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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons |OT| We are One (PC and PSN, Out now)

O

Orca

Member
Got some free time today and finished it. Really worth the $15 and I hope it does well but I don't hold out a lot of hope for a puzzle-heavy adventure game with little to no combat. Deserves to do better than it will.
 
S

SystemBug

Member
SystemBug said:
here is a review from a child's perspective

http://www.playereffort.com/2013/08/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons-review-a-kids-perspective/
Click to expand...

Lysander518 said:
Did you edit his review? If your brother wrote that all by himself, then color me impressed.
Click to expand...

Not much, just made sure his punctuation was okay and if he accidentally a word. Also told him not to repeat words and think of other ones. I liked how he described the game as a journey. Kid's a good writer, eclipses what I could do at that age by a country mile. He blew my mind back when he was younger and used the word chemicals in a sentence just because the word was floating around in his active vocabulary, which it usually isn't with most people I know.

I also made him read this http://www.pentadact.com/2013-07-01-five-things-i-learned-about-game-criticism-in-nine-years-at-pc-gamer/ and went over it with him before he started the review.

Basically, I'm trying to get him ready for high school because they really nail in essays and stuff like that.

As far as the game is concerned, I believe there are two narratives this game forms. One of which, is the brothers journey, and the other one is the relationship the player has with the controller.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
So, do you think this game's relatively quiet/flat launch is due to MS's disinterest in Summer of Arcade? Bad marketing and media coverage, perhaps? Is it just the aging consoles? The 360 audience on the whole having no interest in a game of this type?
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Triggerhappytel said:
So, do you think this game's relatively quiet/flat launch is due to MS's disinterest in Summer of Arcade? Bad marketing and media coverage, perhaps? Is it just the aging consoles? The 360 audience on the whole having no interest in a game of this type?
Click to expand...

MS could and should do more.

Summer of Arcade is one of the best things they have going for their console.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
There's a fantastic interview with the director, Josef Fares, on Gamasutra. Some snippets:

Take the language that the game's inhabitants speak, for example. It's a completely made up mother tongue, and you aren't provided with any subtitles at all. Essentially you have no idea what the people in the game are saying to each other.

"The language was important for me," he notes. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate games like Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead, but I think they are too close to movie experiences. For me, it was the interactivity that was important, and also how the player interprets the story."

"That's one of the reasons that the language is made up," he continues. "So that you can put in your own thoughts and decide what they say. You can read the body language, how they talk, stuff like that - it's all for the player to be part of everything, even the short cutscenes we have in the game. That's the main reason why it's a made up language."
Click to expand...
At one point during our chat, I questioned whether Fares had considered adding a multiplayer co-operative mode to the game, in which two players could take control of each of the brothers and work together. Before I'd even got the question out, Fares was shouting "No no no!"

"That is absolutely out of the question," he says. "It's something that people have been asking me all the time, from the publisher and everything, but I've always said it is impossible. It's never going to happen."

"I remember the first time we brought the game to Microsoft, and they said that to me," he adds. "But the idea is that you actually connect - left hand is big brother, right hand is little brother. Players will understand once they've played all the way through the game why it is important to keep the brothers on each hand."
Click to expand...
It sounds like this will not be Fares' only video game venture. The director is keen to explore more ideas, and use his background to create even more different game experiences.

"I really felt like, and I still really feel, like I have a lot of ideas for games that I hope I can make in the future," he says.
Click to expand...
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/197999/A_film_director_gets_video_games_right_in_Starbreezes_Brothers.php
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
Journey and Braid were both format exclusives and they both got more of a push/buzz than this one seems to be getting. It will be a real shame if this one doesn't get all the attention and commercial success it deserves, although it certainly seems like word of mouth is building and hopefully the floodgates will open when it hits PC and PSN.
 
S

StevePharma

Member
Gary Whitta said:
Journey and Braid were both format exclusives and they both got more of a push/buzz than this one seems to be getting. It will be a real shame if this one doesn't get all the attention and commercial success it deserves, although it certainly seems like word of mouth is building and hopefully the floodgates will open when it hits PC and PSN.
Click to expand...

Better get your ass as a guest on Giant Bomb's GOTY deliberations then! ;)

Or a 'box' quote

"Awesome Game" - Gary Whitta, screenwriter
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
I showed my wife the game over the weekend, she didn't really like it. She said it got 'too weird', I think by how dark it gets especially after such an innocent beginning.
 
T

TalesOfWin

Banned
The variety in the puzzles was also a sticking point for Fares, and something that caused arguments. Coming from a film industry background, Fares found that many modern games extend the playtime by simply repeating the same old mechanics and set pieces over and over again.

"Variety in the game mechanics was extremely important," he tells me. One thing I get tired with in games is when they reuse the same mechanic all the time. The idea with Brothers was to change it all the time."
Click to expand...

no padding, this man gets it.

excited to see future games from him.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Neuromancer said:
I showed my wife the game over the weekend, she didn't really like it. She said it got 'too weird', I think by how dark it gets especially after such an innocent beginning.
Click to expand...

My wife hates video games however she sat next to me for the entire thing. She cried twice and told me she kept thinking about the game at work today.

Fantastic game.
 
B

BlackBanditSho

Member
Neuromancer said:
There's a fantastic interview with the director, Josef Fares, on Gamasutra. Some snippets:




http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/197999/A_film_director_gets_video_games_right_in_Starbreezes_Brothers.php
Click to expand...

I can't even begin....the director is DEAD ON. This game wouldn't work co-op. There's a single moment in this game where it all makes sense. I was blown away by the design build up for the mechanics' pay off. What an emotional response to a very technical design. Sorry for the hyperbole, but WOW.
 
H

HawksWinStanley

Member
Anyone know off the top of their heads how many chapters there are?

Just wondering how far along I am. I just
got to chapter 4 I think. Right after I saved the little bro from drowning.
 
R

Rootbeer

Banned
Great thread!! I can't wait for the PC version. Timed exclusives are really painful for me when it appears on 360 first >.< The only console I oped not to invest in.
 
M

Moozo

Member
Finished earlier. Strikes you as the kind of game that doesn't have much replayability but as I went back through to mop up the last couple of achievements I found myself wanting to start all over again
 
U

UnlovedJew

Member
This was a weird game for me. Playing it I didn't feel a particular connection to the characters or story, it was only thinking about the experience after did I realize how much I loved it. The gameplay is so simplistic and easy that the game almost lost some of its impact on me. The ending I was expecting so I didn't find it as jaw-dropping and yet now, thinking back on it, it was exactly what it needed to be. Play this game people. Even if the demo doesn't grab you, the experience is well worth it. The music is incredible and the visuals some of the best I've seen.
 
H

H2Yo

Member
I'm totally loving the game, though I did NOT appreciate having to replay all of Chapter 2 because of a scripting bug that would not fix itself after a checkpoint restart or reboot of console.

For those that want to know where it is (saving you the trouble of wandering around for an hour), just after you have the brothers grab onto a flying fox that spins around, you run across a collapsing stone ledge. Right after this section there should be a cutscene showing you cage with a lock on it. If this cutscene does not occur, you cannot retrieve the key.

You will need to choose level select from the main menu are select chapter 2, blowing away your current progress.
 
Vert boil

Vert boil

Member
Gamer with Jobs podcast,

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/115697

Spoiler free talk (2.05 - 7.00 (but they yammer on to the ninth minute.))

Spoiler talk (1.49.55 - 2.23.41)
Shawn Andrich, Julian Murdoch and Justin McElroy.


edit,

Bombcast

Spoiler free talk (2.13.30 - ~2.18.00 for the main talk. They go on for a few more minutes and bring it up occasionally throughout the rest of the show.)
 
G

Grisby

Member
Was thinking about a small bit in the ending today.

(HUGE MAJESTIC ENDING SPOILERS HOLMES)
When you are burying your brother I was thinking how cumbersome it was to pile the dirt on from one side to the next. That two stick thing, however confusing it was in the early stages, sure ended up working in the end.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Vert boil said:
Gamer with Jobs podcast,

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/115697

Spoiler free talk (2.05 - 7.00 (but they yammer on to the ninth minute.))

Spoiler talk (1.49.55 - 2.23.41)
Shawn Andrich, Julian Murdoch and Justin McElroy.


edit,

Bombcast

Spoiler free talk (2.13.30 - ~2.18.00 for the main talk. They go on for a few more minutes and bring it up occasionally throughout the rest of the show.)
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting, good discussion here. The part with the guys kid was kind of sad.
 
C

CitizenCope

Member
Just finished it in one sitting. My game of the year. Can't believe what I just played. These games are so few and far between. The most beautiful game I've ever played yet not the best graphics. The sound effects and music were also top notch. Sorry just rambling. If your waiting for it on PSN fine but if you're on the fence please support this game.
Any makers of this game on GAF? If so thanks!
My God the boat scene, as short as it was was absolutely stunning.
 
M

Montresor

Member
Incredible, beautiful, glorious game... Thank goodness for the puzzle games we got out of XBLA/PSN/Steam this gen. My favourite XBLA games have all been those top tier puzzle games (Braid, Fez, Limbo, PB Winterbottom, ilomilo) and now add Brothers to that list.
 
C

ced

Member
Well I couldn't wait for the PSN release so I got some MS points and knocked it out in one sitting last night.

Great game, and it really gets good about midway through the end. I don't think it surpasses Journey for me, but it's close. I also got Limbo vibes from it, especially
when the game starts getting pretty dark in contrast to the first half or so.

Some random spoiler thoughts:

I'm not 100% sure that everything really happened, are we sure that the little brothers journey was not imaginary in some way? The tree with the graves under it really resembled the tree of life, especially at the end of the game. I was thinking towards the end that it would end up being that his brother drowned with his mom, I guess not though. I still think it's open to interpretation if it's older brothers ghost aiding little brother or if it's little brother overcoming the grief of losing his mom and possibly brother? I don't know, in my mind I'm still questioning whether the journey was imaginary and everything was manifested in his mind.

The game gets really dark when you encounter the frankenstein cat/owl. That was really shocking to me, and really cool in a way how you see all the sketches on the walls and tables of the cat/owl. I thought he died as well, so it was odd to see it aid you at the end. I also got the feeling it was supposed to represent his mom.

Coming across the boy hanging himself was shocking. On that note, the hanging bodies in the woods at night were as well.

The blood ritual puzzle was one of those awesome moments when you realize what to do. Yeah it was easy, but cool nonetheless.

The boat segment was amazing, and very Journey-esque (the giant flying things).

The spider chick, holy shit I did not see that coming. I also didn't see big brother dying, I thought it would be the father all along. Having to bury him was actually very sad.

After typing this and thinking about the game some more it really was pretty incredible. I will probably double dip on PSN to support it.

There is also a lot to discuss about it, it's a shame no one is playing it.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
They just have to have some kind of online integration. In this case I'm not sure what it would be. I think DLC would count but I can't imagine DLC for this game.
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
Surprised to not hear the
giants battleground/graveyard
getting called out by more people as a highlight. That was one of my favorite sections.
 
C

CitizenCope

Member
Gary Whitta said:
Surprised to not hear the
giants battleground/graveyard
getting called out by more people as a highlight. That was one of my favorite sections.
Click to expand...

That was great too. So much good stuff.
Couldn't believe how dark and a bit gruesome the game got after such a cute start. Loved it. Was also shocked when you save that man who hung himself. Anyone know if he dies if you take too long to save him? Brain/hands got messed up at that point for a moment and I didn't think I was going to get to him in time.
 
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