TimeSpinner. Nintendo Switch.
Usually, I like to post some gameplay pics of the games beaten at 100%, make a fast quip and move on. Today, I think I'll give a small review of Timespinner.
TimeSpinner. The flight from Virginia to California is one of the longest in the US. As such, I searched for a MetroidVania to play while on the plane ride. I chose TimeSpinner. Going into this game blind, I knew I wanted two factors in a game while on this long flight. It had to have MetroidVania gameplay. As such, TimeSpinner includes what you would expect from the genre; exploration, collectibles, upgrades, appropriate music and even subsequent lore. The other factor that attracted me to this game was Time. I'm a fan of time manipulation games so a game that had a time stop mechanic definitely caught my attention.
Let's dive in. TimeSpinner is inspired by 90's game art styles. It utilizes this art style really well. I felt while I was playing this that I was playing a game from the 90's. This is evident in visuals and even the gameplay menu. TimeSpinner does a lot with what little it uses. The backgrounds are interesting and eye-catching. The orb mechanic (which we'll get too) has orbs constantly flying around your character but instead of being in the way it just helps you realize where your attacks are landing and keeps the screen interesting as orbs change color depending on the weapon equipped. The backgrounds aren't necessarily detailed either but they keep the player engaged, ranging from strange planets in the sky to horrific creatures in test tubes while exploring a lab. There are plenty of unique character models with a lot of detail put into them. Characters have unique hair colors, hair styles, armor and even gestures. I know who I'm talking to before I speak to them as the models don't repeat and each stands out. However, TimeSpinners is mixed when it comes to the enemy models. At some point, the enemies become boring with repeated models showing up halfway through the game with no new textures, just re-colored enemies. Despite this, a lot of the boss fights in this game caught me off guard due to how visually surprising they looked. One boss, lfrit, caught me off guard as it stood out from the other bosses, in a good way. lfrit is bright, takes up a good portion of the screen and genuinely seems threatening. He/It? is by far my favorite looking enemy in the game.
The gameplay mechanics are also a mixed bag for me. With a name like TimeSpinner, I was hoping for a lot of time manipulation mechanics. TimeSpinner only uses one time manipulation mechanics and that's stopping time. The time stop mechanic is underwhelming. Despite having maximum sand power I felt the time stop mechanic didn't last very long. Even if it did, there was barely any use for it. There were very few obstacles in the way that requires the player to stop time for any reason. If I tried hard enough I feel I could get through the game without stopping time at all. And when you do stop time there's almost very little point as enemies are not affected by the mechanic through damage. If you stop time and attempt to hit an enemy, the attacks won't register. However, actually attacking in TimeSpinner is fun and engaging. In TimeSpinner, there are two modes of attack. Using orbs you find throughout your playthrough and through Aura attacks. You can equip two orbs at a time, one for each hand, and they act like melee weapons you can toss in front of you that immediately come back and literally orbit your character. Orbs naturally level up through constant use, so if you like an orb (or three) , repeated use of them will make them stronger. I was a fan of the Blade Orb, using it causes a sword to spawn in front of your character. Another common orb was the fire orb, which as its name suggests, causes fire damage when thrown at an opponent. Aura's on the other hand are attacks that deal heavier damage but have a charge time and are attached to a meter bar, so overuse means you have to wait to use these powerful moves again. As a fan of anything that has the name Blade in this game I used the Blade Aura, which after it's done charging releases a huge sword to attack enemies that almost takes up half the screen. There's an abundant amount of orbs and auras to obtain in the game and other than wishing they would have more unique situal needs for them in the games environment, these moves all cause damage in different ways so gameplay doesn't feel repetitive or boring.
My final point I want to make about TimeSpinner is the story. I know this blog is all about beating a game at 100% but if there's something else I love about a good game is a good story. TimeSpinner does not have one. The story for TimeSpinner is quite literally, all over the place. You start off with a simple objective of revenge and (spoiler coming up) by the time you're done, you end up being a literal God. The transition from revenge to God is not a smooth one, it feels the game jumped straight to 11 when it comes to advancing this surprise plot. A new enemy (if you want to call him that?) appears near the final hour with little to no build up, but defeating him ascends the main character to absurd heights. In between this enormous jump in story plot there are a few plot twists that feel like they game out of left field and were only put there for a shock factor that doesn't land. I'm not invested in TimeSpinner's narrative, but I will say its one of the few games I've kept playing due to being a fun game despite a story that's not well structured.
100% completion for this game took me nearly 15 hours. I give TimeSpinner a 7/10.
