Twelve Minutes, the first game directed by veteran Luis António, frustratingly and miserably uses itself in a narrative and thematic loop in order to achieve unsatisfactory and totally derisory results - even if, above all, it takes itself seriously.

In addition to a plot with several holes and unbelievable twists, the game has one of the worst gameplays Annapurna has ever offered, at least 10 years behind in game design (including critically failing on trivial matters), and never, I repeat, never exploring any of its own points thematically. The loop is a tool, not the object, which is a serious mistake.

This is, of course, not to mention the fact that it doesn't even touch on themes that are crucial to its story, never, for example, mentioning its sadism, violence and abnormality, just accepting them as elements that don't change what it's trying to tell - again, another serious (and, frankly, amateurish) mistake.

If only it made fun of itself, but not even that. Twelve Minutes wants to be taken seriously, very seriously, through art direction that uses morbid tones and cold sets, cinematic acting scenes and, wow, violence and swearing. All of this as if it had no less screen time with minimal depth than its own 12-minute loop, both in narrative and gameplay - it's empty, through and through, however much the passively charming style and dramatic performances may try to manipulate you into believing that it's not.

You, the protagonist, kill all the relevant characters in the game, in one way or another, at one time or another, and the only, only consequence or mention of these events comes in the form of an apology. An apology from the protagonist himself, made hours and hours after the start of the loop - hours that 80% of the time, and that number is no exaggeration, will be incessant repetition without any use.

In other words, it's a game that doesn't even try to care about femicide, murder, suicide or cancer; themes that, since present at alarming levels, could easily be explored to the full, but are treated only as tools to tell a story that doesn't even work in the most basic sense imaginable.

Spoiler warning: Of course, because completely ignoring any emotional sensitivity or social issue was surely the most desirable way to conduct a text about a man who is hypnotized by his father, kills him and marries his own sister, falling, years later, into a hellish time loop to discover that he has done so.

In short: playing Twelve Minutes sucks, with an outdated point-and-click and poor use of the time loop, and what's worse, it doesn't even make a point of hiding this fact behind a minimally decent script - because, in fact, it's as shallow as a saucer. Luis António completely takes away the point of a game being a game and a story being worth telling - especially as he's part of a publisher like Annapurna, capable of casting even Willem Dafoe and giving his protégés freedom of time and creativity.

the movement mechanics are impeccable, that's for sure, sliding, jumping and flying around is super fun, relaxing and fluid, and this is also due to the immaculate level design that is also present, wonderful

speaking of the gameplay, the bosses are extremely inspired by shadow of the colossus, one of my favorite games, and it even manages to transform its main mechanics into something specific to the game that blends in with the rest while being fun.

the game is also visually excellent, with unique and vivid boss and character designs

but the praise stops there

the story is mediocre at best, being ridiculously poorly told with slow and pointless dialogues, not to mention being very obvious, bland and conveying the message of mourning in a terrible way. this also includes the stories of the npcs, but they manage to be much better than the main one (even if they connect very poorly with the latter)

the main character is an insufferable, dumb pain in the ass, who only becomes a decent person in the good ending, which is the only possible ending for the game, since the bad one is extremely counter-intuitive and poorly done

the combat is simple and ok, but it's too easy and feels more like a hindrance to the game than something to add to the experience

and the soundtrack is decent at best, unremarkable and completely agreeable

it's a game that you'll have a lot of fun playing and you'll be fine relaxing, but it has obvious flaws.

one of my new fav games
i created a deep and unique connection with each character
i was delighted with every sentence and every rich description of the landscapes and actions
i felt emotions that ranged from euphoria to anxiety in close moments
one of the most immersive, beautiful and deep games I've ever played
looking forward to the sequel