Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure | PS4 Review

What is there to say about the brick breaker genre after all these years? Classics like Arkanoid and Breakout helped establish a stringent formula that few games have faltered from in subsequent years. Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure, inspired by the popular PlayStation-centric podcast, proves there is room for innovation after all. Lilymo Games has delivered unto us a worthwhile way to spend a few hours.

Gather Around the Campfire, It’s Time for a Story

The true differentiator of Twin Breaker is its storyline. Surely we’ve all thought to ourselves while chasing high scores in these kinds of games, “Y’know, if only there was a hefty tale of First Contact to go along with this.” Well, wonder no more. This game opens with several minutes of expository narration (which can be skipped) that sets the stage. America has pulled away from global conflict and reorganized itself to set sail for the stars. Several Generation Ships have been sent off in different directions with no hope of seeing Earth again. Adding to the sacrificial nature of the spacefarers, after a certain point, these ships drop out of contact range at a certain point. But now a single ship, just for a moment, has sent out a signal.

It’s a strangely dense set up for the game, but it actually does pull you in. Putting aside the occasional references for fans of the podcast, it’s a surprisingly straight-laced storyline. As ridiculous as it is for the “paddles” of this brick breaker to be spaceships, the game plays it straight. The actual plot is straightforward enough, but the setting and background is incredibly compelling. I wish the codex entries weren’t hidden behind high scores, because I wanted to easily learn more of this universe.

Set Your Brain on Fire

Putting the story at the forefront should be enough to set Twin Breaker apart, but Lilymo Games decided to take it a step further. You control two paddles simultaneously, either horizontal or vertical depending on the level. It’s tough to wrap your head around at first, but the 40 levels of the campaign are structured such to give your brain time to catch up.

Later on, though, you are controlling four paddles between the two sticks. This is when things get a whole lot trickier. I could never really wrap my head around it no matter how much I played. Two paddles is a fun, new, and interesting challenge. Four paddles is an exercise in frustration. Compensating for the game’s loose controls (the paddles slide just a bit too far when you let off the stick) is easy to work around with two paddles, but definitely not four.

On the Whims of Fate

While I liked the actual brick-breaking just fine, going for high scores felt awful. I’m not a score chaser by nature, but the fact there were narrative tibits hidden away compelled me to do so here. However, it felt like too much of my fate came down to luck. The pickups are randomized, including guns to destroy bricks and a score multiplier. These two alone guarantee a high score if they drop, but they don’t always. It felt like my score at the end of the stage came down to a random number generator more often than not.

For its price, Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure packs in a lot of value. Aside from the campaign and its new game +, there are several other modes. Random and Marathon both provide an excellent way to keep playing with the standard brick breaker formula. But Shooter turns the game into a vertical shooter, and there’s a silly Coin Catcher game as well. The real fun is in the Pong mode. This puts a boss (oh yes, there are boss battles in this game) on the other side of the screen, and tasks you to score goals against them. You can destroy them or angle your shots correctly, it’s up to you. I had a whole lot of fun with this mode.

Value for Our Troubled Times

Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure is a fun entry in an underrepresented genre. It provides plenty of bang for your hard-earned buck. There are some sizable frustrations with it, especially if you want to go for high scores, but it’s still a fun time. Unexpectedly, I found myself wanting more of the universe this game establishes. So many minute details are thought out that it’s obvious the writer poured a lot into this world. If you yearn for the retro days, you could do a lot worse.

To hear me talking more about Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure, be sure to listen to Episode 288 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:41:16 time stamp.

This review is based on a purchased copy of Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure. It is also available on the PlayStation Vita.