Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Feb 14, 2020

  This reviewer won’t pretend to understand Little Brother Jim as a whole game. Driving and walking seem just about polar opposites, and the two halves never mix (but do share references.) And the walking is in a nonexistent, fantasy-based world of memories where a little brother has left dozens of letters from beyond the grave, and lakes have lighthouses and mailboxes are just about everywhere. Yes, the driving is simple, if a bit unusual. (Invisibility? Jumps? Block breaking? Deer dodging? And SO MUCH of it!) But it’s pleasant enough, though a bit too simple for someone with hundreds of hours in driving / racing games. But there seems to be an emotional connection between the two aspects, so why not? If you’re like me and never had good a relationship with a sibling, this might be a nice way to feel that closeness, if only for an hour or so. (I spent three hours in the game, but only half or less was walking and finding letters.) At three points the player is asked what they have learned in the game, though those questions (and answers) seem to have little point, and never come up again. If the developer is listening, I'd be curious about the answer. Still, a nice, harmless way to easily get game completion, if that’s your goal.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 5, 2023

  I recently bought another few titles by Bodur and this one unfortunately drops on the lower set of walking sims by the maker. Little Brother Jim is another tale with philosophic tone and environments change from beautiful forests to vast valleys so generally it is quite generic walking sim experience. However, it turns flat for I was not able to understand who the protagonist was or his intentions. All you do is collecting letters written by protagonist's brother Jim and how they used to grow up together. Granted, that there was few emotional and smart moments, but not enough to bring the feels. Then to the more original part of this game - the driving. Alright on first sequence when I realized I was driving a car from the top view and not walking in some forest I was interested, but few moments later it gets boring and while the controls are fine the levels feel more an obstacles than entertainment. I know that the car and bear might be a reference, but fewer maps could have highlighted the same idea. Do not get me wrong. The game fills all good Walking Sim standards and new features are to be considered controversial, but it lacks that breath lasting moment of pure joy, fulfilment or awarness to remember on.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 3, 2021

  One of the oddest Bodur's games. A mix of driving and contemplation (in separate ways!).
• gamedeal user

  Oct 20, 2019

  Before anything, I feel that it's necessary to tell you that all of the parking levels in this game are skippable without consequence. You can still get every achievement even when skipping every parking level in the game. This is my personal favorite game by Tonguç Bodur. The sights are gorgeous all around, the game doesn't make you walk long distances with nothing to see, there's no annoying narrator. This is just all around a good game. Highly recommended to anyone that likes walking simulators.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 3, 2022

  Not gonna lie, when I first started playing the game, I quit because I was both confused and annoyed. After reading other reviews, I sucked it up and started playing again. After you get past the first ten annoying parking-the-Jeep levels, the story begins to unfold. For me, it started out a bit slow, but as the game progressed, everything started falling into place and making sense. The Jeep game made 100% more sense by the end of the story, and damn, was it bitter-sweet. If you would have asked me if I would recommend this game based on solely the beginning, I would tell you no. But I'm glad that I sucked it up and kept playing because my opinion has changed drastically. Hell yeah, I would recommend this game!
• gamedeal user

  Nov 16, 2021

  I have to say this is total rubbish, if you are looking for a good walking simulator this is NOT it. I have all of Badurs games and they are mostly very relaxing and fun to play, great for killing time between AA titles. This thing is not fun. I haven't even got past the pathetic bear driving part where you have to navigate your way around a number of courses driving a van. I hate driving games,period. I'm crap at them and never buy them, I stay away from anything that has driving in it. So you can imagine my anger and frustration at discovering that I can't even get to enjoy the scenery in this game without being forced to drive some damned courses first. I got to level 7 and then realised this game wasn't for me. Mr Badur, if you are going to start making driving simulators or whatever please sell them separately from the stuff you are good at. I would have asked for a refund but I'm over the two week threshold mainly because I trusted Badur to make good games, not this thing. I will be more careful with my next purchase of a Badur game.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 15, 2021

  I'm gonna say no to this one. I'm a big fan of this indie developer and I appreciate the urge to try something unique, but these two games don't blend together whatsoever. The reviewers saying they do are engaging in magical thinking and are full of poop. Both the parking sim and the walking sim are very well done, but switching between the two is jarring to say the least. Stick with what you know, my guy, and if you want to try something different, release it separately.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 15, 2020

  If there is one thing I know about Tony Bodur's games, it's that they try to keep interactivity to a minimum, but Little Brother Jim turns this formula on its head. In this game, you play as both a bear that drives a van around some obstacle courses and Paul, a doctor who goes for a hike through the woods while finding letters from his eponymous sibling, in typical walking sim fashion. I have no choice but to review this as two separate games, as the two gameplay sections have nothing in common. First, the driving levels. In a sense, I like that the graphics in these levels are such a stark departure from the normal TB shtick. It's a refreshing change of pace at first. As the levels go on, however, they become very monotonous. As far as the gameplay mechanics go, imagine you are playing a game of Operation, only with a van instead of tweezers, and you have taken just as much Diazepam as the doctor in Surgeon Simulator. In fact, that game is what kept coming to mind during these segments. I tried to imagine that the van actually was the ambulance from SS, which made the whole ordeal marginally more pleasant. However, it was an ordeal. You have to drive painfully slowly to survive the levels, and the camera angle made it so that you could not possibly see anything in front of you. Furthermore, it caused me quite a bit of motion sickness, so you win this time, Tonguc. I'm still queasy. Also, just as a nitpicky side note here, who asked for a "parking" game? Driving games that are fun are fun because they involve racing, or chasing, or evading, or high-speed obstacle courses. No one has ever said "You know what I want out of my driving games? More parking." Except maybe James Nguyen. The saving grace of the driving levels is the next level button, which allows you to skip all the levels you wish to. On to the walking levels. These follow a completely prototypical walking simulator format, with story coming in the form of letters, so you have to go from mailbox to mailbox until the level ends. But wait, there's more! Occasionally, a large object appears, then disappears, the nature of which is somewhat related to a recent letter. This pattern follows a trend of TB's that I have noticed in other games (such as Nephise Ascension), wherein he uses a purchased asset in place of actually creating a poignant moment. It must seem like doing this will guarantee a great return on investment, but it comes off as forced and cheap. Dear Esther created poignant moments through the storytelling, not gimmicks. The story itself is based around the two brothers and their histories. I won't spoil anything here, but the major plot point is apparent almost from the beginning. More than anything, the story focuses on the character of Jim, who is whiny, self-deprecating, and rude to Paul at just about all junctures referenced. The times he isn't making Paul's life miserable, he's depending on Paul to save him. Then the game has the gall to ask you if you think Jim's a great guy. Yes, this game has a few "moral" "choices," which "affect" your "ending." Speaking of which, the few lines of voiced monologue in the game are...rough. Roughly translated also. I was perfectly content with having no voice acting in the game up until that point, so I'm going to go on acting like there wasn't any. In terms of gameplay during the walking levels, you can walk, run, jump once, toggle walk (AKA autowalk, AKA the best feature possible in a walking simulator), look around, and interact with padlocks. None of this comes close to excluding LBJ from the "Casual" category. Now that I think about it, this game is a lot like another LBJ I know: a little too big, clumsily indiscreet, and getting involved in arenas far out of his league. All in all, Little Brother Jim is certainly the most infuriating Tony Bodur game I've played due to the driving and the motion sickness, and the walking segments are typical in their "all sap, no substance" style. If you like that sort of thing, give it a try, I guess. Just get ready to press N a lot. May peace be upon you!
• gamedeal user

  Oct 31, 2019

  If you think you'll like both halves of this game (driving, walking) I recommend it. IMO both halves are equally well made. I'm quite impressed that, most of, the lights on the jeep work. Headlights, right turn signals, brake lights, backup light. The music is nice. The water flows, leaves blow in the wind, birds fly. It feels alive, abandoned, but alive none the less. I do wish there was more interactivity.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 8, 2019

  Beautiful game. Highly recommended.