There have been several eagerly awaited remakes throughout the years, from the Resident Evil 2 and Dead Space to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, launching on February 28th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC, is perhaps one of the more out-of-left-field remake announcements.
It was first released in August 2013 for Xbox 360 and eventually came to PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Directed by Josef Fares of A Way Out and It Takes Two fame, it was developed by Starbreeze Studios, better known for the Payday series. It garnered critical acclaim for its emotional story-telling and unorthodox gameplay and would sell over 800,000 units as of 2015, a triumph for a smaller project.
The remake is published by 505 Games and developed by Avantgarden. Though it sticks close to the original, here’s what newcomers and long-time fans can expect.
Story
The story of Brothers revolves around Naiee, the younger sibling, and Naia, the elder sibling. After losing their mother, their father has fallen ill. The only cure lies with the healing waters of the Tree of Life. Thus, the brothers embark on a journey to retrieve it. Their journey takes them across various regions and reveals the fantasy aspects of the title. Unfortunately, like many fairy tales, things take a dark turn, but you’ll need to play for yourself to see what happens.
Overhauled Visuals
The most obvious change with the remake is the visuals. They look more realistic and detailed while maintaining the animated approach, and feature improved lighting and shadows, sharper textures and smoother animation. Clothes now have discernible textures, right down to individual threads. Opinions may be mixed on such wholesale changes, but the atmosphere feels true to the original.
Rebuilt Characters and Landscapes
Along with vastly remade visuals, the characters and landscapes have been rebuilt from the ground up. Naiee and Naia have more well-defined faces, while their animations are night and day from the original, right down to the facial expressions. As for the environments, you see more foliage, better road textures and even a slightly larger sense of scale. Overall, it comes together quite well.
Gameplay
So what do you do in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons? At heart, it’s a puzzle adventure, with each sibling tackling situations in unique ways. Naia can pull levers that won’t ordinarily move for Naiee, while the latter can fit into tight spaces that the former can’t due to his size. It’s also possible for Naia to boost Naiee up to specific areas. Of course, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses, they must work together to survive and progress forward.
Controlling Both Characters
The main hook of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is that you control both characters at the same time, all the time, whether moving or coordinating puzzles. This comes into play in various scenarios, like when using a hang-glider or platforming across pillars with a rope, as one brother holds on and acts as an anchor while the other swings across. Given how it made waves at the time for essentially being a single-player title with co-op mechanics, it should be interesting to see the response to the remake.
Smoother Controls
While the remake doesn’t fundamentally change how the game plays, it focuses on ensuring the controls are smoother. In its development diary, Avantgarden also confirmed that the more fluid and dynamic movements were in line with the animation quality, which has seen many improvements.
Improved Cutscenes
Of course, as the team at Avantgarden noted in their first development diary, the aim was to emphasize the original story without changing too much. That being said, there is a noticeable change to the cutscene direction and cinematography with new camera angles and whatnot. It fits with the team’s goal of maintaining the original’s style but “re-proposing it in a more modern way from a visual point of view.”
Improved Boss Fights
Yes, there are boss fights to be had, but if you ever found them to be annoying in the original, there are improvements in the remake. What those are has yet to be fully detailed; however, the developer feels they’ve improved a lot and should surprise players.
Re-Recorded Soundtrack
The graphics aren’t the only element to receive a massive facelift, as the soundtrack has been re-recorded with a live orchestra. Composed by Gustaf Grefberg, it’s a magical experience and holds up even today. It would be interesting if there’s an option to switch between the original and re-recorded soundtrack, but we’ll need to wait for more details.
Local Co-op
Like the Nintendo Switch version of the original, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons offers local co-op for two players, each controlling one of the brothers. Online co-op isn’t included, which is to be expected since Fares’s other titles don’t offer the same, but shouldn’t stop it from being an enjoyable experience. Even though two people share the burden, Avantgarden maintains that it must be played as if a single person is playing, so coordination is mandatory.
New Secrets
While the remake sticks very closely to the original, right down to its secrets, there is the tease of “new secrets” for players to find. What these are remains unknown, but perhaps they shine more light on the setting or serve as a neat Easter egg. Is it too much to hope for an alternate ending if you fulfill certain conditions? Probably, but we’re looking forward to seeing what they are. Whether it will have the concept art gallery, soundtrack selection, and Director’s Commentary from the Xbox One and PS4 versions is another matter entirely, but it would be nice to see them included.
PC Requirements
The original Brothers ran on Windows XP, required 2 GB of installation space and required DirectX 9. Unsurprisingly, the remake is more demanding on PC.
You’ll need Windows 10 64-bit, 35 GB of installation space and a GPU that supports DirectX 11. Minimum requirements include an Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, 8 GB RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX1 650 with 8 GB VRAM. The recommended requirements include an Intel Core i7-10700 or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, 16 GB of RAM and a Geforce RTX 2060 Super 6 GB or Radeon RX 5700 8 GB.
4K Ultra HD on Xbox Series X
Avantgarden hasn’t said anything about the frame rate and resolution of the remake yet. However, the Xbox Store listing indicates support for HDR10 and 4K Ultra HD, so that could be the case for the PS5 version. Though 60 FPS isn’t specified, there may be different graphical modes to ensure the same. As always, time will tell.
Playtime
If you played Fares’s other titles, like A Way Out or It Takes Two, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake won’t be a long experience. HowLongToBeat.com puts the original at 3 to 4.5 hours if playing through the story at a leisurely pace. If you try to complete everything, then it will take about four to 7.5 hours, depending on your preference. It’s the video game form of “long story short” and may appeal to those who want a nice snappy experience.