This game was really really good. Just beat it and wow the Giants portion was just amazing

I really enjoyed this game. Just finished it up earlier today myself. It's kind of like Half-Life in the sense that the story itself isn't what's interesting but in the way it's told. They manage to convey a lot of emotion through characters who don't speak a lick of English (the language they use is made up, right?). The real trick will be to find 10 games that are as good or better this year...

Yeah, that portion you mentioned was definitely the most visually impressive part. I didn't think the game was terribly good, though, myself. It was okay, but it was also clunky and I found the supposedly emotional story heavyhanded and laughable. It felt like the videogame equivelant of the worst kind of soulless, vapid Oscar-bait, designed to wring the sort of over-the-top responses seen from Brad Shoemaker and a handful of other critics.

The one moment near the end where it used the mechanics in a way in relation to the story was clever, at least. But largely I felt like it just tossed out moments it recognised as being sad without managing to establish any real connection. I laughed out loud when tasked with burying one of the brothers.

The benches that gave you a view of the environments also reeked of self-obsession. Comparing Brothers to Journey as "This year's Journey" is frankly insulting to Journey.

Didn't like the controls. Don't know if I just didn't give it enough time, but I kept trying to do crap with the characters at the same time (such as climb along a ledge or up a wall) and would always end up losing control of one of the dudes. Pretty game though.

The mechanics really added the story especially at the end. Great game and brad is probably right that none of the next gen games will be better.

@meatball: I agree with you 100%. I had the same reaction you did to that part of the game. And the whole time I was playing I kept trying to figure out what Brad and everyone else sees in this game. Yes it has some great visuals. And the tell the story in an interesting way. But the game play itself is terrible. The controls are wonky at best. And I just don't see the so called "amazing" in this game. Its okay. Its good. But its not the best game of the year. Nor does it deserve that kind of praise.

I found that statement laughable when he said it. And now after just finishing the game myself, I find it even more absurd. This game is not even in the top 15 of games released this year. How is it going to be better than games for next gen?

Also to go back to the subject this game raised about price to product delivered. This game was in no way worth $15. This is a $10 game at best. I really should have waited for inevitable free download with PS+ in four to six months.

does it have local co-op on PC

He said launch games specifically, not the entire gen.

I think I fall somewhere in between you and Brad/people praising it. I got bored with the gameplay halfway through but persisted because I wanted to find out what happened and I knew it was a short game. While I wasn't as affected by the story as others I did "have some feels", as the internet would say. It was well done. I don't know if it was top 10/GOTY/indie darling of the year quality, but it wasn't terrible.

As for price vs product, I think the 15 dollar tag is fine, I certainly didn't think it as absurd as Gone Home's $20 price tag.

I found the way the game tries to manipulate you emotionally to be way over the top, heavy handed and borderline laughable. Also, the game controlled like a bag of dicks, and the puzzles were extremely easy.

Unlike some of my favorite indie games like Dear Esther, Journey, Gone Home and Limbo, this feels forced and clumsy. Kinda feels like a "Baby's first indie game".

I liked it. Kinda.

It's very straightforward and very linear, it felt very.. modern, in that sense. Moving from set-piece to set-piece at a brisk pace kept it from dragging on and it, at times, really had that feeling of some old fairytales. I wasn't too fond of the mechanics, but for what it was I think they were used well.

As for having an emotional impact, the game had almost none for me. I liked some of the things it did though, like that thing at the very end. Neat.

What I didn't enjoy was the made-up language, it just wasn't convincing. Too often there was too much said with too few words for it to sound like anything other than just a string of random, made-up words. The voices themselves were fine, though the acting was hit-and-miss, an issue that was perhaps magnified by said made-up language. The idea of having it was novel. The execution: poop.

I don't regret getting it or playing it, but it wasn't an experience that is going to stay with me for very long either.

@outside_potty_machine: We'll agree to disagree. I thought it was a moving beautiful experience. The puzzles weren't very challenging, but that's definitely preferable to frustrating in a game like this.

It's not a co-op game. Learning to control two characters with one player is the most important mechanic.