Recent reviews by Pleasance

Great art. Rad Music. Tons of content. Not fun.

If you can get past the difficult controls, this is a very rewarding metroidvania. It really lets the player find their own way to play, which you don't get enough of in this genre. There are definitely some frustrating segments that can get under your skin, especially when you're already grappling (pun intended) with the controls. Someone else mentioned that playing on a controller often feels like your hands are playing Twister, and I'd agree with that. The game recommends KBM, but I just can't play a metroidvania like that. But the game as a whole is really solid. So well-thought out and beautiful. Story/world kinda has vibes of a NieR game. This has made it into my top 10 metroidvanias, out of the 40 to 50 I've played.

The amount of work put into this is impressive, it just... wasn't very enjoyable. The writing is nowhere near anything you'll get in an official Portal game, which would be fine if this weren't trying to insert itself into the established canon. Most of the 'jokes' are some variation of "These inanimate objects CAN feel, btw". Puzzle/design-wise, not bad, not great. The one or two new mechanics were kinda cool, but not enough to carry the weight of an otherwise lackluster experience.

I... I should eat something. Clearly I'm in a pissy mood.

Cool core idea, but doesn't really push it far enough.

Also, is there such a thing as too much polish?
Everything plays and looks so smooth, but lacks any charm.

I really want to like this game, but the platforming feels awful and some things are just more unforgiving than I have patience for.

Also, there's a bug that's been there since launch where your controller becomes unresponsive every time you die and have to "press any button to continue"

Cons aside, it's some of the best pixel art out there. Just beautiful, in a deeply unsettling way.

It's a fine game, but as a game that sets itself up to be compared to Portal, it just falls short in almost every way. Also, for a game about rewinding time, the checkpoints are BRUTAL.

This is as close to the experience I dreamt of having for a quarter of a century as I've ever come. A childhood dream come true.

This game has potential to be great, but it's very poorly optimized and the devs blame it on user error/hardware and have thus far mde no efforts to improve it.

One of the best video game worlds I've had the pleasure of exploring. I was surprised I ended up liking it as much as I did. I tend to fall off all Arkane and Bethesda games, this one just clicked.

I crave more games with this exact gameplay and storytelling style.
Basically I'd just love to see Twelve Minutes become an anthology series, using the same formula with different characters and locations.

(Also, why get James McAvoy and Daisy Ridley - broth English - to play American characters?)