‘Timespinner’ Review: Savoring the Precious Minutes

As if we didn’t have enough great Metroidvania style games to enjoy (still plowing through Dead Cells, because reasons), Lunar Ray Games and Chucklefish have provided another one with TimeSpinner. This time around, you play a destined hero who has to use manipulative time powers to save the day before the universe is doomed by a big-baddie. But there’s a catch. She not only has to defeat the bad guy, but basically remove him and — ulp! — herself from history.

But don’t let this doomsday scenario throw you off. TimeSpinner has fun with its theme throughout, from its Chrono Trigger-inspired visuals (more from a side-scrolling perspective rather than top-down, but you get the gist) to its wondrous soundtrack to its fun gameplay, which lets you mix up the combat in several ways, as I’ll discuss later on.

The story continues to unwind in an entertaining way as your heroine, Lunais, journeys deeper into this mysterious world. Along the way, she’ll run into some unique characters, as well as engage in entertaining boss battles that really put her time-based abilities to the test.

This mainly involves just stopping everything for a few precious seconds while you can completely move around. This is ideal for hopping on an enemy’s back (which would harm you if they were moving) and getting to a better position, or running across platforms that would otherwise collapse beneath your feet. This is a great ability, even if there’s no way to really extend it beyond the basics (like, for instance, stopping certain things on a map).

Great Gameplay Techniques, Even If Some Things Take a Bit

This mainly involves just stopping everything for a few precious seconds while you can completely move around. This is ideal for hopping on an enemy’s back (which would harm you if they were moving) and getting to a better position, or running across platforms that would otherwise collapse beneath your feet. This is a great ability, even if there’s no way to really extend it beyond the basics (like, for instance, stopping certain things on a map).

But the combat more than makes up for it, as you can utilize magic orbs over the course of your adventure. With these, Lunais can attack in a number of different ways. At first, the most basic ones provide simple little jabs; however, orbs that are acquired provide something with a much bigger punch, like shots that transform into swords or flying shots. What’s more, you can combine these together to really deliver damage to enemies.

That doesn’t mean every orb is going to do you good in every situation, but it opens up the idea of experimentation, so you can “mix and match” and see what works best for you. It’s an awesome system that really kicks things up a notch for TimeSpinner, even though sometimes it takes a bit to get things going.

Fun Gameplay and Visuals

That’s mainly due to the large level structure featured within the game. Everything’s nicely connected and allows you to get around and explore, but I would’ve liked more scenarios to challenge me a player, like a few more boss fights or puzzles. That’s not to say the ones here are bad, but the game has a slight (very slight) issue with pacing. As a whole, though, it really does come together pretty well — and that’s not too shabby for the small but sufficient team at Lunar Ray. (We’re talking one person doing the work, with others helping along.)

And the exploration can pay off in the later parts of the game, as the first basically get you oriented with the world. Once you do, you can move forward to pushing Lunais to a much higher level. It pays off for those that are truly persistent, though the way the story unfolds will leave you wondering what happens next. There’s also a little bit of replay value with the side quests, although, again, I wish those tied in with more boss battles somehow. Minor complaint, though.

Along with gameplay that truly clicks with its time-stopping gimmick and its range of combat, TimeSpinner also benefits from a nostalgic presentation that hits the spot. Again, the visuals reminded me of Chrono for some reason (probably the time theme), but the structure is very well done, even if the world can be a little too big at times. The animations are impressive, and I also love some of the lighting touches within the game, mainly from glowing orbs. They really add a sense of mystery in certain spots.

Well Worth Your, Ahem, Time

As for the music, it’s a refreshing mix of tunes that sticks with you. It can tend to repeat in some spots, but the mixture of various instruments goes a long way. The sound effects are good as well, not going overboard but sticking to the norm based on what you’d normally hear from a SNES-inspired game.

We know there are a lot of great Metroidvania games to choose from, and Symphony of the Night, one of the genre’s inspirations, is coming to PS4 later this month alongside the Requiem package. But TimeSpinner is an adventure that should not be missed. What it lacks with its occasional pacing issues, it more than makes up for with its ingenious combat, stunning presentation and vast mixture of storyline and characterization.

And for $20, you get a pretty reasonable value here with your game, including some extra quests that extend its replay value. And you get a PS Vita version along with the PlayStation 4, so you can take your adventure on the go. (We haven’t reviewed that particular version yet, but there’s no going wrong with free.)

Even though some slightly superior titles exist in the Metroidvania universe, this one’s well worth setting aside several hours for. Give it time!

WWG’s Score: 4 out of 5

(Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.)