My history with DONTNOD’s titles dates back to more than half a decade. The developer, hot off the heels of Remember Me, entered the adventure game realm with the first episode of Life is Strange, which expounded my love of Telltale’s several great efforts in the genre. I had further faith in the dev after experiencing Life is Strange 2, a true masterclass in interactive storytelling that garnered a rare 10 out of 10 from me.

DONTNOD had a busy 2020, releasing all three episodes of Tell Me Why, and closing out the year with Twin Mirror. While it is not a direct homage to Twin Peaks and Black Mirror, those series’ are thematically relevant. Where the draw of Life is Strange was the protagonist’s time-rewinding powers and 2‘s gimmick was telekinesis, Twin Mirror opts for a different approach. The main character Sam Higgs is both blessed and cursed with an imaginary friend that opens a dialogue with Sam on a frequent basis.

We quickly learn that, as Sam returns to his old West Virginia hometown for the funeral of his best friend Nick, he isn’t exactly welcome. As a journalist, he penned a controversial article that led to the closure of the mine that had fueled the economy/workforce. On top of that, his previous girlfriend (who declined his proposal) was romantically-involved with his deceased best friend. What follows is a night of blackout drinking and a need to discover what happened while Sam was incoherent.

Enter Sam’s “Mind Palace”. Sam will immerse himself within his thoughts, based on context clues he gathers, to envision the past in vivid detail. This investigative edge is essential in uncovering the mystery that plagues the town of Basswood. The characters you’ll encounter along the way will present to you integral choices that will affect the flow of the story. Engrossing dialogue will place the disposition of each person in plain view, leaving you in the driver’s seat for how the rest of the story plays out.

Twin Mirror is not episodic like the rest of DONTNOD’s titles, but that’s not a problem for me. A common complaint for Life is Strange 2 is that some scenarios were dragged out for too long. As a contrast, Twin Mirror wastes no time with filler. It maintains a breakneck pace as it takes place over the course of about two days. At the same time, its magnificent environments, which DONTNOD have perfected at this point, didn’t fail to stun me at every turn.

While Twin Mirror still has that signature janky motion-capture that doesn’t exactly sync with the expressions and has some less-than-stellar action bits that will take you out of the immersion, the story inside the game is a prestigious continuance of the studio that is full-steam-ahead. Currently, Twin Mirror is on sale for 35% off of its usual $34.99, but I could envision this dropping even more in the future, especially once it hits Steam after its Epic Games Store exclusivity. Life is Strange fans will not want to miss out on what is yet another quality DONTNOD joint!

A PC Review Copy of Twin Mirror was provided by DONTNOD Entertainment for this review.

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Twin Mirror

$34.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• A Visual Spectacle
• Endearing Dialogue
• Choices Really Matter

Cons

• Wooden Protagonist
• Action Segments Are Frustrating
• Motion Capture Issues