The first thing that strikes when launching Minit for the first time is its minimalist artistic direction. With its retro black-and-white graphics, the game might look a bit simplistic to gamers who haven't experienced the days of the NES or Game Boy. On the other hand, those who are open to nostalgia should fall in love with the game, as it manages to dazzle us with few details. Each zone manages to make us travel and not for a second we have the impression of seeing a generic game whose decorations do not give off any soul. This is ultimately what impresses the most on the visual level: with a few pixels, the game developers have managed to set up a coherent world that constantly tickles the player's curiosity. Everything is also sublimated by the soundtrack of the game which enters our head after a few seconds. Again, simplicity is key, but everything works perfectly.
60 MINIT CHRONO
Nevertheless, if the graphics of Minit can surprise it is well the concept of the game in itself which is in the center of the attention. It all starts in a small house, where we discover our hero for the first time, an indescribable creature with arms and legs. Apart from a simple indication to tell you how to move, you will not be entitled to any speech explaining the origins of your character. A voluntary oversight that serves above all to bring us back to the heart of the matter. Indeed, after a few seconds of play, you will come across a sword that will allow you to cut through the obstacles and enemies that are on your way. Only problem, from the moment you get this sword, which turns out to be evil, your character is doomed to die every sixty seconds. The latter must then resume from its starting point, while the timer starts again. Fortunately, each time you die, all unlocked items and passages are preserved. Then follows a sort of race against the clock during which you will have to do as many things as possible in the allotted time. If the game may seem quite simple in itself, the difficulty is really not very high, this component adds additional stress that gives us the impression of playing speedrunner. But with Minit, it's all in the details.
THE LEGEND OF MINIT
Like the presentation of your character, you will not have the right to indications coming from nowhere to allow you to know what to do. However, to help you, you can count on the presence of many PnJs. Each character will often give you a clue on what to do, but it is still necessary to rack your brains to understand the double meaning of certain sentences. The game then takes on the appearance of Zelda-like, especially since you can move freely on the map. However, you must first unlock new objects that will allow you to overcome certain obstacles such as logs or puddles that are too deep. In fact, nothing very difficult, but as time is against us, it is sometimes difficult to assimilate all the clues that we can discover. If we add to this the fact that we have no predefined objective, we regularly end up going around in circles in the hope of discovering a new passage or a new object.
The map being quite large, the developers had the good idea to place several “checkpoints” which will allow you not to resume from your main house. You will then have to juggle regularly between your different rooms in order to be in the best mood. You will even have access to a teleportation pod that will allow you to quickly move between each room. A system that will quickly prove essential since certain clues will allow you to unlock areas that are at the other end of the map. As we explained to you earlier, in Minit, the player is really on his own, which means that you never know where you have to go. However, the game is never frustrating and quickly turns out to be addictive. Each time we discover a new clue, our brain goes into overdrive and it's hard to want to stop on such a good path. Despite a certain repetitiveness, which depends above all on our ability to understand what surrounds us, we are never bored for a moment. If the seconds pass on the stopwatch, we do not see the time passing, so much so that the end of the game arrives without warning.
MINITMALISTE
Indeed, it will only take you three or four hours to reach the end of the main adventure. If the lifespan of the title is up to its price (10,99 euros), difficult not to have the impression of remaining on our hunger. The final boss arrives without warning and it is with surprise that we discover the credits of the game appear on the screen. However, do not think you have discovered all the secrets of Minit since the main adventure represents less than half of the game. Some objects are necessary to complete the adventure but you can very well finish the game without ever seeing what is hidden beyond the main plot. However, once the game is over, you will have to start over from the beginning. A good challenge for speedruns enthusiasts who want to complete the game at 100%. Better yet, players lacking difficulty can have fun with the “New Odyssey +” mode where the timer is reduced to 40 seconds. If the players who do not adhere to the concept are likely to feel aggrieved by the life of the title, those who have fallen under the spell of Minit will not be able to prevent themselves from relaunching a story part to clean up from top to bottom the game world.
