Damn, this game was good. If anyone out there is on the fence about this I would definitely recommend it to you. It's a very emotional game and the control mechanics in this game are something I never experienced before. Definitely one of the best games of 2013.
If you are interested in good platformers or good stories give this game a shot. At the time of this post it was on sale on Steam for $7.49 if you are a PC gamer.
Get the pc version. The difference is night and day. PS3 version looks muddy and has screen tearing. PC version on the other hand looks very crisp. Bought ps3 version, then played it again on pc and the difference is huge
boy the gameplay right at the end (during the epilogue
where you are first back on your home island
) is some really good stuff.
took advantage of the $5 xbla sale and i'm glad i did. really nice game.
also gotta give it props for not actively telling me what to do after the prologue. it was easy to figure puzzles out, but some required having a little faith in an idea and following it through (like swinging on rope).
Completed it in one go tonight.
Very pretty, I liked how intuitive everything was and how you can pickup on the personalities by interacting with things. Gameplay was simple, but never felt awkward.
Despite being close to home it didn't hit home with me, I can see why people like it though. For the time and price (Steam) I'm glad I played it.
Played this on my brothers pc today. Goddamn. It's incredible what they've achieved here and it's already one of my favourite games of the last few years.
Also, this game is exactly what the Final Fantasy series should have looked like following from FF IX.
Picked it up on 360 yesterday and just finished it today. Presentation, narrative and the unique control scheme were fantastic. I especially loved the moments when the controls tied into the story like during the epilogue. The ending was pretty lame, however. There was nothing satisfying about it and I felt it was trying too hard to hit me emotionally.
On the negative side of things, I was a little disappointed that the actual game part was just there to move you from scene to scene. I would've liked the puzzles to be a little more difficult.
Overall though, it was a great experience and well worth the $5.
I finished it two days ago in one sitting, and I'm still thinking about it.
I was worried from the opening it was going to be way too maudlin, but as the game progressed it never devolved into something I felt was trying too hard to be emotional. The simplicity of succumbing to sweet sadness.
[Spoilers- Beginning of Chapter 4]
This was especially morbid. I acted so quickly to ensure that the man wouldn't hang himself- but then I started wondering. Like it was clearly his intention to kill himself after facing some sort of immeasurable loss (those two bodies- friends, family, strangers, lovers?) and I felt like I almost was intruding. Maybe preventing him from taking his own life wasn't my "objective" per say, but was it also my willingness that forced me to step in? I also didn't realized how quickly I acted to stop it from happening, that I really appreciated that Starbreeze let us intervene. The achievement that popped up felt jarring though- as the Brothers bowed their heads respectfully, I felt defeated. Maybe it wasn't my place. It's also difficult when a game ventures into territory that hits a little close to home. I left after that scene for a bit, just to pace about.
I also can't say enough about the control scheme. It took awhile for me to adjust to it, but I think it's astoundingly wonderful. I got a real kick out of timing my jumps with both Brothers in unison, and it felt rewarding to act cooperatively. The different interactions that each brother had with the same people and objects added a lot of fun depth to their character personalities.
I think the game did a fantastic job with the the pacing/progression of the story. [Spoiler- The moment, towards the end]
Losing Naia, and also adapting to just using one Analog stick actually made me feel really distraught. Just when I was catching my stride with both, he died. I also think the way that the Spider girl is interwoven as an antagonist kind of bothered me, but the puzzle to defeat her was neat. Swimming without him, realizing you could press the Right Trigger to grant you the courage to cross, the ability to jump, and progress felt like a triumph. It was a pretty perfect moment.
More games also need benches to just chill. And appreciate how far you've come along in your journey. That may have been my favorite bit of the game- just calmly appreciating the beautiful vistas with the Brothers sitting together, stopping to catch my breath.
[Spoilers- The End]
Trying to console the father felt really, really heavy. But it was almost like a coming of age tale- understanding and dealing with loss, and then being there for others who retreated into a sad state. Hell, skipping those rocks after the Journey came to a close felt supremely lonely.
About to play the PC version... I noticed there are limited video options but the .ini files are filled with stuff to tweak. Anyone ventured in to tweak stuff to improve the graphics?
The lose of the older brother didn't really hit me until I had to pull the lever to move the platform. I only pulled the RT at first. Having to pull the LT to finish, to perform what would normally be the older brother's action, is what made his death real. Having to climb the half ladder just reinforced the feeling. I'll admit I teared up as I experienced that.
On a side note, I think the brother's grave at the village is empty.
Beat it today also, what great and amazing experience. I pretty much was resigned to fact
I knew one of the brothers would die
as it is obvious with stories like this but the journey made me not think about it so I thoroughly enjoyed though I knew what the outcome would be.
Also, though the graphics don't scream impressive on first glance it has it's moments of wowing you with it's minimalistic and subtle beauty on certain levels. The controls are awkward at first but you get use to it fast.
Every Ico fan should play this as no doubt they borrowed from it and even The Last Guardian. I would also recommended Papo & Yo for those that loved Brothers.
I just cleared it (bought it on the cheap on XBLA) and it was fantastic. Unlike you, though, I thought the length was pretty close to perfect. I never got completely comfortable with the controls so it lasted just long enough to not be annoying. Art design, the feel of the world, some of the little puzzles and the story were all great, though. I highly recommend the game to anyone on the fence.
I'm reading up on the game a bit this morning and it got me wondering: do we know if the game was commercially successful? And can you guys see a sequel going forward? I mean, maybe a more traditional game
starring just the little brother
set in the same world? Maybe that wouldn't turn out to be a good thing, but I sure do like the atmosphere of the game and wouldn't mind seeing more of the world.
Finished this yesterday. Loved it. It definitely gave me Ico/SotC vibes with its minimalistic storytelling and I loved the ending. I agree that the length was just about right as the two-stick mechanic is not conducive to really precise, coordinated movement (although it never felt wonky to me, either). The epilogue sequence is a example of storytelling that can only be done in a game. Only a few games have actually done this and those that do - such as Bioshock and Portal - are among my all time favorites. I'll be putting this in my GAF GOTY voting.
I finished this up tonight. I'm not really the kind of guy to get a case of the feels when playing a game, nevertheless I enjoyed the entire playthrough from beginning to end. The aesthetic was great and the environments really drew me in. The whole controlling two brothers mechanic stayed pretty interesting to me, although I'm glad few games do such a thing
In spite of what I said above, I'll admit that I got a chill down my spine in the epilogue, when I suddenly realized that I had to
use left trigger to make it across the water
. That one part made the story hit home with me more than any other. Simple genius on the part of the devs/designers.
Such an awesome game. Beat it in 2 short sittings, but I played a large portion with my 4 year old watching and he was mesmerized. It seemed like the most important game we have played together in terms of bonding and the emotional impact. The end parts really got to him I think. I had to answer a bunch of questions for him, but I think in a very good way.
One of the best games I have played in a really long time. It's up there with Ico for me easily. And I had no idea what it was about until I fired it up yesterday. Really gorgeous game, at least on PC.
Whoa, just finished it. Great game. Lots of great design decisions. There are a lot of minor flaws too but they don't matter much since they're so minor. I like how they're talking gibberish and with no subtitles or whatever, because you can still always tell what they're saying from context.
the spider reveal (when I saw her jump really high earlier I just thought it was poor animation and I thought they expected no one to notice the jump).
Yeah, I thought it was ridiculous how she just jumped like that but it made sense later. I knew that she was going to turn out to be evil when we were entering the cave. And then it also made sense why they (the "wildlings" or what have you) were trying to kill her. When we first encountered her, in my head I was like "and now in typical game/film-fashion, we're just going to assume that she is innocent and that they're evil". Can't believe I was right and that it turned out that she wasn't innocent. They had a good reason for wanting to kill her -- who knows how many she has killed before herself?
Its not quite Journey levels of amazing, but the game was still a pleasure to play. Out of the three recent types of game like this that I've played I'd rank them like this: Journey >> Brothers >>>>>>>>>> The Unfinished Swan.
Brothers > The Unfinished Swan > Journey > Dear Esther.
I'll have to re-play all of them, but Brothers easily wipe the floor with the others. You should totally check out The Stanley Parable too. I haven't played it but I've seen someone else play a little of it and it's amazing. I'm going to have a look at Gone Home next myself.
Just finished it. I played the first hour or so a few months ago. Thought it was decent, but moved on to other things.
Wow, what a fantastic experience from a video game. Without getting into spoilers, I enjoy the simplicity of the puzzles, because where the game excels is in exploring the environment and connecting with these two gibberish talking bros. It goes off into some extreme directions, and I loved every moment of it. Not that people are bashing the game, but I am a bit surprised it is not getting more love.
A wonderful thing this game is. I wish Ebert would have had a chance to play it.
Just finished it today. I enjoyed it, the game is beautiful, I just kept admiring the work on the environments and lighting. The core mechanic is quite interesting even though it often gets confusing for a sec. The ending
was emotional and the use of controls to convey parts of it i.e. the left trigger was brilliant and moving.
My favourite parts
were probably the spider boss, boat scenery and the rope swinging area. It's a shame the puzzles never really got more difficult, it was more the journey than getting there to an extent I suppose.
Something about it didn't quite click with me though. I don't know if it's because the characters all talk gobbldy gook which stopped me fully connecting to the characters and their story or if the slightly lacking gameplay didn't quite satisfy but whilst a great game, it didn't give me that awesome feeling that GOTY types do. Can't explain it fully.
It takes forever to turn a crankshaft. Like, literally five minutes to raise a platform. It starts to hurt my thumbs after awhile. People sued Nintendo for this back in the day.
And yes, I'm using a controller. It's genuinely making me want to stop (I'm at the part where I'm trying to raise the platform with the inventor dude on it).
It takes forever to turn a crankshaft. Like, literally five minutes to raise a platform. It starts to hurt my thumbs after awhile. People sued Nintendo for this back in the day.
And yes, I'm using a controller. It's genuinely making me want to stop (I'm at the part where I'm trying to raise the platform with the inventor dude on it).
I think it's weird to be glitched in such a way (unless you're playing it on pc and it has low fps). Try putting the controller down and use your handpalms on the sticks to make turning motions. Making circles is a bit easier this way. You sure you're turning in the right way? Otherwise you're controller is indeed at fault. Low batteries or simply not registering correctly.
I finished this game yesterday and I dunno the ending did not get me because
the older brother got stabbed by a Spider Woman
. It was just so silly that I couldn't feel sad about it. I couldn't play the game in one playthrough either because, frankly, I got bored. Most of the game was just made of running and running until you got to a puzzle or destination. I did like the presentation of the game though; I thought it was a really beautiful game. The interactions with everything and everyone between the two brothers was the highlight of the game imo. So yeah, this game was interesting but I think there needed to be more actual gameplay and less running around.
Sorry to bump this thread from 4 months ago, but this game is 75% off( $3.74) steam sale from now till the 15th. Didn't see it mentioned anywhere else on the forum...
Sorry for the bump, but is this the thread we're going to use for the game just coming out on the new consoles? I couldn't see another OT anywhere for it.
