RPGs are one of the best genres in gaming, but it feels lately that there are too many cookie cutter RPGs that all follow the same mold. This is why I am happy whenever I see a game that defies convention and truly innovates on the genre. The Longest Five Minutes is one of those games that tries to innovate and largely succeeds. It does this by playing with the usual narrative structure of an RPG, but is it an ideal game?
The Longest Five Minutes begins during the battle with the demon king that would normally end the game. Here however, things go differently when an attack causes our heroes to lose their memories and they must retrace their steps to learn everything they need to do. There is a catch of course, and that is that they only have five minutes to do so, hence the title. The game thus plays as a flashback, where the characters slowly remember details and skills and piece everything back together.
The Longest Five Minutes takes heavy inspiration from games like Earthbound and other similar RPGs, but its unique narrative structure does help it stand out. The combat is inspired by the aforementioned games, but instead of experience being earned, you “re-experience”, but the game does also involve time skipping between the flashbacks and the battle with the demon king. This is where the game loses me a little bit, because while the game tries its best to have things make sense, there is quite a but of confusion that ensues as a result. You will eventually get the hang of it, but you might need to replay the game a few times before you get things down right.
I love the scattershot nature of the game but while it provides for a very different experience, I feel it could have been a bit more coherent to flow better. In addition, I would have liked it if the battles were a bit more unique instead of taking influence from Dragon Quest and Earthbound, but I still had fun with the game. Overall, The Longest Five Minutes is not the absolute best RPG out there, but it definitely stands high above most others. It is rare to see a game that truly steps outside the bounds of what is expected of RPGs, and thus is worthy of praise. I urge you all to give this a look, because I feel this is a game that will catch on the more people play it. It definitely has a lot to offer beyond the norm.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by NIS America