No one spoils Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is one of my favorite video games. It has a novel control scheme and the two brothers you control with it are full of life and character even though they speak a non-language. The game is about their journey to get a macguffin so they can save their dad. It's got some adventuring, some puzzling, some platforming, and some gorgeous environments.

That's the hook. That's what you tell your friends to get them to play. It's only a couple of hours long, so you don't even necessarily have to convince them to buy it. Just have them come over for an afternoon and stick a controller in their hands, then let the game do the rest.

You sell them on those parts of the game because you can't even hint at why you really love the game without spoiling it. You can't actually tell them what makes the game special. And it is special. There's nothing else like it, and maybe there really can't be.

I saw a lot of things about Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons online long before I finally got around to trying it, but even though the internet is a hotbed of spoilers for everything, I had no idea what I was really in for before going in. I think this shows just how deeply the game affects people. It makes them want others to experience the game to its fullest.

The game isn't flawless, of course; there's one particular stretch of gameplay which has a really fun mechanic found only there... but which wouldn't actually be possible. It breaks the immersion in a game where immersion is key. Experienced gamers won't really find the game's puzzles and platforming elements to be challenging, either.

Yet still it works. The bulk of the game is very immersive, right down to the control scheme, and the game isn't about being challenging. It's about a journey. The simple, generic nature of the story makes it inherently relatable (especially to anyone with a close sibling). Ultimately, the game's simplicity frees the player up to enjoy the world and the interactions between characters without having to think about things like min-maxing and progression.

So... yeah. I don't really have a good ending for this. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is great and if you haven't played it yet, I recommend it.