Completed it. Very impressed with the last level. I'm tempted to do another run-through to wrap my head around the story at some point soon, but those speed runs are beckoning now. Although it seems rather difficult - you have to complete the entire game in
45 minutes
. I'm not sure whether that's simply 'go through every level' or 'get every puzzle piece', though. I imagine the latter. :P
Ending spoilers:
My interpretation up until the end was that the Princess was not actually real, rather an unattainable ideal, that Tim was chasing without a chance of resolution. The dinosaur's line at the end of world 6 seems to reinforce this. And I still think that in a sense, it's true.
My current understanding is that Tim was an unwanted suitor of the Princess, that much is clear, but the journey you go through during the game is about his infatuation and no woman being able to satisfy his ideal that he has in his head of the Princess. I think it's in World 3 that you get the story about Tim leaving another girl to search for the Princess, and that seems to back that up. I'm going to take another trip through the worlds in numerical order tomorrow morning and have a look at the paintings, as I feel like I've not understood it, really.
Right up until now I was convinced that Braid's story was secondary to its gameplay. I still think that, but it's definitely made me think about storytelling a lot more than I thought it would. Its narrative isn't told as well as Portal, at all, except for the final level, and that's a shame, but overall I absolutely loved the experience I had with it.
Favourite moments:
Obviously the final level, watching as instead of the Princess helping you, you realise she was trying to prevent you getting to her, the shock of innocent Tim being painted as the bad guy, and the speech for that level reversing itself
Solving many puzzles after deeming them too difficult, then coming back to them after playing more and getting in the right frame of mind
Going to bed, getting ready to go to slepp, and then getting up and turning the Xbox on because I figured out the final puzzle
Willeth on
@vgreminders - Don't miss out on timed events in gaming! @gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
This might be one of my favorite games of all time. Maybe it's partly because I feel so strongly about not penalizing players for learning/exploring game worlds and mechanics, but I also think this is the best example of games as art ever.
Beck on
Lucas's Franklin Badge reflected the lightning back!
Maybe it's just that I got too hyped up for this game, but the demo left me kind of unimpressed. I thought the puzzles were all pretty simple and the story seemed to me to be the worst kind of look-at-how-artsy-I'm-trying-to-be-and-failing-miserably imaginable. On the plus side, the music and art were better than I expected (although I still hate the main character's sprite) and I assume that once you get past the demo levels that the gameplay & puzzles get more interesting.
Maybe it's just that I got too hyped up for this game, but the demo left me kind of unimpressed. I thought the puzzles were all pretty simple and the story seemed to me to be the worst kind of look-at-how-artsy-I'm-trying-to-be-and-failing-miserably imaginable. On the plus side, the music and art were better than I expected (although I still hate the main character's sprite) and I assume that once you get past the demo levels that the gameplay & puzzles get more interesting.
The puzzles get a whole lot more interesting after the first world and especially after the second - they each have their own new mechanic on top of the time control and platforming that the puzzles are focused around.
For those of you who played it already -- do you think it will control well on the PC? With the keyboard instead of a controller? I'm thinking of holding out for the PC version so that's why I ask.
Enjoying it. Art is great. Music is great. Digging the premise and enjoy how the game kind of unfolds around you, as you progress.
Stuck on World 4, though.
The first part of this level you have to walk a bad guy through some piranha plants that aren't affected by time, and the bad guy has to grab a key for you. That's the first of two puzzle pieces. The other you have to control three piranha plants while a green bad guy walks through.
Is it basically just getting the timing down right, or am I missing something?
» “Maenam”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Hidden Sky.
» “Undercurrent” and “The Darkening Ground”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Lush Mechanique.
» “Tell It By Heart” and “Long Past Gone”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Second Sight.
» “Downstream”, by Shira Kammen, from the album Music of Waters.
» “Lullaby Set”, by Shira Kammen and Swan, from the album Wild Wood.
» “Romanesca”, by Cheryl Ann Fulton, from the album The Once and Future Harp.
All are on magnatune.com, direct links on the dev's page linked above.
Enjoying it. Art is great. Music is great. Digging the premise and enjoy how the game kind of unfolds around you, as you progress.
Stuck on World 4, though.
The first part of this level you have to walk a bad guy through some piranha plants that aren't affected by time, and the bad guy has to grab a key for you. That's the first of two puzzle pieces. The other you have to control three piranha plants while a green bad guy walks through.
Is it basically just getting the timing down right, or am I missing something?
yah, pretty sure it's just the timing. keep in mind you can speed up/slow down/fast forward things by pressing RT and LT while holding X.
I'm stuck on world 6:
there's damn ladders on damn moving platforms, and I have to get up to a certain suspended puzzle piece, but the ladder doesn't reach it. I thought I figured out the trick - put my time slowy ring underneath the ladder as it falls so that I have a chance to climb to the top as it bounces, but I still can't reach it... know which one I'm talking about? =d am I on the right track?
anyway, very awesome game, though definitely pretentious. even the 'walkthrough' is pretentious. sure, it's good to figure things out for yourself, but when I weigh possible hours' worth of frustration vs. the eventual satisfaction of figuring out a puzzle, the negative far outweighs the positive. sometimes you just want to move on with your life.
edit: psh, I was doing the right thing for the part I was stuck on, just minutely wrong positioning -_-
Okay: What is up with the puzzle piece above the door in section 2 of world two.
I think it has to do something with that cloud in the section above it. It moved somehow, only I don't know how, and it wasn't useful. Hints please.
Hint:
The puzzle pieces have multiple uses.
Figured it out. Unfortunately, that was my first guess, only I had misaligned things by a few pixels too many. Wasted a half hour trying all sorts of other gimmicks. :x
it really affected me. time was (obviously) the theme of the game - what you can change, what you can't change, memory, perception... it really did affect me in the end. I think the game is definitely speaking to older people. I'm closing in on thirty irl, just got out of a 10 year long relationship, and the nuances of the plot really speak to you when you've got a good chunk of life experience under your belt. memory, regret, pursuit of ideals, realizing in retrospect that you're the bad guy... pretty powerful stuff...
anyway, what were all the blank green books doing in the epilogue? do I have to do something to be able to read them?
Bunny rabbit under a platform. Gotta get the key up above me some how. Bunny rabbit is purple for some reason, and keeps... tiring out maybe? I dunno. I dunno what I'm doing wrong.
I'm taking my time with this game and just enjoying it. Got through world 1 (complete), and world 2 (incomplete) and I think I might sit down with it for another 30 minutes before bed. It really is a totally different game but it's just nice and relaxing to play.
Bunny rabbit under a platform. Gotta get the key up above me some how. Bunny rabbit is purple for some reason, and keeps... tiring out maybe? I dunno. I dunno what I'm doing wrong.
Shadow hands off the key to you over the spike pit. Standing on the edge you can just barely catch the key before it falls into the spikes
I can't get one piece in each of world 5's last 3 rooms. I feel retarded.
Just finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a lot of puzzles that made me want to give up, but I'm glad I didn't.
Ending/Story spoilers:
The green books I think were just to wipe the text off the screen, but it was a bit confusing. I'm not sure what that one lever and platform were for, if anything.
The part with the Birth of the Universe and sons of bitches seemed to be discovering the atomic bomb. Something about seeking perfection in life ("the princess") through mastery of science.
The story touched me in general, even if I found it a little naive at times. A lot of the relationship stuff resonated with me. It reminded me of the xkcd 'romance' strips.
I really liked the ending sequence. I had to run through it a second time to understand it, because I was really confused why it was stuck on rewind the first time. Especially sinister was that the barriers blocking the princess were put up by YOU to keep her from escaping.
Strato on
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MongerI got the ham stink.Dallas, TXRegistered Userregular
edited August 2008
I just finished world 4 and I have to say I'm fucking impressed with the way the narrative and gameplay are interwoven so far. Starting into it, I thought the connection between the two was going to be pretty shallow, but it's really coming together the more of it I see. Hopefully, the second half of the game is as good.
Just finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a lot of puzzles that made me want to give up, but I'm glad I didn't.
Ending/Story spoilers:
The green books I think were just to wipe the text off the screen, but it was a bit confusing. I'm not sure what that one lever and platform were for, if anything.
The part with the Birth of the Universe and sons of bitches seemed to be discovering the atomic bomb. Something about seeking perfection in life ("the princess") through mastery of science.
The story touched me in general, even if I found it a little naive at times. A lot of the relationship stuff resonated with me. It reminded me of the xkcd 'romance' strips.
I really liked the ending sequence. I had to run through it a second time to understand it, because I was really confused why it was stuck on rewind the first time. Especially sinister was that the barriers blocking the princess were put up by YOU to keep her from escaping.
Yeah, it was very startling to see that the princess was actually running away from you.
Interesting story, but I gotta say I was not surprised one fucking bit to see a "special thanks" to David Lynch in the credits.
Despite the beauty of the game and its innovation, I feel that there is a fundamental disconnect between its aesthetics, story, and gameplay. Their connections seem primarily thematic and none of the three really meets the others on a literal level, for the most part, which I feel makes the game less meaningful and engaging than it might have been.
That said, each is very well-done and each can virtually stand on its own to make this game worth playing. So all in all, still a really awesome experience.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
ok, so I guess most green books (except for the last screen) just wipe the red book stuff off your screen... however, if you have red book text on the screen and go to another location on the screen where you hear a woman singing a C note or whatever, the red book's text will be replaced with alternate text, often describing the same thing from a different perspective... on the first screen, this is easy to access. on the screen with the elevator, it's not too hard either if you use the immunity platform. however, there's one or two screens where the red book is flanked on both sides by green books and I don't know how to avoid them in order to access the alt text (or whether alt text even exists). also, there's one area where the singing voice is in a ditch and you can't get out of it to read the alt text above without leaving the spot that triggers the voice... is there some trick you can do with the immunity platform or something else to let you read it?
Maybe my mind just isn't geared for these sort of puzzles.
Great game though.
I would have paid for it for the music alone.
See I think that's the fundamental logic of changing the puzzles. So far world 5 is the most obvious straight forward thing in the game to me. World 4 was far harder but I am only about 4 or so stages into world 5 but I have just had an idea what to do and it worked for every piece so far.
I full-solved Worlds 3 and 4 last night, and I picked at parts of World 5 today ... the game gets better with each world, and that's saying something. So far my favorite puzzles were Hunt! and Fickle Companion, both from World 4; they look completely fucking impossible at first glance, but after tinkering with the level and stopping to think about how the rules apply, the solution just clicks together like clockwork, and I got them on my first try once I figured out what to do.
I love love love how later worlds recall earlier puzzles, like Hunt and The Pit. I hope it does more of this as the game progresses. I almost don't want to push through the game so quickly but, like Portal before it, I just tear through because I'm eager to see what the next puzzle is.
I have a chunk of time this weekend to myself so I'll definitely be screaming through Braid within a few days, possibly trying speed runs but usually the added pressure of doing things on a timetable turns me off severely. The full-game run sounds far too much for me.
anyway, very awesome game, though definitely pretentious. even the 'walkthrough' is pretentious. sure, it's good to figure things out for yourself, but when I weigh possible hours' worth of frustration vs. the eventual satisfaction of figuring out a puzzle, the negative far outweighs the positive. sometimes you just want to move on with your life.
I don't really see what's so pretentious about "Try not to use a FAQ, figure things out on your own." On the one hand you have people frustrated by difficult puzzles, and then on the other hand you have people saying that the game's too short and not worth the cost because of it. Puzzles are the entire point of the game! Back when I was a weaked-willed lad I FAQed my way through most of Grim Fandango because I got frustrated and I really, really wish I hadn't, because it really sapped a lot of the game's appeal.
Maybe it's just that I got too hyped up for this game, but the demo left me kind of unimpressed. I thought the puzzles were all pretty simple and the story seemed to me to be the worst kind of look-at-how-artsy-I'm-trying-to-be-and-failing-miserably imaginable. On the plus side, the music and art were better than I expected (although I still hate the main character's sprite) and I assume that once you get past the demo levels that the gameplay & puzzles get more interesting.
The puzzles get a whole lot more interesting after the first world and especially after the second - they each have their own new mechanic on top of the time control and platforming that the puzzles are focused around.
I didn't even bother with the demo so I'm not sure which non-World 2 puzzles are included, but yeah, the game definitely gets harder in World 3 and beyond. Also, I thought the intro-text stories were most effective in worlds 2 and 3 because they very directly tie in to their worlds' rules. I like that the game doesn't just say "Hey, green sparkly things aren't affected by time reversal here!" and that it uses a subtler narrative-driven approach to hint at what's to come. I like very verbose writing, though.
Posts
In fact, I'm stoked to see higher quality games, even if they are priced accordingly. Not every game can be $10, that's just silly.
p.s. I love Braid.
that sells it for me already
Ending spoilers:
My current understanding is that Tim was an unwanted suitor of the Princess, that much is clear, but the journey you go through during the game is about his infatuation and no woman being able to satisfy his ideal that he has in his head of the Princess. I think it's in World 3 that you get the story about Tim leaving another girl to search for the Princess, and that seems to back that up. I'm going to take another trip through the worlds in numerical order tomorrow morning and have a look at the paintings, as I feel like I've not understood it, really.
Right up until now I was convinced that Braid's story was secondary to its gameplay. I still think that, but it's definitely made me think about storytelling a lot more than I thought it would. Its narrative isn't told as well as Portal, at all, except for the final level, and that's a shame, but overall I absolutely loved the experience I had with it.
Favourite moments:
Obviously the final level, watching as instead of the Princess helping you, you realise she was trying to prevent you getting to her, the shock of innocent Tim being painted as the bad guy, and the speech for that level reversing itself
Solving many puzzles after deeming them too difficult, then coming back to them after playing more and getting in the right frame of mind
Going to bed, getting ready to go to slepp, and then getting up and turning the Xbox on because I figured out the final puzzle
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
The puzzles get a whole lot more interesting after the first world and especially after the second - they each have their own new mechanic on top of the time control and platforming that the puzzles are focused around.
Stuck on World 4, though.
Is it basically just getting the timing down right, or am I missing something?
Braid soundtrack, from the blog: http://braid-game.com/news/?p=260
» “Maenam”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Hidden Sky.
» “Undercurrent” and “The Darkening Ground”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Lush Mechanique.
» “Tell It By Heart” and “Long Past Gone”, by Jami Sieber, from the album Second Sight.
» “Downstream”, by Shira Kammen, from the album Music of Waters.
» “Lullaby Set”, by Shira Kammen and Swan, from the album Wild Wood.
» “Romanesca”, by Cheryl Ann Fulton, from the album The Once and Future Harp.
All are on magnatune.com, direct links on the dev's page linked above.
yah, pretty sure it's just the timing. keep in mind you can speed up/slow down/fast forward things by pressing RT and LT while holding X.
I'm stuck on world 6:
anyway, very awesome game, though definitely pretentious. even the 'walkthrough' is pretentious. sure, it's good to figure things out for yourself, but when I weigh possible hours' worth of frustration vs. the eventual satisfaction of figuring out a puzzle, the negative far outweighs the positive. sometimes you just want to move on with your life.
edit: psh, I was doing the right thing for the part I was stuck on, just minutely wrong positioning -_-
Hint:
anyway, what were all the blank green books doing in the epilogue? do I have to do something to be able to read them?
I can't get one piece in each of world 5's last 3 rooms. I feel retarded.
XBL: Slimebucato
XBL: Slimebucato
Ending/Story spoilers:
The part with the Birth of the Universe and sons of bitches seemed to be discovering the atomic bomb. Something about seeking perfection in life ("the princess") through mastery of science.
The story touched me in general, even if I found it a little naive at times. A lot of the relationship stuff resonated with me. It reminded me of the xkcd 'romance' strips.
I really liked the ending sequence. I had to run through it a second time to understand it, because I was really confused why it was stuck on rewind the first time. Especially sinister was that the barriers blocking the princess were put up by YOU to keep her from escaping.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Holy shit.
My thoughts exactly.
I want to kiss it, it's so good.
Interesting story, but I gotta say I was not surprised one fucking bit to see a "special thanks" to David Lynch in the credits.
If this was ever released at retail I think 'holy shit' would be the perfect box quote.
That or 'What the fuck'
Maybe my mind just isn't geared for these sort of puzzles.
Great game though.
I would have paid for it for the music alone.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
That said, each is very well-done and each can virtually stand on its own to make this game worth playing. So all in all, still a really awesome experience.
Collecting this star places it in the constellation near the title screen like so:
Judging by the blank spaces, there are seven more stars left hidden within the levels.
Happy hunting!
See I think that's the fundamental logic of changing the puzzles. So far world 5 is the most obvious straight forward thing in the game to me. World 4 was far harder but I am only about 4 or so stages into world 5 but I have just had an idea what to do and it worked for every piece so far.
I love love love how later worlds recall earlier puzzles, like Hunt and The Pit. I hope it does more of this as the game progresses. I almost don't want to push through the game so quickly but, like Portal before it, I just tear through because I'm eager to see what the next puzzle is.
I have a chunk of time this weekend to myself so I'll definitely be screaming through Braid within a few days, possibly trying speed runs but usually the added pressure of doing things on a timetable turns me off severely. The full-game run sounds far too much for me.
I don't really see what's so pretentious about "Try not to use a FAQ, figure things out on your own." On the one hand you have people frustrated by difficult puzzles, and then on the other hand you have people saying that the game's too short and not worth the cost because of it. Puzzles are the entire point of the game! Back when I was a weaked-willed lad I FAQed my way through most of Grim Fandango because I got frustrated and I really, really wish I hadn't, because it really sapped a lot of the game's appeal.
I didn't even bother with the demo so I'm not sure which non-World 2 puzzles are included, but yeah, the game definitely gets harder in World 3 and beyond. Also, I thought the intro-text stories were most effective in worlds 2 and 3 because they very directly tie in to their worlds' rules. I like that the game doesn't just say "Hey, green sparkly things aren't affected by time reversal here!" and that it uses a subtler narrative-driven approach to hint at what's to come. I like very verbose writing, though.