Test conditions: We completed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake in a single session of just over 3 hours of play, all on PlayStation 5 with version 1,000,000. We played mainly in single player mode but the co-op mode was also tried during a new game. To guarantee the integrity of the discovery for those discovering the game for the first time, we guarantee our test without major narrative spoilers.
When the term Remake is used in all its glory
Let's start with the heart of the matter at the heart of our review today, the quality of the remake of this unique adventure. Since this is the remake of a game released a decade ago, you won't be able to miss the monstrous graphics gap (in the good sense of the word) offered by the AvantGarden Games teams. It's simply breathtaking what we can discover over the course of a few short hours in the company of our heroes of a fable, always with a fidelity very close to the original epic, and a frankly astonishing re-orchestration.
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You will also be able to realize this during our test with the presence of several scenes captured both on the original game (PS4 version) and on the new 2024 version of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake. Thank you Unreal Engine 5 of course, but we must still congratulate the work of the teams who were able to give this major work of the independent scene the letters of nobility that it deserved. For the occasion, the wonderful original music was re-recorded by an orchestra to add to the power of the scenes and situations encountered for an auditory pleasure that is still as enjoyable as ever.
Let's also note the incredible work done on the light effects, during the panoramas of the surroundings in the sequences on the benches which are back here, or the quality of the lighting in dark environments but also in more open areas. The textures have all been reworked from scratch, adding much more humanization in the characters including the character design has been completely redesigned, including the color code of the clothing to facilitate asymmetrical and precise gameplay (we will come back to this later).
Particular work has been done on the additional characters, starting with the cave troll and his sweetheart, as charming as they are covered in mushrooms, or the giants of the battlefield that you will be able to observe at the end of the adventure. Note, however, rare slowdowns during certain transition phases, or even somewhat random camera positioning in cramped places, but this remains relatively marginal.
A story as poignant as ever
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If you've never had the opportunity to lay your hands on Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons during your video game life (each has its own faults, what do you want), let us succinctly tell you the story of two brothers: Naia is quite tall, strong and courageous, and Naiee, puny, still small and not very adventurous . After the tragic disappearance of their mother in an accident on the high seas, the little brother triggered a aquatic phobia preventing him from swimming alone.
One morning, while the youngest is paying his respects at their mother's grave, he must help his older brother carry their father in bad condition to the village doctor's house. Only one remedy: a very special elixir that can only be found at the top of a tree of life, itself at the top of the highest mountains. Without further preamble, our siblings set out in search of this miracle cure to save the only parent they have left, in adventures that take them through many landscapes and dangers. A story which will end with the ending known to all players of the time, all the more striking and disturbing thanks to the quality of this remake.
On the program, dark and dangerous caverns, disturbing cemetery, giant stone tower or even battlefield, you will follow very different panoramas and masterfully re-orchestrated to support our two teenagers in their quest for the last chance. However, don't expect any major additions to the narrative of the original epic. But you may well have to dig deeper than before to find all the new interactions available (some of which are well hidden), as well as the two additional trophies added for this remake.
An update not only graphic, but also organic, making the whole thing all the more credible. Note that the game will still not offer any comprehensible speech, the characters speaking in an unknown dialect, but if you have already done the basic adventure, you know very well that this is in no way necessary to advance the narrative . Especially since the puzzles encountered will remain quite easy, not blocking you for many minutes unnecessarily.
Sharp gameplay… with its imperfections
Brothersit's in a way a test before the magnificent It Takes Two. Indeed, by offering complete asymmetrical gameplay, the clever mind of Josef Fares has reinvented cooperative gameplay, putting mutual aid between players at the center of the equation. Two ways to play Brothers here: with a single player who will control the two brothers with the same controller, or with two players who will each control one of the brothers.
This denotes a profound change with his successor It Takes Two, which forces you to play constantly in pairs to progress. Thanks to the ingenuity of its gameplay and the presence of only four keys to progress (a joystick and a trigger per brother), you can easily move forward, taking care not to release the wrong key at the wrong time, otherwise you will have to start again earlier.
You might think that the remake of a game dating back around ten years could also mean a little dated gameplay. This statement could be half true here, the gameplay having adapted well enough to modern controllers without adding new varieties of approaches, the game ultimately remains “in its juice” with its imperfections of the time which still remain here. You will have to press the right button at the right time, even if it means trying again several times if the control does not respond perfectly, without bumping into the other brother, while the camera will awkwardly accompany you sometimes.
Mechanics specific to this game which will require a little time to adapt to counter your video game habits but which once you get to grips with them, shine with their simplicity and ingenuity, as when they were discovered ten years ago. However, with its plot which remains identical from start to finish, there is no doubt that the rediscovery by players of the last decade will be less relevant than for newcomers. But with the presence of this gameplay that sees double, we can potentially think of limited replayability during a second game to participate as the second brother, but this nevertheless remains quite dispensable.
At this price, it is really worth going back to the cash register, both for the adventure and for the emotions transmitted, but also for the quality of this reimagining, if we manage to put aside the very short of the fraternal epic, the adventure occupying you for around 3 hours at most.