Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

[b]Note:[/b] There is a [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2153350/Brothers_A_Tale_of_Two_Sons_Remake/]remake version[/url] of this game available on Steam. I've never played it so unfortunately I can't make a comparison between the two games. [b]Recommended for:[/b] If you are looking for a short but impactful adventure game then Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a great game to try out. The story itself is relatively standard, but the execution is excellently done. It's even more impressive that they managed this without the use of text or dialogue! Another highlight is of course the unique gameplay which requires you to control two characters with one controller. This sounds difficult at first but is actually not that hard to master, although it can be a bit tricky in the beginning. To be clear, this is a solo game. If you are looking for co-op you'll need to check out the remake version. [b]My experience:[/b] I almost didn't play this game because I saw that a controller was required, and I absolutely suck at using one. Still, others convinced me to give it a try and I'm glad they did, otherwise I would have missed out on this great game. I really liked the way they told the story. Many games try to convey an emotional story, but few execute it as well as this one in my opinion. I also think graphically it still looks fine. [b]Technical:[/b] I had no technical issues while playing. [i](Win10,7800X3D,RX7800XT)[/i] [b]Personal Rating:[/b] 4/5

The game may end, but what it makes you feel, stays with you forever.

Camera is janky and really annoying. Pace felt forcibly slow. Interesting mechanic with a cool payoff, but the storyline is mid. I don't recommend.

I enjoyed this

"Notice: Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons requires a controller to play" - First of all, false as f*ck. First thing I did was plug in my PS5 controller and the game didn't even blink. Second of all - I had really mixed, or straight up negative feelings about this game at the beginning. There are ZERO graphics / display options; as mentioned above, my controller was utterly useless; you can't change the key bindings and worse of all, it felt so horribly slow. I swear, the first double crank elevator felt like an eternity (or 5 minutes real time) and I was sure that it was a bug related to the keyboard controls, but so what, you either support my controller or get your sh*t together. Ehhh... It's safe to say I was tempted to drop this game, thinking "Maybe I should have played it all those years ago when TotalBiscuit made a video on it, perhaps I would have had a higher tolerance for this back then". And then something changed, very smoothly and very rapidly. As soon as you get out of the starting area and the world opens up, this game starts feeling like a fairy tale. Amazing fantasy setpieces do incredible job of worldbuilding, and are followed by better and better uses of the games' double character control mechanic. As for the story, it's surprisingly adult, which is not something I was expecting. It didn't surprise me in any way or evoked a rush of emotions, but I respect the choices they made. To sum up, fantastic game, horrible controls.

It might be the saddest and the most compelling game I have played. It's very short, but I played it multiple times because I loved it so much.

This game was beautiful to look at and I really liked that about it but everything else about it is just irritating. The controls are so annoying, so much of the gameplay is just completely counter-intuitive and at several points I had to look up what I was supposed to do and my response was always "Well I don't know how on earth I'm expected to know to do that." because there are just so few hints and the solutions are not at all obvious. It's just annoying. Like how am I supposed to know in the end to just swap the controllers around? Nothing indicated that at all! Why would I do that? I spent the whole game getting frustrated over mixing up the two controls.

I was hesitant about this game initially since the characters don't actually have any intelligible speaking lines in the game, but I was quite pleasantly surprised by this game. It provided everything I could have asked for with 1 caveat at the bottom. There is a wonderfully presented story which truly tugs at the heart strings. You *become* each of the brothers as you are going through the game even if you never understand what they say. You really understand their fears and emotions because of how well the story is presented and the pay off for this investment is quite strong. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was the controls. I did this single player...which I think was OK? It was a test in compartmentalizing my thoughts as I had the 2 brothers walking in different directions or doing different things all at the same time with two different parts of the keyboard. They were never far apart and were usually doing the same things, but it did get challenging because of this! This made the game feel like it was intended to be co-op exclusively which I did not get the impression of when I bought it. It is completely doable with minimal difficulty as a single player though!

Story is really strong. The game worst of every minute of playtime. 10/10

Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons has one of the most unique control schemes I’ve ever seen. Each thumbstick and trigger button is used to control either brother. It might sound unwieldy, like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, but it’s surprisingly easy to get used to. The dual controls also reinforce the player’s investment in the characters by making use of puzzles that sometimes require one brother to interact with an object to help the other overcome an obstacle. Brothers tells one of the most emotionally resonant stories I’ve ever played in a game without even having traditional dialogue. Instead, the characters speak only in gibberish, with their meaning and emotions being conveyed through gestures and facial expressions. The ending had me in tears both times I’ve completed the game. It’s easily beatable in an afternoon, but I still think about the story years after I first played it.

One of the most brilliant examples of portraying story through game-play. You can't appreciate this fully without a controller in your hands because each thumb-stick represents one of the brothers, and there is significant storytelling going on through that medium. Probably the only game where playing with a controller is essential.

Ah. Im still sobbing. Beautiful game, amazing story. Controls will make you wish you knew how to play piano but hang in there, its worth it.

I wonder if game devs or designers that incorporate rapid analog stick rotating minigames into their projects actually played their own game. That **** is never fun and really does a number on your controller. Also, it distracts you from what's going on in the screen more often than not.

The game was boring to play through. Some of the settings were nice and atmospheric (specifically frozen village). Otherwise it felt like it tried too hard to be dark without creating much depth. It's probably cool to play as a parent with a child? As 2 adults we got very bored of it and the story didn't touch us because it wasn't particularly interesting. I feel like I'd maybe enjoy this game more if it wasn't so severely overrated.

Cool lil game but overall honestly don't remember anything about it seemed pretty good for its time and remember all the og youtubers playing it and hyping it up just honestly didn't really like it but didn't hate it just average if you got a spare few hours to waste maybe give it a shot but other than that yeah a nothing burger really Overall 5.5/10

A whimsical fairy tale about death, murder and suicide. 6/10

The story is pretty simple: two brothers look for a magical tree that can nure their dad. On the way there they run into all sorts of wacky situations that requires effort from both of them. The atmosphere combines happy and tragic scenes, to show that the world of this game is ambivalent. For every peaceful village there is a town where everyone froze to their death. This duality even has a role in the story. Gameplay is unique in a sense that you have to control 2 characters at the same time. There are puzzles and parkour elements that require some finesse with controlling both characters. Somehow the game manages to not be awkward despite this setup. All in all, it's a fantastic 4 hour game that you can enjoy for 1 evening.

8/10

Yes

yay!!!