French game developer Dontnod is known for its narrative games, and the interactive drama games developed have always been regarded as the best in the same category, but they have also done ambitious and fantasy big productions such as "Forget Me" and "Vampire".
This makes Dontad's 2020-year-old Steam's Gemini Fantasy seem a little odd — it looks a lot flatter.
The gameplay of Twin Illusions is still Dontnod's usual dialogue choice to drive the plot, with puzzle elements. Similar to Life Strange (note: the new game in the series has nothing to do with Dontnod), the protagonist also has superpowers that can be used to solve puzzles and get clues.
Set in Baswood, a rather closed town in Virginia, the protagonist Sam has left his hometown for some special reasons and is now returning to his hometown due to the death of a friend. As a result, he was an outsider, but he accidentally unveiled the hidden turmoil beneath the calm exterior of the town.
While exploring the truth of the outside world, the protagonist also needs to explore his own heart – Sam has another personality (the title says Gemini), which was born when he was very young and grew up with him. When the player needs to make a certain choice, this personality will appear to provide the player with advice. Of course, his advice may not all be in line with the player's vision, the specific choice depends on yourself.
It seems that the plot of "Twin Illusions" intends to explore the protagonist's inner routine while solving the case. However, in fact, the whole story is not very big, and there is no earth-shattering twist like the hidden dragon and crouching tiger in the small town of the American drama.
Although the suspense is laid in place at the beginning, the suspense begins to drain a little bit in the process. Although the ending is reversed, it is not unexpected by the player, and the ending is slightly hasty. Overall, if you put aside the superpowers of the male protagonist, "Gemini Illusion" may just be a story about several murders in a town that is in decline, but it is very suitable for appearing in the "Today's Statement" program.
Compared to Dontnod's other works, such a story is really a little dull.
In addition, the game flow is relatively short, and the communication between the protagonist and his other personality is very limited, and the bond between the two is not deep enough in front of the player. The protagonist's own plot line is separated from the main line of the game, so that when the player makes the final choice, the interpretation in the spiritual palace makes people cloudy, and the protagonist's past is also very hasty.
These shortcomings are further amplified by technical problems such as character expressions and stiff movements.
This also led to the game just released on the console platform at the end of last year, and the media ratings were generally not very high.
But that doesn't necessarily mean Dontnod's missed a shot in what he does best — In my opinion, Gemini Is more of a transitional attempt.
Dontnod may have heard a lot of feedback from players: the setting is too on track, the plot is lengthy and protracted, and the previous toothpaste release of "Life strange" has driven players crazy. So in this game, Dontnod gave up some of his usual elements and methods as much as possible.
With nearly five hours of gameplay time, "Twin Illusions" strives to lean on the "fast-paced suspense with a tight plot", except that the ending is a little abrupt, and the general degree of completion is still good.
Especially after Dontnod himself removed those fancy settings, realistic elements also appeared more clearly in front of the player's eyes, such as the small town that had to go to decline after the mining downturn, the young people who wanted to break into the big city but complained that they had no money to leave, the unemployed who lost their family property and could only live in the woods camp........ The repression of reality also naturally highlights the rationality of the crime.
The choice of the male protagonist Sam, many times is concerned about human feelings, can be seen as a typical ordinary person trapped by feelings, to solve their inner contradictions, trying to reach a reconciliation with the outside world. In a sense, "Gemini Fantasy" is a complete reality story - although the protagonist Sam has superpowers, in this work, the supernatural elements are basically reduced to tools.
Obviously, as a subject matter that is not so easy to attract players, this game has not attracted much attention. Compared to Dontnod's "Tell Me Why", which won cologne's "Best Xbox Game" and TGA's "Most Influential Game" awards in the same year, Gemini Fantasy is much more deserted.
But for a studio like Dontnod, which is small but has always been ambitious and challenging, it could be an important part of their journey to gaining experience.