THE LONGEST FIVE MINUTES (PC)
A pixel-art throwback to the RPG genre’s mid-nineties golden era, The Longest Five Minutes caught my eye during a trawl through the PlayStation Vita’s digital store. A portable, sprite-based RPG alluding to brief spans of time, it couldn’t help but evoke comparisons with PSP classic Half-Minute Hero.
As it turns out, the two aren’t related. They don’t share a developer, nor do they inhabit the same gaming universe. Nippon Ichi’s effort plays the role-playing route with a comparatively straight bat, opting for nostalgic earnestness over madcap gameplay and humour. Like Half-Minute Hero though, The Longest Five Minutes was also released on PC. It can often be found on Steam for rather less than the £34.99 the game seems destined to remain should you want the pleasure of experiencing it on Sony’s handheld.
The Longest Five Minutes doesn't rock the boat thematically, but towns like Stockwood are charming to explore
What makes The Longest Five Minutes inviting from the outset is its retrospective storytelling. The five minutes alluded to in the title represents the duration of the game’s showdown. Just as Flash Back (I know, I know) and his band of intrepid followers are about to do battle with the Demon King, we discover that the hero has inconveniently had his memory wiped. All of it. He can’t remember who he is, how he got there, who his pals are, who the villain is, or how to execute his signature move. As the seconds tick by, various dialogues trigger memories from his journey and his life, ranging from full-blown, villages-and-dungeons RPG fare, to childhood moments bonding with his comrades. Piece by piece, the puzzle starts to come together.
The gameplay is immediate and satisfying, with speedy turn-based battles, easy to navigate menus and engaging story scenes that don’t labour too long. Side quests allow for the discovery of a little more depth to each chapter. There’s usually a trio to each chapter and they can involve a bit of everything: accompanying different party members on shopping trips, solving villagers’ problems, or tracking down specific characters and hidden items. None of this is forced upon the player, should they wish to simply plough through the story, but there’s many a fun venture to be found on the periphery. TLFM doesn’t look a million dollars and, save for its novel storytelling mechanic, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel through its themes or its gameplay, either. It does however conjure an emotional response: your heart will like it, even if your head knows you’ve seen a lot of it before.
The gameplay is immediate and satisfying, with speedy turn-based battles, easy to navigate menus and engaging story scenes that don’t labour too long. Side quests allow for the discovery of a little more depth to each chapter. There’s usually a trio to each chapter and they can involve a bit of everything: accompanying different party members on shopping trips, solving villagers’ problems, or tracking down specific characters and hidden items. None of this is forced upon the player, should they wish to simply plough through the story, but there’s many a fun venture to be found on the periphery. TLFM doesn’t look a million dollars and, save for its novel storytelling mechanic, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel through its themes or its gameplay, either. It does however conjure an emotional response: your heart will like it, even if your head knows you’ve seen a lot of it before.
There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it sticks to the old-school template quite affectingly. A tale told through text boxes and lively, whole-hearted writing, the narrative comes through with vigour and gusto. As a result, it feels like a real 16-bit role-playing game, not a modern-day pastiche or a wink-nudge send-up. Locations encompass the full range of RPG sight-seeing destinations, including castles, verdant green villages, multi-tiered towers, poisonous swamps, casino towns and scrapyards. They all belong neatly in this little world and whilst none of its original, it is very charming.
Secondly, The Longest Five Minutes has that most desirable of JRPG traits, a beautiful soundtrack. This is the one area the game does break from its 16-bit emulation, but it’s a gamble that pays off. The main theme, an emotional, rolling cascade of piano notes, is truly gorgeous. From there on out, you know Nippon Ichi will be tugging at your heartstrings, though they handle moments of excitement, action and dread with a similar level of accomplishment.
Secondly, The Longest Five Minutes has that most desirable of JRPG traits, a beautiful soundtrack. This is the one area the game does break from its 16-bit emulation, but it’s a gamble that pays off. The main theme, an emotional, rolling cascade of piano notes, is truly gorgeous. From there on out, you know Nippon Ichi will be tugging at your heartstrings, though they handle moments of excitement, action and dread with a similar level of accomplishment.
Sure, there’s no love affair to match Justin’s and Feena’s in Grandia, no villain with the presence to rival Final Fantasy greats Kefka or Sephiroth. Flash is never going to be mentioned in the pantheon of great video game protagonists. But his crew are a likeable bunch and their travails are easy to invest in. Visiting Daydream and Money Heaven (a neon-drenched theme park and casino town, respectively) proves a lot of fun as you can tackle slot machines and arcade games (including an endless runner and a Prinny-themed shooter) or explore floor after floor of quirky shops. Many more recent role-playing games put everything into the surface detail, the spectacle, forgetting that the real joy often lies in wandering off to explore at your leisure, unearthing the little rewards.
Perhaps appropriately, The Longest Five Minutes isn’t the lengthiest of endeavours. Finishing it will take around fifteen hours, though a modest sprinkling of achievements awarded for revisiting certain chapters, as well as discovering a trio of endings, count in its favour. Replaying chapters will help raise global levels for characters, so you can still enjoy the benefits of battling and growth, even though events hop here, there and everywhere on the timeline.
Perhaps appropriately, The Longest Five Minutes isn’t the lengthiest of endeavours. Finishing it will take around fifteen hours, though a modest sprinkling of achievements awarded for revisiting certain chapters, as well as discovering a trio of endings, count in its favour. Replaying chapters will help raise global levels for characters, so you can still enjoy the benefits of battling and growth, even though events hop here, there and everywhere on the timeline.
Battles are rapid and enjoyable, with a decent range of specials and magic attacks to pick from
TLFM is one of the most accessible, quick-fire role-playing games you’ll encounter. Predictably, this results in a lifespan that can be measured in days rather than weeks, but it retains good momentum, something that’s backed by pithy scripting. A retro RPG at its core, The Longest Five Minutes’s creative narrative structure lends events an element of the unpredictable. It won’t win any awards for its visuals or its gameplay mechanics, solid as they both are, but the writing has a sincere quality to it. This, along with a wonderful soundtrack, lend Nippon Ichi’s throwback something even the snazziest modern role-playing games often fail to muster: an emotional connection.