Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Developed by Starbreeze Studios, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a touching adventure game whose dramatic and fantastic elements work together to create a poignant and fascinating story. With a simple control scheme that reflects the relationship between the main characters, A Tale of Two Sons fails only at one moment: the twist that leads to the climax, besides being predictable, doesn’t connect well to the story’s core themes.

The beginning of the game is marked by tragedies. After a boat accident, a boy tries to bring a woman back on board, but his weak muscles are unable to hold her for long. Years later, he finds himself on the edge of a cliff next to a tree, contemplating his mother’s grave, when his older brother comes begging for help: their father is gravely ill and needs to be taken to the village elder. The wise man, however, explains to the boys that he cannot begin the treatment because the only cure lies in a faraway magic tree. The brothers, then, leave immediately in search of it.

A Tale of Two Sons’ control scheme is unique, simulating the dynamics between the main characters. Each brother is controlled by an analog stick: the oldest by the left and the youngest by the right. In addition, the triggers serve as an action button for each. This arrangement results in a game that is at the same time single-player and co-op. The first task is to move their father in a wheelbarrow and the brothers are holding each end of the object, which means they need to be moved in tune. When arriving at an elevator whose activation lever is on an elevated platform, the player has to position the older one in order to give support to the other to jump and reach the edge of the platform.

The challenges of the game are all designed around cooperation between the two characters. Even the eventual clashes against bosses don’t escape from this guideline: a troll, for example, requires the youngest to place himself as bait, running from side to side attracting the monster, while his brother activates a trap at the right time – actions that are performed at the same time by the player. The logic of these puzzles follows the characteristics of each brother: the youngest, because he is thin, can pass through bars, for example, while the oldest is able to jump higher and push heavy objects.

Their personality is built from their interactions with the environment. Press the action button and they will react to the same situations in a different way: the older brother, marked by his blue clothes, always appears centered on the main goal, showing his map to the people and asking for directions. He’s also attentive, helping strangers whenever he can, sometimes sweeping the ground for a girl or stopping to take care of the plants for a gardener. On the other hand, the youngest, marked by a warm orange, only wants to have fun: he tries to balance the girl’s broom in the palm of his hand and even slaps the gardener in the ass. However, it is him and not his older brother who decides to open the cage of a bird to free it and the one who is more skillful in handling a harp, leading a musician to clap his hands for joy. In other words, both bring happiness to those around them, but each one in their own way.

The most interesting effect of this control scheme is how it mirrors the relationship between the brothers, serving as its physical manifestation by suggesting that they are different – each with their own analog stick and action button – but invariably united – by the same controller. The developers brilliantly explore this harmony in key moments of the game. When the control of one of the brothers is taken away in a certain scene, for example, it conveys to the player a sense of loss, since a part of the controller is now useless. Similarly, at the climax, the return of this part of the controller in a different context brilliantly concludes the character arc of one of the brothers, completing his journey of independence and maturity. In other words, the game manages to make the player’s controller reflect the narrative arc of its protagonist.

Benefiting from a short duration, A Tale of Two Sons has impeccable pacing: it mixes moments when you have to interact with the environment with platform sequences – the brothers have parkour skills almost as advanced as the protagonist of Prince of Persia – and exciting setpieces, such as a sudden descent through dangerous rapids, which inject necessary doses of adrenaline to keep the player interested.

It’s also interesting to notice how the fantastical elements in the game become increasingly prominent as you advance in the story – the initial village contains no fantastic aspects, while the climax takes place in a completely magical environment – marking how the story is gaining an allegorical nature: the violence present in the adult world is translated into the actions of giants, for example. Death is the theme that binds all events, being at the beginning, middle, and end of the brothers’ entire journey. The scene of the brothers descending the rapids, for example, takes place soon after they crossed a cemetery, and in the waters there are mourning candles accompanying them throughout their descent, creating a beautiful visual metaphor.

So, it’s a pity that the events that lead to the game’s climax are the most problematic part of its narrative. By placing a woman as the main element of conflict between the two brothers, the developers – besides walking through morally questionable territory, monstrifying female seduction – make the last turning point of the story thematically displaced from the rest of the game: the scene is not about loss and mourning, but jealousy. It’s artificial and foolish, almost ruining its touching ending.

Despite a problematic scene, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons remains a brief and poignant adventure that stands out for the way it makes gameplay and narrative inseparable from each other.

November 20, 2019.

Review originally published in Portuguese on June 08, 2016.