10 Critically-Acclaimed 2013 Video Games (With Major Gameplay Flaws)

9. Abandoning Skills - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a masterful experience crafted by The Fullbright Company, became not only one of the most critically acclaimed indie games of 2013, but also topped many overall game of the years lists, despite its comparatively understated market presence. The at first unsettling, but ultimately genius design of controlling the two brothers separately with the analog sticks combined with the subtle yet powerful emotional pull of the story, makes the game's accomplishments a bit of a no brainer. After allowing you to gain your bearings and become accommodated to the somewhat odd control scheme, the surprising depth of the system in Brothers slowly reveals itself. Simplistic puzzles become more of a challenge when splitting the brothers up, and you must figure out the best way of utilizing each of their skills in order to progress. It is a beautiful system, one that may keep players from realizing some weaknesses in the gameplay. For instance, Brothers has a way of introducing certain skills or methods of getting around and then abandoning them, never to be used again. To be sure, this keeps things fresh, but the sense of reward is diminished when the player feels that the actions they accomplish do not seem to have any lasting, or even temporary impact. Also, the brothers are wonderful actors and can voice things about themselves without ever speaking a word. You may notice that one brother seems afraid of swimming, while the other is good with animals. It would have been nice if the game would have rewarded the player for picking up on such things, instead of there only being one way to approach a given situation.