When Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons first wandered onto Xbox 360’s wonderfully indie-centric marketplace in 2013, it brought with a new meaning to the term ‘co-op’. With a new generation of consoles mere months away, Payday 2 developer Starbreeze Studios captured the imaginations of critics and players alike. It was a co-op game for people who don't actually like sharing space and responsibilities with another person, with both of its titular siblings controlled with either joystick on the same pad. Frustratingly short but utterly beguiling, Brothers has remained one of the previous gen’s most beloved curios.
It’s been years since Starbreeze sold the rights to Brothers off to Italian publisher 505 Games - and a fair few since outspoken director Josef Fares moved off to form a new studio and produce the enjoyable (and very similar) A Way Out for EA - but Brothers, like so many other games of yesteryear, has been revived for current tech, and that includes some fundamental new changes to the version that’s wandered onto Nintendo Switch. Now it’s a both a single-player co-op game and a traditional two-player experience.
For many, Brothers’ unusual approach to agency was either a stroke of mechanical genius - each brother’s movement is mapped to one of the sticks, with that respective trigger button serving as their contextual action button - or an impenetrable concept that conjured more frustration that satisfying magic. So, 505 Games has made the most of Switch’s heavy support for local multiplayer games by simply dividing control between players. The solo format is still there for those that want to experience Brothers in its original form (you can even swap between the two at will via the pause menu), but the decision to include a more traditional co-op experience does take away some of the game's original appeal.
Nearly six years on from its original release on Xbox Live Arcade, Brothers’ control scheme can still be a little confusing - even for players who have finished it on other platforms. Regardless of where each sibling is on screen, the stick that controls them remains the same, so learning to remember that Naiee is on the right stick, and Naia on the left can be a brain-boggling experience - especially when they’re now on the opposite side of the screen. Luckily, a hour or so in and the setup soon becomes second nature, but it will feel very alien to begin with.
There are no such problems when you’re playing in co-op and you’ve split the Joy-Cons between you, but by introducing a second player Brothers does lose the plate-spinning challenge that helped make it such a unique solo adventure. Environmental puzzles, stealth sections and boss encounters simply aren’t quite as difficult when playing with a friend and the game’s final twist somehow loses some of its impact when you experience it as a team. It’s still an engrossing story, but making it traditionally co-op in nature does tear apart its most notable USP.
Thankfully, it isn't just the control scheme that's helped Brothers carve out a cult status, but the experiences that the excitable Naiee and his prickly brother Naia experience throughout their ‘tale’. From the opening shot of its menu screen where Naiee kneels by the cliff-side grave of deceased mother to the final section of the game - which we won’t spoil only to say it’ll stay with you long after the credits roll - Brothers is a kaleidoscope of emotion. Opting to avoid intelligible dialogue, Fares and his team craft a believable bond between to young siblings. One full of exuberance for the adventure to come, the other slowly being forged by the premature responsibilities of adulthood, Naiee and Naia squabble and bond in equal measure in a way that feels natural and believable.
One of many things that makes Brothers so beloved is how well it weaves the story of other characters into its narrative. You might be on an adventure to find a remedy for your ailing father’s health, but along the way you’ll make music to help ease someone’s grief, reunite a pair of love birds and so many more. While linear in its design, it’s still easy to miss these little moments, so extra playthroughs will certainly add more stories to your memories of Brothers. Even seeking out all the benches - which enable the duo to take a moment’s respite and enjoy countless panoramic vistas - is a rewarding side-quest in itself.
This 'remastered' version comes with a set of achievements (based off the original achievements for the Xbox 360 versions) so Switch players can at least get some of the satisfaction of seeing a notification pop on screen, even if it isn’t contributing to an overall gamerscore. There’s also a ‘Director’s Commentary’ track. Unfortunately, this track isn’t interspersed throughout the game in the same manner as Gone Home or Firewatch, but instead its a 50-plus minute video found in the menus. It’s a little low quality, and while it is a genuinely interesting watch (including trivia on how the game was made), it’s strange 505 Games didn’t find a more intuitive way to share this existing footage.
Technically, the Switch port of Brothers is nearly identical to the one released on PS4 and Xbox One almost four years ago. All the extras are the same (a concept art gallery, access to the entire soundtrack and the aforementioned commentary video) with only the co-op mode serving as an actual exclusive at this point. From a technical perspective, it runs nice and smoothly. There are occasional moments where a certain texture looks a little too washed out, or where shadows stand out a little too much against their background, but overall it’s another solid port on Nintendo’s latest hardware.
Conclusion
As poignant, heartbreaking and memorable as it was back in 2013, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons hasn’t lost any of its emotional impact in those intervening years. With a captivating soundtrack, an aesthetic design evocative of Fable and a genuinely clever take on co-op, you can really see why it’s held in such high regard. The new traditional co-op mode does offer a new way to play, but it also robs the game of one of its most challenging and rewarding features. While there’s not much here to coax back players who have already experienced Brothers, those that enjoyed Unravel Two will certainly revel in its co-operative charms.
Comments 29
I highly recommend this to anyone who hasn't already played it on another platform, it really is an incredible game centered around a creative and unusual gimmick.
@ZombieGavinS I’m interested in this, once I saw it pop up on eshop. What type of game is this though? As someone who’s only heard of this in passing glance - ie heard it was nominated / won awards, but nothing more really.
a really good game. also nice to see a reasonable price not usual switch tax seeing as most publishers would be double the price for the old port.
"The solo format is still there for those that want to experience Brothers in its original form (you can even swap between the two at will via the pause menu)"
"but the decision to include a more traditional co-op experience does take away some of the game's original appeal"
Come again?🤔
Co-op ... yyyaaassss!!! Always wanted to play this with my son.
@Dm9982 It's sort of an adventure puzzle game. It has some of the puzzle elements you'd find in a Zelda game, but is very linear (which is good in this sort of game where the emotional story plays such a strong role imo).
Also, since the gameplay is made up entirely of just moving two characters around with only a single contextual action button per character, it kind of is reminiscent of a point and click game. If you've ever played Journey, it's kind of similar in gameplay except this has the hook of playing as two characters at the same time.
Great game... Always thought it should had been on VITA. The iOS version virtual controls are not great... and co-op is such a plus.
This should be the best version to play if you missed it. And $15 is well worth what you get. I think it is $20 on PS4
@nhSnork
To say any more would be to spoil the game for you. It will make more sense once you have completed it.
@FiveDigitLP Awesome thanks for the answer! Def goin on my list then. I dig PnC style games, as well as Zelda. Heard so many great things about this
If this were on the N64 you'd have to play it co-op.
...or double-fist it like goldeneye.
Idk.
Games like this seem cool. But I’m more interested in Switch releases like Assassin’s Creed, Team Sonic Racing and Resident Evil 4 to the point I can’t really fit this in.
Maybe in a sale.
Good job using the same screenshots from the news a couple weeks ago.
Let's say my wife and I want to play it. What you guys would recommend? Play it as a normal switch co op game with two joycons, or the way it was intended on the 360, with one player on each analog stick?
@Sunanootoko I think playing it coop would lose some of the intended challenge, and emotional impact of the story. This isn't your typical platformer where the story is just a setup for the gameplay, the story is actually a major part of the experience. To get full impact of the game I'd recommend playing it through for the first time the way it was originally intended, with one player controlling both characters.
@nhSnork I found those two sentences a bit contradictory as well. I've played the game on Xbox already, and agree that it would lose something when being played co-op. However the sentence:
"but the decision to include a more traditional co-op experience does take away some of the game's original appeal"
doesn't make sense, since it seems to imply that merely including the option to play coop takes away some of the game's appeal. As long as the original single player option exists, then none of the original appeal is missing, although it's true that some people may miss out if they don't realize the game is better solo.
Just downloaded. Looking forward to playing this on train to work in the morning
@Sunanootoko I agree with @bilboa . If possible, you should try to play it single player first. (It's fairly short, so it should be feasible.) I think coop could work, but it would definitely take away from the challenge and storytelling.
This game is like the recent A Plague Tale, a game made by a small company that exceeded the quality of many AAA games.
Does this run at 60 fps? I'm curious. I've heard about it before and never played it. Sounds like another perfect match for Switch!
@60frames-please I don’t know, but this isn’t the kind of game where that would matter. I played it a few years ago, but I don’t remember there being any fast paced parts. The challenges come from the puzzles, and coordination required to control both brothers simultaneously, not from testing your reaction time.
Is there no genre that's sacred enough to not be ruined by a stupid dual stick control scheme?! It's nice to see this version has an added local coop mode that greatly improves the controls and turns it into a decent game at worst, but it's still not my kind of game. I'll pass.
@FiveDigitLP Who cares about challenge and storytelling when the control scheme completely sucks?! Controlling two characters at the same time is already a bad idea, but then to add dual analog controls on top of that is an absolute gaming sin! If I were interested in this game, the lesser challenge of coop would be a good thing, because the original solo experience is way too challenging and frustrating to be any fun!
I love this game. It’s relatively short, and doesn’t really need to be played more than once, but it honestly is something totally unique and original in it’s control scheme, it’s gameplay, and it’s story. There are great games and then there is art- this is art. If you haven’t played it, download it and play it single player to experience why it’s such a unique, brilliant experience.
@bilboa Yeah, I understand where you're coming from. It does make a big difference to me though. It is much more pleasing in my experience to play any game at 60 fps versus 30 or lower fps. In racing, fighting, shooters, etc it can seem more important to have the highest refresh rate, but I vastly prefer all games to run at 60fps or at least have a performance mode so it is selectable.
It looks like this game runs at 60 fps on Switch based on YouTube videos I've seen, but I'm not certain yet.
I enjoyed this so much right up till the ending. The ending forced me to do things I really did not want to do. It felt really badly designed.
@BulbasaurusRex Frustrating and challenging? Mechanically it's one of the easiest games I played. Even though you need to control both brothers, most of the time you move them one after another, setting up the puzzle solution. And dual stick control is super intuitive here.
If this absolute masterpiece doesn't get a 10, I don't know what will.
@BulbasaurusRex
Huh? If you've played the game, you're certainly entitled to your own opinions, but I don't personally feel that the controls are stupid. Sure, you had to do some mental gymnastics at times, but that's part of the fun and challenge of it! Your brain is so used to using a controller to move one character that when you're trying to make two different characters to do two different things at the same time, you sometimes have to pause and think about your next action.
Brothers is a wonderful game. I loved the variety of the different mini-worlds and the characters you come across. The short interjections like the glider were great fun. I played it co-op first, which was a great experience, though not much of a challenge. The challenge is greater as a single player, and I believe the ending would have more impact too.
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