Always count on Devolver Digital to release a bunch of engaging and entertaining retro-looking indie games from out of nowhere. Their consistency is pretty impressive. Devolver’s newest release is Minit, a game that goes overboard when it comes to retro visuals but also manages to entertain players due to its gameplay and central gimmick.

Minit is a 2D adventure game that borrows the gameplay from older The Legend of Zelda games and a gimmick from Majora’s Mask. In simple terms, your character can only walk around the game’s map for sixty seconds before he instantly dies and respawns at the last checkpoint. You might think that this limits the game into a severely small and limited map, but that’s actually not the case.

Just like Majora’s Mask, the majority of your important actions and your key items aren’t reset when you go back to the beginning. Furthermore, you have more than one respawn point, so once you find additional houses spread throughout the map, you can use them as your checkpoint in order to explore farther locations. Following a very Zelda meets Metroidvania structure, you keep collecting new items in order to open new areas. Get a special coffee in order to push blocks around, get a gardening device in order to cut down trees, and so on. The game might not be as short as its gimmick may suggest, but it’s not very long either; the game lasts for an hour and a half if you’re just focused on the main storyline, and about three hours if you’re going for a 100% completion rate. It left me craving for more, without a doubt.

Technically speaking… well, you can see for yourself with those pictures posted on this article. Minit goes haywire with the retro visuals. That’s not even 8-bit worthy; Minit appeals for the black-and-white visuals you’d find in a computer from the late 70’s and early 80’s. I have to give credit to the developers for trying something different, as we all know the market is currently saturated with 8-bit and 16-bit-esque games. I also have to praise them a bit for the cute character designs despite the simplistic sprites, but I have to be honest: the incredibly simple graphics became exhaustive after a while. You’ll constantly look at black and white dots, sometimes not even being to deduce what object you’re looking onscreen.

The soundtrack, thankfully enough, doesn’t follow the same “even older than 8-bit” philosophy as the graphics. The game features a synth-heavy soundtrack, something pretty common among indie games nowadays, with a collection of well-composed tunes. Yeah, it’s not exactly the most impressive musical choice out there, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess. The controls are also extremely simple, given the fact you only have an action button and, weirdly enough, a suicide button, which transports you back to your last checkpoint and resets the timer. With the exception of the game’s wonky combat (you and your foes can move diagonally, but you can’t slash your sword diagonally), everything is as responsive and intuitive as it should be.

Minit borrows elements from older titles and mixes them with an unusual coat of paint in order to create a game that truly felt like a breath of fresh air in this day and age of rehashes and reboots. Its visuals might be a bit exhaustive at times and the game is a lot shorter than it should be, but I have to admit I had a lot of fun with. For the small pricetag the publisher is asking for, don’t even think twice, that’s a good title for whichever console you own.

Graphics: 4.5 The ultra simplistic visuals are charming at first, but they become tiresome quickly, even though the game can be beaten in less than an hour.	Gameplay: 8.0 All you have is an action button and a suicide button. It’s very simple and very responsive. The combat, weirdly enough, can be confusing at times due to the lack of diagonal sword fighting.
Sound: 7.5 I was expecting for a repetitive 8-bit soundtrack. What I got was a pretty decent synth-heavy collection of tunes instead.	Fun Factor: 9.0 The Majora’s Mask-esque time gimmick makes up for an engaging little title. The sense of humor is also pretty decent. The only problem here is its duration, it completely left me craving for more.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Reviewed on Xbox One.
Also available on: PS4, PC.