By chance of life, I had the opportunity to play the original version of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons a few weeks before the ‘remake’ arrived in my hands to do this review. That turned out to be perfect because an important part of the analysis of this title requires a comparison with the work that Josef Fares directed a decade ago.
The original game was released in 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It was a short, but beautiful adventure with a story that seemed like a lost tale from the Brothers Grimm. It was very well received by both players and critics and laid the foundations for the games that Fares would later make with his team at Hazelight Studios: A Way Out e It Takes Two. This ‘remake’ features new “improved” graphics, music and some extra elements, but the development and story did not change at all.
The protagonists—as the name of the game twice suggests—are a pair of brothers with a seriously ill father. To cure it, they must bring water from the tree of life, so they embark on a journey full of adventures and dangers. The characters speak in a fictional language, so everything we need to know about the plot and its world is learned visually.
A tale of two brothers
As basic as its story is, it is a fantastic narrative exercise. I didn’t spend more than four hours with this pair of brothers, I didn’t understand what they were saying and yet I grew fond of them.
Throughout the game it is possible to interact with a large number of objects and characters to see their reactions. This is completely optional, but it’s amazing how much it helps define the protagonists’ personalities and their world. It is thanks to those moments that I came to understand what their relationship is like, how much they like to joke and how clever they can be. I finally got to understand them so much that I felt my heart break during the hardest moments of their adventure… while playing the original version.
It’s not that the ‘remake’ of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons be less effective in your way of telling the story. In fact, it adds a few new cinematic sequences to make the plot even clearer. The problem is that there are visual details that don’t work as well as in the original.
Better graphics?
At first glance, it cannot be denied that Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake It looks more realistic than the 2013 game. You just have to watch this video to realize that it is now more visually impressive, with better lighting effects and the characters’ faces are more expressive.
But does that really mean they are better graphics?
Honestly, I’m not convinced. These more realistic graphics made the characters look “strange.” By trying to make them look more human, they also increased the uncanny valley effect. His expressions are realistic, but they don’t quite feel real. The huge hands and long arms make them sometimes look like apes. Those weren’t problems we had with the original game, whose cartoony style looked perfectly fine and suited its dark fantasy world.
Two brothers, one control
The most notable element of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons It is its gameplay in which a single player controls the two brothers using a single controller. We move the older brother with the left analog and have him interact with the left trigger, while we use the right analog and trigger for the younger brother.
This system is quite particular. Although it is not the first game that asks us to control two characters or objects at the same time with a single control, it is the one that best uses this feature, which is more complicated than it sounds.
Despite what productivity obsessives may say, Human beings are not made for ‘multi-tasking’ (performing several tasks at the same time). Even when playing a video game, it is not easy to coordinate the control of two characters at the same time, unless they are doing exactly the same thing.
While playing Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons original and the ‘remake’ I found myself with small difficulties in progressing because my brain insisted on focusing only on what one of the two brothers was doing. How we deal with this “problem” is an important part of the game and makes the puzzles—which would be fairly simple otherwise—more interesting.
This system also causes us to unconsciously see siblings as a single entity. That’s very relevant to the themes of the game and makes the events of the ending and epilogue even more shocking. It’s a fantastic way to link gameplay and narrative that director Josef Fares will later expand on in his future cooperative multiplayer titles.
But the ‘remake’ adds a new way of playing that some will welcome, while others will strongly criticize it.
The news of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
In addition to “improved” graphics, new music and changes to video sequencesthis ‘remake’ has some new elements:
- Art Gallery: As we progress through the game we unlock images with conceptual art of the characters, objects and settings.
- New achievements/trophies– This version has two new achievements that were not in the original version. They maintain the spirit of the previous ones and are not difficult to discover.
- Cooperative way: no need to play Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake alone, can be played with a second player with a second controller
Although it can be fun to play this title in the company of someone, each controlling a sibling, the truth is that “it doesn’t feel right.” The game is made so that the difficulty of controlling two characters at the same time is part of the experience and that option removes that element.
If you want to play an adventure with puzzles and similar collaboration systems, we recommend using the ones already mentioned A Way Out e It Takes Two.
Is this ‘remake’ worth buying?
No matter what things you have removed or added, There is no doubt that this new version of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons It’s still an excellent game. If I were to rate it solely on its own merits, it would deserve a grade closer to or higher than an 8/10.
But this game doesn’t exist in a vacuum and the original work is still easily available. Still available for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Taking into account that the game itself is the same and that I feel that the original graphics fit the experience better, I can say that this is an absolutely unnecessary ‘remake’. In addition, I found annoying ‘bugs’ such as one in which all sound effects were lost, situations in which the characters did not respond to the control and some jerky animations.
There is only one question left. If anyone wants to experience Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Should I buy the original version or this ‘remake’? It depends. If you want to play cooperatively and really prefer modern graphics, definitely the remake. Furthermore, its price is very chaotic depending on the platform. On PlayStation, the two versions cost the same and on Xbox the ‘remake’ is a little cheaper.
But if you don’t care about the graphics and are going to play alone—as I think you should—you should definitely pick up the original version. The main reason is that it costs only half the price of the new game.
Remakes are welcome when the game they recreate is difficult to obtain or requires major changes to make it accessible. In the case of the ‘remake’ of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, this ‘remake’ is unnecessary. Furthermore, the changes to its graphics and the addition of a cooperative mode do not seem to fit with the experience that the game offers. Despite that, it is still an excellent title, with a very emotional story and an interesting but sometimes exasperating control system. If you haven’t played it, you have to, whether it’s the original version or this new one.
Review made with a digital copy of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake for PS5 provided by 505 Games. The game is also available for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
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