Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Once upon a time...

Josef Fares directed a video game and it is nothing short from amazing.

I just played Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons the other night. I've heard a lot of good about it and fortunately for me (and every one else) it was on sale on the PS-store (4,95€). What also got me interested in Brothers was that Josef Fares had directed the game. The same guy responsible for movies like Jalla, Jalla, Kopps and Farsan.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is Josef Fares video game debut and yes, he pretty much nailed it! It's a perfect example how to interactively tell a great story. Interactive storytelling is a growing trend in the industry and a lot of games are mixing with different mediums with very good results (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us) and Brothers is no exception. With it's clever gameplay and interesting characters and story it is despite it's short length nothing short from amazing.

The puzzles you solve are pretty easy, still they give you quite the satisfaction when you figure them out. However what Brothers does very well is that it uses gameplay mechanics brilliantly to tell it's story. The game has no dialog (just a made-up language) but it doesn't need one as it uses other ways to express emotions and drive the story forward.

The controls take a while to get used to as you control both brothers with opposite side of the controller. That way it feels like you're using two different sides of yourself to play two different characters. The two characters has different abilities and you have to use them together to solve puzzles and continue on your journey.

A dark fairytale 

The story starts out pretty lightly (except for the father on his deathbed of course) But the story quickly turns into a much darker and complex fairytale as even more tragedy awaits. The game reminds me of old fairytales you used to read when you were a kid. Those big books with a lot of pictures that you just could not get enough of, reading the same story over and over again staring at the pictures and looking on every detail on each page while your parents read the story out loud. Brothers is very similar. You are constantly amazed by the beautiful scenes and want to explore every little detail.

Spoilers below the picture. Anyone who's played the game can continue. Every one else...What are you waiting for? Go play the game! 9/10

Spoilers!!! You have been warned!

Happily ever after?

By the end Brothers really starts to pull on your heartstrings. Especially after reading the origin of the story in this article. What started out as a pretty light hearted story about to brothers on a quest to find a cure for their father, turns towards the end in to a story of betrayal and tragedy. Betrayed by a beautiful girl (it figures) the older brother gets heartbroken (literally) and dies in the arms of the younger brother. The burial scene was intense and really got to me as it was almost too painful to play. The most spectacular thing about the gameplay in the very end of the game though, is playing the younger brother on his own. After controlling both the characters through the entire game you can really feel the loss when you're now only controlling one character. You are now only using one hand. I just thought that was a genius way of portraying the loss you've just endured in the game.