The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Braid sequel "The Witness" announced
UncleSporky
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
http://kotaku.com/5329966/braid-creator-names-details-next-game-the-witness
Now, there's not really much info here. Mainly I wanted to post this so I could get in my prediction on what the deep, meaningful symbolism will be this time. Spoilers for Braid's symbolism and ending...
Independent developer Number None's follow up to Braid, the time-shifting puzzle adventure game, will be The Witness, an exploration-puzzle game on an uninhabited island. Hold onto that knowledge, for it will be a long wait before you get The Witness.
The developer recently began hiring for The Witness, described in job listings as "philosophical and quiet" and placing "a heavy emphasis on the way things look." That look will take sometime to nail down, apparently, as the game is slated for a release in "late 2011." That's a "hopefully" late 2011, according to the game's official, currently minimal web site.
The only other nugget of information offered to the desperate to pick at is a snippet from the Tao Te Ching, which serves as a poor fact sheet.
Like Braid, The Witness is planned for release on multiple platforms, "whatever makes sense in late 2011," according to the official description.
Now, there's not really much info here. Mainly I wanted to post this so I could get in my prediction on what the deep, meaningful symbolism will be this time. Spoilers for Braid's symbolism and ending...
Braid was seemingly about the Manhattan Project and the first successful atomic bomb test. "Now we are all sons of bitches," indeed.
So this next game is called "The Witness" and is set on an island? Why is Operation Crossroads the foremost thing in my mind? As the first was about developing the atomic bomb, the second is about witnessing one at close range. What do you bet the protagonist's body and mind have been warped by radiation?
So this next game is called "The Witness" and is set on an island? Why is Operation Crossroads the foremost thing in my mind? As the first was about developing the atomic bomb, the second is about witnessing one at close range. What do you bet the protagonist's body and mind have been warped by radiation?
Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
UncleSporky on
0
Posts
I'm certainly looking forward to this game. If it's half as good as Braid, I'll love it.
I don't really think direct quotes from the guys on the manhattan project is stretching things too far.
That is all.
XBL - Follow Freeman
I think there's a lot to the whole argument, but I think that's just one very large, specific example of an overall theme: regret and obsession. To reduce the game down to "it's about this specific thing and nothing else" is a little too cut-and-dry for my tastes.
That said, I don't think this is really pegged as "Braid 2: Rewind Harder." I would wager it's entirely unconnected. I'm still going to probably pick it up day 1, though that'll probably be sometime in 2011.
Yeah, it seems to me that
I remember the creator being really adamant about how it was about one specific thing and how it wasn't open to interpretation.
I really don't like Braid's writing. Neat gameplay, art, and music, though.
ugh
I never asked for this!
Click here to see the ANIMATED version of this signature too big for the forums! :winky:
The funny part is that I'm normally the type to roll my eyes at Games as (F)Art experiences; I've only tried a few other ones, like the Marriage, and they always end up never engaging me. But I got pulled into Braid because, even if you don't give a toss about the story, it functions as a tight-ass puzzle game, so there's a kind of safety net to it. Like, even if you hate the story, which about half of this thread and the other threads on forums about the game did, you can still appreciate how the gamey-puzzley part works. It just so happens that the entire experience of Braid really connected with me.
It also helped that I had virtually no expectations prior to maybe a week or two before the game came out; it came out of nowhere and smacked the shit out of me. This isn't the kind of game where the hype train will heighten your experience; it probably just left people saying, "That's what all the fuss was about?" when you reach the end. It was just a very pleasant short story of a game that resonated with me; no more, no less. So I'll actually be avoiding most press and details about Blow's next project, whenever it decides to land.
It's also worth noting, since I don't think I ever saw mention here, that I think it's official that Hothead is porting Braid over to the PSN, so PS3 owners can see what all the fuss is about. More people should get a chance to check out this gem of a game and see what they think.
Click here to see the ANIMATED version of this signature too big for the forums! :winky:
Blurst have announced a new game of their own.
it's even part of the gameplay, with the result you get if you are obsessed enough with the game to get the stars
Plus the fact that if you manage to find all the stars without using a guide, you've probably destroyed your real-life relationships.
That's my explanation as well.
The Manhattan Project is just an example of obsession.
On the black screen
Hey buddy
hey
I'm not going to split hairs with you over a game that sucks.
On the black screen
I think it's like the lyrics of a song - there does appear to be an overarching theme, but you are free to read as deep into it as you like. I always figured that the theme wasn't purely obsession or regret, but a mix of both: the "what have I done" feeling the protagonist obviously felt when he realized he drove his lover away, the Manhattan Project research team felt after seeing what they had wrought, and what the player should feel if they find all the stars.
All that said, Braid was a tremendous game, and a perfect Live Arcade game - short, low price, and differentiated in many ways from a lot of the "filler" type stuff that ends up on there. Plus, the artwork is gorgeous.
Even if you hate the story in Braid (I didn't) the puzzler aspect of it is solid. At worst, Blow failed to give you an engaging plot and instead made the most original puzzle game on Live Arcade. At best, well, it's an amazing experience.
This is kind of how I feel about the game as well. When you think about it, if you don't really explore all of the Epilogue books, you'll never even see the Manhattan Project angle, and the game experience takes on a different meaning as a result. That doesn't make it invalid in the least.
I've always felt like a large majority of people beat the game, said "wut," went to GameFAQs or a forum, read the really long A-Bomb post and went "Oh, okay, that's what it's about, now I can play something else." It's a very gamey way to approach the problem: Find the cheat code. I like that the game doesn't serve everything up to you on a platter and instead inspires discussion ... only I've found that a lot of gaming "discussion" quickly boils down to people shouting at each other over and over again.
True dat. It's also why I'm almost guaranteed to buy Blow's next project sight unseen: I'm convinced that it's a Games as (F)Art experience that doesn't forget the "game" part of the phrase. Even if the thematic aspect doesn't grab me, I'll still probably enjoy the gameplay.
It helped that the puzzle aspect of the game, from a purely sandbox perspective, was so great and really mind-blowing in places. An effect few puzzle games have managed. I mean how many of this type of side scrolling game simply resort to tricky jumps and timing set-pieces. I remember when I first set foot in World 3 and was just utterly dumbfounded for ten minutes. I had no clue at all, but in a good way. I wouldn't say Braid 'rewrote the rulebook' because that's a terrible phrase, but it really was fresh and new. For an Xbox Live Arcade game, a market where no-one minds lazy design if it has polish and features, it was surprising to see something so different.
Beautifully put.
I thought the story/theme was mostly beside the point, anyway. The real draw of Braid is the game itself. To longtime gamers, who understand the vocabulary of platformers, every stage is like a poem - creating familiar scenarios, then twisting and deconstructing them with new layers of time-based mechanics overlaid on top.
I'm really excited about the new one.
I bought this game on XBLA, and was slowly trudging through it... woorst headaches i've ever had, but I was enjoying the sense of satisfaction completing these puzzles gave me. anyway, it was around this time i upgraded to a larger hard drive. After that, Braid decided it didn't want to recognize that is was the full version and not the trial..couildnt summon the strength to go back through the game..
You know, the same thing happened to me with the Braid license. Are you on a new 360 console as well, or did you just change hard drives? Either way, you may need to transfer your 360 license: there's a tool available for download on xbox.com that lets you do it, just to official shift ownership.
In regards to your original question ... you really need to play the final levels and experience it for yourself. That might be a copout answer, but it all works so, so well together. Since you've already done most of the puzzles on your own, going back to it shouldn't be that hard. It's totally something that is much better with you playing it out in front of you as opposed to reading a line of text on the Internets about it.
Then again, maybe your ass is the destroyer of worlds...
I don't subscribe to the Manhattan-theory at all - I'm actually inclined to agree with The_Scarab - but I still had fun trying to figure it out.
Maybe I'm just a masochist...
I'm only posting because I approve of this unintentional pun.
I'm all for art in my videogames as long as I can punch it.
I will buy this sequel twice.