Josef Fares, behind-the-scenes director The Game Awards 2021 Game of the Year winner need twoIn 2013, he was cooking when he made his directorial debut Brothers: A tale of two sons. I admired the game when I first played it 11 years ago, but age, wisdom, and life experience have made it hit harder in 2024.
The remake launches on February 28th and recreates all the magic and frustration of the original. Aside from some nice visual polish and an optional co-op mode (which the game warns you to stay away from because it’s not the intended experience), there’s not much new here.But even if I find the actual commercial necessity of the remake questionable, I can’t deny it Brothers: A tale of two sonsThe ending remains a devastating, breathtaking punch worth revisiting 11 years later.
brother It follows two teenage boys named Naiee and Naia who embark on a journey to fetch water from the Tree of Life to save their terminally ill father.The long trek from their village was a dangerous one and I had forgotten how dark it was brother Enter certain market segments. As the older brother, Naia protects Naiee from the horrors of the game’s dark fantasy world. He is the stronger of the two and is therefore preferred for power moves such as pulling heavy levers. Due to his smaller stature, Naiee is able to squeeze into smaller areas, but he also cannot swim and must ride on his brother’s back when traveling in the water. Therefore, the two brothers must rely on each other at various points to complete their adventure.
brother The video game equivalent of a pat on the head and a rub on your belly at the same time. The game’s control scheme maps the two brothers to one side of the controller, with the left analog stick and triggers corresponding to the older brother and the right analog stick and triggers to the younger brother. You control two boys simultaneously, and a lot of the game’s challenge comes from having to readjust yourself with each movement as the brothers move around the screen. If this sounds frustrating, that’s because it is, but that’s also what makes it rewarding.
In other games, actions that are second nature to you (such as climbing the side of a cliff) become mental exercises as you carefully orient each movement.while playing brother, I often found myself moving the boy to the corresponding side of the screen, simply because my brain couldn’t coordinate that the character I was controlling with my right hand was on the other side of the screen. This keeps the pace of the game methodical and you’ll feel satisfied when you finally complete a well-choreographed move.
All of this—the mind-bending scheme of control, the brothers’ respective talents, and the emotional touchstones of their mutual dependence—in brother‘The last chapter. After trusting a young woman to help them reach the Tree of Life, Naia is smitten and begins following her to what she believes is a shortcut. When Naiee became suspicious, his brother dismissed his concerns. Then it’s their turn and it turns out the woman is a spider-like monster that lures them into her web.
With the player’s cooperation and proper hand-eye coordination, the two are able to overcome her and rip her legs off one by one. But just when the battle seemed won, she impaled Naya with one of her remaining limbs. Time is running out, but if the brothers can reach the Tree of Life before he bleeds out too much, Ney may be able to save him. For the next few minutes, you only control Naiee as his brother waits under the tree. Using just the right side of the controller, you can reach a small pool of water on a tree branch and fill a bottle. But by the time you get to Naya, he’s gone.
What follows is a brutal burial scene, in which developer Starbreeze Studio has you carefully drag Naya’s body into a hole and cover it with dirt. By the time I got him halfway to the grave, I was a crying mess.But that’s not the biggest impact brother‘ end. This is the final playable part – the rewards that accrue throughout the game.
After returning home to the village, you realize how much Naiee relies on Naia to be able to leave this place and start their journey. There are some waters he cannot swim across, some levers he cannot pull, and some cliffs he cannot climb alone. Now he was alone, but had no choice but to move forward.
At first, just pressing the right side of the controller will only do this. Swimming wasn’t part of Naiee’s athletic repertoire, but it was part of his brother’s. Then there will be a clicking sound. Holding down the left trigger meant everything his brother could do that he couldn’t, making him paddle desperately through the water. It’s not as graceful as his Naia swim, but like a guiding hand on his shoulder, pressing the left trigger makes him try to do something he’s seen his brother do a dozen times throughout the game . The same goes for when he has to pull levers to cross chasms and jump to reach ladders that he can’t quite reach at the start of the game.
Ultimately, Naiee saves his father, but the two spend the final moments of the game grieving at Naia’s and mother’s graves. It’s a tragedy mixed with bittersweet truths that anyone who has ever broken the heart of another knows. We are all made up of the people we know, love and lose. When I go, I wonder what parts of me will others see in my siblings, or what parts of my siblings will people see in me if they go first? Will I embody my brother’s strength or my sister’s empathy? Can my nieces and nephews hear their mother’s voice in my laughter?I try not to think about losing my siblings, but it’s been 11 years since I first played the game Brothers: A tale of two sons, I think about death more than I did then. But it at least reminds us that no one is truly gone. Pieces of them have become ingrained in the hearts of everyone they know.