Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Now this is a game that you might not have heard of.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a single player cinematic driven game on the Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, and the Playstation Network.  Throughout the game, the player follows the story of a younger and older brother who must work together to find a cure for their dying father.  Haunted by the premature death of their mother, they must overcome the obstacles of fantasy world if their journey is to succeed.

I think the coolest part of this game are the mechanics.  The player controls each brother with their corresponding joystick on the controller.  It makes the gameplay rather interesting when you have to control two free moving characters at the same time.  It becomes even more interesting when there are two different tasks that you have to accomplish at the same time.  This actually turns out to be a very fun game.

The amount of thinking involved in controlling two characters is phenomenal.  I've found myself stop for a moment just to figure out what I have to press so I don't mess up.  This game isn't really hard, but it is set up in a way that could make it insanely difficult.  It incorporates puzzle elements as well as a certain skill element all into a cinematic friendly game.

I've been thinking about the gameplay elements in this game and I think that there is a hidden meaning behind why they made them.  The story is about two brothers on their journey to save their father.  To overcome obstacles, there is a not-so-hidden theme of teamwork that is crucial to progress.  I personally think that the gameplay mechanics are a direct hint at this theme.  In fact, I find this to be a rather ironic mechanic as well. 

This is a single player game where the player controls two characters.  What's funny is that you have to make the two characters work together, which is harder than it may seem.  I think that the developers were trying to show the player that it is harder to do work that two people were meant to do as one person.  In other words, it's hard to do a job that requires teamwork as one person.  Having all of the power doesn't mean you are able to control it.

I'm sure that there is some kind of psychological study out there about the number of tasks that the brain can handle at once, but here it is obvious that two tasks may be pushing it.  I would argue that most games require one player to do two tasks at once.  However, these tasks are not as poignant as the ones in Brothers. 

I think this game is really cool.  Whether it's the fact that it makes me think in ways that I haven't before or that it looks absolutely beautiful, I think that Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons should have more of an audience than it currently does.

Super Mario Sunshine

Yeah, yeah I know.  I've been playing a lot of Mario games lately...

Much like the topic of my previous post, Super Mario Sunshine features yet another iconic Nintendo character with a new tool to aid in his journey to retrieve all of the shines.  Quite uniquely, the new tool is a water-spraying device known as F.L.U.D.D. whom has a personality of its own.  Mario must jump, dive, and now spray his way to the finish where Bowser awaits him once again.

Mario's new tool helps him to clean the tropical island of Delfino which has been covered in a toxic paint-like substance.  However, the only reason that Mario has to do this is because he has been framed by Baby Bowser for contaminating the island in the first place.  By imitating Mario, Baby Bowser was able to get our favorite red-capped man put in jail upon his arrival.  Without any means of arguing with the local judicial system, Mario is sentenced to cleaning the island himself.

I find it interesting that Nintendo would pick a story like this.  It's almost like they are giving kids a taste of what the real world can be like.  Mario's and Peach's attempts to argue with the judge at their trial were hopeless because everyone on the island was convinced that since he looked like the perpetrator, he simply had to be.  It was a hopeless cause to argue.

This conflict is apparent in a lot of movies where the hero is wrongfully accused for doing something that they didn't do.  This story is usually found in PG-13 type films where there is a big court case and the trial is about some sort of terrible crime.  So, I find this to be a rather advanced type of story line; one that is not commonly found among child-friendly Nintendo games.  In fact, this was probably one of the first Mario games to have a story more involved than just having to save the princess.

I don't find this to be a good thing or a bad thing.  I do think that this was a good move on Nintendo's part to introduce a more meaty story to a younger audience.  It makes the player feel for Mario in a way that they haven't before.  If even for a moment, I actually felt wrongfully accused for something that I never did.  This creates a bond between player and character that most games lack.  Having to try and prove yourself when no one believes you is a hard spot to be in and no one likes that feeling.

I think that games with stories should shoot for meaty topics like this.  Placing a player in a very restrictive situation allows for a very controlled game and gives the player something to fight for.  Sure, saving the princess will always give someone some sort of driving force, but I think that there are better options oout there today.

Luigi's Mansion

Well, this certainly isn't the most gut-wrenching of horror games, but it certainly holds its own in the gaming community.  Much like the Super Mario or perhaps Sonic the Hedgehog games, Luigi's Mansion is another childhood classic of those who grew up with Nintendo in their lives.

Unlike previous endeavors by Nintendo, Luigi's Mansion features Luigi in his first starring role.  It also showcased a rather different gameplay mechanics from any other Mario game at the time.  The idea of the game is to capture the ghost's around and throughout a mansion as Luigi to save his brother Mario.  To capture a ghost, first the player must shine their flashlight over the ghost until their heart is visible.  Then the player sweeps the ghosts up into a vacuum sweeper by holding the R trigger and holding the control stick in the opposite direction of where the ghost is in relation to Luigi.  It sounds complicated but it's rather simple.

More importantly, these controls feel very natural.  It's as if you feel the ghost fighting against you as every time you jerk the control stick in the opposite direction, the ghost immediately changes its escape direction.  It also gives people a rather pleasant feeling of accomplishment when they finally manage to capture a ghost.  This is really important for this game because the entire game is about capturing ghosts in the same manner.

Using a simple and juicy mechanic like this throughout the game can certainly make it very good.  However, too much of a good thing is never good.  Luigi's Mansion (in my opinion) dances on the edge of overusing the ghost capturing mechanic.  For every ghost in the game, there is a simple technique for capturing them.  Towards the end of the game, it may take more time or more skill to capture a particular ghost, but the concept is the same.  After a while, this becomes obviously repetitive.  Leaving this as the only battle mechanic could make for an engaging game, but it will most likely become boring and bland after too long.

Making a game that focuses on only one juicy mechanic is walking on thin ice.  There is a possibility that it will work, but the odds are against you.  Personally, I thought that Luigi's Mansion grew to be cumbersome in this manner towards the end of the game.  It was a fun game and I would definitely play it again, but not for eight straight hours (like at a certain gaming event).  The interest is lost after doing the same thing at walking pace across the halls of an entire mansion.  It becomes droning.  I think that this should be a careful thing to consider when making a juicy game.