Brothers, are there ten better games this year? Only if you choose not to play it in a single sitting.

I started it late last night and was absolutely smitten. Very impressive atmosphere and the mechanics were super engaging, totally reinforced the story. Without doubt one of the best uses of gameplay to connect your emotions to a narrative, just excellent.

However. This game is not long, steam clocks me in at 2 hours, I've taken baths longer than that. I found myself more tired than I expected and I ended stopping right before the final story beat. After coming back to it tonight and finishing it in about twenty five minutes I'm left cold. I didn't have the time to sink back in to the world before the story wrapped up. It felt really deliberate and rote, none of that sincerity and connection took hold. This made the final act and the finale a really detached experience.

If I had played it through when I was in deep I would have been much more moved by it. So please, If you decide you want to play through Brothers. Put aside a couple of hours, three at the most and play it to completion. The game deserves the praise it's been getting but you won't be able to feel it if you break it up over a couple of days or more. It's just not long enough.

Just a heads up if you want to squeeze this in before the GOTY bullets start flying.

Name 10 better threads that are about 10 better games being better than Brothers.

@humanity: Can't be done. I accidentally went to sleep and didn't experience the internet in one sitting so forums are over for me. I just don't get anything out of threads anymore, I'm so detached from it all.

I don't know, I played it in one sitting. It was decent. Simple puzzles, great visuals, nice if predictable story. Though weaving the controls into the story was genius. But it's definitely not getting into my top 10.

I found it strange that I didn't bond more with the game as I have a little brother and I tend to be really easily affected by stories surrounding brothers.

@pezen: Yeah, it's not perfect, I guarantee you'd have thought even less of it if you'd played it broken up though. It's just not long enough to be played that way and not lose something.

I've been pondering and I honestly think part of the connection "problem" some people seem to experience may be due to the way you play as both brothers simultaneously. It's hard to have conflict with yourself you know? If you aren't fully sunken into the story and world, the mechanics might actual connect you to the game in the wrong way.

It's a bummer I didn't get to finish it the way I started it. So promising.

The rapid fire nature with which they jumped from fantasy trope to fantasy trope gave the whole game a very shallow, amusement park feel that left me completely detached the entire way through. In my eyes it's a very pretty game with a mechanic that is just clever enough for two hours, but it's nowhere near the top 10 or even top 20 games I played this year.

For the record I have a little bother as well.

I agree with both of you (though the game maybe in my top 20, definitely not top 10). I thought it was a decent twist on the now tired puzzle platformer genre but the story felt boring and rudimentary in to many ways.

So far 3 for 3 on being an older brother.

@starvinggamer: A little "bother" eh? Clever.

If I stop playing Brothers for more than 60..seconds.. will the game disc explode in my console? Whatever you do, don't stop, playing Brothers! (if this was a disc based game that is)

Don't stop start playing Brothers

FTFY.

I feel nonplussed by the game. Thought it overreached/was heavy handed in its attempts to manipulate my emotions as a player, while lacking fun puzzles. Felt like a bad adventure game. Blech, will be happy to see it fade into the obscurity that most of these "emotional" games occupy.

Brothers gave me a sense of wonder, and awe, and adventure that I love so very much, yet don't often see in video games. Loved it for that.

I played through it in one sitting and found some of the major beats at the end literally laughable - and I'm not cynical when it comes to this sort of thing. The final story beat that implements the game's mechanics is okay, though.

Sorry, I already stopped playing it like a half hour in. I know its great but the first half hour didn't exactly grab me. I will finish it before the GOTY podcasts come out though.

There were this couple of threads about the Bombcrew as babies. They weren't about games better than Brothers, but they were pretty cool nonetheless. Baby Vinny for GOTY.

The game was entirely too hamfisted in its attempts at emotional manipulation for me to think anything of it. The game isn't long enough and there isn't enough character development present for anything other than "a sad thing happened so you should feel sad." The plot is obvious and predictable (even down to the way they intertwine the mechanic at the end), the puzzles were literally never challenging, and the mechanic wasn't clever or revelatory for me because I played Schizoid five years ago. I even like art and indie games and am an older brother, but I think it's certifiably insane that people think this is one of the best games that came out this year.

Jesus fucking Christ, yes! Listen to this fine gentleman. Or, you know, don't - it's cool if you like the game, but this is my sentiment exactly.

I have no relationship with my brother, and haven't spoken to my dad in 15 years. I thought this game was fantastic

Which might be exactly why you liked it so much..

This game was the perfect length. Once I got past the initial 15 minutes of "what am I playing...", I loved it. Sure, the game is a breeze and perhaps the end of the game is foreshadowed throughout, but the abruptness of the older brother's death and the sequences that followed? Wow.

I didn't play it, mostly because of brad, though I did buy it during the steam sale. I probably won't ever play it, since I listened to the goty podcast and they talked about its gimmick there. Not to fault them, ofc, I listened knowing there would be spoilers, but knowing how the game goes obviates the need to play it, since I don't think I would get much out of it anyway at this point. What they apparently did, as discussed on the podcast, sounds pretty impressive, and probably worth if it.

A bath for over 2 hours? That's fucking scary man... Are you a living raisin?

Raisin the bar...

@riboflavin: It's not really worth it in my opinion. The rest of the game is nothing special, at all...

man, I just realize how slow I am playing games. I sit there just enjoying graphics. One sitting was 5 hours for me, enjoyed those benches

I feel like I enjoyed it a lot but also feel like I've forgotten much of that game now, I should go back to it and find all dem benches. I don't know why but I found how *potential spoiler* something that initially seemed like a glitch with the lady jumping was relevant, really memorable.

Ico was a better bench-simulator imho

I enjoyed it. It was 2013's Journey.

Would have been better if they set up a controlling scheme for two players, instead of awkwardly sharing one controller. The game is better suited as an experience with two people in my opinion.