Game:Â The Longest Five Minutes
System:Â Nintendo Switch
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher:Â N.I.S America
Age Rating:Â T (ESRB)| 12 (PEGI)
Price: $39.99 | £39.99 | €39.99
Release Date:Â 16th February 2018 (Switch)
Review code kindly provided by N.I.S America
According to my Switch profile, I’ve played The Longest Five Minutes for more than 10 hours. As of now, I’m having fun with the game’s story; I love the visuals and soundtrack, but I’m somewhat disappointed by the battle system.
Without further ado, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!
A Brilliant Concept
I love the concept behind The Longest Five Minutes. The game begins with the final battle against its the chief protagonist, but our group of heroes have no chance of winning unless their leader, suitably named Flash Memory, regains his, erm, MEMORY. Yes, Flash has amnesia! He can’t remember anything about himself, where he is, or others around him.
So Flash’s friends seek to battle the Demon King, while at the same time jog their leader’s memory. Gradually, Flash’s memory returns due to flashbacks he obtains during the ongoing battle with the Demon King. Those flashbacks are what makes up the game’s adventure. They are usually triggered by something that Flash sees or hears doing the final battle. Everything is pieced together so well, and this alone makes the game worth playing.
A Heroic Quartet
Flash’s first memories introduce you to the formation of our heroic quartet and the start of their mission to defeat the Demon King. Partnering Flash in his quest is Clover, Yzu, and the loud-mouthed Regent.
Yzu is the games equivalent to girl power! As a martial artist, she packs a serious punch, something which Regent gets to experience often. Clover being a priestess is the wise member of the Team. Regent is a rebellious wizard that wants to forsake his future as a mage to become a musician. The interaction between the characters is fun, but as the game has progressed; I’ve started to become somewhat frustrated by the adolescent tone.
An old fuddy-duddy
I know the game has a teen rating, and the game focuses on a group of youthful heroes, and young people have hormone issues, but come on, Regent can get a little too much at times, with his explosive behaviour and fascination about the female anatomy.
One of my biggest criticisms of the game is the frequent sexual innuendo. Someone may argue that I should expect such things due to the game’s T rating, but being a Father of three daughters, I don’t appreciate some of the comments made. I’m also a little frustrated by unnecessary swear words that creep up now and then, but I tend to skip past anything like that quite quickly. And in a day when women are making known, the profound impact unwanted comments has upon them; some may not appreciate the games boyish humour.
This doesn’t mean the game’s humour is a complete letdown. I’ve chuckled a lot while playing, mainly when Regent and Yuzu get going at each other. So it’s a shame to write such negative comments by what is otherwise a cleverly written game.
Just wait a Moment Old Man
Aren’t I a Father of three Son’s too. Don’t sons differ in regards to maturity? Can’t they be loud, unruly, and say things when they should be silent? O yes. But can’t they also mature by experiences and show mature qualities that suddenly surprise you.
I’ve reached a stage in the game where Regent has become far less annoying. He’s growing on me. Once you reach Stardust Island, it’s clear that the dangers of the mission have caused him to develop a lot. Yes, the odd adolescent thought still comes through, but he’s shaping up okay.  His loyalty and devotion to the team eventually begin to shine through, which promotes a very positive message for loudmouth youngsters. A good talking point for parents perhaps.
The real action
The critical component of any RPG is the battle system. The battle system used in the Longest Five Minutes isn’t overly complicated to understand. There are only six in-battle options, those being: attack, magic, item, guard, run, and auto. Thankfully, even an RPG novice can get to grips with it pretty quickly. I guess some may consider it to be too simplistic, but complicated battle systems lose me.
A majority of battles frequently take place randomly as the team explores different areas. Somewhat like Pokémon; characters wander, demons pop up, and battle commences. It’s through these random battles that your characters level up in preparation for tougher opposition – This does mean there’s a lot of grinding, but each battle is over so quickly that it doesn’t feel drawn out.
There is however a balance of power issue; I’ve merely button mashed my way through every fight so far. Even when I’ve been matched up against bosses, I merely use attack, and bosses appear to put up virtually no opposition. Yes, they may strike you once or twice, but with heal spells readily available (both in and out of battle), there’s next to no challenge. Your team is vastly overpowered, which results in the gamer lacking any sense of achievement, and making magic and other items in battle somewhat meaningless.
Things do get a little harder later on but not enough to feel challenging.
Story and Side Quests
The Longest Five Minutes isn’t merely about battles. My favourite game elements are the story progression and exploration.
Most relived memories also contain side quests which require investigation and gives the player extra incentives to play. This may involve delivering items, resolving arguments, listening to requests etc. If completionists miss tasks, they can use chapter select to jump back and fore in time to finish the incomplete sidequests.
If you’re looking for more story than battle, then I’m sure there’s enough here to please more casual RPG players.
Great Retro Visuals and Soundtrack
Everything from the game’s overworld to main areas look excellent. The visuals are reminiscent of classic 8-bit/16-bit RPG’s like Pokémon and Earthbound. The game’s composer has also put together a soundtrack that I could easily listen to outside of playing the game.  I highly recommend playing the Longest Five Minutes with the best headphones players have available.
Overall
So I like The Longest Five Minutes. Yes, I have my gripes, but yet I’m eager to see how the game concludes and so that’s a positive thing.
Battles are easy, but the game offers enough entertainment to keep casual RPG games such as myself interested. It’s a shame about the odd swear word and derogatory theme, but a vast majority will probably consider such content mild when compared to other titles on the market. I’m merely a strict conservative kind of guy that hates that sort of thing. But yet, there’s still enough here for me to like, so that’s a plus!
