Of course we know Dontnod Entertainment from Life is Strange and the more recent game Tell Me Why. For several years now, the developer has been engaged in Twin Mirror, a psychological thriller about a journalist. Until now, the amount of information has remained quite scarce, making the game itself a mystery. Fortunately, we got to work with a demo, which you can read all about in this preview.
We are introduced to Sam Higgs, a journalist who returns to his hometown of Basswood to attend the funeral of an old friend. It soon becomes clear that Sam does not like this at all and that the inhabitants are not very happy with the arrival of Sam. It remains a bit mysterious why he is so unwelcome, but there is regular talk about a critical article he wrote years ago. Despite this, Sam has a strong past with the place and the various persons who live there, such as his ex-girlfriend Anna and Joan, the daughter of his late friend Nick. Unfortunately, the evening ends in a haze of too many booze and pills, after which Sam wakes up the next morning with a big hangover. To his horror, he also finds a bloody T-shirt, but has no memory of what happened that night. The question is therefore whether Sam killed someone. The story has a lot of potential for an exciting game, but the preview is too short to get a clear picture because it can go in different directions.
The story is often of great importance in these types of games. Bee Twin Mirror this is also the case because the gameplay is less present. You are mainly engaged in interactions with objects and other persons in order to learn more about the situation. As a result, we also get to know Sam better and what his past relates to the town of Basswood. Other elements that are also present are the choices offered during conversations. Whether these have an impact on the course of the story is still unclear and will remain to be seen. In that respect, the time we could spend is just too short to form a clear opinion about it, especially because Twin Mirror is a type of game that relies heavily on the narrative aspect.
When Sam tries to find out what happened the night before and how his shirt got bloody, he tries to look for clues in the cafe. Here a light puzzle element can be seen as we have to look for objects that can give hints. With the hints found, Sam then tries to formulate a hypothesis about what happened and as a player you can influence the choices. We hope the game has more puzzles like this that will also be more challenging. This ensures that the game feels more varied and does not become monotonous too quickly because we only listen to the story.
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The play session provides some more information on what we will soon be of Twin Mirror can expect. It is clear that it is a game from Dontnod where the story and making choices have the greatest impact. Whether these choices will affect the course is something that remains to be seen. It is good to notice that this game has a somewhat dark tone and has potential for an exciting plot. Finally, exploring the environment and talking to characters alternates with some puzzles, although we hope for a bit more of a challenge once we get started with the game. In any case, our curiosity is certainly aroused.
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