it seems. While many are grieving his death, some suspect that something else may be at play. As such, it’s up to Sam and those around him to pick up the pieces and discover just what lies beyond the mirror of this rather humble small town.

For what it’s worth, this premise serves well enough to place you in the setting of Basswood. Unsurprisingly, this small town isn’t the most exciting, but that’s the point of this kind of setting. Everything is quite dreary and dark, especially with the way Sam left it before his two-year exodus. I won’t go too much into that to avoid spoilers, but Sam’s definitely done a number on this town in the honor of good. Needless to say, the people don’t see it the same way and Sam will often run into those who’d rather he stayed gone. It makes things interesting, as it’s clear that Sam has very few friends in an already small town. This makes dialogue interesting, as you are forced to choose between taking the calm approach or telling them all the choice words you’re thinking of. That’s something rather unique for DONTNOD’s adventures (at least from what I’ve played) and I can appreciate that.

What I can’t appreciate as much is Twin Mirror’s detraction from nearly everything that made the studio as revered as it was for Life is Strange 1. This is mainly in its idea of choices, which for the majority feel like they’re obvious choices that end up having little to no impact on the overarching narrative. Beyond the final two choices of the game, I knew which choice I was going to make the moment it was presented to me. Not to mention they often led down the same road anyway, making much of the adventure feel shallow and linear. As the icing on the cake, only the final choice has a true part in the game’s ending.

This is combined with a little concept known as ludonarrative dissonance, a cardinal sin of narrative games. For those unaware, this is when your choices in dialogue don’t reflect the tone that your character is going for. Unfortunately, Twin Mirror is plagued by numerous scenarios like this. As an example, let’s say you’re telling one of the characters that they should get some help for their addiction. Instead, your character forcefully threatens them if they don’t get help. That’s just one example, with the whole game being plagued with that idea here and there. It’s such an amateur mistake, one a team like DONTNOD should be well past. Yet, here we are.

On the bright side though, the story itself does have some interesting beats and twists that can still make the experience engaging. Despite its glaring issues, I genuinely found myself intrigued by some of Twin Mirror’s story beats and twists. I can’t go into them for the sake of spoilers of course, but there were a few moments where it blindsided me and drew me in. Much of the aforementioned issues hindered these quite a bit, but it showcased that there was some effort put in by DONTNOD. I just wish they’d gone all the way and offered much deeper passion through other aspects.

Navigating the Mind Palace

Much of Twin Mirror’s gameplay, similar to other DONTNOD ventures, revolves around a supernatural ability. In this case, it’s the shattered Mind Palace. This is a place Sam can go to talk to “Him” (his better half), assemble clues, and figure out what really happened. It isn’t always perfect, but I appreciate the extra context and small puzzles the Mind Palace provides. It distracts from the standard, unexciting gameplay loop of searching for clues and talking to various people. As you progress through the story, it does too, and thus makes it a fresh mechanic that, while not always perfectly executed, offers an intriguing distraction.

If anything, I merely wish Twin Mirror’s attempts at the rest of the gameplay were better executed. There are several scenes where you’re hunting for clues to assemble in the Mind Palace, but these often require you to find obscure clues that are just where you wouldn’t think. That might sound like a good choice on paper, but it often frustrates as the most obscure detail in your environment becomes the exact thing you need to progress forward. If you choose to pick Twin Mirror up and try it for yourself, the bar scene will likely be an excellent example of this.

A Visual Treat

Twin Mirror’s main area that isn’t much different from its predecessors is in its art style. DONTNOD’s signature cartoonish look is still very much active, offering intricate levels of detail that can make the experience quite atmospheric in the highest settings. As a bonus, the title runs very well. Not something you’ll think about too much, but it’s nice that my mid-range rig can keep consistent 60 FPS at the highest settings. Some of the darker tones of the game don’t do it justice in all areas, but I can appreciate the effort that went into it.

On the other hand, the audio design does somewhat serve what it needs to. There’s another great set of music from the team as they’ve infamously been great at, but I can’t help but feel Twin Mirror’s voice talents leave a lot to be desired. Particularly in Sam’s case, it felt he didn’t have much emotion in situations where he very clearly should have. It can make some of the more heartwrenching moments feel awkward but it’s at least supplemented by a few solid voice talents such as Anna, Walter, and the “Him” I mentioned earlier.

Summary

Twin Mirror has a great setting and some interesting twists going for it, but I can’t help but feel it’s a pale reflection of much of DONTNOD’s previous works. Where games like Tell Me Why and Life is Strange offer difficult, meaningful choices, Twin Mirror feels as though it throws those ideas out the window in favor of the games it previously fought to stray away from. If you’re a diehard fan of their other works then you might find something to take away from Twin Mirror, but many like myself will be left with a lot more questions than answers, and not for the right reasons.