Mass Effect Andromeda

Mass Effect Andromeda tried to do a lot. It tried to tell a new story with a brand new cast, with the team behind Mass Effect 3’s stellar multiplayer in charge. It also opted for much larger play spaces and more build diversity. However, from the very outset, there were issues, whether it was the plan to have randomly generated planets, Frostbite being a mess, high-level departures, etc. Despite being decent in several ways, Andromeda flopped hard enough that publisher EA reportedly cancelled DLC and put the franchise on ice for a few years.

Twelve Minutes is the story of a husband (voiced by James McAvoy) who returns home to his apartment one day and has dinner with his wife (played by Daisy Ridley). However, it’s interrupted by a strange man (Willem Dafoe) claiming to be a cop who says that the wife killed her father several years ago. After being strangled, the husband finds himself at the beginning of the loop, entering his apartment once more and greeting his wife.

From there, it’s a process of figuring out how to break the loop, which can result in some interesting consequences (like trying to take the intruder by surprise). For more details on Twelve Minutes, you can check out our official review here. Stay tuned for more details on its release for PlayStation platforms and Switch in the coming weeks.

The first ending is pretty easy. Simply wait around and your wife will ask you to sit with her on the couch. She’ll start talking about various things, from wanting more in life to how you’d feel if she had an affair (just roll with it) and eventually bringing up her past. This is when she’ll discuss making mistakes and will go to the bathroom to retrieve something. From there, she’ll invite you out. Simply walk to the front door to unlock the ending and the Achievement “Listen.”

In a new loop, make sure to interact with the book that your wife is reading. She’ll narrate a passage for you, which will be extremely important for the final ending.

For the second ending, grab a cup from the kitchen sink and go to the bathroom. Close the door, take out some sleeping pills and put them inside. Fill up the water at the sink in the kitchen and give it to your wife (but make sure to do this before she gets her own cup of water). Eventually, she’ll get sleepy and go to bed. Next, go to the bathroom, open the ventilation shaft and look for the pocket watch. Grab it and go to the closet to hide.

Eventually, the cop will break in and wander to your bedroom. Upon flipping the light switch, he’ll be stunned and knocked unconscious. Use his zip-tie handcuffs to restrain him but ensure you don’t remove anything else. Once this is done, wait till he wakes up and tell him you’re innocent. Follow his instructions. Eventually, he’ll come out of the bedroom, ask you to call 911 and then leave. This unlocks the second ending and the Achievement “Coward”.

For the third ending, you’ll have to follow the exact same steps as the second ending, up till you zip-tie the cop. This time, you’ll want to actually take the phone out of his pocket, open it and select the text message icon. Select a message from Bumblebee, the cop’s daughter, and then call her phone number – it will be remembered for later. Start a new loop and go to the closet. Check the area marked “Clothes” and look at the bag to take a phone out. Call Bumblebee and choose the option relating to why her father is actually doing all of this. She’ll reply about talking to him and then hang up.

Go speak to your wife and accept the dessert. Help set the table and during dinner, when a song plays on the radio, ask for a dance. Eventually, she’ll give you a gift which contains baby clothes. Click on them in the inventory. You’ll hear the elevator outside and then the cop as he answers his phone. Once he leaves, your wife will discuss the baby. Tell her everything will be great and then dance with her (if she says you seem different, tell her you love her). Wait for the timer to run out and you’ve earned the third ending along with the Achievement “Groundhog.”

For the fourth ending, go to the closet and call Bumblebee. Tell her your wife is innocent and that the cop doesn’t have the full story. Go speak to your wife and tell her the truth. Choose either dialogue option that appears and then tell her that you’ll take the blame and confess. Go to the bathroom and get the pocket watch from the vent. Once the cop rings the doorbell (after speaking to his daughter on the phone), let your wife answer the door. The cop will approach you – confess to the crime. He’ll then ask for the watch and leave, which prompts your wife to ask you to leave. Walk through the door to unlock the fourth ending and the “Confessed” Achievement.

The fifth ending is a little weird but fairly straightforward. Once your wife is out of the bathroom, go inside. Make sure to close the door, or else she’ll walk out of the apartment and mess everything up. Open up the vent below the medicine cabinet with your house keys and get the pocket watch. Look at it until a cutscene is triggered. It will see the protagonist sitting in a chair with their father speaking to them. There are two key options to consider here – go with “Maybe it’s better we’re not together” and the scene will end, earning the “Alone” Achievement. Note that you must have learned the name of your wife’s nanny before doing all these steps.

We then come to the sixth and final ending. After choosing Continue, exit the elevator and walk towards your apartment door. Use your house keys to open it and you’ll find the apartment empty. Go to the bathroom and retrieve the pocket watch. Instead of staring at it again, drag the big hand to around two minutes before 12. Let it count down until you’re back with your father in his study. This time, before choosing anything, you’ll see the same book that your wife was reading, simply sitting on the shelf behind you.

Interact with it to narrate a passage. This will lead to your father speaking and offering a “third” choice. Don’t do anything, or even select “I change my mind” and the sixth ending is yours. In order to play the game after this, you’ll need to start from the very beginning. For more details on the game, check out our official review here.

The Death Stranding director relates it to the Amiga games he used to play back in the day. He also expresses his liking for Willem Dafoe – a renowned actor playing the role of the menacing cop in Twelve Minutes. The star-studded cast of Twelve Minutes is a big highlight of the experience, so it isn’t entirely surprising that Kojima likes it so much.

What Kojima is working on remains a mystery till now except a handful of rumors. Renowned game journalist Jeff Grubb believes that he is working with Microsoft for the next project, while the Abandoned Blue Box mystery also seems to be raging in full force following recent developments on the matter.

Kinda make me want to create another adventure game.

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) August 20, 2021

https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1428709025915441155?s=20

Twelve Minutes drops you into the seemingly mundane life of the protagonist, who returns to his small apartment to be greeted by a loving wife who has prepared a special dessert for the evening. A few minutes later, a cop barges through the door and poses an immediate threat to the family with his dominating presence, and immediately handcuffs the couple. Soon, the time-loop resets, and it’s up to you to uncover the myriad of secrets buried deep within this story and eventually break the time loop.

"Even after spending almost 10 hours in a small apartment, Twelve Minutes has so much left to offer in terms of secrets that I am tempted to jump back and do it all over again."

The story itself is great, brilliantly juxtaposing a time-loop with a grounded plot revolving around love and family without overpowering one other. It’s always a treat to uncover a new secret that could potentially change the narrative and relationships of the people involved, which is a great motivator to keep going when all hope seems lost. The writing is equally great, which is magnificently brought to life by the star-studded cast of James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe. There are a number of emotionally evocative moments hidden beneath this time-looping story, and the cast does a great job at doing justice to it at a consistent pace. That being said, there are a few dialogue options that are quite rigid, and lead to premature resets of the time-loop in some of the most unlikely situations which can be immersion-breaking at times.

An interesting point about Twelve Minutes‘ story is that it is told in a non-linear fashion, as some secrets that advance the plot further can be found out of order which remains quite interesting until the very end. There’s also a pinch of this non-linearity found in the way players manage to unearth these clues, which remains a treat in a similar vein. That being said, it can also be a double-edged sword at times considering the game doesn’t provide a lot of hints as to what needs to be done in order to get further in the plot. There was more than one instance during the later hours where I found myself completely clueless because I left out a seemingly insignificant detail during the earlier parts which of course, held huge ramifications for the future.

"It’s always a treat to uncover a new secret that could potentially change the narrative and relationships of the people involved, which is a great motivator to keep going when all hope seems lost."

Twelve Minutes‘ gameplay is standard point-and-click adventure stuff, and players must interact with the surrounding environments and combine items to uncover new and interesting scenarios that further advance the plot. Much like the story, the puzzles themselves are pretty grounded in their scope. Point-and-click adventures have a reputation for including nonsensical puzzles at times, but Twelve Minutes does a great job sidestepping many of these tropes with smart design. This is further accentuated by the fact that Twelve Minutes relies a lot on its environment for creating obstacles and opportunities, and players are encouraged to manipulate the knowledge of these environments to shift the flow of proceedings during a time-loop, which feels eerily similar to something like Hitman.

The environment itself is a pretty small space, being an apartment boasting just a drawing-room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It’s really surprising to witness the amount of detail and possibilities present within this space, and all of this is achieved without the game world itself feeling too cramped. The time players spend within these four walls is also a significant element, which clocks in at well, 12 minutes. Furthermore, players can advance the time accordingly as they learn more about the narrative – which further decreases the time sink required to see a single run to completion. This creates a pretty addictive gameplay loop of just one more run, which is absolutely vital to the pacing since not every run will bear fruit.

"This creates a pretty addictive gameplay loop of just one more run, which is absolutely vital to the pacing since not every run will bear fruit."

Progression in Twelve Minutes comes in a number of subtle ways, such as dialogue options evolve to reflect your current knowledge of the time-loop and associated characters. This alleviates a lot of concerns that crop up with replaying the same scenario over and over again but does give rise to another problem that could prove to be detrimental for some. As players progress through the narrative, a few scenarios holding crucial information get locked out. If you miss any related details and hints, you might be left perplexed after a while since you wouldn’t obviously have all the pieces to solve this recurring puzzle. A ship-log system like Mobius Digital’s Outer Wilds could have done wonders here, displaying all the relevant information in a single place that could’ve helped you plan your next move.

Twelve Minutes looks quite gorgeous, featuring a clean art style with great use of lighting and reflection through the small environment. The textures and environment also look equally detailed, and animations are equally competent for most actions. The sound design is also great, albeit a bit understated to reflect the actions within the game. It starts out slow and somber, which is a great fit for a evening and slowly and steadily rises in intensity as players progress through the time loop.

"Twelve Minutes can be a pretty lengthy game if players want to hunt down achievements and other related secrets."

Twelve Minutes isn’t a very long game. As mentioned before, it took me just under 10 hours to complete the story and roll the credits. However, that’s not the end since there are a number of secrets – both major and minor that are still left to be uncovered. There are many possibilities of achieving a goal, and as you explore the intricacies of this small world you will find out much more efficient ways of performing the same feat in subsequent runs. As highlighted by the developers, Twelve Minutes can be a pretty lengthy ordeal if players want to hunt down all achievements and hidden scenarios and secrets. Fans looking to do so might be looking at anywhere up to 20 hours of content, which is pretty astonishing once you consider that the game takes place in such a small world.

Twelve Minutes is a thrill ride through and through, constantly presenting players with new and interesting revelations in the time looping narrative that never fails to keep one guessing. It veers away from stereotypical point-and-click adventure tropes, and challenges players to bend its densely-detailed environments to achieve their goals. It’s not a perfect game by any stretch, but gets so much right that players even vaguely interested in the premise should definitely give this game a go.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

The first is Recompile which will be available for consoles, PC and the cloud on August 19th. The stylish Metroidvania-esque adventure has already garnered attention for its aesthetic and exploration. Train Sim World 2 and Twelve Minutes, the latter also being hyped for its premise and all-star cast, are also out on the same day.

On August 25th, the eagerly awaited Psychonauts 2 will be available at last with Raz embarking on a brand new adventure through all kinds of mind-scapes. Perhaps the most unexpected announcement is that Myst, a remake of the classic adventure game which first released for Oculus Quest in December 2020, will also be available for consoles, PC and the cloud on Xbox Game Pass. It will also release for PC via Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store.

As for titles leaving the service on August 31st, they include the following:

• Blair Witch (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Double Kick Heroes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• NBA 2K21 (Cloud and Console)
• Stranger Things 3: The Game (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Twelve Minutes is an interactive thriller in which you take on the role of a man caught in a time loop, where a police officer keeps breaking into his home and arresting or killing his wife for an alleged murder. The entire game is set within a single apartment, and it’s up to you to make the right choices, break the loop, and uncover the mystery. The game’s got quite the star-studded voice cast, with James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Defoe portraying the main characters.

Twelve Minutes launches for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on August 19.

The story of Twelve Minutes focuses on a man trapped in a time loop and reliving the same 12 minutes in his apartment. A police officer busts in near the end and seemingly murders the man’s wife but depending on your choices, the scene can play out differently. Interestingly, Dafoe (who plays the officer) hints at his character’s involvement with the lines, “It’s been over 20 years, what do you expect? I barely remember her. It was so long ago.”

What could it all mean and how does it relate to the time loop that players are trapped in? We’ll find out when Twelve Minutes launches on August 19th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. It will also be available day one on Xbox Game Pass.

Twelve Minutes

A husband and wife quietly celebrate in their apartment when suddenly, a police officer barges in, proclaiming the latter to have killed her father. After both are restrained and his wife dies, the husband finds himself at an earlier part of the day. Sadly, it wasn’t all a bad dream as the same 12 minutes unfolds again. What can he do to save his wife? Why is time repeating? These are some of the core mysteries in Twelve Minutes.

As the story unfolds, the player can try different things, whether it’s picking up a knife to attack the officer, or hiding in the bathroom. Each new loop provides additional information and dialogue choices, prompting new actions that will hopefully break the cycle. Twelve Minutes is out on August 19^th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC along with Xbox Game Pass.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut

A little over one year later and with 6.5 million copies sold, Ghost of Tsushima is getting a Director’s Cut with some quality of life improvements and new content. These include support for the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, 3D audio support, options for 4K and 60 FPS, faster load times and full lip-syncing for the Japanese VO on PS5. The new Iki Island expansion becomes available from Act 2 onwards and sees Jin traveling to a new region to battle a new Mongol threat.

New story missions, armor, weapons and of course, more animals, await along with other side content and activities. Releasing on August 20^th for PS4 and PS5, the Director’s Cut will cost $19.99 as an upgrade for PS4 owners and $69.99 for PS5 players. You can also upgrade from the Director’s Cut on PS4 to PS5 for $9.99 or go from the base PS4 version to the Director’s Cut on PS5 for $29.99.

Madden NFL 22

Another year, another iteration in the Madden franchise. Madden NFL 22 is in a weird spot, seeing as the past few titles have received blow-back from fans for various reasons. This year’s title is even more geared towards Xbox Series X/S and PS5 players with exclusive new Dynamic Gameday that looks to keep things exciting. This is in addition to changes with the movement, blocking, catching and tackling, updated Playbooks, the return of The Yard with solo and co-op options, a new story in Face of the Franchise mode and much more. Between new classes, abilities and changes to the Madden Ultimate Team Auction, it seems like a lot to look forward to on paper but time will ultimately tell. Madden NFL 22 releases on August 20^th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Google Stadia.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Ember Lab’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits has been quite the standout since its announcement last year thanks to its animated art-style and interesting premise. Players control Kena, a spirit guide who ventures to an abandoned village and tries to help the deceased move on into the spirit world. Along with a staff that can be used as a bow to fire arrows, she can also call upon the Rot, little spirit creatures that will help in battles and when solving puzzles. With its mix of exploration, platforming and combat, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is looking like a solid action-adventure title with an emotional story. It’s out on August 24^th for PS4, PS5 and PC.

Psychonauts 2

It’s been a long, long, long wait but the sequel to the cult-classic Psychonauts is almost here. Taking place immediately after Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, the story sees Raz venturing to Psychonauts HQ. Not everything is well though – second in command Hollis Forsythe is investing in some shady dealings, like necromancy, and there may be double agents sneaking about.

Raz will once again venture into different Mindscapes, learning new abilities and powers, as he attempts to make sense of everything around him (including the curse that’s plagued his family). With epic new levels and the trademark Double Fine humor, Psychonauts 2 is looking to be a worthy successor. It releases on August 25th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PC while launching day one on Xbox Game Pass.

No More Heroes 3

With all of the returns in gaming, it only makes sense for Travis Touchdown to re-enter the scene, this time squaring off against invading aliens to decide the fate of the world. No More Heroes 3 offers much of the same combat that fans have loved about the series, from the random benefits of the Slash Reel to Death Blows and wrestling moves. It does have a lot of new options though from Travis’s Fully Armored form to the Death Glove from Travis Strikes Again.

But make no mistake – this is No More Heroes through and through. You’ll take on volunteer work to earn money and enter ranked battles, engage in crazy death battles and encounter more crazy characters as the story progresses. No More Heroes 3 is out on August 27^th, exclusively on Nintendo Switch.

New World

Despite Amazon Games having less than stellar success (which is a nice way of saying “no success whatsoever”), there is a decent amount of hype for New World. It’s a brand new MMO, one that’s set in the mid-1600s as players arrive in a new region to colonize it. There are three factions – Marauders, Syndicate and Covenant – and along with questing, players can control settlements and battle each other. PvE combat is fairly extensive – enemies have several attacks and there’s a bigger emphasis on blocking, dodging and timing as opposed to auto-attacking for players. While the real journey begins after its launch on August 31^st for PC, New World is still worth keeping an eye on.

Foreclosed

A narrative shooter with a cyberpunk twist, Foreclosed is set in a future where brain implants are foreclosed and auctioned off. Protagonist Eric Kapnos has suffered this fate and must now escape the city before it’s too late. With a sleek graphic novel style presentation, Foreclosed offers an intriguing premise and story while combat relies on a myriad of weapons (thanks to a shifting Symbiotic Pistol) and abilities like telekinesis, hacking and more. It releases on August 12^th for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Hades

As one of the best games last year for Nintendo Switch and PC, Supergiant Games’ Hades comes to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/, PS4 and PS5 on August 13^th (with a day one release on Xbox Game Pass). The isometric rogue-lite sees Zagreus, the son of Hades, looking to escape from the Underworld. Naturally, the Lord of the Dead doesn’t take kindly to this so you’ll have to battle the Furies in Tartarus, survive the lava-filled rivers of Asphodel and much more in order to survive.

There are a handful of weapons to select from the beginning of each escape attempt, complete with their own unique abilities and upgrades but Zagreus also receives help from the Greek Pantheon. Zeus bestows the power of Thunder which can Jolt foes; Ares offers delayed secondary damage with Doom; and Hermes is all about speed among other options.

But it’s the story-telling and writing of Hades that will draw you in. There are hundreds of thousands of unique voiced dialogue and the story evolves with each escape attempt as you learn more about Zagreus’s upbringing, the world and its history. Whether you’re into rogue-lites, solid hack and slash titles, or simply love a good story, Hades is well worth playing.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite

Between Back 4 Blood, Redfall, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, and Rainbow Six Extraction, the next year or so is looking pretty good for co-op shooter fans. Aliens: Fireteam Elite releases the earliest and may be worth checking out on the basis of its premise. Taking place several years after the original trilogy, it focuses on a Marine fireteam that battles Xenomorphs across four campaigns, each with three story missions. Five classes are available – Gunner, Technician, Recon, Doc and Demolisher – each with their own unique abilities and load-outs while there’s an extensive amount of weapons and customization to be had.

Up to three players can embark on a mission, though you can also play solo with two AI teammates, and numerous difficulty levels really allow for ramping up the game’s survival horror aspects. Aliens: Fireteam Elite is out on August 24^th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Cross-gen play is supported at launch for PlayStation and Xbox platforms but there won’t be cross-platform play (for now).

Story Set-up

The first thing to note is the story set-up. All events take place within the confines of a single apartment where a man and his wife are living. As time passes, the two have dinner and the man learns that his wife is pregnant. However, their celebration is interrupted by a knocking at the door, which leads to a police officer entering and restraining the two. As the man is knocked out and his wife seemingly killed, there’s a core mystery to find out what exactly is going on. What prompted these events?

Time Loop

Of course, the game doesn’t end there. The man finds himself back at the beginning, trapped in a time loop. The same events begin to unfold again and within the same 12 minutes, he’ll have to confront the same police officer. However, this could also be an opportunity to set things right and save his wife and their unborn child.

No Clear Goal

While preventing his wife’s murder is one goal, there is certainly a lot more to the story of Twelve Minutes than meets the eye. As the initial reveal trailer showcased, the wife is accused of murdering her father. Why is the police officer playing judge, jury and executioner? Is the player’s goal to stop her from being murdered? To kill the officer? To solve the mystery of the murder and prove her innocence? Or to break out of the loop? Why have only the past 12 minutes been looping? What are the conditions for the loop?

Experimentation

The player is free to try all sorts of things and the game will react accordingly. These could range from getting a cup of water for the wife and having a conversation about dessert to attacking the officer with a knife when you get the chance (or even taking the knife, hiding in the bathroom and striking when the opportunity arises). The reveal trailer also pointed towards a number of other scenarios, like hiding in the bathroom with the woman which can lead to the officer finding them there. If you don’t lock the door beforehand, then the officer will burst into the apartment that much more easily.

Dialogue Choices

Experimentation and trying different choices is key but even if this is the same scenario on repeat, you’re learning more and more new information. With each new cycle, you can use that information to try and impact the plot. This is manifested in the form of dialogue choices based on what you’ve experienced already. After looping once, the player gains a range of options, from telling the woman that it feels like the same day, informing her about the cop or even asking about her past. You can then try to prove that the day is restarting (and no, telling the wife that she’s thirsty based on the previous instance of giving her water won’t work) or go into more detail. Different decisions will likely open up different dialogue choices so you’re encouraged to play around and see what’s subsequently unlocked.

The Clock is Ticking

One of the many unique things about Twelve Minutes is that, like Outer Wilds, the clock is always ticking. You need to come up with something, anything within that time-span before the loop is reset. This could mean saying or doing different things at specific times, lest you miss the window of opportunity and have to start over. It gives a real sense of urgency to the proceedings while also making them feel more dynamic – what will each decision lead to and how will it impact the overall story? It’s up to the player to find out.

Top-Down Perspective

Another unique twist is in the perspective. The action unfolds from a top-down perspective, providing a full view of the apartment at all times. Gameplay-wise, this means that you can easily scan the different items available. Aesthetically, there is a bit of detachment from the main characters especially since you can’t really see their faces and expressions most of the time. But due to the size of the apartment, it’s almost like watching a stage play unfold while simultaneously having your actions influence the direction. It’s unique, at least for this kind of personal narrative, and fits the overall mechanics of the time loop well.

Film Influences

When talking about inspirations, it’s key to bring up movies like Groundhog Day where the protagonist is also trying to escape a time loop. As it turns out though, a number of films have served as inspiration for Twelve Minutes including Memento, Rear Window and The Shining. The design is heavily inspired by the work of Stanley Kubrick along with Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher, to the extent that the official poster by mOcean pays homage to them. There is a definite sense of each film-maker’s work in Twelve Minutes, whether it’s the harrowing sense of doom inherent in Hitchcock’s work or the auteur theory of Kubrick.

Minimal, Focused Scope

Though players will be playing through a 12 minute loop multiple times, creator Luis Antonio estimated a total playtime of about six to eight hours. The original goal was to set the game in a neighborhood over a 24 hour period but the overall scope proved to be too large so the location and time was scaled back. Besides, while there have been a number of time looping titles that take place over a period of hours or even days, Twelve Minutes is one of the few that unfolds in real time, each time, over a relatively shorter span.

This overall focus on a more minimalist design extends to the gameplay – originally, there were timepieces that would help the player anticipate what was coming next. However, these were subsequently removed to keep the focus on the conversations and keeping track of details learned therein (which the small size of the apartment also helps with).

All-Star Cast

Despite the scale, there’s a lot of work that goes into a story like this. Motion capture for the characters and full voice-acting is included but surprisingly, Twelve Minutes has a star-studded cast. It includes James McAvoy of Split and X-Men fame voicing the man; Daisy Ridley of Star Wars voicing the woman; and Willem Dafoe, whose range includes Spider-Man, Finding Nemo and John Wick, as the police officer. The stage play comparison feels all the more apt, except it’s with high-profile actors flexing their range and talents over a dynamically evolving tale.