Oh yeah, you kinda need a controller to play this. This game is made for the controller, and I don’t think playing with the keyboard would be very fun to play.

The puzzles involve a lot of cooperation between the two brothers. The two supplement each other, their strengths and weaknesses, and wouldn’t be able to progress all by themselves. The puzzles aren’t very difficult, but they provide a good challenge.

Now, the profound part of the game comes a bit later. Once you hit that part of the story, you’ll know. Oh boy, you’ll know.

This game is by far the best example storytelling through gameplay and controls that I’ve experienced. It’s storytelling not through narration, not through cinematic cutscenes, but through pressing buttons and sticks. The game’s context behind those buttons are what makes this game profound.

Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons proves that games have the potential for great storytelling. That it’s a different kind of medium from video and books. And if developers play more to it’s strengths, they can make profound experiences, wholly different from that of other mediums.

Want to harass caravans and pillage villages? Go ahead, just watch out for the Lords with actual armies. Want to sign up as a mercenary for a faction? Or even become a vassal for a faction and own your own fief? Be my guest.

Factions have their own specialties that makes them different from each other. The Nords have the best infantry. Vaegirs have the best archers, and Rhodoks have the best crossbowmen. Swadians have the heaviest, armored up cavalry, and the Khergits can go DIE IN A NEVER ENDING FIRE. The Sarranids are kind of just… there. You can even start up your own kingdom and conquer all of Calradia, if you have the patience to do so.

The combat is what really keeps me coming back to this game, even after nearly 500 hours. It plays in third person or first person and you only control your character. But you can command your troops. Charge, hold, follow, the basic kinds of commands. You can’t win on your own. You have to rely on actual war tactics and strategy.

The combat isn’t showy or flashy. It has a degree of realism that makes defeating your foes very satisfying. Have you ever had the satisfaction of hitting someone with an arrow from a kilometer away? Or sticking someone with your spear on horseback at full speed? It’s pretty awesome, believe me.

If you get tired of the base game, there are mods you can install that lets you play in Feudal Japan, or the Crusades, or the Napoleonic Wars, or even the worlds of A Song Of Ice And Fire and The Lord Of The Rings. I’m currently playing Prophesy Of Pendor, which is a really polished mod and has a well thought out world and I’m really loving it.

The game is currently at a 66% discount till March 18 but for 204 pesos, it is easily worth it. THERE IS A DEMO YOU CAN PLAY FOR FREE so I suggest trying that out first to see if it’s a game you’ll enjoy.