Point-and-click adventure games like Twelve Minutes have always sought to tell compelling stories, from the early days of classic LucasArts titles like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. And in recent years, that ambition has only grown more in an attempt to mirror the depth and complexity of film narratives. So it shouldn't really come as a surprise that we are getting not one, but three A-list Hollywood stars lending their voices to characters in the newest Annapurna Interactive game.
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With a story that is gradually peeled back like an onion over the course of its looping adventure, Twelve Minutes tries to do for video games what Christopher Nolan's Memento did for movies. But one of the downsides of its complex infinite time loop-based structure is that not every permutation or detail ends up making sense in the context of the overall narrative. What follows are just a few of the questions we have after beating the game.
Needless to say, there'll be spoilers ahead.
Is The Cop An Imposter?
During the very first loop in Twelve Minutes, the couple's evening routine is interrupted by a police officer that immediately proceeds to apprehend both of them. He demands that the wife provide the watch in her possession, after accusing her of killing her own father. And no matter what the husband does, the loop ends with him getting knocked out.
That level of aggression and behavior, while explained over the course of the game, seems very unorthodox for a cop. Not only was he not in uniform, but he also didn't even bother to flash a badge. Plus the fact that he doesn't restrain the couple with proper handcuffs would suggest that he is not exactly who he claims to be. But the game never makes it clear if he was truly an imposter, despite trying to justify his actions later in the game, making us think that he must be closer to a hitman or enforcer than anything else.
Why Is The Husband Stuck In A Time Loop?
At the core of Twelve Minutes is its looping narrative wherein the player is stuck reliving the same twelve-minute stretch of gameplay. And just like any good story based around an infinite time loop, most of its enjoyment comes from trying to understand what is going on and how to stop it. But it is never truly revealed why the player is caught in this time loop to begin with, at least not during our particular playthrough of the game.
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For comparison, in recent movies like Boss Level or Edge of Tomorrow, the source or reason behind the time loop is eventually uncovered by their respective protagonists, as well as how to break the cycle. But no tangible reason is ever given in Twelve Minutes to explain why the husband has to relive that particular stretch of his life, over and over again.
How Is The Loop Tied To The Stolen Watch?
Towards the end of the game, it is discovered that by manipulating the watch hidden behind the vent beneath the medicine cabinet, it was possible to travel back in time to when the husband had been confronted by his wife's father. This effectively allows the player to replay that particular section in order to get one of the game's available endings, which is useful for gameplay but doesn't really make sense from a narrative standpoint.
There is simply no way that the husband would be able to jump to that conclusion without resorting to simple trial and error. But even more than that, it is never even explained how the watch is able to function as a time machine or reset button. The game seems to hint at something to do with hypnosis in one of its endings, except that doesn't really explain anything beyond the husband's ignorance. Speaking of which…
Why Didn't The Husband Know He Was The Killer Sooner?
After learning from the cop that his wife's nanny's name was in fact Dahlia, the husband breaks down with the realization that her nanny and his mother were one and the same. This meant that he was the "monster" responsible for killing her father.
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The problem with how the revelation was handled is the fact that the husband had ample opportunity to arrive at that conclusion before then. From the moment his wife had first confided in him that she'd shot her own father, to after he had learned that her father was actually killed by a disgruntled bastard son days later. Any of those pieces of information should have been enough to bring to mind his murder of his own father. But it didn't, and the only explanation the game tries to give for this is because… hypnosis.
What Did His Father Do For A Living?
Following the game's big revelation, the husband wakes up in a room that looks like a personal library. There he is confronted by his father in a flashback scene, and we learn that his father didn't approve of his proposed relationship with his daughter, who was effectively his half-sister. And depending on how the scene plays out, the husband can end up getting hypnotized.
This would almost suggest that his father had been some kind of psychologist. But at one point in the game, the policeman also reveals that the wife's father had taught him everything he knows. But what exactly did he teach him? Were they both police officers together at the academy? Or was the father some kind of criminal mob boss and the police officer was in fact his enforcer or right-hand man? There are so many possibilities and not nearly enough explanation for any given one of them.
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