Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (BATOTS) is an adventure game developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 505 Games on numerous platforms. It has received critical acclaim, having won the award for Best XBOX Game (2013) at VGX Award Show and Best Game Innovation Award (2014) at British Academy Games Awards. The game has the option of co-op or single player and takes place in a fantasy world filled wth fictitious creatures like orcs and trolls. It brings you a puzzle solving experience involving the story of two young brothers on a fairy tale journey to find the “Water of Life”, a cure for their father’s illness.
#9 : Lens of the Elemental Tetrad
Mechanics
One of the essential elements and what I deem as the key for immersing players into the game is the constant need to interact between the brothers in order to progress in the game. I played this game with my brother and used the co-op function where we control one player each. Although both players have the same set of controls, most (if not all) puzzles require some form of collaboration between players to complete. In a sense, this naturally implies the need for communication between players which keeps players engaged throughout the gameplay. Even for single player mode, the player has to strategically decide how and when to move each of the brothers simultaneously to proceed.
Although the controls and mechanics of the game are fairly simple, the puzzle-solving aspect of the game makes the gameplay more dynamic – different situations require different approaches or combinations of controlling the characters. Players have the basic movement options like moving in 4 directions (left, right, up, down), jumping, grabbing and climbing.
Story
The game provides a fantasy-based setting, where most of the entities are fictitious. It has the otherwordly feel which helps isolate the story into a specific “mini world”, where it focuses only on one problem. This gives the story a more coherent flow as the side plots are easily tailored to support the main storyline. The main conflict in the story was that the brothers’ father fell heavily ill and as sons, they wanted to find a cure. Emphasis was given on the “Water of Life” as the possibly only solution to save their father, hence the motivation to set on a journey to obtain it.
Personally, I feel that there is beauty in having a simple plot or context and expanding on it during the journey itself via tasks instead of introducing more complicated problems that digress from the main resolution. The game is well-made in a sense that it utilizes the potential setbacks or difficulties during the journey to be the puzzle-solving aspect, thus weaving in the plot and gameplay more seamlessly. Despite the storyline being simple, a plot-twist is introduced in the end which was impactful because (i) the plot involves kinship and death which makes it highly relatable to the human life, (ii) the journey gameplay gives time for players to get invested into the story and form attachment towards the character and (iii) it leaves players with thought-invoking topics and perspectives towards the ending. The plot ends in a conclusive (in terms of what factually happened) yet leaves you reflecting on life decisions and thinking back deeply about whether the journey was worth it in the first place.
Aesthetics
The graphics did a beyond impressive job at extending that immersive experience to make the fantasy more convincing. The lighting and illumination gave the game a dream-like feel, hence accentuating the aspect of fiction in the setting. Additionally, since the tale takes place in a rural environment, the sounds of nature and human-made noises are amplified to set the mood and context. For example, you will hear sounds from birds chirping, wood knocking and people going about their daily duties. At this point it doesn’t just feel like a game but a movie that indulges you in the presence of a society, and you will be left with wanting more!
Technology
BATOTS is available on many platforms, ranging from PC to controllers. Depending on the platform you use, the difficulty level of the gameplay may vary. For example, playing in co-op mode and sharing a keyboard may be more difficult than having a controller each.
#44 Lens of Cooperation
Cooperation is one of the core mechanics of the game. When playing the game, my brother and I found ourselves taking turns to lead the path and being the supporter in solving the puzzles. This involves constant communication and understanding of each other’s skillset. Some players may be more skilled in parkour-based controls whereas some can plan more strategically. This game hones on the chemistry between the players and utilizes their individual strengths in order to come to decisions effectively. Not only do you have to progress, but you have to progress together because the camera only pans when both players are within the same frame or in a certain proximity.
One thing I found interesting was that since I played with my brother, it felt like we were a translation of the brothers in the game itself and that gave a real touch to the experience, almost as if this story was ours.
#50 Lens of Character
BATOTS brings a unique twist to reality in a sense that it incorporates civilization invention, materials and entities into the adventure. For example, players have to use man made bridges to crossover and start throwing sheeps around to act as weight. It gives a sense of humor when solving the tasks and puzzles because of how it contrasts with how we usually use or behave around such entities in the actual world. Another memorable component of the gameplay is also how trolls are central to the development and progress of the quest. They act as friendly aid to the players to open up more avenues for exploration, almost as if they were the key to our freedom. It plays into the idea of fiction and having fictitious entities expand the possibilities our imagination.
To build on the concept of trolls, I noticed that the trolls had faces resembling that of humans, and thought that this might be the reason why I felt safe in their company. The trolls resemble humans in their actions, reactions and appearance and that they are much bigger in size compared to the brothers. The brothers’ mother had died at the start and their father fell sick, hence they only have each other to rely on. The trolls could possibly symbolize as the guide and protector of the brothers. If so, this was a really nice touch to showcase or imply the inner feelings of the main characters.
#55 Lens of Visible Progress
On the note of progress, I liked that there were indications and clues provided throughout the gameplay to signify that my brother and I were one step closer to obtaining the “Water of Life”. What BATOTS did was to show that there was a change in the environment and mood of the avenues explored. This included changes in platforms, type of strategies used to solve the tasks and the characteristics of the entities encountered. This progression was also more seamless because of the nature of the mechanics, where the puzzles and tasks depends on the available resources in the environment and how players can potentially interact with them. There is also a visible change in climate, where you get to experience being in different temperatures and the four elements (i.e fire, water, earth, air). Interestingly, as the brothers got deeper into the adventure, the altitude of the platform and environment gradually increases too.
#54 Lens of Accessbility
BATOTS alternates between story plot and actual gameplay quite frequently, though the transitions are not abrupt. This actually helps preempt the players when they need to solve the puzzles presented to them in the environment. Despite the flow being non-abrupt, the switch is significant or noticeable enough to indicate that its time for the player to watch or act. The game also makes use of camera pannings, music changes and vocals to transition between the switches. The puzzles are easy to adapt to due to the clearly defined space given to players to explore when carrying out the tasks. The possible strategies are also highly visual based which eases players into the problem solving situation.
Overall Thoughts
Overall this experience has been nothing short of amazing. Despite it being a pretty short gameplay, my brother and I had fun discussing how to solve the tasks and being immersed into a new world together. Though BATOTS captures impressive graphics and feel of the game, I do believe that there could be more depth in the characters and how they feel throughout the journey. Yet, perhaps the whole point of not being more explicit with the emotions of the characters was to ride on the imagination and personal feelings of the players themselves. Each player feels and interprets differently, and there could be beauty in not excessively restricting the emotion flow throughout the gameplay. This might also be the reason how BATOTS was able to leave players with an impactful and thought-provoking ending.