Twin Mirror, the preview of the thriller signed Dontnod
Index
We return to Basswood Refuge in the Mental Palace Dialogues, choices and alter egos Certainties and Doubts If we talk about projects announced and immediately ended up in oblivion not for the indifference of the public but for lack of updates, Twin Mirror is a good example: the thriller signed by Dontnod, the French development studio author of Remember Me, Vampyr and the Life is Strange saga as well as the upcoming Tell Me Why, had captured our attention in 2018 by setting interesting but still unclear to take a clearer position. At some point he loses track of it, put on the corner also by the publication of Life is Strange 2, until suddenly he reappears to announce not only to be alive but to have to exit by the end of 2020 on PC and current consoles. After the moment of estrangement, we were able to appreciate the graphic reinterpretation of the project, which embellished the original models by offering a greater level of detail and above all it got rid of the weight of an outdated division into episodes. A hands-off presentation then allowed us to get a better idea of the work done by Dontnod in recent years.back to Basswood
The premise of the narrative are not changed by 2018: Sam Higgs , a former investigative journalist, travels to the hometown of Basswood (West Virginia) to attend the funeral of his best friend - died in a car accident. This is the only reason that pushes him to return to a place from which he had gone without the intention of putting still foot. If you will remember what he showed two years ago, the reasons behind this choice were not clear while in this new build, the game takes the time to contextualize the situation, taking the ball to talk about the mechanical remained hidden at the time. Nothing revolutionary, but still interesting with regard to the construction of our character and the narrative structure that will determine the choices made in the course of the game. Twin Mirror puts a lot of emphasis on the analytical mind and continually to the work of Sam, so much so that the objects with which we interact will be highlighted by its reflection about before even anything to do with it. Will be professional deformation, or a personality trait, but Sam stores information without a pause, perhaps without even realizing really date account of the ease with which he does it, and each seems to find no place in him, even literally.Some of these unlock of the entries in the diary concerning the personalities with whom he had to do, which, in their turn, are characterized by memento : memory fragments that enrich their history in relationship with Sam and depend on the exploration of the environment. A practical example is Anna, his ex-girlfriend, to whom he tried to ask for the hand only to be rejected. This event is one of the reasons that have pushed Sam to leave Basswood, although it alone seemed a bit too weak to push someone to cut ties with everything and everyone. Anyway, while we visit the promontory that gives the city, we can find engraved on the bark of a tree, the initials of Sam and Anna: interact with this little pleasant memory unlock a memento related to her, rather detailed, to be honest. We do not know what can happen once you have obtained all the memento of a character, but given the narrative nature of the game, we have no doubt that their research may have a significant impact on the understanding of certain situations and about our possible reaction.
take Refuge in the Palace of Mental
personal Problems aside, one of the most intriguing aspects in 2018 was the Palace of the mind : nest sure Sam, that would go to it often, finding it more comfortable than the reality, it is a huge world, suspended and fragmented - indicating the flow of his thoughts and memories, made of crystal, in contrast to the original version instead of stone, without, however, being able, it should be recognized, to convey the same feeling of lightness, yet even, that the experience of moving within this reinterpretation is decidedly artistic. How it really works in the Palace, in fact, it remains a mystery as much if not more than two years ago: we know that through the memories you have collected over time, Sam can reconstruct the events, thus giving us players a context that makes sense within which to move around, but on the contrary of the tried Gamescom, during which we actually saw it in action, the mechanics of the Building in a very dramatic and impassioned, here the developers have decided to retain the information a little more. For this reason, beyond the aesthetic aspect, it's not really possible to deviate from the old impressions and the safe haven of the Sam will remain a mystery for a little longer. There is no doubt about the importance of his role throughout the narrative, however, it would be interesting to understand better the weight and the fluidity in terms of gameplay - because two years ago we had convinced a much. If, on the one hand, we understand the choice not to play immediately the likely best card of the hand, on the other, there would not be disappointed because to know something more about it and dispel some doubts.Dialogues, choices and alter ego
after this first immersion in the character of Sam, and in his experience, the scene shifts inside and Basswood, allowing us a first look at the nature of the thriller of this project: from the use of certain shots at the choice of music, it's all designed to create the right atmosphere of tension and uncertainty that accompanies Sam when she found morally forced to attend in the city. We know so the-year-old daughter of his best friend, and goddaughter of Sam, who, without much preamble accuses us of being gone without a trace and not be ever made to feel all the time of our distance: here is a demonstration of the first dialogue of multiple-choice and the effects of which are read, but nevertheless important, and give rise to different ideas of narrative. We have found the conversation in question is very credible, in terms of screenplay and acting, a very different and convincing in tone, in atmosphere and also in the same plant of the aesthetic from the most recent Life is Strange " 2. However, we are talking about mechanics it is known, and a gameplay that almost always accompanies the production Dontonod.As expected, is the presence, instead, of decisions openly crucial for the continuation of the plot. To enrich these moments is, however, the alter ego of Sam, the so-called Double : his presence, for obvious reasons visible only to us, revealed in the moment in which Sam has to deal with social situations that normally would not know how to manage him on a cold side and the rational of the situation. As in the specific case, in which the god-daughter asks him to investigate the death of the father that she considers suspect. Putting on the plate, a series of observations incontrovertible, Double triggers in Sam, an inner conflict that is resolved in the crucial choice of the above - one that "will have consequences", to quote " Life is Strange. To be interesting of all is the fact that the two decisions lead to, respectively, the portrait of Sam, if we choose to follow instinct and because no affection to the girl and the friend who died, or of the Double if we analyze the thing so lucid and rational. The choice of stress so these two options leads us to think that leaning towards one of the two personalities, the original and the alter ego, the can push Sam to change dramatically by the end of the game, perhaps even being relegated him to the role of alter ego, while leaving the Double takes over. It is, without doubt, a hypothesis intriguing, because we don't really know what the nature of the Double and what in Sam's past has shaped you, however, is based only on our feelings.
The presentation was ended shortly after, when Sam takes courage and decides to enter the bar to find out what Basswood, but, in particular, its inhabitants have in store for him. In the complex, while artistically improved, we found the staging is weaker than the 2018 instead we tossed it immediately in a situation maybe much less understandable and yet most engaging of the day, recover from a hangover from the manual without any memory of the previous night, with his shirt stained with blood, is not what we would call a good morning. Here you choose to proceed with more caution, taking us by the hand and taking us to discover Sam and her lived closer, a look certainly pleasing for the dive, which, however, loses a little impact.
Twin Mirror was, and remains, a game with much potential, who has made definite leaps forward under the aesthetic profile, refining the characters, and working a lot on facial expressions, with emphasis on the mysterious atmosphere that surrounds the story, but still a little too vague with regard to the mechanics the most important of the whole package: the Palace of mind. We would have preferred to discover something more, even just to ensure that it has not been replicated to the cumbersome mechanics of 2018. The same goes for the Double, whose presence at times threatening open to interesting ideas for the continuation of the events but it is still too smoky to push us towards a more net income.
