How “Brothers; a Tale of Two Sons” uses the controller to tell a story
“Brothers; A tale of two sons” is a redundantly titled adventure game in which you play as two brothers who have to seek treatment for their ill father. That is; you play two people with one controller — which would be fine and dandy if the brothers were identical twins, but that is not the case. The older brother, who occupies all the functions on the left, is stronger and can pull levers by himself but less nimble while the younger brother on the right is smaller and can fit into tighter places but can’t push or pull heavy objects. He also can’t swim and has to climb onto his other brother’s back for them to traverse bodies of water. Yes, this is a very awkward control scheme and its hard to get used to — it might even turn some people completely off of the game — but you could also argue that getting to two brothers to work together is kind of the point.
In his book “The design of everyday things” Don Norman who is noted for his contribution in the world of physical design, defines mapping as the relationship between the elements of two sets of things. Like so:
This game is very much about mapping, and it all contributes to the immersion and storytelling.
Before I get into the narrative the genius in the game’s mapping, from a strictly design aesthetic sense, is that the game’s puzzles are designed around the mapping principal. Because the older brother is controlled by the left, all his portions of the puzzles remain on the left side and the environments are designed in such a way that the older brother never has any reason to be on the right side of the screen.
Even if a brother does wind up on the wrong side, the camera is designed to tilt as you play to orientate the screen in such as way that the brothers are always on their respective side. Feedback of the player’s actions is immediate and synchronized. Had the game’s puzzles not been designed with mapping in mind, immersion would be completely broken as it’s hard to orientate what you’re doing with your right thumb on the left side and vice versa.
Now onto design and narrative: In my opinion mapping creates the most exciting forms of immersion, when the narrative and the systems involved are so congruent that interactivity and immersion are at its peak. And this game holds one of the most powerful moments of that.
As you progress through the game you slowly grow accustomed to the awkward control scheme. The older brother can pull heavy levers while the younger can’t. The brother’s interact with NPC’s in different ways. The younger brother can squeeze through bars and other small spaces, and the younger brother is also too scared to swim and when you press the command to swim will instead hop on his other brother’s back. You’re beginning to master moving two people at once.
The strongest example of this is when the two brothers are climbing up towards a castle. They have tied a rope around their waists to keep them connected — a literal familial tie. The theme of family is echoed by the mechanics as in the next sequence the brothers must swing across platforms over a chasm, taking turns pendulum-ing from handhold to handhold as you alternate holding the triggers in an interdependent pattern from brother to brother.
All of this comes to fruition in the climax of the game when the controls really come to harmonize with the story. At this point the boys have been through a multitude of regions and have met a girl who leads them to their final destination. As it turns out the girl is actually a monster and the boys have to fight her in what could be considered the final boss fight during which the older brother gets stabbed. The younger brother walks him over to the tree, lays him down and then tells him to wait there while he goes to get the life saving water for him.
This is the first time you use only one side of the controller in the game. You climb the tree to get the life saving water but when you come back to your other brother’s side it’s too late. Your brother has died. The left side of the controller is now useless. And where as any other game would do this in a cut scene, this game forces you as the player to drag your big brother into his grave and fill it in.
After that, the little brother has filled up the jar once more for his father and a bird companion that you met along the way takes you almost all the way home to the beginning area of the game. After a small bit of singular platforming you discover the bridge is out and you must swim to the other side of the island. After a bit of fumbling where the brother refuses to move with any of the controls you eventually try the other side and find that when you press the left trigger the boy starts swimming. Then you come to a lever… and use both triggers to push it down and make it across. Finally you come to a ledge that was too high for just the little brother at the beginning of the game and now you discover that you can do it all by yourself.
Brother’s; A Tale of Two Sons does not have any dialogue — at least any that you can understand. The characters all speak gibberish and so the story is mainly told through action. The result is a game that shows character development by making you go through it as well.
