I liked the music and the art (except the sprites, hated all of them) and found the story somewhat touching. But for 1200 points I thought the game was far too easy and too short. I was somewhat disappointed. I didn't find the puzzles difficult at all, I think the longest I spent on the hardest one was about 10 minutes.
I've solved Worlds 3 and 4, but still can't figure out the last 2 pieces of World 2... Don't tell me! Just thought I'd stop by and gripe.
This one pissed me off soooo much. But then it just clicked.
There's a level in World 4 that I think suffers from a bug. Fickle Friend, I think it's called. Spoilered for thsoe who aren't there yet.
The key that is affected by how you walk. I eventually beat the level by being super careful as to what I did, but there were so many points where the key simply disappeared. It didn't just reverse when I went left, but even if I looked left the key would warp to some place in the level, and I'd have to rewind back a good bit to even get it in my hands.
Me and my brother were pretty much playing it together last night. We'd get a good laugh at how to solve some puzzles, find it hilarious that the game was intentionally screwing with me, and generally worked together to figure some puzzles out. Plenty of, "Oh. I get it!" moments, along with, "Dude. Check this out."
The music is great. I've always been a fan of ambient sounds and it really compliments the game's art style and environments.
Braid's puzzles can be a little frustrating at first but once I figured them out I never felt like they were "cheap", like, crazy logic wise. Of course, I haven't beaten the game, but I've yet to see some of the ALL CAPS posts about it like I used to see back on USEnet with some adventure games. Loads of moments where you'll go, "OOOOOOOOOOOOH. GOD I'M AN IDIOT FOR NOT SEEING THAT."
Aesthetically, the game is pretty impressive. I like how "World 1" is just the outside and inside of the house. I don't think the game is as totally forward thinking as it was made out to be. Gameplay? Yes, definitely. It's fun, it's completely different, and it requires you to think differently. Just like Portal. Unlike Portal, which has a really distinct presentation, Braid still suffers from a few problems. It's probably due to the nature of the game itself, it's going to be difficult mixing story, setting, and gameplay together in a platformer. The story is pretty much told to you, optionally, before each level. You enter a level, have access to books that spell out the situation, and then you go on to complete it. The writing is ok.
Apparently there are some secrets left.
I wonder what the bathroom is for.
If I had to assign a numerical value to this game, so far it's a 9 out of 10. Great gameplay, great artwork, great music, decent setting and premise, and the way the game is presented is incredibly fresh. It rewards curiosity and there are several moments in Braid that I really enjoyed either a quirky NPC, the "power" you use in that world, the solution to a puzzle, or just the puzzle itself.
Ghost_Hands/Jonathan, you're really onto something here. With an introduction like this, I don't think you'll have any trouble finding an outlet for future games. Whether they'll be similar in design or not, I'll trust you to keep the production values high, and the game interesting.
Thank you for a very enjoyable, gaming experience.
There's a level in World 4 that I think suffers from a bug. Fickle Friend, I think it's called. Spoilered for thsoe who aren't there yet.
The key that is affected by how you walk. I eventually beat the level by being super careful as to what I did, but there were so many points where the key simply disappeared. It didn't just reverse when I went left, but even if I looked left the key would warp to some place in the level, and I'd have to rewind back a good bit to even get it in my hands.
It's not a bug, at all. The key is following the rules of the world. Just watch the path it takes.
There's a level in World 4 that I think suffers from a bug. Fickle Friend, I think it's called. Spoilered for thsoe who aren't there yet.
The key that is affected by how you walk. I eventually beat the level by being super careful as to what I did, but there were so many points where the key simply disappeared. It didn't just reverse when I went left, but even if I looked left the key would warp to some place in the level, and I'd have to rewind back a good bit to even get it in my hands.
It's not a bug, at all. The key is following the rules of the world. Just watch the path it takes.
I know the rules of the world, and once I was super careful about where I placed things, it behaved as it should. But there were several points where the key would completely disappear. Not reverse and go backwards as I walked left, but simply not be any where near me and not on the path I used to get where I was. I could be wrong, but based on how it behaved before I was super careful where I put it, and when I completed the puzzle, It felt more like a buggy issue.
Not really complaining, it's beaten, and it was one of the more easier puzzles, but I got the impression that something wasn't working properly.
So far my favorite puzzles were Hunt! and Fickle Companion, both from World 4
Hunt on that level was great. Took me a few minutes to get it figured out, but I got it!
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!
Yeah i was about to come in and ask if anyone else found a star. I found one in
Level five somewhere. You know the part where you have to climb through a whole bunch of fireball traps and then go down the elevator? Above that area is a star. If you want a hint on how to get it:
Bunny is your friend. Be creative with it and the ring
There's a level in World 4 that I think suffers from a bug. Fickle Friend, I think it's called. Spoilered for thsoe who aren't there yet.
The key that is affected by how you walk. I eventually beat the level by being super careful as to what I did, but there were so many points where the key simply disappeared. It didn't just reverse when I went left, but even if I looked left the key would warp to some place in the level, and I'd have to rewind back a good bit to even get it in my hands.
It's not a bug, at all. The key is following the rules of the world. Just watch the path it takes.
I know the rules of the world, and once I was super careful about where I placed things, it behaved as it should. But there were several points where the key would completely disappear. Not reverse and go backwards as I walked left, but simply not be any where near me and not on the path I used to get where I was. I could be wrong, but based on how it behaved before I was super careful where I put it, and when I completed the puzzle, It felt more like a buggy issue.
Not really complaining, it's beaten, and it was one of the more easier puzzles, but I got the impression that something wasn't working properly.
I noticed this too, but I think the key disappears during the timeframe when it was being held by the green sparkly goomba...? At least that's what I thought.
So far my favorite puzzles were Hunt! and Fickle Companion, both from World 4
Hunt on that level was great. Took me a few minutes to get it figured out, but I got it!
I felt like a god when I finally figured it out. So far every puzzle has lived up to the promise of "sit down and think about the world's rules, and then you'll be able to solve it with no problem." It reminds me a bit of Professor Layton for some crazy reason.
I've solved Worlds 3 and 4, but still can't figure out the last 2 pieces of World 2... Don't tell me! Just thought I'd stop by and gripe.
This one pissed me off soooo much. But then it just clicked.
These pieces let me know how good this game is. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me for a few minutes, but once I figured it out I had a big, goofy smile on my face. This game deserves all the hype it's gotten.
Also to echo a bunch of comments, the music is awesome. Awesome.
I really liked the demo a lot. It did take a few minutes to get used to the character sprites at first, but the backgrounds and music just blew me away. I also really liked the writing on the World 2 books (I didn't read any of the others, as I kind of wanted to keep them for when I actually play the full game). I'm kind of debating on whether or not to purchase it right now though. Going to be house sitting for the next week, and away from my HD set, and am wondering if I should save the game for when I'm back home and can get that full wide screen "pretty" experience or not.
Tried out the demo and got all the pieces in World 2. Was very engaging, I really enjoyed it. Now to see when I can purchase and when I have the time, Dead Rising has it's grips on me.
I'm reading other responses to the game online, and thinking back, I think my favorite part of the game is how there's no handholding whatsoever. Any of the very vague tutorial items at the beginning are completely unobtrusive, and it's very elegant, compared to something like Super Mario World's speakerboxes that you had to hit to learn about Yoshi or grabbing shells or whatnot.
I forget the name of the puzzle in World 3, but the one that has the really large lattice fence you have to move across horizontally while dodging projectiles and enemies dropping:
The one where triggering the switch brings up the green sparkling platform, and once you drop onto the platform you suddenly become green and sparkly too. The first time I pulled the switch I thought the platform was just a regular moving one and I didn't see the point in using it, so I just moved on. When I came back to the puzzle, I decided to try dropping onto it, and as soon as Tim became sparkly I instantly knew how this was going to help solve the puzzle. This is a mechanic that most other games would have had a pop-up window notify you about, but the way the game spurs you into experimenting for yourself is very refreshing.
I really liked the demo a lot. It did take a few minutes to get used to the character sprites at first, but the backgrounds and music just blew me away. I also really liked the writing on the World 2 books (I didn't read any of the others, as I kind of wanted to keep them for when I actually play the full game). I'm kind of debating on whether or not to purchase it right now though. Going to be house sitting for the next week, and away from my HD set, and am wondering if I should save the game for when I'm back home and can get that full wide screen "pretty" experience or not.
I haven't finished it yet so I don't know how the last world or two pan out, but this seems very much like the perfect game to finish up in two or three sessions all in a row, so if you want to get it I suggest getting it when you have a good window of time (hur-hur!) to finish it in. I've always referred to Portal as the perfect Sunday afternoon game: a game that you can start and finish all in one lazy summer Sunday afternoon. This seems like another one to me.
Okay, now that I snagged the last few puzzle pieces and watched the ending, I've changed my mind about the story--it sucks. The only part of it that I liked was the verbiage, and that's just aesthetic. If there was any meat at all to the story, it was just a few morsels, and it was buried under layers and layers of pointless-but-pretty-sounding obfuscation.
And the twist at the end was pretty silly after you got over the initial shock of it (how it was presented was pretty cool though).
But. The gameplay was pretty awesome. A few times I felt like "oh, that's kind of cheap", and a few times I felt the puzzles were based too much on platforming precision, but the vast majority of the puzzles were awesome and I loved them. One small thing I wanted was a "reset entire level" button for those levels with items that sit out of the time flow (particularly keys).
I loved the art, too, aside from the character graphics, which I didn't think fit very well with the rest of the visual style. And the music and sounds were equally amazing.
Overall, I'd say definitely a very good XBLA game. I feel like a better, more lucid storyline could have been created, and the art and gameplay tied into it better, so I won't say that I think it's that amazing from the "games as high art" perspective. Definitely worth the time and money, though.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
Yeah, that's what I did, it's just kind of a pain compared to like, hitting start and pressing Restart Level or something. Maybe a small irritation but an irritation nonetheless.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
Yeah, that's what I did, it's just kind of a pain compared to like, hitting start and pressing Restart Level or something. Maybe a small irritation but an irritation nonetheless.
Hit Back and then B.
Willeth on
@vgreminders - Don't miss out on timed events in gaming! @gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Yeah, that's what I did, it's just kind of a pain compared to like, hitting start and pressing Restart Level or something. Maybe a small irritation but an irritation nonetheless.
You can just press Start and then "Exit Current World." From there you can re-enter the room you were currently in, and you'll start from the left door. I did this a bunch when I was trying to figure out Tight Channels in World 3.
Is this the same as the Back and B thing? I didn't know about that.
dude I love ths game, I played it for a few hours last night and got to world 5, I have all the pieces so far (Im dumb, took me a while, but Im happy with that cause it makes the game longer) so Im doing good, I love this so far, had to stop cause I was extremely tired and couldnt think straight anymore, world 5 was destroying me.
mastrius on
"You're like a kitten! A kitten who doesn't speak Japanese." ~ Juliet Starling
0
Blue mapHello darkness, my old friend.Registered Userregular
edited August 2008
One interesting thing i liked about the game is that even though they reuse the same level more than once, it never feels lazy.
I added the soundtrack links to the OP. I love that first track.
Here’s a list of the tracks in Braid and links to the Magnatune pages where you can find them. (These songs are also listed in the credits to Braid).
I dunno, I really liked the story. Not everyone can relate to it I guess. Sure, there's not much straight-up plot, and that's a very, very good thing for this game. If you want a plain english, straightforward plot, go play another game or read a berenstain bears book or something. this game was about philosophical questions you don't usually think about, explored through gameplay. for instance, the end:
so many people are taking it at face value. "Oh, look, our hero was actually the villain of the story. How very mundane." There is MUCH more to it than that. It's a comment on how we can go through life with the best intentions, but thinking back on our actions, we can see we've done everything wrong, and despite what we wanted to accomplish, we were actually the ones causing someone else pain.
you can't think of this game as just straight-up plot. it's all metaphor, and you have to have experienced a lot of what it's evoking in order for it to resonate, I guess.
Yeah, that's what I did, it's just kind of a pain compared to like, hitting start and pressing Restart Level or something. Maybe a small irritation but an irritation nonetheless.
You can just press Start and then "Exit Current World." From there you can re-enter the room you were currently in, and you'll start from the left door. I did this a bunch when I was trying to figure out Tight Channels in World 3.
Is this the same as the Back and B thing? I didn't know about that.
Yeah, Back is just a single button-press, but does the same as Start>Scroll>Exit World.
Willeth on
@vgreminders - Don't miss out on timed events in gaming! @gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
From OP, influences: "Too many to mention. Definitely Italo Calvino's book "Invisible Cities" was a core influence"
I actually made this ascii face in real life when I read that ->
I rarely recommend books or music to people, because everyone I know has such wildly divergent tastes. Invisible Cities is a book I recommend to anyone, regardless of what they normally read.
I was going to buy this game anyway, but after reading that, now I have to set up a second Live account so I can buy it twice.
From OP, influences: "Too many to mention. Definitely Italo Calvino's book "Invisible Cities" was a core influence"
I actually made this ascii face in real life when I read that ->
I rarely recommend books or music to people, because everyone I know has such wildly divergent tastes. Invisible Cities is a book I recommend to anyone, regardless of what they normally read.
I was going to buy this game anyway, but after reading that, now I have to set up a second Live account so I can buy it twice.
Thanks for the recommendation. I've been doing my best to read different books from different countries. Started with Czech and Russian literature, just finished reading Soseki's Kokoro. Reading some Hemingway in between novels, but Invisible Cities sounds like an interesting place to go next!
Actually, I'll make sure to do the same else where. Reactions to the soundtrack have pleased me. Most people I run into don't really care for ambient musics.
I think my least favorite puzzle was the one towards the end
where you have two locked doors and one time-immune key to open them both. I didn't really like it because it relied so much on very specific game rules that had never been introduced before. For me at least it was quite an intuitive leap.
On the flip side, one of my favorite puzzles was the early one where
you had to unlock three doors with one normal key and one time-immune key. I thought it was a really fun usage of the time mechanic.
I dunno, I really liked the story. Not everyone can relate to it I guess. Sure, there's not much straight-up plot, and that's a very, very good thing for this game. If you want a plain english, straightforward plot, go play another game or read a berenstain bears book or something. this game was about philosophical questions you don't usually think about, explored through gameplay. for instance, the end:
so many people are taking it at face value. "Oh, look, our hero was actually the villain of the story. How very mundane." There is MUCH more to it than that. It's a comment on how we can go through life with the best intentions, but thinking back on our actions, we can see we've done everything wrong, and despite what we wanted to accomplish, we were actually the ones causing someone else pain.
you can't think of this game as just straight-up plot. it's all metaphor, and you have to have experienced a lot of what it's evoking in order for it to resonate, I guess.
Without exception, I have found that stories with sympathetic characters and a clear plot do a better, more resonant, and more affecting job of communicating any theme or idea, as compared to a story with plenty of pretty but abstract metaphors and no substance to go with them.
Doesn't mean you can't have pretty metaphors in a story with substance... but you need to have the substance first.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
I have to admit, the last time we had a Braid thread (like, a year ago), I shat on this game because it's a pet peeve of mine to see a single person's name attached to a game, unless they did literally everything (see Cave Story's pixel). It just didn't look like anything fun or the revolution people claimed it was. I think it's a designer's job to entertain first, and be original second. Katamari Damacy was original, but it was only entertaining for a few hours. Same with Portal.
However.
Having said that, it doesn't take a feat of mental athletics to construct a worldview in which this is a great game. I'll have to check it out sometime, since the consensus is that it rocks.
I shat on this game because it's a pet peeve of mine to see a single person's name attached to a game, unless they did literally everything (see Cave Story's pixel).
It's pretty fair when you're talking about an indie game where one guy essentially did 90% or more of the design and programming by himself. As far as I know virtually everything you see in Braid was done by Blow (programming and design) and Hellman (art).
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
I've tried to give it some thought as to why it's a peeve, and I guess it bothers me not as a function of workload, but implication. I've always tried to separate artist from art. Hideo Kojima's a racist dickbag but ZOE was a good game. Orson Scott Card is a homophobe, but Ender's Game is a good book. I just saw in the early days that it was "Johnathan Blow's Braid" and figured this guy really wanted to be one of the industry's megadevelopers like Wright and Molyneaux. The implication (to me) when someone attaches their name to something is "look, I've done this before, okay? That's how you know it's good, so don't worry about critiquing it." See also, Michael Bay's Transformers.
Like I said, though, I do make an effort to separate artist from art, so it would be hypocritical for me to judge the game on that basis. It looks like it has legs, so I do intend to check it out.
2) Why have you separated Molyneux and Wright out? They are no different. Wright didn't code the sims solo. Whereas Blow did code Braid on his own.
3) What is wrong with the lead designed attaching their name to a piece of artistic work? It only comes off as a bad move when it is bad (ie some of the latter American McGee games - though from what I've heard that wasnt his choice) If it is a great game then why not tell everyone who made it. A lead designer on a game has an enormous amount of responsibility towards the quality of the final product. Yeah, he couldn't have made it without a team of artists and modellers or whatever. But they couldn't make a game through collective thought.
Without exception, I have found that stories with sympathetic characters and a clear plot do a better, more resonant, and more affecting job of communicating any theme or idea, as compared to a story with plenty of pretty but abstract metaphors and no substance to go with them.
Doesn't mean you can't have pretty metaphors in a story with substance... but you need to have the substance first.
I dunno, that's kinda like saying novels are better at evoking a theme or feeling than poetry. It may be true for some people, but it's certainly not inherently true (and it's not true for me). =P
That's fair, and I was thinking earlier myself that I would have enjoyed Braid more in its current format if the story were replaced with (good) poetry instead.
However, Braid does seem to be trying for a narrative, and that's why I feel it fails on that level.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
2) Why have you separated Molyneux and Wright out? They are no different. Wright didn't code the sims solo. Whereas Blow did code Braid on his own.
3) What is wrong with the lead designed attaching their name to a piece of artistic work? It only comes off as a bad move when it is bad (ie some of the latter American McGee games - though from what I've heard that wasnt his choice) If it is a great game then why not tell everyone who made it. A lead designer on a game has an enormous amount of responsibility towards the quality of the final product. Yeah, he couldn't have made it without a team of artists and modellers or whatever. But they couldn't make a game through collective thought.
I also tend to dislike it when bands are named after the lead singer. The problem with pet peeves is that they are rarely rational. Maybe it honestly goes deeper, perhaps it is linked to my (also irrational) dislike of being marketed to. I haven't played this game, and I'd rather not derail this thread any farther.
I don't think I've seen it listed as Johnathan Blow's Braid. Even if it were, he actually did all (I think?) of the design and programming, so it would be more acceptable to me.
I know what you mean, though. Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, anyone?
I don't think I've seen it listed as Johnathan Blow's Braid. Even if it were, he actually did all (I think?) of the design and programming, so it would be more acceptable to me.
I know what you mean, though. Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, anyone?
In all honesty, I think when a producer's name turns up on a game, it has more to do with marketing than the producer themselves. I mean hell man, Garriott was involved in making the first big mainstream MMO, and is one of the oldest names in PC gaming still actually around today. Can you blame NCSoft for trying to cash in on the name?
The game never popped up as being marketed by name as far as I saw, but when I found out who made it, it made me much more interested, since I really agree with Blow's philosophies of game design.
Right, right! I mean, I heard about this last year, when everyone was like Braid, what the hell is that. So when I saw stuff on Gamasutra or the thread here, it was always Jonathan Blow's Braid. I guess it makes more sense in a headline. Like I said, this was a while back, you'll notice I'm specifically not shitting on it now. On the contrary, I think it looks pretty good. I'm not a professional, but I know what it's like to be a designer/programmer - watching the walkthrough I get a sense for how he came to his ideas and I think it's amazing.
But this thread isn't about my neuroses, it's about Braid.
Right, right! I mean, I heard about this last year, when everyone was like Braid, what the hell is that. So when I saw stuff on Gamasutra or the thread here, it was always Jonathan Blow's Braid. I guess it makes more sense in a headline. Like I said, this was a while back, you'll notice I'm specifically not shitting on it now. On the contrary, I think it looks pretty good. I'm not a professional, but I know what it's like to be a designer/programmer - watching the walkthrough I get a sense for how he came to his ideas and I think it's amazing.
But this thread isn't about my neuroses, it's about Braid.
play the game, motherfucker
you will not regret it
then you can come here and give some virtual high fives
Posts
This one pissed me off soooo much. But then it just clicked.
There's a level in World 4 that I think suffers from a bug. Fickle Friend, I think it's called. Spoilered for thsoe who aren't there yet.
Me and my brother were pretty much playing it together last night. We'd get a good laugh at how to solve some puzzles, find it hilarious that the game was intentionally screwing with me, and generally worked together to figure some puzzles out. Plenty of, "Oh. I get it!" moments, along with, "Dude. Check this out."
The music is great. I've always been a fan of ambient sounds and it really compliments the game's art style and environments.
Braid's puzzles can be a little frustrating at first but once I figured them out I never felt like they were "cheap", like, crazy logic wise. Of course, I haven't beaten the game, but I've yet to see some of the ALL CAPS posts about it like I used to see back on USEnet with some adventure games. Loads of moments where you'll go, "OOOOOOOOOOOOH. GOD I'M AN IDIOT FOR NOT SEEING THAT."
Aesthetically, the game is pretty impressive. I like how "World 1" is just the outside and inside of the house. I don't think the game is as totally forward thinking as it was made out to be. Gameplay? Yes, definitely. It's fun, it's completely different, and it requires you to think differently. Just like Portal. Unlike Portal, which has a really distinct presentation, Braid still suffers from a few problems. It's probably due to the nature of the game itself, it's going to be difficult mixing story, setting, and gameplay together in a platformer. The story is pretty much told to you, optionally, before each level. You enter a level, have access to books that spell out the situation, and then you go on to complete it. The writing is ok.
Apparently there are some secrets left.
I wonder what the bathroom is for.
If I had to assign a numerical value to this game, so far it's a 9 out of 10. Great gameplay, great artwork, great music, decent setting and premise, and the way the game is presented is incredibly fresh. It rewards curiosity and there are several moments in Braid that I really enjoyed either a quirky NPC, the "power" you use in that world, the solution to a puzzle, or just the puzzle itself.
Ghost_Hands/Jonathan, you're really onto something here. With an introduction like this, I don't think you'll have any trouble finding an outlet for future games. Whether they'll be similar in design or not, I'll trust you to keep the production values high, and the game interesting.
Thank you for a very enjoyable, gaming experience.
It's not a bug, at all. The key is following the rules of the world. Just watch the path it takes.
Not really complaining, it's beaten, and it was one of the more easier puzzles, but I got the impression that something wasn't working properly.
Hunt on that level was great. Took me a few minutes to get it figured out, but I got it!
I felt like a god when I finally figured it out. So far every puzzle has lived up to the promise of "sit down and think about the world's rules, and then you'll be able to solve it with no problem." It reminds me a bit of Professor Layton for some crazy reason.
These pieces let me know how good this game is. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me for a few minutes, but once I figured it out I had a big, goofy smile on my face. This game deserves all the hype it's gotten.
Also to echo a bunch of comments, the music is awesome. Awesome.
"This Game Wounds Time"
I forget the name of the puzzle in World 3, but the one that has the really large lattice fence you have to move across horizontally while dodging projectiles and enemies dropping:
I haven't finished it yet so I don't know how the last world or two pan out, but this seems very much like the perfect game to finish up in two or three sessions all in a row, so if you want to get it I suggest getting it when you have a good window of time (hur-hur!) to finish it in. I've always referred to Portal as the perfect Sunday afternoon game: a game that you can start and finish all in one lazy summer Sunday afternoon. This seems like another one to me.
And the twist at the end was pretty silly after you got over the initial shock of it (how it was presented was pretty cool though).
But. The gameplay was pretty awesome. A few times I felt like "oh, that's kind of cheap", and a few times I felt the puzzles were based too much on platforming precision, but the vast majority of the puzzles were awesome and I loved them. One small thing I wanted was a "reset entire level" button for those levels with items that sit out of the time flow (particularly keys).
I loved the art, too, aside from the character graphics, which I didn't think fit very well with the rest of the visual style. And the music and sounds were equally amazing.
Overall, I'd say definitely a very good XBLA game. I feel like a better, more lucid storyline could have been created, and the art and gameplay tied into it better, so I won't say that I think it's that amazing from the "games as high art" perspective. Definitely worth the time and money, though.
The game is still a platformer.
Leap of Faith? That's a typical platformer challenge.
Just exit and re-enter. That's what I do.
Hit Back and then B.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
You can just press Start and then "Exit Current World." From there you can re-enter the room you were currently in, and you'll start from the left door. I did this a bunch when I was trying to figure out Tight Channels in World 3.
Is this the same as the Back and B thing? I didn't know about that.
I added the soundtrack links to the OP. I love that first track.
you can't think of this game as just straight-up plot. it's all metaphor, and you have to have experienced a lot of what it's evoking in order for it to resonate, I guess.
Yeah, Back is just a single button-press, but does the same as Start>Scroll>Exit World.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I actually made this ascii face in real life when I read that ->
I rarely recommend books or music to people, because everyone I know has such wildly divergent tastes. Invisible Cities is a book I recommend to anyone, regardless of what they normally read.
I was going to buy this game anyway, but after reading that, now I have to set up a second Live account so I can buy it twice.
Thanks for the recommendation. I've been doing my best to read different books from different countries. Started with Czech and Russian literature, just finished reading Soseki's Kokoro. Reading some Hemingway in between novels, but Invisible Cities sounds like an interesting place to go next!
Thank you.
*shakes fist*
Actually, I'll make sure to do the same else where. Reactions to the soundtrack have pleased me. Most people I run into don't really care for ambient musics.
On the flip side, one of my favorite puzzles was the early one where
Without exception, I have found that stories with sympathetic characters and a clear plot do a better, more resonant, and more affecting job of communicating any theme or idea, as compared to a story with plenty of pretty but abstract metaphors and no substance to go with them.
Doesn't mean you can't have pretty metaphors in a story with substance... but you need to have the substance first.
However.
Having said that, it doesn't take a feat of mental athletics to construct a worldview in which this is a great game. I'll have to check it out sometime, since the consensus is that it rocks.
It's pretty fair when you're talking about an indie game where one guy essentially did 90% or more of the design and programming by himself. As far as I know virtually everything you see in Braid was done by Blow (programming and design) and Hellman (art).
Like I said, though, I do make an effort to separate artist from art, so it would be hypocritical for me to judge the game on that basis. It looks like it has legs, so I do intend to check it out.
Can I ask a few questions.
1) Why is Kojima a racist dickbag?
2) Why have you separated Molyneux and Wright out? They are no different. Wright didn't code the sims solo. Whereas Blow did code Braid on his own.
3) What is wrong with the lead designed attaching their name to a piece of artistic work? It only comes off as a bad move when it is bad (ie some of the latter American McGee games - though from what I've heard that wasnt his choice) If it is a great game then why not tell everyone who made it. A lead designer on a game has an enormous amount of responsibility towards the quality of the final product. Yeah, he couldn't have made it without a team of artists and modellers or whatever. But they couldn't make a game through collective thought.
I dunno, that's kinda like saying novels are better at evoking a theme or feeling than poetry. It may be true for some people, but it's certainly not inherently true (and it's not true for me). =P
However, Braid does seem to be trying for a narrative, and that's why I feel it fails on that level.
I've turned all New Age.
I also tend to dislike it when bands are named after the lead singer. The problem with pet peeves is that they are rarely rational. Maybe it honestly goes deeper, perhaps it is linked to my (also irrational) dislike of being marketed to. I haven't played this game, and I'd rather not derail this thread any farther.
I know what you mean, though. Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, anyone?
In all honesty, I think when a producer's name turns up on a game, it has more to do with marketing than the producer themselves. I mean hell man, Garriott was involved in making the first big mainstream MMO, and is one of the oldest names in PC gaming still actually around today. Can you blame NCSoft for trying to cash in on the name?
But this thread isn't about my neuroses, it's about Braid.
play the game, motherfucker
you will not regret it
then you can come here and give some virtual high fives