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TheSETJ, 9 january 2019 19:42

A review of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

The game, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, initially published for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013 and later in 2015-2016 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and 3 major mobile OSs, and it was able to get a good reception. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, as the name suggests, tells the story of a long journey of two brothers in search of a cure for their dying father. They face many adventures and experience many challenges. This article presents a review of the PC version of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Note: be aware, the following review contains spoilers about the plot.

Story

The game starts with a cutscene which shows the younger brother, sitting and crying over her mother's grave and recalls the scene of her death when she was drawing, but he had not enough power to be able to save her. Then his older brother calls him to bring the father who is in a critical condition to the village's doctor. However, after bringing their father to the doctor, he tells them that he's unable to do anything and if they want to cure their father, they should bring him special water from the Tree of Life which is located very far of the village. By the start of the journey, the story is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, but the dominant atmosphere of the game makes you feel the grief which flows in the game's world deep in your heart and feel close to the two brothers. Throughout the story, as a player, you experience various adventures, full of love and hatred, loyalty and betrayal, honesty and lies, humanity and disgrace, which are very influential and stay in your mind for a long time. These adventures and mini-stories have been developed so well that makes you be more and more eager to what happens next.

The point that goes through the game very extremely, but completely intangible, is the psychological and strong viewpoint of the developers to the relationship between characters. Usually, in a family with two children over two or more years of age, the older child accepts more responsibility and adheres to the ethical principles passed by the parents to the children, an also benefit from higher confidence. While the second child often acts more intelligent and clever than what is expected from his age. In this story, the younger brother always feels a torment of conscience and disability and blame himself for the death of his mother, thus he is heavily dependent on his older brother. These characteristics are very well embedded in the story and behavior of two brothers by the developers of the game.

Gameplay

A game with a good story, would not be effective if it does not have good gameplay. First, it's important to note that this game has a special control mechanism that is less seen in any other game. As a player, you should control both brothers at the same time whether you're using a keyboard or a gamepad and this will be very challenging because you should do something different with each one of the brothers in many situations to be able to continue your way (and you'll not be able to play it with someone else, not to my knowledge). After about half an hour of playing you feel that you've learned something that maybe you were not able to do before and you can control both brothers without any problem and probably this will be very enjoyable for you. With using this kind of control, clever developers of the game help you connect more and more with two brothers and their feelings. The overall gameplay is very smooth and enjoyable.

Though you'll not face very clever nor creative puzzles in this games, they also won't be time consuming and boring. They are not too simple nor too hard to ruin the rhythm of the game. However, the game had this potential to have a bit more challenging puzzles which would make it more enjoyable.

Graphics

From the technical point of view, the graphic of the game is not comparable to other high-end games, but it's in harmony with the overall atmosphere of the game and you probably will be happy with it. You can play this game over and over and do not feel tired of the graphic. Also, as far as I played, there are no bugs in the game from this aspect.

But from the artistic point of view, the graphic of the game plays a special role in and is a determinative aspect of the game. I can describe it with words like masterpiece, unique and extraordinary. The whole environment of the game, from cave to the snowy mountain, from green jungle to villages with lively inhabitants, is very diverse and full of mystery and beauty. Sometimes you want to stop playing and only watch the beauty of the environment. It's very interesting to know that there are benches throughout the game to sit on it and enjoy watching the environment. It makes the game like a dream that you'll never experience in real life.

Sound and Music

Sounding in the game is done very well and the sound of nature like the flow of water, the blow of wind, the sound of children in the village, etc. are very natural and help you go more in-depth with the game. Characters of the game speak a fictional language. But don't worry! Everything you need to know is conveyed through actions, gestures, and expressions of the characters. Music, as you may predict, is awesome and make the game even more beautiful. Simple notes of the main theme of the game which is played with a violin, alongside other instruments, is very sad but also very beautiful and pleasant. It's in complete harmony with the whole atmosphere of the game and you can listen to it over and over without boredom.

Overall

This game is a journey that you can follow along and enjoy. Everything is great and a player you'll not finish playing this game except you're satisfied. To sum up, here's the overall of the game:

Pros: