Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (B:TTS) is a game that captures the longing for old fairytale adventures. We’ve been subjected to numerous complex storylines, backstabbing, and twists, that it is just common to be surprised if things went simple. B:TTS is just that. It’s simple, straightforward, yet satisfies and pinches your heart. The game has been around for two years and has already graced the previous consoles together with the PC. But as a means for current-gen players to experience it, the developers also pitched it for the PS4 and the Xbox One.
Like a bedtime tale, B:TTS introduces us to two brothers during a challenging time. Their father gets sick and the only cure is contained within a large tree on a faraway plane. The siblings undertake the adventure, encountering giants, trolls, gryphons, and other oddities. Told you it was simple.
But as the tale itself can be summed up in three sentences, the game goes deeper with the theme. It’s not a happy trip to merry land. After sometime, they get smacked with violence and the cruelty of the world around them. Almost each significant object can be interacted with, giving two varying approaches and reactions from both protagonists. Though futile in the grand scope of things, the two brothers try to make a difference to those that they encounter.
The two brothers are confronted with various puzzles during their travels, testing their cooperation (or your two thumbs’ capacity to work together) and their brotherly bond. The game has only four controls: the two thumbsticks, and the right/left shoulder buttons. Puzzles range from time attack variants to sequential ones. You’ll be tasked to move a pipe across a short maze, elude a troll, and traverse an epic battlefield. There’s also a significant amount of platforming, with the player going from point A to point B using acrobatics, sheer courage and will.
Nothing that I found difficult was able to impede my advance. Nonetheless, the trip is ripe with breathtaking sites and each level is littered with according benches for your characters and thumbs to comfortably rest and take in the view.
To sum it all up, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a marvelous game. Its presentation is a tad different to what we’re used to and it definitely is something to take note of. The story itself is on point and one can’t help but to sympathize with the plight of the two brothers. If there’s something that I can negatively say, it’s probably the short playthrough. However, lengthening the game could’ve destroyed the magic or at least mitigated its effects. It’s an incredibly great three-hour trip and the good thing is that the price reflects the content. It’s not similarly priced with its triple-A counterparts and ranges at half the tag.
It may not be that long, but the effects are good for a lifetime. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a must-have game for me.
I played it on the Sony Playstation 4 and it’s certainly one heck of an experience.
